The Yoga rules

By Glen Wood

In its core yoga is all about well-being of the self. Yoga is not meant to be a therapy for a one particular illness. A practitioner of yoga learns a new way of thinking and lifestyle and all of this in a broad holistic approach. Another product of this new lifestyle and thinking is that you start to see the healing effects of yoga, whether it's neck, shoulder or back pain or other. When you start to practice yoga you will see that one of the benefits of yoga is that some of the difficulties you have in life tend to go away or become less difficult. Clinical tests have been conducted that verified these effects so it is not just the practitioners that claim this.

Doing this form of practice daily will have the ultimate accomplishment of letting the practitioner become aware of the exact places of discomfort/pain in the body. It will help to identify strong and stress relieving areas surrounding those places that can be used to facilitate healing. Gradually, (depending on the time, focus and dedication of the practitioner) one learns the exercises that help the most and can then begin to formulate a personal exercise routine.

Published studies have shown that regular exercise can help people who suffer from chronic low back pain (LBP). Unfortunately, however, many LBP sufferers do not follow through and complete their recommended exercise program. Part of the reason, some scientists believe, is that these people do not receive enough motivation from their doctor to complete the program.

In this study, researchers looked at the effect motivation and positive feedback could have on people with chronic low back pain.

Ninety-three patients were randomized into two groups and followed at different intervals for 5 years. The first group participated in a series of 10 25-minute training sessions an average of 2.3 times per week, with gradual increases in exercise over time. The second group engaged in the same series of exercises, but also received other interventions, such as counselling, problem-solving strategies, positive feedback from practitioners, and the signing a "contract" in which the patient agreed to stay on the exercise program.

Most people who start a regular exercise program give it up after a short period of time. While there are a lot of reasons that they choose to stop exercising regularly, they often boil down to a few simple reasons. It's often hard to find the time to exercise, the motivation to get out there starts to slip after a while, and it's easy to slip back into old routines.

When your motivation starts to slip, having a partner who will drag you outside can be a lifesaver. This type of a partnership is often better if you have similar goals in terms of weight loss, healthy eating habits, and the amount of exercise that you want to work up to.

Chose someone who lives close by, perhaps even your spouse, and write your goals down. Put specific dates and amounts in your plan for increasing the amount of exercise that you want to do together. Think of ways to reward yourselves when you meet your goals, and write them down.

Glen Wood - The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back, Neck and Shoulder Pain.

To help you further with your shoulder/back pain you need to sign up for your FREE "Yoga and You" report at http://www.YogaTeachingwithGlen.com