The most common type is non- specific lower back pain. This is back pain that is not associated with a cause such as malignancy or direct trauma to the back.
What causes back pain?
The exact cause is of non-specific low back pain is often difficult to find. It is likely to be a combination of factors. Our bodies are naturally not symmetrical. Combined with factors such as poor posture and inactivity, this leads to some muscles becoming tight and others too long. This in turn creates strain on joints and can lead to pain. Tight muscles can sometimes spasm, leading to pain. Stress is also a factor (see below)
Diagnosing back problems
X-rays and scans can detect serious spinal injuries but do not help with ordinary back pain and can be misleading. NICE (National institute for clinical excellence) now advise clinical practitioners not to offer x-rays for non- specific back pain. The fact is that if you x-rayed most of the adult population without back pain, you would find some 'abnormalities'. This is part of normal wear and tear. Diagnostic findings for non- specific back pain can lead to unnecessary anxiety and sometimes even inappropriate treatment.
How can Dru yoga and Dru meditation help?
The current medical opinion, based on research, is that the back needs to move. If you have back pain, generally the sooner you get moving and back to your normal activities, the sooner your back will feel better.
Dru yoga, with its gentle, flowing, mindful movements is an ideal treatment.
The Back Book is one of the educational booklets given out by the NHS states that 'even when your back is painful, you can make a start without putting too much stress on it… exercise gets your back moving again by stretching tight muscles and joints and stops working parts 'seizing up'
It also states 'Only a few people with back pain have a slipped disc or a trapped nerve. Even then it usually gets better by itself. Very few back problems ever need surgery'
Yoga can help you:
Stretch and strengthen the back
Improve posture and body awareness
Change unhelpful physical and mental habit patterns
Increase your confidence to get moving again
Reduce muscle tension by learning breathing and relaxation techniques
Gain support from a group and /or tutor
Stress and back pain
These often go hand in hand, Chronic stress leads to muscle tension (see stress reduction) which over time can lead to back pain.
Back pain itself can lead to stress, which sets up a vicious circle. Anxiety about your back may lead you to unhelpful habits, such as 'bracing' or avoiding certain movements.
Dru yoga and meditation are an ideal way to reduce stress and to gently coax you back to normal movement.
Check out our classes
Weekly yoga
Monthly meditation
Workshops
Small groups and individual sessions
Research
'Dru Yoga can reduce perceived stress and back pain at work,' this was the finding of new UK research, published September 2012 in the Journal of Occupational Medicine
Over 80 participants from Conwy County Council were randomized into two groups; a yoga group who received one 50-minute Dru Yoga session each week for 8 weeks along with a short DVD for home practice, and a control group, which received no intervention.
Dru Yoga was chosen because it is a particularly safe and therapeutic form of yoga that can be practiced by most people
At the end of the trial, compared to the control group, the yoga group scores were significantly lower for perceived stress, back pain, sadness, and hostility, and much higher for feeling self-assured, attentive, and serene.
These results are consistent with the other published studies that show yoga to be very effective for improving general health and well-being
The study was published on-line in September in the Journal of Occupational Medicine (Oxford University Press). http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/62/8/606
What causes back pain?
The exact cause is of non-specific low back pain is often difficult to find. It is likely to be a combination of factors. Our bodies are naturally not symmetrical. Combined with factors such as poor posture and inactivity, this leads to some muscles becoming tight and others too long. This in turn creates strain on joints and can lead to pain. Tight muscles can sometimes spasm, leading to pain. Stress is also a factor (see below)
Diagnosing back problems
X-rays and scans can detect serious spinal injuries but do not help with ordinary back pain and can be misleading. NICE (National institute for clinical excellence) now advise clinical practitioners not to offer x-rays for non- specific back pain. The fact is that if you x-rayed most of the adult population without back pain, you would find some 'abnormalities'. This is part of normal wear and tear. Diagnostic findings for non- specific back pain can lead to unnecessary anxiety and sometimes even inappropriate treatment.
How can Dru yoga and Dru meditation help?
The current medical opinion, based on research, is that the back needs to move. If you have back pain, generally the sooner you get moving and back to your normal activities, the sooner your back will feel better.
Dru yoga, with its gentle, flowing, mindful movements is an ideal treatment.
The Back Book is one of the educational booklets given out by the NHS states that 'even when your back is painful, you can make a start without putting too much stress on it… exercise gets your back moving again by stretching tight muscles and joints and stops working parts 'seizing up'
It also states 'Only a few people with back pain have a slipped disc or a trapped nerve. Even then it usually gets better by itself. Very few back problems ever need surgery'
Yoga can help you:
Stretch and strengthen the back
Improve posture and body awareness
Change unhelpful physical and mental habit patterns
Increase your confidence to get moving again
Reduce muscle tension by learning breathing and relaxation techniques
Gain support from a group and /or tutor
Stress and back pain
These often go hand in hand, Chronic stress leads to muscle tension (see stress reduction) which over time can lead to back pain.
Back pain itself can lead to stress, which sets up a vicious circle. Anxiety about your back may lead you to unhelpful habits, such as 'bracing' or avoiding certain movements.
Dru yoga and meditation are an ideal way to reduce stress and to gently coax you back to normal movement.
Check out our classes
Weekly yoga
Monthly meditation
Workshops
Small groups and individual sessions
Research
'Dru Yoga can reduce perceived stress and back pain at work,' this was the finding of new UK research, published September 2012 in the Journal of Occupational Medicine
Over 80 participants from Conwy County Council were randomized into two groups; a yoga group who received one 50-minute Dru Yoga session each week for 8 weeks along with a short DVD for home practice, and a control group, which received no intervention.
Dru Yoga was chosen because it is a particularly safe and therapeutic form of yoga that can be practiced by most people
At the end of the trial, compared to the control group, the yoga group scores were significantly lower for perceived stress, back pain, sadness, and hostility, and much higher for feeling self-assured, attentive, and serene.
These results are consistent with the other published studies that show yoga to be very effective for improving general health and well-being
The study was published on-line in September in the Journal of Occupational Medicine (Oxford University Press). http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/62/8/606