Yoga can bring your body back into balance

One of Yoga Wellbeing’s  yogis was commenting on the Yoga for Scoliosis workshops and how she learned how to use yoga to work with the reverse-S curve of her spine. For thelast month she has took time off to devote herself to healing. In addition to her morning practice, she began to hone moment-to-moment awareness of how she was holding herself throughout the day. “About 8 to 12 times a day I would make adjustments to the way I sit, stand, sweep the floor, brush my teeth, you name it.” Her work paid off. “Within four weeks I was sleeping without pain, and the daily pain wasn’t as dominant. About a month after that, the daily pain ended.” Not only that, she believes that the curve in her lower back is lessening. These days if the pain returns, she knows that yoga can bring her body back into balance.

She was willing to do anything but have surgery. I sought a second opinion from a well-known orthopedist who specialized in scoliosis. Thankfully, he felt surgery was necessary only if the curvature continued to increase. He recommended swimming and mentioned that he had just heard that yoga could be helpful too. I took his advice and joined the swim team during college, but it wasn’t until my 20s that I took up yoga.

Now, after more than 30 years of working with my own scoliosis, my curve has decreased significantly and is barely noticeable. The key is to be consistent and patient.