How can yoga help you?

Yoga for Back Pain: Real Stories from Real Students and How It Can Help You Too

In one week, two different students in two different classes and locations told me how much their lives had changed since starting a yoga practice with me.
Yes, really! It happened on two consecutive days where they both said how much better their particular variation of back problems had significantly improved since beginning their yoga practice in my classes. And I immediately recoiled. Could it have really been from sharing my practice? What about other factors, other classes, holistic and alternative therapies, the big picture? How can we know what helped? I am always very much on the side of caution for therapeutic benefits are being claimed, which is a bit mad seeing as I know how much a consistent yoga practice has benefited my own life – including in the health, strength and flexibility of my back! So why am I so reluctant to take credit for these peoples’ experiences?

1. Imposter syndrome

Have you come across this phrase? It’s that nagging feeling of self-doubt, the voice that says you’re not qualified, not experienced enough, or that you’ve just been lucky so far. It can affect anyone from doctors to parents and yes, to yoga teachers too.

Is this something that is holding me back from saying “thank you! I know this practice has helped me and I share it so that it can help others too!” Not only have I experienced how my body has changed and benefitted since starting my yoga journey, I have many certificates that back up my knowledge, my expertise and my experience as a teacher and yoga professional. I have completed one yoga TTC this year and am in the middle of two others that reinforce and compliment the 500 hours of certified and authorised training I have already done, let alone the years and hours of practice, classes and workshops taken all around the world.

So when someone says, “This has changed my life,” maybe it’s okay to say: “That’s wonderful — I’m so glad it helped. Yoga is powerful.”

2. The complexity of healing

Healing journeys are so rarely a straight and linear line, and there are so many elements of it. From traditional Western medicine approaches to traditional Chinese Medicine approaches, Ayuverda, Reiki, acupressure and acupuncture, massage, movement, the list is endless!

What individual thing reduced your blood pressure or anxiety? What treatment was the one that *really* worked? Was it the yoga? Was it the class before that? Was it the integration of awareness and consistency in taking your health and wellbeing seriously and prioritising it?

This holistic approach is replicated in the yoga practice as well. Yoga is not just a dynamic flow with Warriors and engaged glutes. Nor is it just silent still meditation. Or Pranayama. It is the integration of all of the yogic elements that you are engaging with. Which brings me to point number 3.

3. The Power of Consistency

When people ask me if they can learn a pose – and it is so often the splits! – they ask how long before they’ll be able to do it. Well, how long is a piece of string? What movement practices are you doing already? What are your genetics and bone structure? How consistent are you in your practice?

Consistency – in yoga, in life, in everything – is key! Showing up day after day, week after week, month after month is when we start to see huge changes and improvements in our lives.

You have probably seen an Instagram or TikTok reel that goes something along the lines of ‘if you start today….’ and it plays a montage of a lifetime of progress designed to inspire and motivate you in some way. Well, it’s not that wrong, is it? If we never start, we’ll never change.

Our bodies are a ‘use it or lose it’ kind of situation and I don’t want to lose mine. I want to be able to function and move and breathe and climb mountains and swim in the sea until I am a leelte old lady. Don’t you?

Your yoga practice doesn’t need to be fancy or extreme to be effective. It needs to be consistent. And it can really be life-changing.

So, how can yoga help you?

• Dynamic practices like Vinyasa, Rocket, Ashtanga, Power, etc. strengthens muscles and tones the body from head to toe.
• It increases flexibility and mobility ranges in many areas like the shoulders, the legs, the hips and the spine.
• It heightens your awareness, of your body, how you move, how you breathe, how you feel. How and where you hold tension – and maybe why too.
• It regulates your nervous system and heart rate variability – in Yin, in Vinyasa, and especially in Pranayama practices.
• It grounds you in your body, your mind and your life, helping you feel calmer and stronger – emotionally, physically and spiritually.

And yes, it might even change your life.
It changed mine.

So if you’re on the fence, or wondering if yoga could help your back or spine — try it. Gently, consistently, curiously. Let the practice meet you where you are.

You might be surprised by what unfolds.

Go to Schedule to see when and where I am teaching now to join a class and kick-start your yoga practice or try a free online class in my free Yoga & Meditation Library.