Many years ago, as I was suffering from a pretty bad low back injury, I was talked into trying my very first yoga class. I TOTALLY didn’t believe it would 1) be a good workout or 2) help my back. The only thing I knew about yoga was that you either had to wear the super fancy yoga clothes, or you had to be the complete opposite, not shower or clean your hair and sit around talking funny.
Dude, don’t judge me for judging. It was 10 years ago and I didn’t know any better!
Fast forward 10 years and here I am, owning a yoga studio, teaching yoga and teaching people to teach yoga, practicing every day, and using the practice to heal my body, and helping others find that same healing. Yoga does that. It is that powerful.
When I first started practicing, I had NO idea why my back would feel better after a good hot yoga practice, I just knew it did and then I knew it would hurt again if I didn’t get into that hot yoga room the next day. I legit would practice in 105 degrees 6 or 7 days a week at least 75 minutes a day–the “GOOD” days were when it was 3 hours plus.
(oh the days of being single and gainfully employed…you know, what else was I gonna do?!?!)
After years of practice, and here’s the thing–still recovering from that back injury I have learned a few things.
- Back injuries —or any injury really–it never really goes away. Our brains may be in our heads, but the body–it remembers. The fascia, the connective tissue, it remembers. That is one of the MANY reasons you have to practice…..regularly.
- It’s not just the hot yoga that makes the pain go away (although a nice warm room does help.) It’s the muscles loosening up, allowing your body to move –among about a billion other things, that helps the pain to go away.
- It’s the persistent, regular, dedicated practice that actually makes that injury get better.
Sure, the injury will still be in your body. Remember, “this issues are in the tissues.” However, when you practice regularly, your body reconnects with its original self –you were born to move (have you ever seen a baby? It moves, sometimes even it its sleep!) When you practice regularly, you get used to the feelings of being uncomfortable. You find a way to find comfort in the discomfort, which helps you manage the day to day growth that comes with overcoming an injury.
You have to keep moving–maybe at a different intensity, but you keep moving. Afterall, an object in motion tends to stay in motion, right? The key is to move, and to do it wisely. I wish I could say my back never hurt anymore. Oh man don’t i! Especially after gaining and losing a LOT of weight with two pregnancies, chasing those kiddos, and not getting any younger, I still suffer from flare ups when it feels like the disc that is herniated is popping out altogether, but the thing about it is– my practice now is smart enough to know how to reduce the pressure, strengthen the opposing muscles and support the area.
I would love to teach you how to do some of that! That’s why I teamed up with Monika Patel DPT of Fizeo Therapy to write a quick PDF on how you can “Fix Your Low Back.” It’s Completely Free and I would love to share it with you so you can start your journey back to wellness. Fix Your Low Back is a small portion of a larger work Monika and I recently completed dedicated to reducing chronic back and neck pain by teaching you proper posture techniques. If you’re interested in learning some of my favorite tips and exercises to help reduce low back pain, definitely go give this free PDF a once over. I’d love to help you reduce your low back pain, so you can stay on the path of health and wellness.