Our chiropractic clinic in Stoke on Trent sees hundreds of patients with poor posture, back pain, and various musculoskeletal conditions each year. We take a holistic approach to treating each patient, which in addition to chiropractic treatment includes lifestyle adjustments, good nutrition, and exercise.
When it comes selecting the best form of exercise, we often find ourselves recommending yoga. It is a low impact workout which can deliver extraordinary, transformative results.
In this post, our Stoke chiropractor is going to explain how yoga can help you.
What Is Yoga?
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices developed in India thousands of years ago. There are several schools of yoga which focus on each aspect to a varying degree.
A yoga workout involves a series of postures called asanas. Each asana will focus on several parts of the body, providing unique benefits to those regions. Routines can be customised to improve your fitness in a specific way or target the parts of the body you are concerned about.
This is one of the reasons why our chiropractic clinic in Stoke on Trent often recommends yoga — it can be customised to help you address the unique combination of health problems you currently are dealing with.
We also recommend yoga because it is low impact. Virtually anyone can get started with yoga and enjoy the health benefits it provides.
However, you should consult a healthcare practitioner prior to commencing any form of new exercise as they will be able to advise you of the type of exercise that is suitable for you.
How Can Yoga Improve Your Health?
Here are just few of the ways that yoga can help you become healthier and deal with common health conditions:
Better Posture
Many of the patients who visit our chiropractors in Stoke on Trent are looking for help with their posture. Chiropractors can use several techniques to address poor posture including manual therapy, joint articulation and soft tissue therapy.
Even though chiropractic treatments can be very effective at correcting poor posture, chiropractors will always recommend exercise as well. Yoga is a particularly good option as it can strengthen the muscles that support good posture and can improve spinal alignment.
Improved Flexibility
Are you struggling to touch your toes, twist your back, or turn your neck? Yoga might be the answer. Regular yoga practice increases the flexibility and stretch of the tendons, ligaments, and muscles which determine your flexibility levels. Once you have boosted your flexibility, you’ll see improvements in your mobility, sporting performance, and overall health.
Stronger Muscles
Some people mistakenly believe that because yoga is low impact, then it also must be low intensity. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Many Hatha yoga workouts can be physically demanding and require a lot of strength to complete.
After several weeks of Hatha yoga practice, you will notice that all of your muscles feel much more powerful, helping you in your day-to-day life. Yoga is particularly effective at strengthening core muscles, which is one of the main reasons why we recommend it to patients at out chiropractic clinic in Stoke on Trent.
Relief From Back Pain
As the condition of your body’s muscles and joints improve from weeks of yoga practice, you’ll start to see a variety of improvements in your general health. One of the most important improvements can be a reduction in back pain.
Yoga can help reduce back pain in several ways. It strengthens the core muscles very effectively, which helps take some strain off the back itself. The improvements to spinal alignment and posture which can occur through regular yoga practice can also take some load off the back.
There have been several studies confirming the effectiveness of yoga for relieving back pain and it is recommended by the American College of Physicians as a first-line treatment for chronic low back pain.
Reduced Arthritis Symptoms
Yoga can also be effective, as it has been shown to ease discomfort form tender or swollen joints.
Better Sleep
Yoga is a meditative practice that is soothing for the mind and body. A great yoga workout can put you at ease and reduce symptoms of stress. This can have the added benefit of making it easier to get a great night’s sleep, which improves the health of your spine.
If you need any more information on the benefits of yoga or need to see a chiropractor in Stoke on Trent, give us a call today on 01782 848 184. Our chiropractor at City Chiropractic are here to help you.