Yoga Therapy for Chronic Pain 

Yoga Therapy: A Holistic Approach to Pain 

 

Yoga Therapy can be an alternative or complementary form of pain management for those with chronic, persistent pain, fibromyalgia, or pain resulting from cancer treatment or complications of diabetes. Second Nature takes a holistic approach, providing gentle, individualized therapy for pain management in your home in Bloomington Indiana.

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Yoga Therapy is more than physical therapy, combining the aspects of mind-awareness with body-awareness. Pain is not always an obvious "target," often stemming from neurological or neuromuscular conditions, nerve damage from diabetes or cancer treatment, non-specific back pain or, unfortunately, iatrogenic sources such as certain medications. Finding the precise cause may not be possible, yet having the ability to break the cycle of pain, even momentarily, or to know what may precipitate or exacerbate it, is perhaps the most helpful aspect of working with a knowledgeable yoga therapist: a client learns to help themselves, rather than relying on props, chairs, and a formulaic set of exercises. 

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Gentle Pain Management

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Yoga Therapy is a gentle yet substantive means for managing chronic / persistent pain. Pain perception is directly affected by the physical or mental state we are in, particularly when drawn out over long periods of time; weeks, months, years of protective holding patterns in the body or unaddressed stress and anxiety can, quite literally, become the problem rather than the symptom. In-home yoga therapy sessions are led by a yoga therapist with a deep interest in helping individuals as a whole: If you are going through cancer treatment or are in recovery, live with a neurological condition, or have unresolved pain due to injury, surgery, back pain, or amputation, working and speaking freely with someone who understands who you are, and what you have been going through, can be the first step towards healing and improving quality of life. 

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Women are often the primary caregiver in families, caring for children, spouse, aging parents, or siblings. They also make up the brunt of the health care task force (~80%). Caregivers tend to overlook or ignore their body's warning signals and their emotional state, putting aside their wellbeing in an effort to sustain everyone around them. Chronic pain is directly linked to stress, poor health, chronic lack of sleep, and burnout. Yoga therapy's gentle, whole-person approach looks beyond the 'doing' aspect so often associated with yoga, allowing the non-doing aspects—mental and emotional stability, sensory calming, overall slowing of hyperactivity in the mind and body—to take precedence.

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