Yoga For Pain Control

Yoga can be a great help in overcoming chronic pain. The yoga exercises themselves can target some types of chronic pain, especially back pain. You can see the yoga back pain exercises here: Yoga for Back Pain

As well as the particular exercises, called asanas, yoga breathing is the weapon that can be used to overcome chronic pain. When you are hurting anywhere in your body the natural reaction is to tense up around the area that hurts. But with chronic pain this tension only makes the pain worse.

When you take a breath and then exhale you can feel the tension leaving your body. Because the exhalation causes muscle relaxation the way to increase relaxation and reduce tension is to lengthen the process of breathing. Yoga breathing is controlled breathing that helps to reduce pain by relaxing the tension in your muscles.

You take a breath into the bottom of your lungs, you hold the breath for a count of 4 or 5 and then you very slowly let that breath go. This is a smooth movement of the breath in and out. Continue doing this for several minutes.

You can do this breathing at any time of day. It is an easy way to center yourself and release tension. It will help you to control your pain.

There are also several very good Yoga DVDs that you can use to learn Yoga if you cannot attend a class. There also an article about yoga for fibromyalgia that you may find helpful.