We usually don’t think about our back until it hurts. And yet, a painful and stiff back can drain our energy, compromise daily functioning and make us feel old. Why is it that we have all sorts of potions to prevent skin ageing and fitness regimes to stay muscular, but we forget about a crucial part of our body that allows us to fully enjoy life? Arthritis of the spine is a form of wear and tear that we can to some extent prevent. A stiff lower back is often the result of inactivity or excessive activity. Both conditions makes us feel older than we need to be. Whether you have back pain or not, it’s never too soon or too late to look after your back. This blog discusses five guidelines for a healthy back, and the simple things you can do to keep your back in good condition. Incorporate these into your daily routine, and you’ll give yourself the best chance to feel younger and stay active.

Looking back at the 2018 overview of low back pain studies in The Lancet, I wonder if much has changed in these past years. This leading medical journal announced that low back pain has increased worldwide. It stated that the medical approaches used in high-income countries, such as surgery, medication, injections and imaging, are not effective. The studies suggest further that exercise, education, and psychological therapies are most appropriate for the majority of low back pain cases. The pandemic hasn’t improved the prevalence of back pain. Instead, working from home may have increased back stiffness and pain. Back care treatments were interrupted and now often still have long waiting lists. Surprisingly, 24.4% of Covid survivors report back pain as a new associated pain (International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Sept. 22). Now more than ever, The Lancet’s simple guidelines can help us forward. This blog examines the treatment guidelines for low back pain, and explains how yoga therapy can help. With its emphasis on simple practices, breath optimisation and relaxation, it offers what the research prescribes.  

September is the ideal time for longer walks in nature. The temperatures are mild and the air is fresh and laden with the heavier scent of turning leaves. But unless you are young and fit, a hike may leave you feeling tight in your back and legs. Instead of waiting to your next yoga class, why not pause in the middle of your walk to look after your hard-working muscles? Taking a break to release tightness gently will allow you to continue the journey with more ease. You don’t need a yoga mat to stretch but can release tight muscles in a standing position. Indeed, outdoor stretching to ease tight muscles is a wonderful way to take in the scenery, breathe deeply and uplift the spirits. Here are a few easy suggestions of how to do it. I hope they can make your next walk even more enjoyable!

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If you feel exasperated with nagging back pain or tight shoulders and neck, this blog is for you. These self-care tips for a healthy back demonstrate simple practices to release tight muscles and strengthen core muscles. While feeling stronger and more flexible on a physical level is a good start, no good back care programme is complete without breath optimisation and relaxation. After all, the mind and body are intrinsically linked, so repetitive and mindless exercises are not sufficient to deal with back pain. If you would like to learn more about back care, read to the end of the blog to find out about my new 5-week back care group class, starting this April.

We are living in difficult and worrying times. As if the global pandemic, the rising cost of living and the environmental threats were not enough, there is now also a shocking war to worry about, quite nearby. The macro situation may come on top of a personal challenge in your life. How can we stay calm and clearheaded when it’s far easier to be agitated and stressed? The ancient yoga philosophy says that inner peace is always within us. Although it can get clouded by fear, anger and worries, our inner peace is always there. Accessing this sanctuary regularly helps us gain mental clarity and emotional balance. There are many yoga tools that can help us reduce overwhelm, fear and stress, but this blog will focus on three yoga shortcuts to find inner peace.

Looking after our neck is never a prime concern until it starts to hurt. I found this out the hard way last year, when I felt tingling going down my arm all the way to my thumb. I now know that prioritising neck care is essential, because alongside the lower back, it bears the full force of wrong postural habits. The neck is a vital passage between the head and the rest of the body: the breath, blood, nerve impulses and nourishment all have to pass through this delicate structure. At the same time, the small cervical vertebrae and muscles have to carry the heavy weight of the head and move efficiently. Let’s have a look at how the neck is structured, what can go wrong, and what we can do to look after it now. 

“40 and falling apart” was the first blog I ever wrote. It claimed that at 40, your body starts telling you what you’ve been doing in your life. Little did I know what 50 was going to bring! At 50, I have to use my yoga practice to support my body, rather than the other way round. Attention to posture has become important, same as upper back and neck care. With this blog, I’d like to give you some tips to be the healthiest version of you. These yoga tips to stay healthy and well will not make you stand on your head or bend like a pretzel. This is yoga for better blood circulation, deeper breathing, better balance and mobility, and less stress. It is yoga that helps you feel more confident and happy. 

Here we are, after almost two years, still immersed in a pandemic. This second time round over Christmas, it may feel a bit harder to find joyful activities, laugh and have fun. Being healthy, and surrounded by family or friends is our greatest blessing. But as we enter our second Christmas with restrictions, let’s focus on finding pleasure in small things. Without concerts, plays, parties, travel and restaurants, these small pleasures give us a different source of joy. They are also simple and fun ways to find focus and calm.

When faced with a health challenge such as back pain, what you do every day counts, and how you start the day is very important. Starting with a morning yoga routine prepares your back in the best possible way for the day ahead. If you think about it, you already have a morning routine: the way you get out of bed, move to the shower and eat your breakfast all involve movements that may or may not benefit your back. This article will walk you through a morning yoga routine for a healthy back. You can do this practice every day to maintain a pain-free, flexible and strong back. These movements are suitable for general lower back stiffness and mild back pain. Doing the movements in coordination with the breath will also soothe the nervous system and set you up for the day with a calmer and more focused mind. 

I can’t really claim that my children are devoted yogis, but they have inevitably had to put up with yoga as a solution for just about everything, such as exam stress (“breathe!”), stress and anxiety (“breathe and connect with your feet!”), core strengthening (“this is a better way to do it”), and back pain… unfortunately also back pain. Over the years I have warned my children about the consequences of slouching until I myself slumped down in desperation. For young people the consequences of bad posture are not immediate, and all their friends slouch or practically lie at their desk… Unfortunately, at some point the chronically rounded spine has had enough, and the consequences are bound to be painful and limiting. My children both have a yoga mat in their student accommodations, not necessarily out of choice. But at least they can practice when their back hurts, or just lie on it. Below I explain the yoga poses my kids are taking back to uni. They are not only useful for students but for anyone who has to sit for many hours.