Yoga for a Healthy Lower Back (62 page)

C
HAPTER 6:
Y
OUR
M
IDDLE
B
ACK
, U
PPER
B
ACK, AND
N
ECK

  
1
.  J. Talbot Sellers, “Causes of Upper Back Pain,”
www.spine-health.com/conditions/upper-back-pain/causes-upper-back-pain
.

  
2
.  Sports Injury Clinic, “Tight Muscles in the Upper Back and Neck,”
www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/upper-back-neck/tight-muscles-neck
.

  
3
.  The Free Dictionary, “Vertebral Subluxation Complex,”
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Vertebral+subluxation
.

  
4
.  Arthur F. Dalley and Keith L. Moore,
Clinically Oriented Anatomy,
Fourth Edition
(Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1999), 438.

  
5
.  Doug Keller, “Banish Pack Pain,”
Yoga + Joyful Living
(March/April 2007): 77.

  
6
.  Julie Gudmestad, “Ease on Back,”
www.yogajournal.com/health/125
.

  
7
.  
http://www.smart-strength-training.com/upper-back-muscles.html
.

  
8
.  International Olympic Committee, “Factsheet: Records and Metals, Games of the Olympiad,”
www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Records_and_medals_at_the_Games_Olympiad.pdf
.

  
9
.  Keller, 79.

10
.  Thomas W. Myers,
Anatomy Trains, Second Edition
(Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2009), 164.

11
.  Ibid., 85.

12
.  Dalley and Moore, 1001, 1022.

13
.  Myers, 108–109.

14
.  Dalley and Moore, 1026.

15
.  Ibid.

16
.  Myers, 109.

17
.  Ibid, 86–87.

18
.  Edwin F. Bryant.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
(New York: North Point Press, 2009), 364.

19
.  B.K.S. Iyengar,
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
(India: HarperCollins, 1993), 203.

20
.  Georg Feuerstein,
The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga
(Boston: Shambhala, 1997), 322.

21
.  Harish Johari,
Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation
(Rochester, Vt.: Destiny Books, 1987), 139.

22
.  Ibid., 87.

23
.  Johari, 149.

24
.  Feuerstein, 22.

25
.  Johari, 68.

26
.  Bryant, 364.

27
.  Vasant L. Lad and Anisha Durve,
Marma Points of Ayurveda: The Energy Pathways for Healing Body, Mind and Consciousness with a Comparison to Traditional Chinese Medicine
(Albuquerque: The Ayurvedic Press, 2008), 152.

28
.  Feuerstein, 15, 222.

29
.  Johari, 63.

30
.  Feuerstein, 331.

31
.  Johari, 73.

32
.  Ibid., 72.

33
.  Ibid.

34
.  B.K.S. Iyengar,
Light on Pranayama
(New York: Crossroad, 1988), 272.

35
.  C. C. Streeter, et al., “Effects of Yoga on the Autonomic Nervous System, GABA, and Allostasis in Epilepsy, Depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,”
Medical Hypotheses
78, no. 5 (May 2012): 573–74.

36
.  Kit Laughlin,
Overcome Neck and Back Pain
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 82–84.

37
.  B.K.S. Iyengar,
Light on Yoga
,
Revised Edition
(New York: Schocken Books, 1977), 251.

38
.  Alistair Shearer,
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
(New York: Bell Tower, 1982), 90.

39
.  Bryant, 10.

40
.  Barbara Stoler Miller,
Yoga: Discipline of Freedom
(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996), 29.

41
.  Georg Feuerstein,
The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation and
Commentary
(Rochester: Inner Traditions, 1989), 28.

42
.  Bryant, 22.

43
.  Miller, 29.

44
.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Mandala,”
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandala
.

C
HAPTER 8:
P
RACTICES FOR
S
PECIFIC
L
OWER
B
ACK
C
ONDITIONS AND
D
IAGNOSES

  
1
.  WebMD, “Herniated Disc: Topic Overview,”
www.webmd.com/back-pain/tc/herniated-disc-topic-overview
.

  
2
.  Loren Fishman and Carol Ardman,
Relief Is in the Stretch
(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005), 90.

  
3
.  PubMed Health, “Spinal Stenosis,”
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmedhealth/PMH0001477.

  
4
.  PubMed Health, “Spondylolisthesis,”
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002240
.

  
5
.  PubMed Health, “Fibromyalgia,”
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001463
.

  
6
.  Timothy McCall,
Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health
and Healing
(New York: Bantam Dell, 2007), 301.

G
LOSSARY

  
1
.  The Sanskrit glossary was compiled in consultation with Benjamin Williams, PhD candidate at Harvard University. In addition, the following books were used:

Vaman Shivaram Apte,
The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary
(New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998).

B.K.S. Iyengar,
Light on Pranayama
(New York: Crossroad, 1988).

Harish Johari,
Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation
(Rochester, Vt.: Destiny Books, 1987).

Vasant L. Lad and Anisha Durve,
Marma Points of Ayurveda: The Energy Pathways for Healing Body, Mind and Consciousness with
a Comparison to Traditional Chinese Medicine
(Albuquerque: The Ayurvedic Press, 2008).

M. A. Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English Dictionary Etymologically
and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate
Indo-European Languages
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899).

Glossary of Sanskrit Terms
¹

AGNI
—The element of fire; the fire of transformation; sacrificial fire; the fire of the stomach.

AHIMSA
—Nonviolence and noninjury; one of the prerequisite attitudes of a yogi.

AKASHA
—Radiance; luminous inner space; the element of ether; sky, atmosphere.

APANA VAYU
—Downward, grounding energy located in the lower abdomen; lower wind; lower flow.

ASANA
—Posture; physical poses practiced in hatha yoga; the third of Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga; lit. “sitting down; a seat.”

