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Health & Fitness

Yoga for Chronic Pain Relief

Yoga is a form of deep nourishment. It helps us process and assimilate the many activities and challenges of life in a meaningful manner. As a naturopathic physician, I find that illness and disease are often linked with unrest of the mind.

This is where yoga can make the difference that people are seeking—yoga is a safe way to work through emotions and suffering. In addition, the body stores tension that often presents as physical pain. Have you ever noticed that in times of stress, that old injury flared up? This phenomenon is a good example of how tension in the mind can translate into tension or pain in the body due to emotional unrest.

In traditional Chinese medicine, pain is described as a stagnation of Qi or blood, meaning that there is a lack of flow of energy in the body. Yoga seems to work better than most other natural therapies for chronic pain because it opens up that flow of energy, prana in Aryuvedic medicine or Qi in Chinese medicine. In fact, all traditional systems of healing recognize some form of energy flow in the body. A common theme is that balance is achieved when the energy flow is fluid or "not stuck."

In my naturopathic medicine and acupuncture, I prescribe a practice of yoga almost daily. New patients are given a free pass to a local yoga studio, West Hartford Yoga, where an introductory class offers beginners the perfect place to start. I cannot stress enough the need for proper well-trained instruction to avoid injury and frustration.

I’ve noticed that some people receive more pain relief from yoga than from acupuncture, which is well known in treating chronic pain. Like acupuncture, yoga is a full-body movement. I like to think of yoga as a detoxification of negative emotions. Acupuncture uses needles to move bad energy through the body just as yoga uses disciplined thoughts and poses.

A consistent weekly yoga schedule seems to produce the best results. After completing the introductory class, people can then expand to restorative or gentle classes.
Yoga is also a natural way to stimulate endorphin release (also called a "runners high") and tends to have lasting effects. It seems like the effects of yoga are cumulative or additive in nature.  Consistent two- to four-times weekly is best for chronic pain management.

I constantly hear from my patients, “When I do yoga, I feel better.” And, I’ve found that patients often respond better to acupuncture when the treatment follows a yoga class.

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