How can restorative yoga ease my pain?

There's a story line I hear quite often as a yoga teacher -- "I'd like to do yoga, but I'm not flexible or strong enough and I have a bad back." In my early days of teaching, I'd engage in these conversations and offer anecdotes and summaries of research-backed trials to persuade the listener that they needn't be strong or flexible to try yoga. Sometimes, they'd hear me out and try a class. But mostly they learned never to bring it up in conversation with me again. Later, when I was feeling a bit burned out, I'd listen while people gave me that same story line and just nod. "Maybe you're right," I'd say, not having the energy or desire to encourage them to come to class. I was enjoying teaching those who already practiced yoga - it was easy to do as these students needed no convincing. But having no one question my teaching proved to be boring, and I slowly began engaging once more with the nay-sayers and non-believers. Here's what I have to say now:

Strength and flexibility are by-products of yoga practice, not pre-requisites.
I get it. Learning a new task can be hard. With yoga, there's a new vocabulary, a new set of tools, a new culture in the studio. It can be daunting to dive in when you feel unprepared. I'm here to tell you, though -- you can't mess it up. Starting to practice yoga is taking the first step on a journey, and who knows where that journey will lead you. Maybe it won't lead you far, and you'll decide not to embark on it fully. And that is totally ok. But at least you took the first step. I can tell you personally that I never imagined the strength I would gain from yoga - especially because it can feel so easy to practice (at times)! I credit my ability to maintain a high-intensity career without back pain to the strength benefits I receive from yoga and physical therapy. It isn't why I started the practice, though -- it truly is just a nice benefit (and once that I have come to rely on). 

Flexibility - well, that is also quite the benefit that will serve you in the long-run. Younger, more flexible people tend to be easily drawn to yoga, and of course they will reap the benefits of the practice, but the true "success stories" are those who show up with stiffness and learn to ease into a more flexible way of living. They may never be flexible enough to touch their toes, but who cares!? If you gain the flexibility to be able to reach into the high shelf on the closet without shoulder pain, or down into the low drawer without triggering a back spasm, you will understand the boon of flexibility that yoga can provide. 

When we feel physically safe in our own body, yoga is easier to understand
The fundamentals of yoga are simple - yoga is ease, yoga is peace, yoga is "cessation of the fluctuations of the consciousness (see Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by BKS Iyengar)." The trouble comes in understanding these axioms by both the brain and the body. For some people, who have been living with chronic pain or have learned to retreat from the sensations of the physical body (read Matthew Sanford's Waking for an illuminated story on this concept), the work of understanding/conceptualizing/feeling the lessons of yoga is easier first for the brain - but the body is a whole different task. For others who already live in their body, like athletes and avid exercisers, understanding the physical benefits of yoga is easy, but the work comes with comprehending yoga for its impact on the mind. 

The emerging research on yoga's impact on physical, emotional, and mental stability is intriguing and fascinating to study. Recent theoretical work suggests a processing roadmap of yoga's benefits to the brain, laying down a guidebook for future research in neuroscience to follow to uncover the ways we have yet to tap into yoga's healing modalities (Gard et al., Potential self-regulatory mechanisms for psychological health, 2014). In many ways, this research highlights the adages that yoga teachers have been professing for centuries - there just hasn't been much scientific proof to actually back them up. Imaging studies and randomized control trials are at the forefront of changing this paradigm, and it's one I believe needs to be changed. The health care we deliver by and large misses the mark for many people - take low back pain, for example. Despite new technologies, new musculoskeletal understanding and techniques, and new pharmaceuticals, the number of people with chronic low back pain fails to decrease (Meucci et al., Prevalence of chronic low back pain, 2015). 

The goal of yoga is to ease suffering, not attain a certain pose 
This is incredibly important to consider when determining where to practice yoga, if you are ready to take the dive. If you currently struggle with chronic pain, have any other health-related issues, or have an acute injury, it would be wise to begin with a consultation from a Physical Therapist. They can educate you on what is safe for you personally, and some may even have recommendations for yoga studios and teachers that encourage healing and transformation instead of rote exercise. The beauty of yoga's boom in the west is that a studio is not hard to find - though it does make finding the right teacher for you a little more challenging. Consider these questions when you are looking into studios:

• What are the credentials of the instructor? If you attend class and receive medical advice from an instructor with only a 200-hour yoga certification, beware. The teacher means well, but does NOT know what is best for you personally. 
• How large are the classes? Smaller class sizes may encourage deeper learning, though I've been in classes where my mat is touching my neighbor's and benefit equally (of course, this was pre-pandemic!) - you will need to trust your gut here. Remember, when you feel physically safe, you are able to process information better. 
• Are there opportunities to study other aspects of yoga at the studio besides just asana (posture)? Book clubs, meditation sessions, philosophy sections, and workshops all improve the overall experience of yoga and will help you have a deeper practice. 

I'd love to help you on your yoga journey. Comment below with questions, stories, or reactions!