Keep your back and hips healthy in the Fall

October opens the season for back pain…

Especially for those of us who are axious, overwhelmed, stressed, 40s and older, on-the-go, multi-tasking busy householders. All of these adjectives have one thing in common: the describe a person who is experiencing

VATA dosha

VATA Dosha, in ayurveda, describes a constitional type in Nature, that is made of AIR and SPACE elements. These elements give the VATA type their unique qualities, through which VATA dosha can be seen and experienced in all living beings, locations on the planet, times of day, seasons in nature and stages of life.

Here are the qualities of VATA dosha and how they express in us, humans:

• cold  – feel cold, catch cold, back cold, neck cold
• dry – dry skin, dry hair, popping joints, stiff muscles
• rough – rough skin, coarse hair. chapped lips, wrinkles
• mobile –  loose joints, likes to move, busy, multi-tasking, restless, anxious
• light – bloating, fluctuating weight, weak, depleted, frail

We may not all be of a VATA dosha constitution and feel these qualities all the time. But we all are more likely to experience these qualities take front stage in the FALL. – the season of VATA dosha.

Indeed, it’s in the Fall, that tempretature changes to cold, leaves become dry, rough to touch, light, and mobile, they fly in the AIR through SPACE.

Following cues of nature, humans also feel these qualities and the symptoms they create in our body. One of those symptoms is sensitivity to cold in the low back and neck areas – we start to close the car window, wrap a scarf around the neck, cover the back with a sweater…

Connection between cold weather and back pain is widely accepted, in medical community as well as in common households (my dad’s back would get so fragile in his 50s, he would be unable to get out of bed by mid-winter). Another connection is made between lack of movement and back pain. Yet, its often DUE to movement in cold weather, that we catch a back ache! So what to do as the weather turns cold? We certainly don’t want to move inside and wait it out, we want to stay active and productive. What’s the solution to keeping our back safe and continue to actively enjoy outdoors?

Well, according to Ayurveda, health is balance and…

OPPOSITES BALANCE

So, if we do not want beautiful Fall season to get ruined by back pain, we need  to cultivate opposing qualities inside us to balance the cold, dry, rough, mobile and light qualities outside us. We can do it with vata balancing foods (see nutrition articles in this blog for some ideas), lifestyle and self-care routine adjustments such as massage with warm Ashwaganda Bala oil (see an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor for customized routine recommendation), and yoga  (safest form of exercise for balance).

From standpoint of yoga therapy, I would focus on key qualities to cultivate  in your yoga practice for safe maintenance of your low back in the Fall:

• warm – to balance the cold
• moist – to balance the dry
• smooth – to balance the rough
• steady – to balance the mobile
• heavy – to balance the light

These qualities can be increased in your system by adding elements of FIRE, WATER and EARTH (to balance too much AIR and SPACE in Vata dosha).

FIRE, WATER and EARTH, in the body, are concentrated in the pelvic bowl.

FIRE is represented by digestion function of GI tract and mental comprehension (enzymes, gut biome,  metabolism, absorption, communication to the brain via vagus connection, memory, comprehension, enthusiasm).

WATER is represented by smooth muscles of viscera, flow of: urinary tract, digestive juices. reproductive system, elimination; desire, creativity, pleasure.

EARTH is represented by heavy pelvic structure: bones and muscles.

So, to move like you wanna build the core that will hold your back –

• fire up large muscle groups (quads, thighs, glutes)
• soften knees, swivel hips (water)
• widen and lower the stance (earth)

any which way that puts a smile on your face!

A concept we explore in depth in the CHILD of PRANA Method.

Learn more in this video…