Poor exercise habits increase your risk for spinal injuries

Thursday, November 15, 2012 by: Jonathan Landsman
Tags: exercise, habits, spinal injuries

(NaturalNews) Originally, yoga was created to help bring together the body and mind. Through a series of natural movements and meditation - we develop greater inner strength and flexibility. So why are so many people suffering with yoga-related injuries?

Is there a dark side to all these "power yoga" classes? Ninety-five percent of chronic pain in the body is a result of poor posture and biomechanics. On the next NaturalNews Talk Hour - you'll discover how to use breathing to align your posture from the inside out; reduce muscle tension; dramatically increase your flexibility and avoid (unwanted) back surgeries!

Visit: http://www.naturalhealth365.com and enter your email address for free show details.

Let's take a closer look at the growing trend of yoga injuries. Statistics suggest that as many as 30 to 40 percent of people doing yoga get some type of injury. In fact, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, 13,000 people went to the emergency room between 2004 and 2007 reporting yoga injuries. Yoga instructors (and students) must admit - something has to change.

Breathing natural from your core to prevent injuries

Michaelle Edwards, a yoga expert says, "Conscious breathing is a powerful way to connect with our deeper selves, but it is important that we do it in a way that supports our natural breathing process." She goes on to say that, "in order to breathe naturally you must be able to relax your outer belly muscles and allow them to elongate when you inhale. In order to do this, breathing must begin with the movement of the rib cage and not the belly."

"Learning to initiate breath from your rib cage can help balance, elongate and tone your body from the inside out. This core breathing can help correct poor posture, jumpstart your metabolism, massage your organs and can even make you a better lover." Naturally, it almost goes without saying, if you can't breathe comfortably - while doing any exercise routine - your risk for injury goes way up.

Avoid back surgery and save millions of dollars in medical bills

Over the years, millions of people opt for irreversible surgical procedures. Many health experts agree that most of these operations could be avoided with simple changes to lifestyle habits. For example, did you know that many people can eliminate chronic back pain by simply loosening up their calf and hamstring (back of thigh) muscles? Unfortunately, fitness industry professionals are teaching too many painful, ineffective movement patterns to clueless students.

Take for example the old "straighten your knees and trying to bend forward" exercise to help make you more flexible. Well, according to Michaelle Edwards, this movement (plus many others) can potentially lead to more harm than good. There are (3) simple tests to determine whether a movement pattern is healthy or not:

1. It should allow the spine to have its natural curves.

2. It should not restrict the ability to deeply and fully breathe from the rib cage.

3. It should have a real life correlation to functional movement positions.

Your rib cage and oblique muscles are activated through deep breathing, adding length to your neck and waist, and stability to your core. Many yoga poses and exercises are "right-angle" templates that distort spinal curves, over-stretch important stabilizing ligaments, and create repetitive strain injuries. The bottom line - all of this can be avoided by moving properly!

This week's guest: Michaelle Edwards, yoga instructor and creator of YogAlign

Find out how to improve your posture; reduce muscle tension and physical pain - Thu. Nov. 15

Michaelle Edwards is an author, body-worker and yoga teacher who owns and operates the Kauai Yoga School on Kauai's north shore. As a posture therapist and innovator, Michaelle has come up with a new way to become naturally aligned, which she calls YogAlign. She uses self-massage, deep core breathing, and core exercises designed to align the spine while stabilizing the joints.

Michaelle began developing her adaptation of yoga in 1992 when she tore her knee ligament practicing vinyasa yoga. As she healed, she began to create new poses that make anatomical sense in real-life body function. MIchaelle has certified hundreds of teachers in YogAlign and has practiced yoga, in some form, for 40 years.

Is there a dark side to all these "power yoga" classes? Ninety-five percent of pain in the body is a result of poor posture. On the next NaturalNews Talk Hour - you'll discover how to use breathing to align your posture from the inside out; reduce muscle tension; dramatically increase your flexibility plus much more!

Visit: http://www.naturalhealth365.com and enter your email address for free show details.