What Are You Doing For Your Back Pain?

And dear @Gauri03 finally to hip openers -

Malasana - feet firmly rooted on the ground. Gently try to push your knees out with your elbows, keep the back straight, neck gentle and use blocks (some of my students even use 2 -3) to sit on.



Vrikshasana - as much as it is a balance pose, it is also a good hip opener. The focus again is on the rooted leg. Try to bring the lifted leg as much to the side as you can (just like in the picture) Keep a focal point on the ground, lift your spine and breathe. The foot should dig deep into your thigh. If you cannot, go that high, keep it below the knee, not on the knee or you could even keep the foot on the ground at the ankle. The idea is to open the hips.


and my finally to some of my studnets' final pose (they show up for an hour and half class just to get to this pose)

Suptapandangushtasana - the key to keep your rested foot firm on the ground, it tends to lift up. Toes pointed up. A teacher can press down or you can use your other hand to press down. Use a belt to reach the foot if you need to.



In the second half of the pose to help your leg stay rooted (not the stretched one) lift the palm off the ground (in the picture, it would be the left palm)

Do not please forget to repeat the poses on both the sides - in all/any yoga poses.

 

@Srama i do most of what you have shared. it is part of my physio stretches.. never delved deeper but looking at it i understand most of it yoga.. feeling good..

i just need to be consistent and regular to find relief..

 

For your neck, while Sethubandhasana helps, other poses you can try include -



Forward bend Padahastasana, with a variation like in the picture. Come up slow and if you tend to feel dizzy as you can come up, bending your knees gently in the pose helps, a lot I believe.



gentle neck rolls like eat to shoulders holding the pose for a few seconds will help relieve the pain. I also like to stretch my arms out using straps moving the arms to the back of the body and raising up - I see a lot of relief in the shoulders. I work using breath a lot and holding the pose for a few seconds holding the breath (like three to five inhales and exhales)

 

Finally, a wonderful resting pose for your back, shoulders and neck





I also love Adhomukhasvnasana (downward dog a lot) and use it as a resting pose. Done correctly, it is a very beneficial pose.

I almost always sit in Vjrasana/vajrasan and find it very comfortable - I am in this pose even while I type this post and all other posts so far even while sitting on a chair - crazy but truth!




Thank you @Gauri03 and @HappyBunny for the queries, I feel rejuvinated just thinking and focusing on yoga!

 

Thank you!

Agree with you and I have tried to give poses that are easier than others and can be done at home easily.

 

That's awesome Shanvy. I know you are a trooper and been at it for a long time. You are doing awesome, don't beat yourself up. And you know what when I get to answer here or help students, it is a motivation for me too.

I also signed up with a studio to keep up my own practice. So we all do these things...not easy to keep up!

 

I never understood the benefits of Therapeutic bed until recently. We left abruptly after hearing the news about my mom's death for India. We left Orion with our neighbor and gave his Therapeutic bed to them as well along with his prescription diet food, regular cups for water and food, prescription medication, etc. They had three other fur friends at home of their own and a pig as pet.

Orion had a great time having fun playing with other three of his fur friends and running around in the backyard barking at the pig. When we returned, he came back home but the neighbor told us that all four fur friends were competing for the same bed every night at 10 p.m. and eventually settled to sleep together in the same bed.

That is when I realized the importance of the bed.

Viswa

 

One thing which worked like miracle for me is drinking organic celery juice every morning on empty stomach every day. Dont eat or drink anything for one hour till it absorbs in blood. It relived inflammation and many more problems. Also stop dairy completely. Instead of our regular Indian chai drink green tea. I had chronic back pain and neck pain.

 

I have a lower back pain caused by compression of a nerve. The effect of that is not as much back pain but severe numbness and tinkling sensation in both my toes. Initially, I thought I am diabetic but the blood results showed different. I went through MRI and all other procedures and the physicians didn't find any big change in position of bones.

Therefore, they recommended a set of exercises. If I walk a lot, I get numbness in my toes and once I do these set of exercises, I get some relief before I go to bed.

1) Stand up straight, bend forward and touch the ground with the palm so that the lower back is bent forward
2) Sit down or on the ground face up moving one knew up towards the chest and stay in that position for a few seconds. Alternate between the two knees
3) Keep one leg on top of the other like Shirdi Baba's posture and bend forward as much as possible
4) Bend the knees backwards to touch the butt
5) Keep moving the toes forward and backward and in a circular movement to increase the circulation of blood
6) Down on the ground face up and bend your leg (toes down) to stay straight perpendicular to the ground. Twist the legs on either side as much as possible to work out the lower back

Viswa