Thanks to yoga, I had a surprising realization about my own body (Beginner Yoga / Lower Back Pain Relief)
I have been doing beginner yoga for the past few months, and I had a "surprising realization" about my own body that made me think, "I'm so glad I kept at it."
I've been struggling with neck and lower back pain, and since I've been continuing this in the hope of improving and healing it myself, it was such a happy realization that I wanted to write about it.
Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I have pain in the right side of my neck. I've had this neck pain ever since I was in my 30s.
Usually, it recovers after I start moving around for a while, but there are times when I end up taking medication.
The cause is likely a combination of things, such as my body being naturally stiff and having poor posture, as well as the aftereffects of a traffic accident (of course, I've already had it checked at a hospital, and there are no abnormalities in my bones or brain).
I've always wanted to reduce the amount of medication I take and become healthy enough that I don't need it at all.
I tried muscle training to heal the pain, but it was hard to keep up, and it wasn't until I discovered B-FLOW's yoga last year that I was finally able to continue it in some way.
Well, even so, I still had pain from time to time.
Suddenly, I remembered that when I was taking adult ballet lessons, the teacher said, "People with stiff hip joints need to start by softening their ankles first. You can't just soften your hip joints right away."
I recalled that the stretches at the beginning of the lesson also started with ankle rotations.
Remembering that, I tried to be conscious of rotating my ankles, and my stiff right hip joint has opened up quite a bit.
And since I started having lower back pain (around October of last year), I began incorporating B-FLOW's lower back pain relief yoga, which increased the number of movements where I mainly move my lower body while lying down.
*There are many types, but the yoga I often do is around #204, #310, #546, #576, and #637. I always do #633 before going to bed.
A little while ago, while doing that yoga (I think it was #637), I felt a connection between the muscle on the inside of my left leg (the inner line from the hip joint to the ankle) and the right side of my neck.
I felt a sensation that went from my neck, through my back, and down to my leg, and I thought, "Oh!"
I thought, "Maybe the right side of my neck is connected to the inside of my left leg."
In the series of movements, I had also thought that the inside of my left leg was stiffer than my right leg,
and I wondered if "the fact that the inside of my left leg isn't stretched might be related to the pain in the right side of my neck."
I haven't confirmed this by reading medical books or anything like that at all.
It is purely something I gained from my own bodily sensations.
However, by feeling a connection that spanned my entire body through my physical senses, I felt a premonition that I might be able to heal the pain.
I thought that if I could get my left thigh to stretch more, the neck pain might decrease.
In fact, lower back pain relief yoga often includes movements to improve thigh tension and movements to improve the function of the hip joints and psoas muscles, so I have gradually come to understand that stretching parts of the body other than just the lower back is also important.
I was very happy about this realization.
There is a lot of information out there like "this is how you should improve lower back pain" or "this will cure neck and shoulder stiffness," but especially lately, there is so much information that it's hard to know which one is good.
I used to spend time searching for "the best method!" (sweat)
Lately, I've been choosing things that have a low barrier to entry and seem like something I can continue comfortably, trying them out, and seeing how it goes.
There were days when I felt really down because things weren't getting much better, so having a premonition that I could heal the pain based on my body's sensations was a big change in terms of motivation.
From there, I feel like I've come to understand the right amount of "how far I should stretch for myself" when continuing yoga. I also feel like I've become able to stretch my body more carefully without overdoing it.
When starting yoga or muscle training for health purposes, I think people like me who are stiff or lack athletic ability are especially prone to getting hurt somewhere along the way or giving up (I've given up several times too).
It's important to start with a low barrier, and it's also important to "observe your own body" and "notice things by observing."
I have finally become able to realize that.
Through that, I'm sure my body will gradually become more flexible and my muscles will increase.
It's not a miraculous story where the pain just disappeared, but I hope this provides some hints for those who are worried about having a stiff body or who find it hard to keep up with muscle training or yoga.
Thank you for reading until the end.
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