6 Ways Yoga Provides Natural Back Pain Relief

If you’ve ever experienced any sort of back pain, you’ll know exactly how debilitating it can be. After all, your back and all its parts are what keeps all the rest of your body parts moving.

Whether it’s from an injury, osteoporosis, arthritis, muscle atrophy, job related, or due to poor core strength, back pain is...well, a pain.

Relief from that sort of pain can be hard to come by and may require multiple types of treatment options.

Yoga for back pain is almost certainly a safe and good one.

Restorative and recovery yoga poses can help alleviate ongoing back pain without you ever leaving your house (or spending any money).

Let’s talk about how yoga can provide natural, safe pain relief.

1. Yoga is mind-body therapy

Yoga isn’t just physical. It’s also mental.

Yoga movements are designed to bring harmony to your inner and outer self. By using your breath and moving through recovery yoga asanas, you will naturally release tension from many areas of your body, including your back. Those muscles will relax. And you will experience less pain.

Less pain equals less stress because of the pain.

And less stress creates an even more meditative, relaxed state. It’s like a circle where all the parts of your yoga practice work together for a common goal.

Practicing yoga for back pain even a few minutes a day will create body awareness and help you notice where you’re holding tension that might be contributing to your discomfort.

2. Tight hamstrings contribute to back pain

Your legs may not be the first thing you think of being the cause of your pain, but often they are a big contributor to it.

Tightness in your hamstrings creates increased stress on your lower back and can lead to sciatica and lower back pain. Your hamstring muscles are attached from your hips, down the back of each thigh and stop behind your kneecaps.

Yoga is an excellent way to cure back pain that is a result of tight hamstrings!

If you sit for long periods of time or are primarily sedentary, your hamstrings are probably pretty tense and would benefit from a consistent yoga practice.

3. A stronger core is key to back pain relief

We know you’ve heard it before, but we’re saying it again. Strong abdominal muscles are imperative to back health.

There’s a reason core strength is a part of almost any exercise regimen you hear or read about.

Weak core muscles mean your back and spine are doing all the heavy lifting to keep your body upright. Over time, this puts a ton of undue stress on your back causing...you guessed it. Back pain. Or even injury.

The good news is yoga isn’t just about stretching. It’s about strengthening and toning. As a matter of fact, increasing core strength is an integral part of almost any yoga class.

You don’t have to do an endless number of monotonous crunches to develop excellent core strength.

Yoga combines poses and breathwork that require you to use your core muscles consistently throughout the flows.

4. Sleep better, hurt less

Have you ever done a nice calming yoga practice before bed? If you have, you’ll understand why we believe a yoga for back pain session will help you sleep better.

When you sleep, your brain and body recover from the stress and tension of the day. That’s kind of the point. But if you’re in pain, it’s hard to sleep. And if you’re not sleeping well, your body (and back) aren’t healing.

It’s a vicious cycle.

We encourage you to seek out a nice, calm, meditative yin yoga practice with a focus on relieving back pain and make it a part of your nightly routine.

5. Yoga releases endorphins

If you’re not familiar with endorphins, they are the feel good chemicals that are released into your body when you exercise, get excited about something, or eat something yummy!

Endorphins have also been shown to block pain signals from entering your brain. They help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression, all of which can contribute to back pain. So it makes sense that doing things that release this important hormone as much as possible will benefit you.

Yoga is one of those things. There is nothing like finishing your yoga practice in corpse pose and experiencing that natural and safe high that comes from the release of all the tension in your body.

Not to mention, yoga is probably THE safest and most natural way to relieve back pain.

6. Happiness is a pain killer

Have you ever noticed when you’re happy, you don’t notice pain as much? That’s because your pain levels are probably lower.

Being unhappy affects your mental, physical, and (obviously) emotional health. Relationships, immunity, gut health, pain levels. Unhappiness makes focusing on tasks and making good decisions harder.

It just wreaks havoc on your life.

Any kind of physical pain detracts from you happiness. We’ve already discussed how stretching, toning, meditating, and sleeping reduce stress on your back and body, and provides pain relief. Which, in turn, will make you happier.

However, a consistent regular yoga practice is just...well, fun. It’s an activity that just feels good.

Doing activities that make you happy are, themselves, helpful for pain relief!

This isn’t an exhaustive list of how yoga cures back pain. It’s just the beginning! Yoga is safe for all ages, all fitness levels and can be practiced almost anywhere you feel comfortable. And while it’s not a cure all for every ache, pain, or injury you may have, it certainly is an excellent way to help you feel better fast.

Are you looking for the perfect yoga class to ease your back pain? Free yourself from discomfort with myYogaTeacher’s experienced yoga instructors. They have a long history of success! You can get your free trial here! No credit card required!