Impaired movement control may result in chronic lower back pain. A new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows that the combination of manual therapy and exercise is an excellent way to combat movement control impairment in the lower back. This combination reduced the disability experienced by patients and significantly improved their functional ability…
Back pain, whether it be chronic or acute, is one of the most agonizing experiences one could endure. Ask anyone who has any significant degree of back pain, and they will attest to the restrictions it presents: limited range of movement, reduced mental focus, a sense of helplessness and even severe depression can result from a back injury. While any form of back…
The condition is much more common in women than men. It is usually caused by trauma to the tailbone or surrounding area, such as a backward fall or childbirth. On rare occasions, an infection or tumor can also cause pain in the coccyx. See Osteomyelitis, a Spinal Infection and Spinal Tumors and Back Pain This article provides an in-depth review of the causes of coccydynia…
Here s what we re going to do: I m very fond of using a tennis ball to release your hips, but recently I ve started using a softball (or a baseball) for the upper part of your hips. I find it is very comfortable and allows me to put a great deal of my body weight on the muscles in the hips, while in a position that just about anyone can sustain comfortably, all while…
Back muscle pain or its aliases: pulled back muscle, back muscle spasm, torn back muscle or back muscle strain, is very common. In fact, back muscle pain is the most common source of back pain. The good news is, that it is also one of the quickest to heal and rehabilitate. What Causes Back Muscle Pain? Most causes of low back pain are muscle, ligament or joint related…
*Heads up: We just launched the YBC Yoga Forum, where health conscious people (like you!) are coming together to chat about everything from chaturangas to chocolates. Come join! We d love to connect! If you consider how often we sit (ahem, slouch), it s not a huge surprise that many of us suffer from minor upper back pain. I mean, we probably spend the majority of…
Here’s a grimly edifying set-piece for twenty-first-century feminists to ponder: when my grandmother was a teenager at Greenwich Academy, a girls’ prep school in Connecticut, she and her fellow students were required to pose nude for photographs taken by the P.E. teacher. Once a year, in a mirrored studio on campus, they would shed their itchy, matronly uniforms—green…
For those with diabetes or pre-diabetes, adopting a regular yoga routine in addition to other healthy lifestyle habits can provide relief from diabetic symptoms and even help overcome the condition. The best beginning yoga for diabetes will include postures and breathing exercises that are designed specifically to target and stimulate the pancreas. By improving blood…
Yesterday, I spent the afternoon teaching Teacher Training at Tranquil Space. As always, it was a fabulous experience and I left feeling exhilarated, exhausted and inspired. To me, there s nothing like a group of students who are hungry for more-who have chosen to study what they re studying because they truly love it- and who have so much knowledge, experience, and…
Being afraid I’ll end up looking like the humpback of Notre Dame when I’m older is a reasonable fear. Overall health and wellness has become much more of a priority now that I’m in my thirties. Good posture was something I may have only heard about from my mom when she told me to straighten up (or when I was acting out, more likely). As a yoga teacher I find myself…
Bikram s Beginning Yoga Class is a series of twenty-six traditional hatha yoga postures designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched. Bikram Yoga s twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring…
Spinal stenosis is a disorder that is caused by a narrowing of the spinal canal. This narrowing happens as a result of the degeneration of both the facet joints and the intervertebral discs. In this condition, bone spurs (also called osteophytes ) grow into the spinal canal. The facet joints also enlarge as they become arthritic, which contributes to a decrease in…
Can’t quite remember the last time going #2 felt like, well, second nature? While it may be tempting to reach for some OTC relief, consider hitting the yoga mat instead. Can yoga poses really help? “Movement in general is important for stimulating the bowels to help move the food bolus, gas, and, ultimately, waste, through your system, ” says Rebekah Gross, M.D…
How we wish we were one of those people with hot bodies and great stamina. But for that, you have to pull yourself out of bed, and then get into your yoga pants, and then drive to a super expensive yoga class, and then struggle to fight with your insecurities of not being in sync with others. Or worse, being the sloppiest of all. So if you want to save yourself the…
If you were playing a game of word association and heard the word yoga,what would be the first thing that popped into your head? A lot of people would say pretzel or hard,but yoga can actually be quite simple. If you got out of bed this morning and stretched your arms up over your head, you already did a yoga pose. Yoga introduces a mindfulness to stretching…
You might have heard about this web of connective tissue in yoga, physical therapy, and movement classes. Fascia links every cell in the body. Think of this system as an information superhighway where messages can travel instantly from one part of the body to another. Far from merely a physical entity, the fascial web is sentient and intelligent. It plays a key role…
