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Doing yoga for fibromyalgia is a surprisingly effective treatment. And if you’re struggling with the constant pain of fibromyalgia and nothing seems to ease your symptoms, yoga may be just what you’re looking for. The intense stretching can help strengthen the muscles and make them more flexible. And the meditative aspects of yoga are great for helping you learn how to avoid focusing on your pain.
In fact, people who do yoga with fibromyalgia consistently report significant improvement in their symptoms. And that makes it one of the most reliable treatments for fibromyalgia. But where do you start with doing yoga for fibromyalgia? Well, here are a few techniques and poses that are particularly effective for this disease.
Yoga For Fibromyalgia
When you’re trying yoga for fibromyalgia, it’s important that you focus on exercises that won’t be too intense. Not only can the exertion of the more complicated poses trigger fibro flare-ups, but starting with poses that are too advanced can strain your muscles and make the pain worse.
Focus on easy movements, like these:
This pose is a gentle way to start as it doesn’t involve any serious stretching or difficult-to-hold poses. To do this once, simply lay on your back with your legs near a wall and lift them up in the air while laying them against the wall. Let the wall take all the effort out of holding your legs up and focus on your breathing.
This pose offers a gentle stretch to your hips and the muscles in your legs while letting blood flow. This can help reduce pain in your hips or upper legs if you’re having pain there. And it’s a great way to ease into a yoga session.
The Standing Forward Bend is a good way to stretch your legs and back while promoting blood flow through your muscles. And it’s extremely easy to do. Start with your legs shoulder-width apart and bend forward.
Try to push your upper body as far towards the ground as you can. If possible, touch your toes.This stretches the large muscles in your upper legs and lower back, which can be particularly painful sources of fibromyalgia pain. As you do each pose, focus on clearing your mind and maintaining steady breathing.
This pose is slightly more advanced but is great for the muscles of the back. Lie flat on your back and slowly lift your body up with your legs. Your shoulders should stay on the ground and soon you’ll feel your muscles stretching. Bring your feet up towards your shoulders if you can. This works out the pain in the lower back, upper back, and hips.
So it’s great if you want to restore some mobility in the face of fibromyalgia pain.
Cobra pose is great for really focusing on the muscles in your lower back. So if you find that your fibromyalgia pain is particularly bad in that area, this pose could be a good way to treat it. But this pose is also great for working out the pain in your shoulder blades. And it’s a very easy pose to do, so it’s a good choice for warming up.
Start on your stomach, laying on the ground. Now put your hands under your shoulders and push up. You want your back arched up like, well a cobra. You can make the pose more intense by arching your back further.
Downward dog is a pose that works your entire body. It’s great for your arms, shoulders, back, and legs. And it’s one of the more strenuous poses, so if you’ve made it through all the others and want something more challenging, then look no further.
Start by placing your feet shoulder-width apart. Now slowly bend forward so that your hands are touching the ground. As you bend forward, lean forward from your feet so that you are forming a kind of bridge. Now hold this pose for a few seconds while focusing on your breathing.
If you want to make it more intense, you can also walk your hands back towards your feet, which will increase the stretching in your legs.
The half moon pose is another versatile and challenging option when it comes to yoga for fibromyalgia. It works out some of the core muscles in your back and abdomen, as well as your legs and shoulders.
Start by standing up and lowering one hand down so that it touches the ground. Your leg on the opposite side should naturally lift up at the same time. Now hold this position for a few seconds while you breathe. It’s a great pose for building up strength in muscles that might be weakened by fibromyalgia.
No matter which set of poses you decide to do, yoga is a great way to get some much-needed exercise for fibromyalgia. And it comes with the unique benefit of improving your mental state as well as your physical one. So why not give it a try?
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