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I am a yoga junkie. According to the Huffington Post, I am not alone.
More than 20 million people practice yoga.
Lady Gaga, Madonna, Dr. Oz, Jon Bon Jovi, Brad Pitt and Sarah Jessica Parker are just a few of the many celebrities who “find their inner balance” studying the ancient practice.
My girlfriend is a distance runner and has sciatica issues. She swears by Bikram yoga. Bikram yoga is a series of poses and breathing techniques conducted in a seriously hot room. I mean seriously hot.
As someone who suffers from sciatica issues, I was hoping to find the same relief as my girlfriend and decided to attend a hot yoga class. Personally, I was dripping in sweat when I left the Bikram class. Also, I may have lost a few friends because my deodorant wore off.
This is not my favorite type of yoga class but if Brad Pitt has decided to attend, I may have to reconsider Bikram yoga.
It is important, though, that you avoid this type of yoga if you have high blood pressure or are pregnant.
After attending the class, I researched yoga and sciatica issues. In Yoga Journal Magazine, yoga instructor Sarah Powers recommended these yoga poses for individuals with sciatica issues:
• Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend)
• Salabhasana (Locust Pose)
• Sun salutations
• Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
• Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
• Setu Bandha (Bridge Pose)
• Pigeon Pose
• Twisting in Ardha Matseyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose)
According to Powers, “Using your practice to heal the condition is possible with patience and specific sequencing. It is important to strengthen the muscles around the sciatic nerve and bring circulation to this region. First, I suggest you bend the knees when in standing forward bends and Downward-Facing Dog to assist in the forward pelvic rotation. Also, moving in and out of poses increases the circulation to the area.”
For Powers sequencing of yoga poses for sciatica, you can go to: http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/812/
Women Fitness.net recommends these yoga poses for your sciatica issues. You can view the detail of these poses at http://www.womenfitness.net/top10_yoga_exercises.htm/
Add a Comment2 Comments
As a chiropractor, I recommend stretching and yoga all the time. There are some circumstances when sciatica can also be aggravated by stretching. Sciatica is not a diagnosis in itself because it just means pain going down the back of the leg. The big question we have to find out is why you have sciatic nerve symptoms. I have an article about this on my website http://www.drtchiro.com/Sciatica.htm
Just recently, I had a patient come in who was actually doing the exact wrong stretch, thinking it would be helpful, but was actually worsening with stretching because he was stretching the wrong areas and actually irritating the structures he was trying to help.
Sciatica may be self limiting and with a few days of stretching or yoga may go away. But if it is caused by a disc related problem, McKenzie Exercises may be better http://amzn.to/KKup0a. For discs, flexion type stretches may worsen the condition, but extension stretches will help a lot and feel better at the same time. It if is caused by a piriformis syndrome, stretching may also be beneficial, but it will involve stretching of the piriformis and surrounding muscles that are irritating the sciatic nerve.
Sciatica can be helped with yoga, and I'm not completely familiar with the names of the poses, but some poses may be great, others may not be helpful, depending on the whether those structures can handle stretching or are already irritated. Sciatica is usually due to either a sudden, or cumulative injury. For more information on injuries, you can go to my website, http://www.drtchiro.com, or read my article on how injuries happen http://www.drtchiro.com/HowDoInjuriesHappen.htm because Sciatica is usually something that has gradually caused the structures to become the way they are. Yoga can help, massage may also help, but also a good chiropractor may also be helpful particularly if you've tried everything (yoga, stretching, massage or other home therapies) and still have sciatica. A good chiropractor would likely tell you which stretches would be good for you as well as do treatment so you'll get relief even faster.
June 7, 2012 - 10:00amThis Comment
Always amazes me how good yoga can be for your body and soul. Just another reason to get out the old yoga mat!
Marielaina Perrone DDS
October 17, 2012 - 11:34amHenderson Teeth Whitening