How can yoga poses in Woodbury MN can help strengthen your back?

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Yoga Poses in Woodbury MN

Upper back pain, neck pain and low back pain are becoming more frequent in the chiropractic office. There are many people who experience these pains from working at a desk all day, or driving to and from work sitting in traffic. No matter what it is that is causing you pain there can be many reasons why it keeps coming back. Weakness; your body has a tendency to be misaligned in a pattern and that pattern is usually caused by weakness and stress.

As a chiropractor we can adjust you as frequently as your body calls for; however, it is easier for us to do our jobs and to get you on a healthier track when you are being proactive with your health. One thing that you can do to help strengthen your body is to add yoga poses to your daily regimen. A good majority of our daily posture is with our arms extended out in front of the body this causes the pectoral muscles to be tight creating a forward shoulder. When this happens it is easy for the head to follow the shoulders which then places extra pull on the neck and upper trapezius muscles, these tight muscles are working that much harder to keep your head up right. This can cause tension in the neck and can lead to headaches as well.

Stretching the muscles in the front part of the chest, the neck and upper back is the first step to get proper function back into the muscles. After stretching, strengthening the muscles should be applied to lessen the chances of the patterned weakness.

"The Clock" Pectoral muscles: 1)Stand parallel to a wall on your right side, lift your arm up to 90 degrees, placing your hand and arm on the wall and walk forward, stand in a lunge position close to the wall and walk until you feel a stretch in the front of your chest. Hold the stretch for 15-20 seconds then switch arms.

2) Stand close to a wall corner, lifting arm up perpendicular to the ceiling, place arm/hand on the wall and lunge forward until you feel the stretch in your armpit. Always pay attention to your core as to not hurt your back.

Neck muscles:

• Upper trap stretch: sitting up nice and tall, face forward and tilt your head to the right until you feel a stretch on the left side of your neck.Hold the stretch for 15-20 seconds then switch sides.Do not go past the point of pain to avoid straining the neck or causing spasms.
• SCM/Scalene muscle stretch: turn your head to the left/right towards your shoulder then tilt your head back until you feel the stretch in the front of your neck on the opposite side of the turn.Hold this stretch for 15-20 seconds then switch sides.
• Levator scapulae and Upper trap stretch: turn your head to the right/left towards the shoulder then tilt the head forward towards the floor until you feel the stretch in the back of the neck and upper shoulder blade.Hold the stretch for 15-20 seconds then switch sides.

Some yoga poses can also help relieve and strengthen the low back.

1. "Downward dog": Start on your hands and knees, with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders. Pressing back, raise your knees away from the floor and lift your tailbone up toward the ceiling. For an added hamstring stretch, gently push your heels toward the floor. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, and repeat the pose five to seven times.
2. "Child's Pose": Start on your hands and knees, with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders. Pressing back, raise your knees away from the floor and lift your tailbone up toward the ceiling. For an added hamstring stretch, gently push your heels toward the floor. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, and repeat the pose five to seven times.
3. "Pigeon Pose": Start in downward-facing dog with your feet together. Then draw your left knee forward and turn it out to the left so your left leg is bent and near-perpendicular to your right one; lower both legs to the ground. You can simply keep your back right leg extended straight behind you, or for an added hamstring stretch - seasoned pigeon posers, only! - carefully pull your back foot off the ground and in toward your back. Hold the position for 5 to 10 breaths, then switch to the other side, and repeat as needed.

Give these stretches a try and enjoy!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Christine Bartholomew, D.C.