HOW RESTORATIVE YOGA CAN ENHANCE CHIROPRACTIC CARE

If your strategy for resolving back (or other joint) pain includes frequent visits to a chiropractor, then yoga practice (of a certain kind) may be the perfect way to enhance the effectiveness of this work. Read on for an inspiring and in-depth look at how these two healing modalities are mutually enhancing …

The Benefits Of Yoga

You may already know about some of the physical, mental, and emotional health benefits associated with yoga. And if not, prepare to be pleasantly surprised!

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Here are just a few among the multitude of ways that yoga can improve our health and wellness. A skillful yoga practice:  

• Calms the nervous system
• Releases mental and physical tension
• Enhances immunity
• Improves mental focus
• Increases blood flow
• Improves strength, flexibility, and balance
• Regulates the adrenal glands  
• Nourishes happiness and peace of mind

Some of the structural and functional benefits of yoga that overlap with chiropractic care include: 

• Strengthens joints and ligaments
• Promotes the body’s healing response
• Increases range of motion 
• Helps to prevent future injury
• Improves spinal health and posture
• Enhances overall body function

Yoga Can Help Relieve Back Pain

The potential of yoga poses to help resolve back pain is now accepted by mainstream science and medicine. Harvard Medical School, for instance, reports how some simple yoga poses, when performed correctly, can be an effective remedy for back pain.

Among the various styles of yoga practice, restorative yoga or therapeutic yoga class is likely to be most beneficial, as an adjunct to chiropractic care. And there’s one style in particular—the Kaiut Method—that was actually designed by a chiropractor. More on that below.

But first, let’s take a look at some specific yoga poses known to be helpful for resolving back pain—and then keeping your spine healthy in the long run.

Yoga Poses For A Healthy Spine

Some yoga poses that often work well to alleviate occasional back pain include:

• Child’s Pose
• Downward-Facing Dog
• Pigeon Pose
• Cat-Cow Movement

Other yoga poses to relieve back pain include:

• Dolphin Pose
• Triangle Pose
• Upward-Facing Dog
• Standing Forward Fold

Remember that it’s always best to work with a qualified yoga instructor, particularly when you’re first learning the poses. The teacher will help you get into the pose properly, and modify it in ways that make sense for your unique circumstances.

The Genius of Restorative Yoga: The Kaiut Method

What makes restorative yoga a great choice is how it nourishes and heals the joints; relieves chronic pain; and deeply calms the central nervous system.

Many of the poses are performed with the body in a fully supported position—e.g. lying on the floor—which increases both safety and comfort. The positions are generally held for a couple of minutes at least, which provides the nervous system ample time to fully integrate the new and healthier movements and alignment.

The founder of the Kaiut Method of restorative yoga is Francisco Kaiut, who himself is a professional chiropractor as well as a longtime yoga practitioner. He also has received additional training in craniosacral therapy, polarity therapy, and deep tissue massage—which means that he knows the human body really well!

There’s an interesting story about how this particular style of yoga came about:

One day, when Francisco was teaching a yoga class, he began to imagine each yoga mat as a chiropractor’s treatment table—and transposed the therapeutic intervention a chiropractor might offer into a yoga pose. In other words, each of the poses within the Kaiut Method is rooted directly in specific chiropractic principles and techniques. And this makes it the perfect, and quite natural, complement to chiropractic care. 

Optimal Structure & Freedom Of Movement

The Kaiut Method of therapeutic yoga is designed specifically to support long-term healing by returning the body to its optimal structure. This is accomplished by working from the joints to increase overall function and freedom of movement. With a healthy skeletal system, internal systems can then function efficiently. 

By focusing on the joints rather than just stretching muscles, the Kaiut Method addresses the original cause behind pain and other disease symptoms.  It was designed specifically to help people work through chronic pain and injuries and resolve general aches & stiffness. The Kaiut Method yoga poses work equally well for inflexible and hyper-flexible bodies and can be practiced by people of any age. The simplicity of the poses makes Kaiut Yoga accessible to all practitioners regardless of their flexibility, strength, age, or experience.

Two yoga poses that are central to the Kaiut Method are:

1. Legs-Up-Wall Pose (Sanskrit: Viparita Karani). Don’t worry about having your pelvis right against the wall. It’s fine—and often preferable—to let your legs be angled a bit, as they rest against the wall. If possible, interlace your fingers behind your head and let your elbows drop toward the floor, as you rest in this position.

2. Easy Pose (Sanskrit: Sukhasana). In the Kaiut style of Easy Pose, we keep the knees quite narrow—about hip-width—and the angle of the knees open. Begin sitting upright (on the floor or on a yoga bolster) with your legs crossed in this position, for a couple of minutes. Then drop your head and chest forward onto (or toward) your legs, for another couple of minutes. Then change the cross of your legs, and repeat.

The Bottom Line: Yoga & Chiropractic Work Beautifully Together!

The bottom line is that a restorative yoga practice—and especially one rooted in the Kaiut Method—can work wonderfully in concert with chiropractic care. Each is likely to enhance the effectiveness of the other. 

To your health and happiness!

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