Yoga for Chronic Conditions: A Path to Wellness and Pain Management
By Dennis Bluthardt, Namaste Studios
In recent years, we have observed an increased alignment towards holistic health options, particularly for those living with chronic conditions. This shift originates from a desire to be cared for (and to care for oneself) as a complete being: physically, yes, but emotionally and mentally. Clearly, for those living with chronic illnesses, a need exists to manage one’s disease as well as to live in a state of more general wellness. One practice that has emerged as a leader in this holistic field is yoga.
Yoga, as an exercise composed of asana (physical postures), ujjayi pranayama (breath exercises), and meditation (a practice of prolonged focus), offers many healing applications from a wellness perspective. Some researchers argue that regular yoga can reduce stress, encourage flexibility, and build strength, conditions that contribute to improved health. Additionally, such mindful approaches to exercise encourage practitioners to work with the experience of modes of embodiment (often, an understanding of pain), the mastery of which can lead one to develop new, more effective ways to live with chronic conditions.
This article is designed to present basic steps for applying some specific yoga protocols for chronic conditions, explain how one might employ poses offered here for an ideal release of discomfort or relaxation, and suggest or mention other steps so that these modifications of the practices become accessible to everyone who reads this article.
Understanding Chronic Conditions
If you live with a chronic condition, you know how these long-lasting health issues can impact your life. This often means living with persistent pain, fatigue, mobility challenges, and other serious and life-altering problems. Some individuals with these conditions have difficulty performing daily tasks or working to support themselves and their families. Many others enjoy significantly less quality of life due to chronic health problems.
People with Arthritis can face severe joint pain and stiffness that make it difficult to walk up a short flight of stairs or open a bottle of water. People who have fibromyalgia typically experience fatigue along with disturbed/diminished sleep and “fibro fog.” It’s common to see fibromyalgia listed first on every “most painful condition” list (from a patient’s point of view). Chronic pain syndromes can feature any number of symptoms occurring in various parts of the body. Emotional problems like anxiety and depression are a natural result of being isolated.
Living with these conditions doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be able to find a solution that works for you. All these conditions feature a depressing lack of effective medications or physical therapy routines. Many patients do nothing but practice trial and error from one month to the next. If you count yourself among this number, and even if you don’t, you should pay time and attention to mindfulness as an indirect symptom relief. Individuals practicing mindfulness should see improvements and two problems affecting chronic illness patients.
The Benefits of Yoga for Chronic Conditions
Yoga is an all-around good workout. In terms of flexibility, strength, and balance, it’s hard to beat the benefits of yoga. Almost all poses and stretches improve these three aspects of fitness. The more times a pose is performed, the better a person’s range of motion becomes. This motion will help relieve stiffness and improve overall physical performance. Yoga poses also require a surprising amount of strength. Going through yoga motions will help build strength and increase joint stability, helping to prevent possible injuries. Many people also see a marked decrease in chronic pains because of an improvement in the body’s physical fitness, thus improving one’s pain management.
Most of the time, yoga is a fantastic way to relax and de-stress. Yoga works by promoting a spirit of relaxation. The whole point is to concentrate on the moment and forget the day’s previous worries. The calming effect of consciously lying still and ignoring one’s troubles, coupled with performing physical tasks that require the use of the breath, another technique used to reduce feelings of stress, is one of the main reasons yoga should be used as a de-stressing technique.
Specific Yoga Poses for Pain Management
Gentle yoga poses like Child’s Pose, Cat-Cow, and Seated Forward Bend are perfect for various abilities and conditions. Child’s Pose is a nurturing stretch for the back and hips, easily modified for those with less mobility, offering rest for high and low tides. Cat-Cow, a moving flow, is a nice way to warm up the spine, and it can be performed in a chair. Seated Forward Bend encourages flexibility in the hamstrings (lower back of the thighs) while giving the lower back room to breathe.
Restorative yoga is a godsend for chronic pain. The style is inherently relaxing and can help reduce the amount of tension held in the body. Poses like Supported Bridge, Legs-Up-the-Wall, and Savasana can be held comfortably for many minutes at a time, which makes it much easier to help the body let go and achieve better overall balance. Not only that, but they foster a sense of beneficial emotional calm. For those with chronic pain of any kind, a little peace goes a long way.
Pranayama is a set of yoga exercises that focuses on breath control. Health experts agree that learning how to breathe deeply and quickly can encourage relaxation. This may help activate the body’s natural relaxation response or stimulate the parasympathetic (“rest-and-digest”) nervous system.
Tips for Incorporating Yoga into Your Routine
Choosing yoga classes focused on chronic conditions is essential. Find a class led by an instructor who has either experienced your health condition or specializes in therapeutic yoga. Some studios and new online platforms host yoga classes for chronic pain, addiction, vertigo, etc. I like having the option to choose a class based on how I feel that day by reading class reviews and descriptions.
Creating a consistent yoga routine at home is a tried-and-true solution for pain management. If you have chronic pain with breakthrough symptoms, attend yoga therapy a few times a week and practice yoga at home every day for 10-15 minutes. Once you get into the habit of rolling out your mat at the same time every day in a quiet, comfortable space in your home, practicing yoga daily will be your new go-to solution for pain management. Some other ways to establish a consistent yoga routine at home are to watch yoga sessions on YouTube, download an app, and/or subscribe to an online video library.
Modify every Pose as much as possible using a block to lengthen specific body parts. If you have difficulty moving your hip, slightly bend, lift, and pull your hip up utilizing a yoga strap. Some poses may be too uncomfortable for you to move through safely, so I suggest only practicing that Pose under the watchful eye of a good teacher.
Yoga has benefits for those with a host of chronic complaints like Arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain syndromes. The simple, gentle movements and stretches can help maintain range of motion, promote better core strength for improved posture (and less pain from poor posture), and build overall strength and flexibility to move with less discomfort. Plus, the mindfulness of yoga can drop you down into your parasympathetic nervous system, where you can truly relax and let go of stress, the perfect counterbalance to managing a life with chronic illness.
You can quickly see why yoga might be a powerful complementary therapy. It tackles the physical symptoms and the mind/body interface to look at the whole person and approaches a life well-lived in wellness around these concepts. Many folks say they are happier, feel more in sync with their usual good natures, aren’t as tired, and don’t notice their most annoying symptoms of chronic pain as often. There’s nothing particularly onerous about signing up for a drop-in class at your local community center or committing to a seven-minute practice every day that you manage a home practice on your own.
Many resources for fabulous books and online and live drop-in classes specific to your diagnosis are available. Websites like Yoga Journal and the American Yoga Association have excellent cues and whole video instruction on classes specific to certain types of people managing a class of disorders.
