Can Yoga improve my spine/posture?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I am 19 right now.

I’ve spent the majority of my life sleeping on hard, uncomfortable mattresses. I’ve also spent many years slouching in my computer chair and sitting in awkward positions. As a result of this, I feel like I may have done some damage to my spine. Now, I don’t really experience any back-pain, but I am worried that I may have done some damage to my spine because of all of this. How can I improve my back at this point?

I’ve heard that doing Yoga is beneficial and can help improve posture/spine. Is this true?

If it’s true, can somebody please recommend me some kind of Yoga exercises that I can do that will help my back? I am new to Yoga and have never done it so any help is greatly appreciated. I just want to have a healthy spine and a healthy posture. Thank you.

#2

Yes a properly qualified and experienced yoga teacher can help you to improve your posture with yoga asana.

At only 19 years old it is unlikely that you have caused harm to your spine, but you probably do have muscle weakness or tight muscles in your back and legs which are preventing you from having good posture.

Have a look for some local classes, arrive early so that you can chat with the teacher about your posture.

Also avoid slouching throughout your day, just practicing good posture while sitting and standing will help to improve your back.

Please seek out a reputable teacher, practicing yoga asana or any kind of exersice without proper instruction could do some harm or simply be ineffective.

Good luck.

#3

[QUOTE=yogacambodia;81633]Yes a properly qualified and experienced yoga teacher can help you to improve your posture with yoga asana.

At only 19 years old it is unlikely that you have caused harm to your spine, but you probably do have muscle weakness or tight muscles in your back and legs which are preventing you from having good posture.

Have a look for some local classes, arrive early so that you can chat with the teacher about your posture.

Also avoid slouching throughout your day, just practicing good posture while sitting and standing will help to improve your back.

Please seek out a reputable teacher, practicing yoga asana or any kind of exersice without proper instruction could do some harm or simply be ineffective.

Good luck.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, I have a somewhat busy schedule so at the moment, I am unable to go to Yoga classes. The best I can do with my limited schedule is only do Yoga from home.

Do you know if this will help? It’s a 36 minute exercise routine. If I did it every morning, would it help me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJmB8l_wLxs

#4

What you can do that requires no teacher is to sit with erect spine whenever you sit, concentrate on that and make it a habit.

#5

[QUOTE=fakeyogis;81660]What you can do that requires no teacher is to sit with erect spine whenever you sit, concentrate on that and make it a habit.[/QUOTE]

what about the video i posted above? will that doing that exercise everyday help?

#6

I didnt see any specific just a Channel and thn many videos. But we should not tell you what to do, if something goes wrong you will blame us for saying it was ok.

My advice is take some classes first and then do it from video. Pretty much all here will tell you the same. Because of experience we know its not a good idea always to do it first time from a video.
If you still insist DIY remember to let the body to do the work, never force or ignoring abnormal pain.

If you want to do it your self google is your best friend. Good luck.

#7

The best way to do it is to take a adult ed course that fits your schedule - like a beginning hatha one.

That’s the way I started and found out I quite liked it. It also gave me a good foundation as to what the postures were, what they meant, the benefits etc. It’s better to start that way than just jumping into a studio where sometimes they expect you know the basics. Also you can learn what works for you - what postures you enjoy or help with your back etc.

Also yes, yoga does straighten your spine. When I did it consistently my posture improved greatly and I had slouched all my life. I stopped and now I’m slouching again. Trying to ease back into it so I can get back to straight, baby!