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Benefits of Yoga for Pain Management

Yoga is a mind-body exercise that works on helping you relax, focus, control your breath, and strengthen your body and your mind. There are many types of yoga. In the United States, Hatha Yoga is most popular. But many other types are gaining in popularity. 

Yoga can offer several benefits for people who are experiencing joint-related pain, and yoga is excellent for chronic pain. Some benefits in addition to pain management, include:

  • Improving mobility and function
  • Preventing cartilage and joint breakdown
  • Reducing stress
  • Protecting the spine and helping improve posture
  • Improving mood
  • Increasing psychological wellbeing
  • Improving strength, stability, flexibility, and balance
  • Promoting relaxation
  • Increasing energy
  • Increasing metabolism and helping manage weight

Whether you have hip, back, knee, or shoulder pain, yoga can be a great way to help you with pain management. 

Yoga for pain relief

Yoga can be very helpful in relieving chronic pain. It can help people who have many pain-related conditions, such as:

  • Arthritis
  • Joint pain
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Migraine headaches
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome

Here are some specific poses that can help with joint pain:

  • Chronic back pain – Daily yoga can help strengthen the back and alleviate or prevent back pain. Some poses that can be used for back pain relief include cat pose, dolphin plank pose, cow pose, cobra pose, and downward-facing dog pose.
  • Shoulder pain – Several poses can help with shoulder pain, including bow pose, eagle pose, cat pose, dolphin pose, half moon pose, and plow pose.
  • Knee pain – Yoga for knee pain relief may include poses such as big toe pose, bound angle pose, bridge pose, and extended triangle pose.
  • Hip pain – Bajaradvaja’s twist, boat pose, big toe pose, child’s pose, cat pose, and easy pose may help loosen the hip and alleviate hip pain.

One of the great things about yoga is that almost anyone can do it. Yoga can be done from a chair, so you don’t even need to be mobile to experience the benefits of yoga. If you’re interested in yoga for pain relief, talk to your doctor or join one of our classes. Beaumont offers yoga therapy and gentle yoga classes at Royal Oak and West Bloomfield. Some of our practitioners also offer private yoga classes that can be tailored to your needs.

Pain Management at Beaumont 

Beaumont's Centers for Pain Medicine use the latest technology and pain management procedures to help patients with all forms of pain. We provide holistic treatment, individually tailored to meet each person’s pain management needs. Using the latest technology and often incorporating alternative therapy and physical therapy in our pain management programs, we offer interventions to reduce pain severity, improve quality of life, and increase physical functioning. 

Make an appointment

If you’re experiencing any type of pain, we can help. Pain management specialists at Beaumont are committed to delivering the highest quality of integrated care. 

To schedule an appointment, call Beaumont Integrative Medicine at 248-964-9200.