Back Pain and its treatment is a big modern age issue. Today almost 6 out of 10 people have experienced Back Pain at least twice in their lives. In the last two years of Pandemic given our lifestyle becoming more and more sedentary - this number has even gone up to almost 8 out of 10 people complaining of Back Pain.
Ever since we encounter back pain, we also experience a social and medical stigma - which is to understand that this pain is here to stay. Most doctors tell us - that through out our lives we can only manage it - but not cure it. Let's have a look on this subject and try to understand - is this the only Truth?
Is it really true, that once we start having Back Pain - we can never go back to normal. Is it justified that every week, every month - all year along we keep managing this pain, by popping in Pain Killers, wearing waist Belts, driving with Back Rest , and going to physiotherapists & having to deal with a fading sense of life and strength within us.
Back Pain - The Yoga perspective - Full of hope
Yoga is the ancient science of connecting oneself with the higher energy of the Universe and this whole process involves an individual entering one's own mind or consciousness. A leg of this practice ( Asana ) - works with the body ( using Hatha yoga ) in order to make body more resilient, more strong, more durable and more supportive as one starts going deeper and deeper into the practice of meditation.
In Yoga everything that exists in the mind, exists in the body and vice versa. The mind becomes sick - before it allows the body to show its symptoms. However in the path of Yoga - everything is about attaining the balance. When the balance is attained, the body becomes disease free and the mind becomes empty, focused and still.
Physical Yoga takes a very positive view and believes that just like a body may go out of balance - the same way when postures are achieved, with deeper understanding of alignment, food and lifestyle - the body can also restore the imbalance caused. The process may seem slower in the beginning - however it is a much shorter and definite path of healing than taking pills and going to Physiotherapists every week while the pain is merely managed over the continuing years.
In the medical path, however, one can spend months and years getting treatments and finally reaching to a stage where the Doctors may recommend only one thing - an operation of the Spine. This can sometimes be a point of no return because after this - pain usually becomes permanent and a person will find it very hard to heal him/herself as quickly as before the operation.
When we work with Yoga, even in the worst case scenario, the moment one starts on the path - there is immense hope and light at the end of the tunnel.
Yoga has proven to be a time tested technique that gives us a greater understanding of our body and with very specific series of exercises ( asanas ) it restores the circulation and strength of our Lumbar spine while helping us heal from the persistent back pain.
The asanas / exercises even though powerful must be done under the guidance of a trained yoga therapist who understands - how to achieve alignment for different kinds of back pain and has a deep understanding of pelvic misalignment and shrinking Lumbar in order to restore its strength. Done unguided - or doing Yoga with just about any teacher or any style of Yoga can do more harm than good for the body. It has been often noted that quite a few students develop their first back pain in Yoga TTC ( Teacher Training Course ). Most consider this as a normal occurrence because in their mind - they have so far not given any proper exercise to the body. Most hardly notice that Yoga under the supervision of an inexperienced yoga practitioner - can just be detrimental. Yoga is dangerous when practised as a fancy exercise regime or sport or with music.
In a proper Back Pain Workshop the practise of Yoga encompasses not only powerful time tested Asanas, along with alignment to bring balance and healing to the organic body, but also brings relaxation to the parasympathetic nervous system that helps in elongation of muscles that other wise shorten in order to restrict movement of organs.
All standing postures become vital in order to open up the circulation of blood in the lower back area, along with redevelopment of muscles to strengthen the spinal column.
"Yoga teaches us to cure that can not be endured and endure that can not be cured." – B.K.S Iyengar , World's Top Yoga teacher / Therapist
The Ayurveda View
Ayurveda the ancient system of medicine and life from India considers that all spinal issues are a disturbance of one of the 3 main elements of the body known as Vata Dosha. When Vata is aggravated the body starts displaying physical pains and may also show up inflammation that results in continuous pain.
Since Ayurveda is considered the science of life and all balance is created through the food we consume - a big part of healing the spine is understanding
- what in our diet is causing the Vata ( made of Air + Space ) to be aggravated
- pacifying Vata in order to reduce inflammation and
- using food and herbs that make the digestion stronger.
Thus understanding what foods pacify Vata, what must one eat, when must one eat and how much quantity and what herbs can be administered in order to reduce Vata & inflammation is another piece of the puzzle that helps in bringing short term and long term healing.
Emotions and releasing them
Did you know, that blocked emotions or trauma from long ago ( longer than 5 or 10 years ) can also cause Back Pain ?
