Helping Chronic Pain with Yoga
Canada Goose Coats On Sale Daily yoga practice has helped keep my occasional bouts of chronic arthritis pain in check. But, when life gets canada goose outlet store montreal in the way and I miss a few classes, the low level ache in the backs of my legs starts to radiate out to other areas of my body. It’s hard to describe exactly, except to say that if I bend down with my legs straight and try to touch my toes, the pain is often excruciating. Canada Goose Coats On Sale
buy canada goose jacket cheap Forward bends are incredibly painful when I’m dealing with canada goose outlet website legit this chronic pain. buy canada goose jacket cheap
Canada Goose Jackets Ironically, it’s when I come back to yoga after this hiatus and do the forward bends and downward facing dogs that canada goose outlet toronto factory the pain is the most intense. But what I’ve discovered is that if I force myself to do whatever versions of canada goose outlet store toronto forward bend or downward facing dog that I can do, canada goose outlet black friday sale things usually get better by the end of class, and they continue to get better on successive days until about the fourth or fifth day when the pain completely disappears. After the pain goes away completely, I can switch back to doing yoga every other day without experiencing any relapses in pain. Canada Goose Jackets
canadian goose jacket So how does yoga work to relieve pain? According canada goose outlet toronto to Stanford University Professor Dr. Robert Sapolsky on page canada goose outlet winnipeg 170 of his book “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” when you experience short bouts of intense pain like if you hold your hand too close to the flames there are pain sensor neurons that canada goose outlet las vegas fire in the area where you FEEL the pain and there are also neurons in the spine that receive canada goose outlet in vancouver these messages. There’s also an entirely separate neural circuit that turns OFF the pain when you pull your hand away. canadian goose jacket
uk canada goose So one neuron receives the pain message and another neuron shuts it off. The only trouble is low level pain (like my arthritis pain) has NO shut off switch. uk canada goose
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canada goose coats on sale Here’s why: Low level pain, like itching https://www.canadagooseparkasoutlet.ca (with no off switch) canada goose outlet london uk shares the same pathway (in other words the same wiring) as would a sudden burst of intense pain from the same area (like the hot water on the same piece of skin as the itch). But this time the Canada Goose Outlet canada goose jacket outlet uk ON/OFF circuit is activated by the sudden pain. Turn off the hot water and the OFF button on the circuit is now activated. No pain whatsoever (either intense heat OR low level itch) is experienced from this area of skin. You fooled your nervous system into turning off the pain receptor for canada goose outlet online uk the itch by sending an intense wave of pain up the same nerve highway as your low level pain was traveling. canada goose coats on sale
uk canada goose outlet Downward facing dogs are difficult too. uk canada goose outlet
canada goose uk shop So what does all this have to do with chronic pain and yoga? During the various canada goose outlet phone number stretches I do in yoga class, I very carefully find the position in the stretch canada goose outlet uk sale (typically in forward bend and downward facing dog) where I can endure a short blast of intense pain. I canada goose outlet uk know I can vary the intensity canada goose outlet store quebec of the pain by lengthening or shortening the canada goose parka outlet stretch. So I’m totally in control of the pain, but I deliberately go to the edge where I can turn it ON with some intensity. As Dr. Sapolsky confirmed when he previewed this blog, canada goose outlet miami I’m probably activating the on off circuit for this pain in the same way that I turn the canada goose outlet locations in toronto itch off with hot water canada goose uk shop.
