Yoga and Chiropractic: A Match Made in Samadhi

By Sara Butler

Chiropractic care and yoga have a lot in common. They both improve your flexibility, range of motion, and posture. But they have more than just those things in common.

Whereas chiropractic care aims to enhance the function of your central nervous system to improve the relationship between your spine and the rest of your body, yoga helps to support and strengthen the muscles through a series of poses that are designed to improve your strength and posture. In other words, joint restrictions and dysfunctions are addressed by your chiropractor and yoga helps to reinforce them.

Yoga is the perfect complement to chiropractic care. Here are just a few of the reasons why you need to make them both a practice in your life.

Chiropractic Care and Your Health

The American Chiropractic Association states that chiropractic care focuses on issues with the musculoskeletal system, as well as the central nervous system. and how disorders of each can impact general health. Chiropractic care is utilized to treat complaints of the neuromusculoskeletal system such as neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms and legs, and headaches and back pain.

Yoga is the ideal accompaniment to chiropractic care because it’s a gentle and calming form of exercise that works to strengthen and lengthen the muscles that surround the joints -- the very muscles that are affected when the chiropractor adjusts your joints to work as they were made to work.

How Yoga and Chiropractic Go Together

The American Chiropractic Association offers several examples of yoga poses that help to improve range of motion, open up your spine, and build strength. These include:

• Reverse namaste
• Uttanasana
• Downward-facing dog
• The eagle or arudasana

These poses can help your body to maintain the progress it makes at each visit to the chiropractor. They also help to increase overall wellness by helping you to stay on a path toward improved overall health -- something a lot of chiropractic patients struggle with. In other words, it helps you to create healthy habits outside of your visits to the chiropractor that help to keep your progress moving forward.

Some Yoga Advice

There are many different types of yoga out there. If you’re looking to start practicing yoga as a way to complement your chiropractic treatment plan, then it’s important to find a yoga class that fits your personality. A few examples include:

• Yin yoga - This focuses on holding poses for a longer period of time in order to gain flexibility and strength
• Yang yoga - This moves quickly through the poses and is better to help you release excess energy and stress
• Restorative yoga - This utilizes props in order to help you feel more comfortable so you’re able to fully relax and release stress and tension

No matter which type of yoga you find that fits you best, make sure to share your efforts with your chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic. They’ll be happy to learn what you’re doing to bolster your treatments to help you get the most out of your chiropractic treatment plan. They may also be able to suggest which type of yoga poses suit your particular needs best.

If you want to find out more about the connection between chiropractic care and yoga, then talk to the chiropractors at The Joint today!

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this page are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this post is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics, including but not limited to the benefits of chiropractic care, exercise and nutrition. It is not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your chiropractor, physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this page.