When this is the case, it can cause decreased blood flow and inflammation into the spine. When a practitioner is introduced to a technique such as Buddhist Meditation during a Back Pain workshop - the practitioner also learns to release such emotions and daily stress factors that help remove stress and also relaxes the parasympathetic nervous system.
Breath and its disturbance
We never stop to realise how important is breath and how incorrect breathing can cause a disturbance of Vata Dosha and also cause various kinds of diseases in the body. For every disease - the breath of an individual plays a significant role in causing the disease or healing it.
When we are diseased or under stress our breath changes completely. Every disease / pain or emotion has a prominent signature on our breath.
For this reason a big part of healing spinal issues & long term back pain is to consciously work with the breathing through the yogic practice of Pranayama. Here the pranayama practice calms the mind down and increases the ratio of Oxygen vs Carbon Dioxide and also brings down the aggravation of the Vata Dosha that has a big role to play in the causation of spinal issues
The Back Pain Workshop actively focuses on advanced Pranayama techniques and knowledge to educate us on how to breathe correctly and how to manipulate our breath in order to pacify the Vata Dosha and bring effective internal healing to the body.
Food Diet and Water
Even though more people suffer from back pain today, rarely anyone ever talks about the significance of food, diet and water in healing the back pain or causing the back pain including but not limited to
- from the food we eat
- to what time we are having our food
- to how much water we are drinking
- how are we drinking our water
- at what temperature we are drinking the water
- to what beverages we are consuming
Everything in healing the Spine is about understanding the great role of increased acidity of Blood and improving Digestion to reduce this acidity.
The increased acidity of blood, is the root factor for a lot of incurable diseases including cancer, prostrate problems, heart problems, diabetes, brain stroke etc. In case of Bone and Back issues the increased acidity plays a major role in loss of Bone density and increased stiffness of the body.
In a 7 days workshop where we work with a trained therapist - he also guides us on understanding the nature of food and how to change our diet and water intake in order to reduce acidity and increase foods that bring reduction in inflammation and stiffness.
But science lists other factors for my back pain?
Strange as it might seem, Science is yet to explore and understand the human body to the extent as the Yogis/Ayurveda physicians have done thousands of years ago. Medical science lists the following causes of Back Pain
Strain, exhaustion or Sprain of Back
Bulging or Ruptured Disc
Osteoarthritis
Sciatica
Spinal Stenosis
Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis
Osteoporosis
Scoliosis
Other Rare Causes
Where western medical science fails is considering the symptoms of an inner biological imbalance as the root cause factors of Back Pain. The medical science isolates the human body and spinal issues merely to the spine without considering the other factors such as food, diet, emotions, lifestyle, environment, and breathing style of a person.
Modern medicine refuses to see a disease in a holistic view. Since it lists the symptoms as the root factors - its treatment of the back pain is highly limited and temporary. As time passes - this treatment worsens the plight of the person suffering from Back Pain.
The back Pain workshop
The Back Pain Workshop we conduct is one of the most successful programs & the only one of its kind across the globe. Master Vidhi guides practitioners into a medical 1 week program - that not only puts us on the path to heal our back but also helps us understand how we can manage and prevent back pain without the help of modern medicines or physiotherapists. What changes can we bring in our lives to live more healthy. How to deal with emergencies - where you can not get medical help?
This is the only program in the world that touches upon, powerful exercises coming from the practice of Iyengar Yoga along with life training to
Bring balance to the internal organs
Build lasting strength and stamina for our spine
Opening circulation to the lower back
Using props to enable the practitioners into postures that helps in elongating and correcting the spine
Understanding what food we must have to in order to heal the body and mind
What not to do when it comes to Food, Diet and Water
Understand the root cause of your Back Pain or stiffness
Learn time tested postures that can bring immediate relief in emergency
Pick up Ayurveda practices to bring greater degree of progress and internal healing
How to alter your lifestyle going forward in order to reduce inflammation
Master advanced practice of Pranayama and Breath Control
Foods to increase flexibility and suppleness of Spine
Buddhist meditation to release daily stress and long term blocked emotions
Relax the parasympathetic Nervous system in order to relax the muscles
Get on the journey to healing and hope
The program everyday ( lasting between 2-3 hours ) for a continuous 6 or 7 days is the beginning of a Yoga practice that brings definitive results in about 3 months - 2 years time without taking the help of modern medicine. This is also a great program to seek consultation on your condition by separately scheduling a Transcendental session with the master.
Would you like to participate in a 1 week Back Pain Workshop happening in your city in the future?
We invite enquiries in case you have a group of people or simply if you are an individual looking forward to heal her/himself from Pain. Click on the button below Sign me up and write to us about your desire to join the 1 week program on Back Pain.