Some of my patients are wondering whether they can practice yoga whilst undergoing chiropractic care. Let me explain to you how “ CHIROPRACTIC & YOGA ” can brilliantly complement one another.
Movement, balance, and flexibility are some major factors for a healthy nervous system. The holistic approach to CHIROPRACTIC & YOGA helps your body perform at its best.
In fact, a healthy body is characterised by a DYNAMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM , which enables us to move, feel, learn, and heal! The nervous system (NS) is the focus of every chiropractic treatment, and a thorough spinal examination is a central aspect of the chiropractic diagnosis. Chiropractic corrects joint misalignments and guides our body through a natural healing process. Positive treatment changes can be maintained through regular yoga practice, in order to keep your flexibility and strength. Many of our patients benefit from improved body perception and new healthy movement patterns – in all areas of their life.
The chiropractic view on yoga
● Deep breathing helps to reduce stress levels. It is proven that this occurs even at a biochemical level, through hormonal changes. Correct breathing patterns and aerobic/calm exercising has a relaxing effect on the body.
Natural belly breathing makes every cell in your body feel safe. It is one of the easiest techniques to switch our autonomic nervous system from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic drive. Our sympathetic NS triggers the “fight or flight” response, which releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. If the adrenal glands produce these hormones continuously they will get exhausted after a while, which may show through negative mood swings, weight gain in the belly region or a general “burnout”. In fact, the sympathetic NS disables our healing quality! The parasympathetic NS is in charge of “healing and relaxation”. Hormones, like serotonin, help healing responses in our body and create an essential balance to our “busy work life”. YOGA as well as CHIROPRACTIC emphasise the parasympathetic NS and assist in healing and relaxation.
● Regarding the aspect of flexibility, yoga can be even more effective for men than women. Men often lack flexibility, whilst women may lack strength and stability. Yoga helps to build “functional flexibility”, which is needed in combination with strength to perform a biomechanically healthy movement. If you pick something heavy up from the floor you should never slouch and twist your lower back at the same time. BENDING, TWISTING, and LIFTING HEAVY can lead to lower back pain and disc
issues. Hence, if your hamstring muscles are shortened, and your back is slouched and twisted, the lifted object may weigh on your discs. If an injured disc happens to pinch a nerve it will cause severe pain and may take a long time to heal properly. Flexible leg musculature and fascia helps to reduce the risk of low back problems.
In contrast, very flexible females should always make sure to keep the yoga postures with strength and core stability. If you “hang” too deep in the postures you risk developing arthritis (wear and tear) in your joints later on.
● Although yoga seems to be practised by the younger generations, it is safe to continue it at a higher age. A study by Nick N, et al. (2015) proved to increase balance and decrease the fear of falling in the age group 60-74. Gentle yoga helps with symptoms of arthritis and has shown to have a positive effect on mental and physical health.
If a high quality of life is just as important to you, then visit us at Chiropraktikzentrum Berlin ( www.chiroberlin.de ) and get your spine checked . We will make sure your nervous system can move, learn, and heal at its full potential.
I wrote this article for yogafürdich Berlin, as they offer very holistic and different types of special yoga classes. Have a look! www.yfdberlin.com
Patricia C Peer
BSc Human Science, MSc Chiropractic.
further specialised in pediatrics (baby chiropractic) & applied kinesiology