I read this today:
“Recommendations by the American College of Physicians and American Pain Society point to yoga as a possible non-drug treatment for lower back pain. In addition, a recent meta-analysis by Cramer et al out of the University of Duisberg-Essen in Germany concluded that yoga should be recommended as a complementary therapy to deal with chronic lower back pain.”
Wow – it’s amazing. 20 years ago this would have seemed highly unlikely. Yoga is now being looked at as a medical treatment. Great strides have been made in terms of the physical benefits of practice. All of the great teachers who have guided yoga here would probably be really happy with how far we’ve come.
On the other hand, it is a bit odd. Yoga for lower back pain is a bit inspecific don’t you think? It kind of dumbs it down. It’s kind of like saying “you should try exercise for your back”.
There have been some really good studies on yoga for back pain. I’m a fan of Gary Krafstow’s work. But most media coverage of this topic doesn’t mention specific protocols. It might be better to mention that you should work with a yoga therapist, and not just walk into an advanced asana class at your local gym.
All in all, though the publicity for yoga therapeutics is a good thing. The drive to end physical discomfort has started many on the path of yoga. I’ll take the free PR.
May we all find peace,
Brandt
Breathe in, breathe out. Looking for a therapeutic yoga definition? Learn what yoga therapy is and what it can help treat from Breathing Deeply.
Welcome to episode 2 of the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy and Meditation Podcast! At Breathing Deeply we offer Yoga Therapy Foundations and IAYT Advanced teacher training programs. Inside these programs, we have weekly Q&A sessions with students and Breathing Deeply founder & lead teacher. Brandt Passalacqua. This episode has been taken from a live Q&A […]
Today’s episode is a recording taken directly from a live Q&A session with Breathy Deeply founder, Brant Passalacqua and students of our Yoga therapy foundations program. Brandt covers how a yoga therapy session usually flows, whether you need to specialize as a yoga therapist, the difference between depression and anxiety and how to approach mental […]