Republic Pain Specialists know there is no one size fits all plan when it comes to treating your chronic pain. Every patient, their pain, and the treatment plan we decide on will be unique. We also believe in a multimodal approach, trying a number of tweaks and adjustments in order to help relieve your pain and get you back to a fully functional life. One of the approaches we may try is yoga, which has a number of benefits to consider.
What Is Yoga?
You have probably seen someone do yoga either in person or on your favorite tv show, but you may have never attended a class on your own. Yoga combines mindfulness, breathing, relaxation techniques, and postures to stretch and lengthen the body. All of these components can be beneficial to relieving pain and strengthening your muscles and joints. Yoga positions vary greatly in what area they are targeting and even where they occur, with some being standing, sitting, or laying down.
How Can Yoga Help?
According to Harvard Health, in a study consisting of 313 people with chronic low back pain, weekly yoga increased their mobility. This increase in mobility can have a positive effect on their daily lives, feelings of pain, and overall mood and function. They also state that the relief of pain and use of consistent yoga improves psychosocial well-being. A standard class can help with the basics and can get you in the practice of adapting your mindset which helps greatly with reducing chronic pain. Yoga therapy can take things a step further to address your specific needs.
Other Considerations
Yoga often gets the reputation of being for the ultra-flexible or involving very intricate poses, but the truth is, all poses can be modified to meet the needs of the person practicing. You can tweak and adjust different positioning to make sure you are not feeling additional pain or causing issues for your body. You can also add in blocks, foam rollers, cushions, or other physical support as needed. Yoga is used in a number of different therapy and rehabilitation services and is also integrated into the workout routines of athletes of all types, from football stars to marathon runners.
Ways To Start
If you have not done yoga before, we recommend starting with a class so an instructor can help modify and adjust your poses to your needs. There are classes for all levels of fitness and available in many times throughout the week. We have a number of recommendations we can provide for you to find the best fit for an instructor, small class, or group class. If you are familiar with the basics of yoga already or want something to pair with instructed class, you can find a number of DVDs or classes online to walk you through some of the basics. While you can spend countless amounts of money on accessories for yoga, loose fitting clothing you are comfortable in – a towel or mat, and water to stay hydrated (which is always important) is really all you need.
Yoga can be beneficial in many treatment plans and for overall health even if your pain is manageable in other ways. Yoga can be part of a fitness plan for you and your entire family and is something you can easily take with you, in your own home, on a work break, on vacation, and anywhere you have a few minutes to yourself. To learn more about working yoga into your chronic pain treatment plan or to learn more about our other approaches to solving and treating your pain, contact Republic Pain Specialists today.