Back pain is insidious and can be debilitating. It’s also quite scary, since the spine is the nerve center of your entire body and damage to it can lead to partial or even complete paralysis. It’s not something to be taken lightly, and not something to go the do it yourself route with.

That’s why doing yoga for back pain is such a risk unless you’ve been directly prescriped to do such by a doctor or a licensed chiropractor. While yoga in general is a good idea - it improves muscle tone, increases flexibility and blood flow, and is good for your blood pressure as well - specifically doing yoga for back pain can be a risky proposition. You’re not a doctor, so you don’t know if your back pain is because of something as simple as having slept wrong and pulled a muscle, or if you’ve slipped a disc, or even if you have some sort of degenerative condition that yoga will actually exacerbate rather than help. And bear in mind, your body doesn’t always register pain when you’re abusing it. You may even find yourself in less pain after yoga but actually have done some structural damage. That’s the last thing you want.

So now that you’re properly warned, it’s time to educate yourself on the different kind of yoga for back pain options there are out there. Of course, Yoga itself isn’t just one particular set of stretches or poses. There are different kinds practiced in different ways for different reasons, and finding out just which one is best for your aching back or shoulders is a matter of consulting a licensed professional.

That said, most back pain is caused by improper posture. If that’s the case for you, then your best starting point is Hatha Yoga, a style and technique of Yoga that focuses on posture as a means of physical purification and restoration. It was created in the 15th century by the Yogi Swatmarama, and he took the word “Hatha” as its descriptor because “ha” means sun and “tha” means moon in sanskrit. The idea was to strike a true, unencumbered balance between the two - just as that should be your goal when practicing yoga for back pain.

Of course, fixing your posture won’t do much if you’ve slipped a disc or some other similarly gruesome injury. That’s why you need to be diligent and realistic about what will work for you back pain and what will just make it worse. So remember, step one is see your doctor.

There are many types of yoga including Vinyasa yoga. The term “vinyasa” means “breath-synchronized movement”. This style of yoga is a dynamic connecting posture that creates a flow between static traditional yoga postures.
This is a consistent breathing meditation and a rapid breathing-oriented posed yoga.
Its another way of power yoga.

Unlike other hatha styles of yoga, attention is also placed on the journey between the postures. In hatha yoga styles, attention is placed on postures only. In a standard vinyasa, the poses are performed between repeats of “Downward Facing Dog” in a Sun Salutation: Plank, “Four Limbed Staff”, and “Upward Facing Dog”.

The vinyasa flow is a variant of “Suryanamaskara” whish is also called the “Sun salutation”. The whole method is defined by six specific series of postures combined with specific breathing patterns. These series of postures are done in the same order.

The main purpose of the Vinyasa yoga is to generate heat in the body which leads to purification of body by increasing blood circulation and sweat. It can also improve the flexibility and increases the tissue strength. This will help the student to practice advanced asanas with reduced risk of injuries.

The six series of vinyasa yoga are as follows- (more…)

It’s well known that pregnancy is a journey for the mother to be. It’s a physical experience as well as mental. Women tend to naturally adjust themselves to the daily bodily changes and become more aware and in tune with them. But, at times they do need help to really adapt to these vital changes. Yoga can effectively help them understand these, as it’s turns out to be an excellent exercise for pregnant women. It can be safely done during the whole course of pregnancy. Even though it offers many benefits, there are certain precautions which should be taken into consideration before starting. In this article we will discuss how you can use yoga to get the most out of this special experience called pregnancy.

For pregnant women, yoga can help them understand their bodies and get in touch with their inner self in order to get the best results. With regular practice, it can help them reduce swelling, insomnia as well as back & leg pains. You can practice the general yoga in the first two months of pregnancy. However, it’s always a good idea to consult your doctor and also seek advice from an experienced yoga teacher. The moderate set of exercises can be practiced at any hour of the day, any number of times, preferably daily, The aim should be to basically strengthen the back, abdomen and the limbs. Also, breathing exercises, when done twice a day, can be very beneficial. The mother and the child both benefit from this as the breathing exercises provide them with more oxygen and energy. There are a number of benefits pregnant women get when they practice yoga regularly. (more…)