Three Keys to alleviate low back pain

I was not prepared to take low back pain as the theme of my class. As always, when you hear your friends, their issues with low back (mostly through Facebook), and follow their discussion, I thought I would jump in. 25% adult Americans suffer from low back pain attributed to unused or misused muscles.  Numerous studies demonstrated the assuaging role of yoga on the back. Yoga being a combination of physical exercise with cognitive acuity, aligned postures, self-awareness, and relaxation, it makes sense to accept those conclusions. There are three keys for a strong back and ease lower back pain: stability of spine, strong core muscles and relaxation.

Stability of spine: first key for a strong back.

The instability of the spine is the core to many back issues.  Yoga’s ability to recreate, strengthen and maintain spinal curves (cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral) enhance the stability of the back. Man is the only biped animal with such high center of gravity. However, the intelligent design endowed us with right curvatures to distribute body weight evenly by the concerted action of muscles. The weakness of these muscles (agonist and antagonist) creating these curves may be the beginning of back discomfort. Flexion and extension of the spine, alternatively working with the curves and against the curves, is an easiest way to recreate and maintain those curves. The simple sun salutation A is a classic example of such a therapeutic sequence. There are many other duo poses too- cat/cow; star pose/wide-stance forward bend; apanasana/dwipada pidasana; navasana/chatur pada pidasana…These therapeutic combinations have one commonality: they create the abdominal space by relaxing diaphragm. This is essential for proper alignment of the lumbar spine- a valuable key to ease the pressure in the low back.

Strong core muscles: the second key.

A strong core requires the vigor of internal organs (which control metabolism, digestion and elimination); calorie expenditure by the muscles in the midsection; and, of course, the strength of oblique and rectus abdominal muscles.  There is no exercise modality which could meet these demands to develop a flat and strong ab than yoga. The internal energy generated by the rocking motion in dhanurasana massages and sensitize the internal organs to burn fat accumulated between the muscle fibers of rectus abdominus (6 pack muscle). Deep diaphragmatic breathing massages internal organs and increase volume of oxygen intake. Once the efficiency of breathing is increased, additional oxygen molecules will seek the target for its action- or, in lay man’s term- burn calories. What would be the efficiency of the yoga poses if you could combine deep breathing and the abdominal twisting of some popular yoga poses like chair, moon and side angle. Imagine the number of modifications in yoga poses; properly aligned (yoga pose) modifications need to be construed as the gift from yoga to break insanity.

Relaxation: the third key.

Your ability relax in Savasana, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques, or mindful yoga sequences are valuable tools in your fight against lower back pain. In addition to the usual vinyas, I am planning to focus on breath awareness, diaphragmatic space, therapeutic-duo postures, MBSR and Chakra meditation.  Hope to see you in one of my classes.

Jay

Mindfulness and Kindness

I have written and talked about mindfulness, extensively, in the past. Today I had a different experience on the subject when I read a quote from mindfulness researcher Lisa Flook of University of Wisconsin: “This is the way of nurturing the seeds of kindness in children.” And, I am sure, it could inculcate that tender emotions in grown ups too.

20% of children in the US have anxiety, a predictor of depression. ADHD show no signs of waning, rather, it has gone from 7% in 2003 to 11% in 2011. 18% of the adult population suffer from anxiety disorders costing us 42 billion dollars every year. These numbers may seem like Goliaths, but, we have been given small stone- mindfulness. Let’s use it. New evidences emerge from the studies on mindfulness on how it reduce anxiety, depression and ADHD. Studies with children (as low as age 4) have shown how these techniques improve the attention and test scores. Mindfulness improved their attitude and awareness; and reduced bullying among children. Deep breathing in mindfulness triggers parasympathetic nervous system stimulating “rest and digest” and “feed and breed” mechanisms. This is opposite to the “fight or flight” stimulation triggered by sympathetic nervous system and shallow breathing.

What is our role in reducing the anxiety and stress in our children? Studies show a high level of stress hormone, cortisol, in children whose teachers reported “burnt out” Stress is contagious; if we are able to deal with our stress better, we trickle its benefits to our children.

Yoga, meditation, pranayama (breathing) techniques, corpse pose (savasana- easiest pose to perform but hardest pose to master), Mindful Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and prayer could all lead you mindfulness. Be mindful; teach children to learn mindfully; train them to be kind to themselves and others; and allow them to discover the genius in them.

Jay

Super Brain Yoga

Once I wrote:

…watched a movie that won 2015 Oscar for best actress- Still Alice. Julianne Moore, as Dr. Alice Howard, honorably recreated the character Alice based on a bestselling novel by Lisa Genova. The movie takes twists and turns when Alice’s initial diagnosis changed from mild cognitive impairment to an early onset of familial Alzheimer’s disease. The family tried to cope with the memory disruptions in a brilliant linguistic Professor at Columbia. The highlight was its ending which made warmth to an otherwise an unhappy plot. In the last scene, after reading Angels in America to her mom, Alice’s daughter asked what that meant to her. Alice, who could barely think, contemplate, or hardly speak utter this beautiful word: Love. Yes, it is all about love. The love and the compassion you show to the inflicted; the service you render to the patient and the peace that evolve from that relationship. It’s Alzheimer’s: a disease that eludes our efforts to stop, prevent or slow….

Today, I followed a discussion on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Facebook. The agony, frustration, faith, commitment emanated from that conversation were profound. My thoughts and prayers go to all those children, parents and their siblings facing those disorders. I wanted to be part of the solution they seek. My own research gave me several leads on what, as a life style coach and fitness instructor, I may able to contribute. I have talked to several people exposed to Autism, Asperger’s or Williams syndrome; I have seen the trauma in population suffering from Alzheimer’s. We may not be able to find solutions for all these soon, but we may be able to equip the patients and their loved ones to navigate through these squalls through practices we know are beneficial. We could, surely, equip them to stand right in the middle of those difficulties to face them.

I have taken “Super Brain Yoga” as the theme of my yoga classes for the whole month of October. I want to dedicate my teaching moments to all those families who are seeking some answers. My goal is to teach participants (in turn, I expect them to talk and teach others) on relaxation, breathing techniques, relevance of balancing and inversions, and “Super Brain yoga” sequences.

Hope to see you in one of my classes.

Thy,

Jay