You might be surprised to learn that combining yoga and chiropractic care can be a great way to boost your health. While they both use a few different methods to achieve this, they are somewhat similar in how they treat the body. Below you’ll discover more behind these two practices and why you should try chiropractic care and yoga.
What is Yoga?
Yoga is an ancient practice designed to help improve your body both mentally and physically through meditation and stretches. It’s meant to promote harmony throughout your body.
There are many different forms of yoga. For instance, Kundalini Yoga focuses on the spiritual aspect of the body to remove negative energy. On the other hand, Yin Yoga is a slower form but requires more intense physical movements that are designed to improve flexibility and circulation.
How Does Chiropractic Care Work?
Chiropractic care is a type of treatment that focuses on neuromuscular disorders. To fix these issues, a chiropractor will use various types of manipulations on your body to relieve pain and increase flexibility.
However, chiropractors don’t just adjust your body. Many might be surprised to learn that they also can help you with finding exercises, diets, and supplements that can increase your strength and work to stop the pain.
The Benefits of Them
They Increase Flexibility
Both yoga and chiropractic care can increase your flexibility. Through yoga, you’ll learn how to adjust your body which will help your muscles to increase their range of motion. Chiropractic care will improve your flexibility by doing spinal adjustments to ensure your bones and joints are aligned so you can move your body more freely. While it will take a few weeks before you start to see major results, over time, you’ll begin to see slow improvements.
They Help with Stress
Another helpful benefit of these two is that they can reduce stress. Chiropractic adjustments can stop stress by releasing tension to help calm your body’s flight or fight response.
Yoga reduces stress by teaching you how to train your brain to relax. It will require you to practice controlled breathing which can eliminate tension in your body, lower your blood pressure, and slow your heart rate.
They Improve Your Circulation
Poor circulation can cause serious problems, like numbness, painful tingling sensations, and muscle cramps. Yoga works to improve your circulation by encouraging better blood flow throughout your body. As you relax your body during a session, it will cause it to pump out more oxygen to your cells, something which will dramatically enhance your circulation, especially to your brain and heart.
Chiropractic adjustments also improve your circulation because they prevent restricted blood flow, especially if it’s caused by hypertension or nerve damage. By adjusting your spine, chiropractic care will release any pressure on surrounding spinal nerves to help your circulation flow normally.
How to Incorporate Yoga and Chiropractic Care Together
If you’re interested in incorporating yoga and chiropractic care together in your life there are plenty of ways you can do so.
Meditate Daily
Meditation is key to teaching your body how to relax. There are various types of meditation techniques you can use to help calm your body, such as writing or doing controlled breathing exercises.
If you want to learn how to relax your breathing, you can use this basic mediation method. First, find a quiet room where you can sit and calm your mind. Then, start focusing on your breathing. Are you inhaling and exhaling quickly? If so, work to slow your breathing down. To do this, take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, and then slowly exhale. Repeat this process for about a minute. When you’re done, you’ll find that your breathing has significantly slowed and your body will feel more relaxed.
Stretch
Another way to combine yoga and chiropractic care is to stretch.
There is a variety of yoga stretches you can do that cater to both beginners and seasoned stretchers. Some of the best stretches to do are:
- Downward dog
- High lunge
- Triangle pose
- Cow pose
- Mountain pose
If you want something a bit more simple, you might instead look toward traditional chiropractic stretches. These include pelvic tilts and a knee-to-chest stretch.
Get Monthly Chiropractic Adjustments
Monthly chiropractic adjustments can also work to give you optimum health. A simple adjustment can encourage better circulation, improve your immunity, and reduce inflammation. A chiropractor will inspect your body to see where areas of concern might be, such as in your legs or spine. After doing so, they’ll apply pressure to these areas to provide relief.
Try a Massage
Another way to improve your health is to get a massage. Massages have been proven to not only reduce stress but enhance your immunity and reduce pain. In addition to this, they can help calm anxiety, heal headaches, and fix insomnia. Chiropractic massages can also be done to fix areas of inflammation, especially if there’s an injury involved.
Some of the most common massages done to help improve your health include:
- Hot stone massage
- Swedish massage
- Deep tissue massage
- Shiatsu massage
Adjust Your Diet
What you eat plays a huge role in how healthy you are. Yoga usually follows Ayurvedic principles that incorporate large portions of vegetables, grains, and spices in your meals. This is similar to a diet plan that many chiropractors will suggest to keep your body in good shape. Most will request that you add more omega-3, fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens to your meals.
By consuming these healthy items, you’ll not only find that your body feels better but is much more energetic. The food can also protect you from serious illnesses, like cancer and arthritis, because it builds up your immune system and bones. You might even find that your memory has improved and you feel more positive.
Yoga and chiropractic care can work together to provide you with impressive health results. If you’re interested in learning natural ways to help heal your body and keep it healthy, definitely keep the information above in mind.
References
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2009.0044
Dr. Brent Wells founded Better Health Chiropractic in Anchorage in 1998. He is currently leading 10,000 Alaskans to more active and pain-free lifestyles without drugs or invasive surgeries. He brings a progressive and highly innovative approach to chiropractic care. Dr. Wells continues to further his education with ongoing studies in spine conditions, neurology, physical rehabilitation, biomechanics, occupational ergonomics, whiplash, and brain injury traumatology. He is also a member of the American Chiropractic Association and the American Academy of Spine Physicians.
