Say Good Bye to Lower Back Pain
by Yamuna Zake for Yamuna Body Rolling
It is almost epidemic in our society that at some point most people will suffer from some sort of lower back problem. Women can even be more susceptible to lower back issues from pregnancies and particularly post-delivery due to the fact that the abdominal muscles are no longer supporting the lower back from the front or the sides. Then add that suddenly a woman is carrying a baby, multi-tasking with the baby on one side while doing other things with the other side, in a body that has not yet reorganized itself after labor. A woman’s body undergoes tremendous changes throughout a pregnancy and then with the intensity of labor it is almost impossible to have the body you had before! Most people’s alignment is never perfect to begin with, but after pregnancy most women will have misaligned hips. Add this to not having abdominal muscles that are connected to the back and it is easy to understand why back pain begins very often during and post pregnancies.
I began to look at why so many women suffer from lower back problems one day when a woman of over 60 years old came to me for a treatment complaining about lower back problems. When I asked her when it began, she replied, “after the birth of my first son.” I asked her how old her son was and she laughed and said “40 years old”! I then began to ask every woman who had children who came to me complaining about lower back issues and almost half the time, they reported that their lower backs began to bother them after childbirth.
This led me to analyze why this is so frequent and what information do women need to have in order to prevent lower back weakness and discomfort.
Here are some particular things to pay attention to:
1. Most people are not aware that their hips and lower backs are misaligned. Find someone who can assess your pelvis, hip and lower back alignment and offer guidance.
2. It is important to keep the abdominal muscles long, toned and strong. This means that they keep the rib cage lifted so it does not come collapsing down into the pelvis putting unnecessary pressure into the lower back.
3. Make sure you’re keeping adequate length between your ribs and pelvis in the front, sides and back of your body. Many women expand their front ribs forward during pregnancy to make room for the baby. This causes a strong contraction in the lower back ribs. This causes pressure, upper body weight, and compression directly down into the lower back.
4. The importance of developing and restoring the abdominal muscle connection to supporting the spine is crucial for maintaining a healthy lower back.
5. Keeping the ribcage, shoulders, head, and neck well aligned and upright helps to keep pressure out of the lower back.
6. Many people stand more on one side of the body. Women with young children do this even more! This creates side-to-side imbalances that can cause lower back problems. Try to stay as equal as possible in your legs, hips, and back when standing and when picking up or carrying a child.
7. If your feet are collapsing in the arches, most likely this is contributing to your lower back problems. Check out Yamuna Foot Fitness and rebuild your healthy foot function after pregnancy!
8. Do not live with lower back discomfort! Don’t wait for it to go away on its own. This practice might work the first couple times, but when it stops working most likely the pain and problem will have reached a much more serious level and will be harder to fix.
9. Remember that after you have a baby, your body is not the one you had before. It has shifted and altered at every stage of the pregnancy and even more during labor. Take time to first let it rest. Then before running back to the gym go to have your body alignment assessed and corrected if need be.
If you are already experiencing lower back discomfort seek assistance in aligning and getting all your parts in working order.
10. After labor, all your internal organs have shifted. Very often the intestines, bladder, and uterus have dropped. This can contribute to lower back problems. Remember, you have 33 feet of small intestines, and 11 or more feet of large intestines. All of this weight drops down into the pelvis. Find a professional who can help you to lift the organs back up and prevent unnecessary bladder lifts.
For more information go to the YBR website or email yamuna@yamunabodyrolling for your specific questions.
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Yamuna Zake is a master teacher and healer who has dedicated her life to understanding how the body works and helping others to strengthen and create positive change in their bodies through what she has learned. The benefits of the work include improved posture and alignment, increased range of motion, and increased muscle tone, flexibility and organ function.
YBR is a very powerful self-fixing and maintaining tool that everyone can do regardless of age or physical limitations. The method centers around the ball: the ball becomes the hands of the therapist and the person’s weight creates the traction, movement and release on the ball. Yamuna Body Rolling gives you the ability to “work on yourself ” anytime, anywhere.