VIDEO: Dr. Mike Evans on Low Back Pain

As Dr. Evans explains in this video, at the root of chronic back pain is often more than a physical issue:

It is my least favorite and most favorite thing to hear: 

My back hurts, should I stop doing yoga?

Short answer? Nope. 

But why is that my least favorite question? I have been there, and I feel for you. I know back pain can be debilitating, life-altering, make you feel hopeless, make everything suck. I want you to feel better, and I want it to happen fast.

I also know the internet (and potentially your doctor's office) is riddled with myths and misunderstandings about the causes of back pain and what the most effective treatments really are. I have heard of medical pros recommending extended bedrest (which has actually been found to make back pain worse) or to avoid backbending (which in many cases is the exact kind of movement needed to balance the great amount of forward bending we do in our culture.) 

Here's why it's my favorite question, though: because I have been there, and I have also experienced the tremendous power of - myself - to heal my own body.

You thought I was going to say 'the power of Bikram yoga,' didn't you?
​And in a way, I did. 

Bikram yoga is an incredible tool designed to diminish pain and disease in the human body. ​

A tool is what it is.
It won't work without you.
Your outlook, beliefs, attitudes and behavior are actually as or more reliable predictors of your pain than any physical issue!

If you believe your pain will last forever, if you let fear keep you from moving your body, if you think you are too fat, too thin, too busy, too old, too poor, too sick to deserve to feel better?

You won't do the things (like coming to class) that will help you feel better. And you won't feel better. Which will reinforce your negative outlook and pretty much keep everything sucking until something has to give...

Luckily, Bikram yoga will help you improve the health of your outlook as well as your physical health! Because watching yourself not give up on yourself for 90 minutes at a time? That's bound to generate some positivity. 

Access to a supportive community/ social connections have also been found to correlate with reduced risk of chronic pain. 

​Which means: at BYSJ. we are basically your 1-stop shop for back (and all kindsa) pain relief: emotional, mental, physical, social, spiritual.  

See you in class soon. :)