AYURVEDA
—Holistic system of medicine used in India; lit. “the science of life.”

BANDHA
—Bond; binding; lock; connection.

•  
MULA BANDHA
—Root Lock; a method of containing energy in the lower pelvis.

•  
JALANDHARA BANDHA
—Chin Lock; a method of containing energy in the neck and upper chest.

•  
UDDIYANA BANDHA
—Abdominal Lock; a method of containing energy in the abdominal cavity.

CHAKRA
—One of seven centers of spiritual energy in the body; lit. “wheel, cycle, hollow.”

•  
MULADHARA
—The first chakra; root chakra; lit. “root support.”

•  
SVADHISTHANA
—The second chakra; sacral chakra; lit. “one's own abode.”

•
MANIPURA
—The third chakra; navel chakra; lit. “city of gems, or jewels.”

•  
ANAHATA
—The fourth chakra; heart chakra; lit. “unstruck, unbeaten.”

•  
VISHUDDHA
—The fifth chakra; throat chakra; lit. “purity, clarity.”

•  
AJNA
—The sixth chakra; third-eye chakra; lit. “command.”

•  
SAHASRARA
—The seventh chakra; crown chakra; lit. “thousand-petaled” [lotus].

CHITTA-VISHRANTI
—
Mental repose.

DHARMA
—Nature; characteristics; quality; duty; virtue.

GRANTHI
—Knot; tie; hardening; complaint; examples include Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra.

GUNA
—Quality or attribute of nature; see also rajas, tamas, sattva.

IDA
—A major energy channel that travels up the spine, crossing with its complement, Pingala, at each chakra; left-hand side; moon; mental force.

KRIYA
—Cleansing practice; lit. “action, or activity.”

KUMBHA
—A water pot, a pitcher, or a chalice.

KUMBHAKA
—Breath retention after full inhalation or breath suspension after full exhalation; see also kumbha.

KUNDALINI
—Coiled, as in energy; serpentine energy, released through the practice of yoga, which travels up the body's major energy channel; see also Sushumna.

MARMA
—The name for the vital energy points on the surface of the body where different aspects of consciousness can be accessed; lit. “hidden.”

MUDRA
—A symbolic hand gesture used as a meditation aid; a token or mark of divine attributes; lit. “seal, or sign”; derived from
mud,
meaning “to please [the gods].”

•  
ANJALI MUDRA
—The hand gesture of salutation, benediction, or celebration; lit. “offering.”

•  
JNANA MUDRA
—The hand gesture of knowledge.

•  
MANDALA MUDRA
—The hand gesture that symbolizes a circle of wholeness; lit. “circular seal.”

NABHI CHAKRA
—Another name for Manipura chakra; the place from which many of the 72,000 nadis originate; lit. “navel wheel.”

NADI
—A channel that carries energy throughout the body; see also Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna; from the root
nad,
meaning “to vibrate”; lit. “a river, flowing stream.”

NAMASTE
—A greeting or salutation, often said at the beginning and/or end of a yoga class, meaning the divine spark within me honors the divine spark within you; lit. “I bow to you.”

NISCHALA
—Stillness; immovable; a state of serenity; lit. “without movement.”

PINGALA
—A major energy channel that travels up the spine, crossing with its complement, Ida, at each chakra; right-hand side; sun; positive energy; lit. “yellow or golden.”

PRAKASHA
—Light; luminosity; brightness; enlightenment; clear radiance; illumination.

PRANA
—Life force; vital energy; lit. “breath.”

PRANA VAYU
—The intake of vital energy; upward, expansive wind, upward flow of energy that resides chiefly in the chest.

PRANAYAMA
—Breath-control technique used as an aid to meditation in yoga practice, the fourth of Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga; lit. “restraint of the breath.”

•  
BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA
—Bellows Breath.

•  
DIRGHA PRANAYAMA
—Three-Part Breath; lit. “long or extended breath control.”

•  
KAPALABHATI PRANAYAMA
—Shining-Skull Breath.

•  
UJJAYI PRANAYAMA
—Ocean Breath; lit. “upward victory breath control.”

RAJAS
—Movement; activity; passion; one of the major gunas, or qualities of nature.

SATTVA
—Illumination; purity; goodness; one of the major gunas, or quali-

ties of nature.

SHANTI
—Peace.

STHIRA
—Stable; steadfast, firm; steady.

SUKHAM
—Comfort; comfortable; easy; natural; delight; happiness.

SUSHUMNA
—The central energy channel of the body, which travels up the spinal column; the path of uncoiled Kundalini energy; see also nadi, Ida, and Pingala.

TAMAS
—Inertia; rest; dullness; darkness; one of the major gunas, or qualities of nature.

TAPAS
—Purification; self-discipline; heat; austerity.

VAYU
—Wind; flow; see also apana vayu and prana vayu.

VINYASA
—Movement synchronized with breath; sequential, flowing approach to yoga asana practice; lit. “composition, or arrangement.”

YOGA
—The discipline of the body, mind, and spirit, using a number of personal practices including physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation; yoke; union; concentration; path; method; see also asana and pranayama.

Recommended Reading for Lower Back Health

Your journey into wellness doesn't end when you close this book. The books listed below can help deepen your self-knowledge, expand your yoga practice, and generally illuminate your path to lower back health.

A
NATOMY,
P
HYSIOLOGY, AND
C
HRONIC
P
AIN:

Benson, Herbert.
The Relaxation Response
. New York: HarperCollins, 1975.

Broad, William J.
The Science of Yoga
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012.

Coulter, H. David.
Anatomy of Hatha Yoga: A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners
. Honesdale, Pa.: Body and Breath, Inc., 2001.