BY: TRISHA CURLING
What is Fibromyalgia?
“Fibromyalgia is a painful condition of unknown cause.” (McCall, Timothy M.D. Yoga As Medicine pg. 300) Some that experience the effects of this condition describe it as having a number of pain/tender points in the body
How Can Yoga Help?
A lot of potential lies in creating balance within the nervous system. Stress can play a major role in fibromyalgia. It can be part of the reason why it shows itself in the body, to begin with. It can also fuel the condition because of the pain that is experienced on a daily basis. This can be quite overwhelming and lead to things like disturbing sleep and the inability to move efficiently. This can potentially mean that the sympathetic nervous system (our fight or flight) is working harder than the parasympathetic (our rest & digest). In reality, our bodies need to rely on both systems, but in a more balanced way. How can we do this?
1.The Breath
Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Start with noticing your breath and where it sits in your body. Is it shallow and mostly sitting in the chest? If this is the case, try making a connection with your rib cage.
Try utilizing what is called Ujjayi breath (breathing in through the nose and out through the nose) When you breathe out, try to create a small closing in the back of the throat as if to make a sound like you would hear at the beach. Research shows that this type of breath aids in removing stress hormones from the body. When you inhale try to expand through the sides of the ribs, on the exhale try to relax and allow the ribs to settle back to their normal place.
2.Restorative Yoga
Restorative Yoga is a wonderful access point if you are new to yoga. The focus is relaxation or better yet “doing nothing” ….doesn’t that sound nice? LOL. For the most part, the postures require props and again allow you to actively access your parasympathetic nervous system. You are learning how to access this system by intentionally staying connected to your breath while resting in a particular pose.
3.Gentle Movements
As you listen to and understand your body and have attempted to work your way through some breath work and restorative postures, you may then begin to explore some gentle movements (perhaps while lying down or seated in a comfortable position).
For example:
- Open and close your hands
- Bend and straighten the arm (one at a time)
- Move both hands/arms
Try these movements as long as they do not contribute to more pain and/or tension in the body.
4.More Yoga
The next step would be incorporating more yoga poses, as the body allows. It is important to listen to your body and to allow yourself some time to get used to the new movements you are incorporating. It takes consistency (remember that 5 minutes per day every day with these options is better than 30 min once per week).
Yoga helps to improve posture and joint alignment on and off of the mat. This can assist with helping muscles and connective tissue to be in a more optimal position for better function and less pain.
