Let you tell me about Yoga.

One of the first things I ask clients about back pain is "When was the last time you changed your mattress?"


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer/Group Fitness Instructor
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

7 months ago. I can't even imagine the hell I'd be in if I still had my old mattress. Owww...

Next question: Do you have tight hamstrings?

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer/Group Fitness Instructor
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

My hamstrings are insanely tight, actually. I've tried static, dynamic, pnf, foam rolling... one of the reasons I'm looking at Yoga.

Tight hamstrings are directly responsible for some back pain. Stretching and flexibility take time and consistency. Hope yoga works out for you.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer/Group Fitness Instructor
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I would like to add a little bit of insight as a Registered Yoga Teacher. I became a practitioner in high school for cross training in swimming. I was practicing purely for fitness reasons. However, my junior year I had a bad sledding accident. I had compression fractures in my T12 & L1 (mid back). My doctor recommended several paths of pain management; accupuncture, seeing a chiropractor, pain medication, and yoga. I was a little scared of the needles at the time (since then I have tried accupuncture and would very much recommend it for certain conditions). I did not want to become addicted to pain medication and have liver cirrhosis at age 35 so I did not go that route. Some people raved over their chiropractors so I gave that a try...and as I am only speaking from my experience; I did had short term relief, but went back constantly in more pain than I began with. I wanted to fix the cause of my condition not just manage the pain.
I went back to Yoga at the local YMCA just to start getting back into working out. Within a week, I woke up in the morning without pain. I had less tingling in my fingers and toes. My sciatic nerve hasn't shot pain down my legs since then either. I decided to get certifed myself and have been teaching/practicing for coming up on 8 years now.
HOWEVER, some physicians do not know enough about the practice of Yoga that they should if they plan on recommending it to their patients. You do need professional instruction beginning your Yoga practice ESPECIALLY if you are doing this for pain management or a type of therapy. There is a lot of physiological activity behind the practice that needs to be supervised. What I would recommend doing is introducing yourself to your yoga instructor and explain your condition. Ask what poses they recommend you should substitute for others. A good instructor will know what type of limitations you should abide by after a complete synapsis of your condition. You could even ask them for a list of poses they typically practice in their class. Take that list, Google pictures of those poses and show them to your doctor/physical therapist and THEN see what they say about beginning a Yoga practice. They may cross some off the list that aren't safe for you at the time or encourage you to try others.
More food for thought, there are 8 limbs of Yoga and multiple disciplines off of those. You may try one type of Yoga and hate it. Don't let that discourage you. I truely do believe there is a variation of Yoga for everyone. I have yet to meet someone that with an open mind of trying a variety of practices, didn't find one they loved. I have worked in Baptiste (hot) studios, college fitness facilities, park & rec departments, community gyms, senior centers, even daycares. I have seen hundreds of success stories like an increase of mental focus in children, range of motion in seniors, flexibility in weight lifters, recovery from hip replacements, and even relief from bulging discs. There is so much Yoga has to offer and I highly recommend it for all walks of life. Just make sure to do your research because it is such a powerful tool.

DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT try to do yoga on your own until you've been instructed by someone who knows what he or she is doing, ESPECIALLY if you are having pain. You can make it much, much worse.

Take a class with a qualified instructor and tell the instructor what's going on with your back. And I hope your doctor did more than just send you stretches. You've had it looked at, right?

This. Yoga is amazing, but until you learn proper alignment for poses, you could do yourself more harm than good!

I never did yoga but have always been very flexible. I bought the Bob Harper Weight Loss Yoga and fell in love! It's nothing difficult but you get a good workout. It was all I did (mixed with power walking) when I first started my journey in January. I think as long as you do beginners workouts, you're ok doing yoga at home. I would not try doing anything where I'm doing body contortions unless I went to an actual class.

DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT try to do yoga on your own until you've been instructed by someone who knows what he or she is doing, ESPECIALLY if you are having pain. You can make it much, much worse.

Take a class with a qualified instructor and tell the instructor what's going on with your back. And I hope your doctor did more than just send you stretches. You've had it looked at, right?

I agree with this. It's really worth your time to take a few classes with someone trained so they can correct your position and help you modify poses if they're going to cause your back more stress.

yoga is great! i do jillian michaels yoga meltdown and don't find it boring at all! i have a healthy back and some positions i have to ease my way into because they hurt my back at first but get easier with time. you may want to listen to the op and find a good instuctor:0)

Yoga should never be painful. If the position is hurting you, you're not doing it right. This is why people need to take classes and not try to learn from DVDs.

camel would hurt anybody the first time around!

I've had many many years of back pain, and I've done a lot of yoga. I think yoga is very good for your back, but like everyone else is saying, it's risky to just do it on your own, especially if you're already injured and/or very tight and inflexible. Hamstring tightness could be your single biggest problem, if you don't have any other injuries. If you are insured, you should try to get some imaging done so you can have some sense of whether there are structural problems with your spine or not. A responsible primary care doctor will order them for you if your pain has been going on longer than a couple of weeks. Normally back pain is supposed to disappear relatively quickly - the fact that it hasn't for you means that it needs some attention (I was in the same situation).

Once you figure out whether tightness, weakness, muscle imbalances (e.g. being stronger on one side than the other), or biomechanical problems (like poor posture or bad walking gait) are the source of your problem, definitely try yoga or pilates (I think pilates is great too). If you're a guy, you'll have to get over the weirdness of being the only guy in the class half the time. It's really good for you.

In my neighborhood, the cheapest way to get into taking yoga classes was the local YMCA. The instructors there are of varying levels of experience and quality, though, so you should find others who have taken the classes and ask for recommendations. Also, be sure your yoga instructor knows about your back issues. You don't want someone who's going to push you into poses you can't handle before you're ready. Ultimately it's up to you to be aware of what your back can take and what it can't. Remember to take it real slow and don't push yourself. Having to be cautious is frustrating, but it's better than re-injuring yourself or making your pain worse.

Feel free to friend me or whatever if you want to ask any questions -- I've got decades of experience with this kind of crap, maybe you can learn from my mistakes...