Tag Archives: Pain management techniques

Must-have yoga meditation supplies for the summer: Sunscreen and long-sleeved clothes

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Now that U.S. heat records are falling left and right, it's important to pay extra attention to your skin this summer. After all, it's the only thing standing between you and the sun's hot, hot rays. That's why, at Dahn Yoga, we recommend including sunscreen, long-sleeved clothing and an umbrella in your warm-weather yoga meditation supplies.

Many people do their meditating indoors, which generally makes the sunblock and parasol unnecessary. But even there, a good, all-natural, cotton-based set of pants and a loose, long-sleeved shirt can help keep your skin cool.

Outdoors, though, you should take every measure to protect your skin from UV rays. The  American Academy of Ophthalmology agrees, which is why it has sponsored July as National UV Safety Month.

Here are some tips from the organization for keeping your skin from burning:

- Wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. If you don't, your pain management techniques will be for nothing, since a bad sunburn can be excruciating.

- Keep long sleeves, a hat and an umbrella handy.

- If you have blue, green or gray eyes, consider wearing sunglasses to protect your retinas.

- Avoid direct sunlight between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

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Can I use yoga stretching for back pain? All evidence points to yes

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Four out of five Americans suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, according to the National Institutes of Health. This makes back pain one of the most common medical conditions in existence. It also underscores the need for effective pain management techniques.

If you use yoga stretching for back pain, you're in luck: According to a newly released medical review, the holistic mind-body system is provably effective for lower back aches.

The author, an expert in preventative medicine from the University of California, San Diego, explained that several studies published in 2011 have bolstered the idea that yoga can ease back pain.

In particular, two large, randomized, UK-based investigations determined that weekly yoga classes can reduce lower back pain even as they improve flexibility and quality of life. As a bonus, these studies found that this alternative treatment for back pain entails very few adverse side effects.

So if you're on the fence about trying a Dahn Yoga class, especially one that's dedicated to spinal or neurological issues, hop off it already! At your local community center, there's a free slot – and a good teacher – and a pleasant group – and a calming class environment – all waiting for you.

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Is your yoga stretching for back pain causing you more pain? Consider trying a more soothing regimen, like Dahn Yoga

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Nine times out of 10, yoga enthusiasts will tell you that doing their holistic pain management techniques helps soothe their aching joints, muscles or limbs. However, occasionally you'll hear about how yoga made things worse. These mishaps almost always involve regimens that aren't as low-intensity and self-healing as Dahn Yoga.

For example, an article recently published in the New York Times Magazine examined reports of yoga teachers with chronic hip and back problems, as well as students who'd twisted themselves into such contorted positions that they'd seriously hurt themselves.

One yoga instructor even told the new source that most people should avoid yoga entirely!

The problem with an argument like this one is that it tends to be based on a few anecdotal horror stories, rather than broad surveys or in-depth research. Likewise, saying yoga should be avoided completely is like suggesting that running or swimming should be skipped at all costs – it's a blanket statement that ignores all the slower, more soothing versions of these exercises.

Plenty of scientific investigations have found that yoga stretching for back pain, shoulder aches or nerve problems really does work. All it takes is a low-impact yoga program that is proven to be soothing and effective.

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Yoga’s chronic pain management can keep aches from defining your life

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Chronic pain is a problem that is more widespread than nearly any other. What can we do about it? Rather than taking powerful painkillers or just gritting your teeth and bearing it, individuals with this problem may consider trying yoga's pain management techniques.

The American Pain Foundation (APF) states that pain affects more adults than heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined! This prevalence can really take a toll on our pocketbooks. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Americans annually spend $100 billion on chronic pain.

Evidently, much of this money is going to waste, since the incidence of chronic aches is not dropping. If anything, it's rising. The NIH estimates that eight in 10 Americans suffer from chronic pain in a lifetime.

Rather than letting aches run your life, consider taking the horse by the reins. Most yoga studios offer at least a few instructional classes on chronic pain management. You can even find DVDs that walk you through the basics in the comfort of your own home.

Many public health organizations are getting in on the action. The APF recently released a poster promoting the use of basic "chair yoga" for soothing aches and pains. The illustrations walk beginners through deep breathing, meditation, stretching and palm rubbing.

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Pain management techniques often include yoga

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Finding effective pain management techniques can be a real chore, especially when chronic aches have no apparent physiological source. If you've looked for a way to soothe tension and pain without resorting to pharmaceuticals, perhaps you've come across yoga stretching as a mode of chronic pain management.

Though it may sound rudimentary, yoga is in fact a multifaceted, targeted, pain-fighting system, one that has been in almost continual use for millennia.

The studies are there to prove it. A seminal 1991 report in the Internal Journal of Psychosomatics noted that the yogic approach to pain relief takes several tacks. Besides stretching out tired or tensed muscles, the holistic health system also utilizes the body's own tension-coping mechanisms.

Among other things, students of yoga learn a laundry list of techniques. The author said that these include modulating breathing, easing into relaxation, reflecting on one's place in the world, becoming more self-aware yet less self-conscious, meeting others, forming social bonds and relocating the center of one's pain outside of the body.

