In your life, you can have chronic low back pain from a physical injury but also from an emotional injury. These both can manifest as pain in your body. Sometimes the pain is not due to a specific injury but happens over time because of stress and emotional trauma which has become stored in the body.

Whether the pain is from a physical or emotional trauma, yoga can help. It has been shown to help reduce chronic pain and improve physical function. A systematic review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2017 concluded that yoga significantly improved back-related function and reduced symptoms of chronic low back pain.

Another systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of Pain in 2019 found that yoga interventions were associated with reduced pain intensity and improved physical function in individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain.

But how does it help?

Yoga is not just a physical practice. It includes pranayama (breathwork), asana (physical practice), Dyana (meditation) and more. For now, let’s focus on breathwork, physical practice and meditation and how these can help.

Breathwork

Yoga includes pranayama or breathwork. This includes diaphragmatic breathing or deep breathing where you are expanding the lungs fully instead of shallow breathing just into the chest. Deep breathing helps to relax the body and induce a relaxed frame of mind. It also brings your focus to your breath and away from the pain. Slow and deep breathing also reverses physical symptoms of anxiety - heart racing, dizziness, and more.

Physical Practice

Asana or the physical practice of yoga helps to relieve back pain. The back, especially the low back, is governed by the legs. When you do specific postures to open up the hips, quadriceps, and hamstrings, you bring space and relief to the low back. Also, alignment based hatha yoga such as Ashaya Yoga works to align the spine and promotes the natural curves of the spine to ensure good posture, better balance and reduced pain.

The physical practice of yoga has even been compared to physical therapy with similar positive results. A randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2017 compared the effects of yoga, physical therapy, and education for chronic low back pain. The study showed that yoga provided similar improvements in pain and functional outcomes compared to physical therapy.

Meditation

Meditation is a mindfulness practice. One way to do this is to focus on relaxing the body, following the breath and accepting body sensations just as they are without judgment. This practice can help manage pain and even reduce depression and anxiety symptoms, ultimately increasing a person’s ability to self-regulate.

Yoga can do more than help the physical aspects of chronic low back pain. It can also lead to changes in emotional regulation, reduced anxiety, and even help people reduce pain interference, increasing everyday physical functioning.

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