Yoga for Back Pain Relief
Courses in 2020
Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step towards dramatically improving the health of your lower back. My students and I were interviewed on the recent ITV Tonight programme entitled Back Pain: Britain’s Unseen Crisis. Click on the video link to the right to see the section about Yoga and Back Pain. It will give you an idea of how this course helps you to find a way out of the worry and stress of having chronic back pain. The largest scientific study of yoga to date found that this course of specially designed yoga classes can greatly improve back health and function. Research showed that people who completed the course reduced their absences from work by 70%. Additional research found the course to be safe and extremely cost effective. The main research was conducted by the University of York, sponsored by Arthritis UK and published in a leading medical journal in 2011. Details Here.
Is this Course Suitable for Me?
The course is ideal for everyone who is experiencing chronic low back pain and/or sciatica. This may be due a number of diagnoses, including: prolapsed discs; spinal misalignments (spondylolisthesis, scoliosis, lordosis, spinal stenosis); degenerative disk disorder; arthritis, sacro-illiac problems and more.
However, the course is not suitable if the pain is very severe and ongoing. Please check with your doctor if you are unsure. You must be able to get to the floor to lie down and back up to seated on a chair (using a chair if needed).
The course is designed for people who are in pain, so the classes are gentle and pleasantly relaxing. You are not required to push through pain or to do any exercise that causes discomfort. You’ll start with very gentle releasing and soothing postures, and gradually build to strengthening and mobilising poses when this becomes appropriate for you.
Stress and Back Pain
The latest scientific research is proving that stress and pain are related. Unlike many other exercise programmes for back pain, yoga emphasises stress reduction. Simple breath techniques can literally shift your nervous system into parasympathetic mode (which is the opposite of the sympathetic “fight or flight mode”). This shift is quite profound for many students, who have been feeling stressed for literally years. The Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs course weaves in techniques like breath awareness, mindfulness and deep relaxation, into each classes. You’ll learn how to rest; how to breathe and how to be more aware of your posture and movement in everyday life. By practicing in this way you’ll discover how to release deeply held habitual tension and lessen the negative effects of stress on your body and mind.
Taking Control of Your Back Pain with Yoga
This course is all about education. You’ll learn about how to sit, stand, lift, walk and lie down to best help your spine. You’ll also learn four sequences and a few “first aid yoga poses” that you can use throughout your life to help get and keep your back in good shape. The power of a personal yoga practice is enormous. Many people worry that they are too old, too stiff or too busy to start a yoga practice. However, if you’d like to regain freedom of movement, peace of mind and better health, there really is no better way. Except in some cases of an individual prolapsed disc causing ongoing sciatica, or more serious problems involving nerves of the bowel and bladder, surgery is not often recommended for back pain these days. NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) recommend patients to keep moving and take gentle appropriate exercise alongside psychosocial education. This is essentially what the YHLB course entails. It is never to late to improve your posture and your body awareness. Your body will thank you for putting in the practice and you will be more resilient, stronger and more body aware. This means you’ll be leading a happier, healthier life as you grow older.
Student Testimonials
Here are some comments from students who have taken the Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs Course with me:
“I have not had back pain since completing the course”
“This course has totally changed my life, I am much more confident and feel more in control of my back pain.”
“Not taken any painkillers since doing this course!”
“The best thing about the course was learning how to be much more mindful of how to work and how to use my body more efficiently to help the lower back.”
“This course helped me to understand how to deal with a painful back and to know what to do with confidence.”
“My daily back pain has decreased. I have had periods of feeling “nothing” which doesn’t happen very often (I initially panicked wondering what was wrong!) – it was simply that there was no tension or pain.”
“Julia gave me confidence and reassurance when practising yoga. Julia is engaging, caring and very competent.”
“I experience relief of pain/ache immediately after each lesson.”
“Thank you very much indeed for rescuing my back. I have learned how to get rid of pain, thanks to you.”
This is what a physiotherapist, specialising in back pain, said about the course. “Overall I would highly recommend the course. If I had significant back problems then, without question, this is what I would do. I have been involved solely with low back pain for 12 years with a specialist pain clinic and have masters level qualifications in the subject.”
How Much Does the Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs Course Cost?
The price is £265.00 for the 12-week long course. Generally courses start in January, April and September depending on my availability.
In addition, you’ll need to purchase the resource pack here before the course starts. It’s £60.00
To help with the cost of the course, you pay half upon booking and half in a month’s time.
It is important to do the whole course as for some people, the benefits only start to become apparent in the second half of the course. The price of the course is non-refundable. However, you can transfer to another course at a later date or pass the course on to another person.
If you enter you details in the box to the left, I will let you know when the next YHLB course is running.
What do I need to Bring?
