Yoga Exercises for back
If you’ve got back pain, yoga may be the last thing you feel like doing. But after 12 weeks of a gentle, beginner-level yoga program, people in a recent study had as much pain relief as those who did physical therapy sessions. And either type of exercise worked better than doing nothing at all.
They went to an hour-long yoga class every week, and were assigned to practice for 30 minutes on their own every day they didn’t have class. The guidebook explains how to practice at home, but if you want more details, check out the teacher’s manual. Before the yoga program, 70 percent of participants were using pain medication. Afterwards, only 50 percent were. (People who hadn’t done the yoga or physical therapy programs had no change in their pain meds.) This yoga program doesn’t work miracles, but it does seem to help.
I tried the routine (I jumped straight to the more advanced moves, since I’ve done yoga before) and they’re simple, gentle, and totally not intimidating. If you have back pain, get it checked out, but it’s good to know that yoga might be able to help.
