How Yoga Can Help Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain is a common health problem

that can affect people of all ages. The pain can be very severe and make it difficult to carry on with everyday activities. Low back pain can also lead to other health problems, such as depression and fatigue.

Yoga has been shown to be an effective treatment for lower back pain, and most people believe it is because it helps improve flexibility and strength in the lower back muscles.

However, most yoga approaches will keep the issue to your low back.  A teacher will say, here are some poses that will work that specific joint or area.  This is true of other physical therapies.  

What I have found with my approach to yoga for joint renewal is that a holistic approach to ALL the joints in the body (not just the problem area) helps give more awareness and calm to the overall nervous system for health and healing and this  is the best route for long term health and mobility. 

The tricky part of just focusing in on the 'problem' area where you are feeling the low back pain,  is that while you may feel you need to addressing an issue there, that is actually might not even be the root cause.  While your low back may be speaking the loudest, in terms of pain or discomfort, it could be that an ankle injury from years ago, a foot issue from childhood, an accident or illness from sports, a hereditary pattern in the joints, a lifestyle or habit of movement, years of sitting in chairs, a immobile thoracic spine, a repetitive work related injury can all mean that the overall system is fragile and the fragility has then manifested in one area - such as the low back. 

In helping lower back pain, it's important to see that all areas of the body need healing, increased mobility and strengthening. Not just the spine. 

Another problem of only working on the problem area of low back pain, only looking at that area as causing the most discomfort, is that  when your focus is only on that area, and it can become overwheming or all consuming.  If you are unable to move your awareness to other areas, and keep a sense of the whole of your body your experience of low back pain can become larger because it's the only thing you are focusing on.  

Think of it this way:   it is not what we do that helps or heals us, it's what we don't do or what we ignore that ultimately causes us more pain and suffering.  So moving ALL the joints, discovering parts of the body that you might not even be aware are ridgid, tight or restricted is the holistic approach I teach.  

In my 21 Day Joint Renewal Program,  you maybe doing some foot and ankle work one day.  Some shoulder work another.  Some forward flexions.  Some standing/balance.  Each pose is a place to discover, to learn, to become more and more aware, awake and present to all the different parts of the body and how they work, and to create a sense of calm, ease and peace in the nervous system so healing can take place wherever it is needed.  Low back included. 

I  use a bio/psycho/social model of understanding pain.   So if your back is sore, yes there may be some physical damage to the area (and imaging from a health professional can help diagnose that) but not everyone with physical problems in their low back will feel it the same way.

 The psychology of pain is important to understand.  How you think about the pain.  Your relationship to it.  As is the social context. The environment in which you find yourself supported or not with any issue you have. 

A journey of 1000 miles starts with one step.   



This is not a short term approach either.  In my 21 Day Joint Renewal Program, I like to start people off with 5 mins a day, because it's doable.  It's accessible.  You feel results very quickly.  However, if you think that for the past 5 decades or more,  your body has been moving in certain ways, with patterns and habits which are quite well embedded into your system, realistically 5 minutes a day is not going to correct that overnight.  And it's a very important begining.  Possibly the most important part is the begining.   

Being willing to embark on that first step, to say yes to do a consistent yoga practice to heal and  undo some of those habits and patterns your body maybe holding is a powerful message to yourself, your body and how you approach aging.  The brilliant thing about the approach however is that it is super enjoyable.  It does feel really good.  And when something feels good, when it brings relief and better understanding, when you are approaching the issue such as low back pain intelligently then you are motivated to continue.  

Many people ignore or avoid feeling problems in their body, until it is at crisis point.  The crisis can be avoided with consistent, daily feel-good exercises.  If you want to learn more about Joint Renewal program and how it can help your low back pain.  Sign up for my free guide here.

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