This last method is called "changed context of pain," in the study, and it is a vital part of the mental side of pain management.

Visualizing and externalizing pain can make it feel as though the ache is at a remove. This may be one reason why the U.S. Army continues to look into yoga as a way to channel away mental and physical pain.

According to a recent article published on the Army's official webpage, this branch of the Armed Forces is seriously exploring the value of adding yoga, acupuncture, meditation and other alternative health techniques to its repertoire of therapeutic techniques.

Between stretching, posing, deep breathing and meditating, people who suffer from chronic pain may be able to assuage their aches in an effective, lasting way.

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Yoga meditation techniques help veterans overcome traumatic stress

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Undergoing a traumatic event of any kind can leave permanent psychic scars, which may make it difficult to live a normal life afterward. Whether you are a combat veteran, a survivor of a natural disaster, a victim of a personal assault or otherwise, yoga meditation techniques may help reduce tension and ease mental disturbances.

Consider David Frankel, formerly a lawyer for the Florida State Attorney's Office. The 50-year-old retired from his practice after 22 years spent prosecuting sex crimes and homicides, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Now he operates a yoga studio.

What catalyzed such a radical career shift? Frankel told the newspaper that dealing with such violent, disturbing events year in, year out, ultimately left him shaken and exhausted.

"I felt I had reached the peak of what I was doing in law, but I didn't sleep well. It was swallowing me whole. I had to make a change," he admitted to the source.

In order to find a more wholesome outlet for his energy, Frankel founded a yoga program that caters to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that can affect anyone who has lived through or dealt with emotionally scarring events.

Nearly 7 percent of Americans will suffer from PTSD during their lifetimes, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Vietnam veteran Curtis Hodge, Jr. told the news organization that yoga has given him the pain management techniques to deal with his PTSD, as well as allowed him to sleep soundly for the first time in decades.

He added that the holistic mind-body regimen is also a good workout.

"I always thought that yoga had something to do with meditation, but I didn't know it was so strenuous. This is not a sissy thing, you know," he noted, quoted by the source.

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Don’t allow fear to get in the way of your career

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With the struggling state of the U.S. economy, it is only natural for professionals to be constantly concerned about their job security.

However, a recent U.S. News & World Report column authored by career coach Curt Rosengren notes that it is important to not let this fear get the best of you.

Additionally, rather than simply ignoring such fears and going about your daily routine, you should stop, take a deep breath and complete some yoga meditation techniques, which will allow you to focus on the task at hand and tackle your concerns appropriately.

According to Rosengren, another important step professionals should take when concerned about the path they are headed down in terms of career is to interrogate this fear and confront it. By participating in such mental pain management techniques, one will be able to pinpoint the roots of his or her career concerns and will be better prepared to confront them when the time comes.

While much of the techniques related to managing one's concerns come from within, it can also be helpful to reach out to others for advice, whether it be friends, family members or colleagues in the office.

This, according to Rosengren, can potentially enable individuals to find someone else who has previously been in there position. In such cases, that person can serve as a mentor, helping to allay one's concerns and advise them how best to proceed with the careers.

Whether one reaches out to others or simply plans to attack the fears from within, it is crucial to take small steps in order to completely move on from the concerns and make progress in one's career path.

Managing one's career fears is particularly important as the U.S. unemployment rate currently sits at 9.2 percent and has crept up the past few months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

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Pain management techniques may reduce aches, anxiety for cancer patients

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When loved ones are diagnosed with serious illnesses, it is tempting to despair of there being any way to comfort them. After all, having a life-threatening disease can be dispiriting in a way that few other life experiences may be. That said, yoga meditation techniques and deep breathing exercises may help people with rare conditions improve their quality of life.

Some diseases have few symptoms, at least until a medical checkup reveals that an individual has an advanced and potentially deadly illness. Consider a recent letter to the Edmonton Journal, in a which a resident of the Canadian city stated that they had been diagnosed with a rare, asbestos-caused form of cancer.

"Alberta Vocational College-Edmonton, now named NorQuest College, removed hazardous chrysotile asbestos in the late 1990s," the reader noted, adding that this event may have triggered diseases in a number of people, including a serious form of lung cancer called malignant mesothelioma.

This condition is a relatively rare type of lung cancer, which in the U.S. occurs in roughly 3,000 people each year, according to the American Cancer Society. It is an aggressive carcinoma that appears in the tissues surrounding the lungs, and healthcare experts agree that exposure to asbestos is a prime cause of the illness.

People diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma may feel as if they have gone from healthy to all-but-dying, without any intervening steps. This notion is not true – the feeling is a byproduct of the disease's few initial symptoms – but it can lead to anxiety, depression or exhaustion.

Fortunately, yoga-based pain management techniques may help people with mesothelioma conquer their fear and overcome some of their physical aches or inertia. Such alternative or complementary treatments are not intended to treat the disease, but instead to mitigate its side effects.

With a little encouragement from friends and family members, people with such illness may begin to feel strong and happy, even during such a difficult period.

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