• Student Management System
  • Yoga Sequence Builder
  • About Olga
  • Private yoga sessions
  • Virtual Yoga Studio
  • Body Map
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • Sign up
  • Log in

Sequence Wiz

Every yoga practice must have purpose, order and meaning

  • yoga for your body
  • yoga for your energy
  • yoga for your mind
  • How to design a practice
  • Sequencing basics
  • Teaching tips
  • Yoga “snacks”
  • teachers’ stories

Four steps to minimize the stress placed on the intervertebral disks

1
  • by olgakabel
  • in yoga for your body
  • — 23 Dec, 2015

Did you know that astronauts get taller in space? According to NASA studies, when the spine is not exposed to the pull of Earth’s gravity, the intervertebral disks expand and as a result the spine gets a bit longer. That small gain is short lived, however. Once the astronauts return to Earth, their height returns to normal after a few months adapting to the Earth’s gravitational pull.(1)

In fact, you can test the effect of gravitational pull yourself if you measure your height before you go to bed and then again right after you wake up. The difference can be as much as 2 centimeters, which is attributed to the fact that intervertebral disks get compressed and dehydrated during the day (because of the gravitational pull and mechanical forces from both movement and sitting). During the night’s sleep the disks get rehydrated again – as a result you wake up taller.

A similar mechanism is believed to be responsible for the loss of height with age. Apparently, as we age the composition of our discs changes (they become more fibrous) and they become progressively more and more dehydrated. “A less hydrated, more fibrous nucleus pulposus [the inner core of the vertebral disc] is unable to evenly distribute compressive forces between the vertebral bodies. The forces are instead transferred non-uniformly to the surrounding annulus fibrosus [outer protective layer]”(2), which can lead to progressive structural deterioration, disk herniation and pain.

So it is pretty obvious that we want to keep our intervertebral disks hydrated and our spines aligned to minimize the stress that is being placed on the disks. How do we go about it?

Step 1: Move more. No surprise here. Some mechanical stimulation of the disks is necessary to “induce nutrient diffusion and to promote matrix synthesis”(2), which means that we need to move the spine forward and back, side to side and twist to keep the disks nourished. A well-balanced yoga practice will usually take you through the full range of spinal motion.

Spinal Discs

Step 2: Sit less. When it comes to spinal disks, “excessive loading can result in localized tissue injury that is slow to repair and alters strain distribution throughout the extracellular matrix of the entire disc” (2). This means that we need to minimize excessive loading on the disks, especially in positions that alter the natural curves of the spine. One of the most common ways we load our disks is by sitting a lot.

“The weight is distributed in a standing position,” says Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., a health psychologist at Stanford University and a leading expert in neck and back pain. “But when you sit, you distort the natural curve of the spine, which means your back muscles have to do something to hold your back in shape because you’re no longer using the natural curves of the spine to lift yourself up against gravity.”(3) So alignment of the spine changes in the sitting position, which means that the compressive forces on the lumbar discs change as well, which dehydrates them more rapidly and can create structural problems down the line. Short stretch and movement breaks in the course of the workday are very effective in minimizing the compressive load on the spine.

Step 3: Change the position of the body in relation to gravity (from time to time). Disks rehydrate more easily when we change body’s position in relation to gravity. For example, the horizontal position works better then vertical, both because the angle of gravitational pull changes and because the deep muscles that normally work hard to keep the spine upright can relax.

Yoga practice is unique in a way that throughout the practice we dramatically change the body’s position in relation to the ground. We do some poses in the upright position, some in prone (on the stomach), some in supine (on the back), we bend sideways and even stand on our heads. Altering the body position changes the load on the vertebral disks AND shifts the blood distribution within the lungs, which facilitates better blood-oxygen exchange. To maximize this effect you need to breathe deep and stay in the position for some time.

Step 4: Build strength and elasticity in the deep and superficial musculature around the spine to provide sufficient support without creating stress and tension.

Axial Extension Poses

Many yoga poses are useful in strengthening the postural muscles, but axial extension postures are particularly good for that. Axial extension means that the main purpose for each pose in this category is to lengthen the spine along its axis while integrating the spinal curves and building a better relationship between them. While the movement of lengthening the spine might seem small, those types are poses are very effective in building strength and elasticity in deep and superficial musculature around the spine and strengthening the core musculature. When done correctly, those poses also help us improve the postural alignment and integration between the spinal curves. When postural muscles are strong and supple it reduces the load on the entire body and helps it function better mechanically and physiologically.

There are four distinctive groups of axial extension poses; they have many similarities and also many differences. Why and how do we practice them? This will be our topic of conversation next week. Tune in!

horizontalBar

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Quoted Resources

1. My How You’ve Grown! (NASA website)

2. Degeneration and regeneration of the intervertebral disc: lessons from development (PubMed Central)

 

 

Tags: spinal disksyoga for spinal disksspinal discs in yoga practiceprotect the disks

You may also like...

  • 3 types of pain in the butt and what you can do about it 14 May, 2014
  • External factors that are messing up your sleep: Part 1 25 Jul, 2018
  • Why do we bend sideways? 12 Aug, 2015
  • Pain vs sensation yoga practice 24 May, 2017

1 Comment

  1. Sharon Jenson says:
    December 23, 2015 at 4:11 pm

    I love this post. I have a personal goal of becoming 1 mm taller each day and I can’t wait for the axial extension poses! thanks

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Previous story Downward facing dog: alignment, release valves and adaptations
  • Next story Merry Christmas!
  • Securely store and easily manage all your class and student records

  • Check out our redesigned home yoga practice app

  • Create effective yoga practices online using customizable stick figure images

  • Just added to Sequence Wiz YouTube channel

  • Unearth your inner joy

  • MAXIMIZE THE EFFECT OF YOUR PRACTICE

  • Reignite your home yoga practice

  • GET OUR BEST STORIES
    in a monthly newsletter
  • Popular posts

    • 20 superposes that carry maximum benefit with minimum risk

    • “Why is my balance not improving?”: 7 ways to troubleshoot your balance training

    • Three ways to protect your shoulders in your daily life and yoga practice

    • How do you know what a yoga pose is meant to accomplish?

    • Let go of the iHunch: Improve your posture yoga practice

    • How to lengthen your spine without strain

    • Four steps to minimize the stress placed on the intervertebral disks

    • Vital Vagus: What is the vagus nerve and what does it do?

    • 3 types of pain in the butt and what you can do about it

    • Too many asymmetrical poses can create sacroiliac joint issues

    • Rolling up from a standing forward bend can damage your spine

  • Archives

        © Copyright 2013-2020 Sequence Wiz - resources for yoga teachers and yoga enthusiasts | Privacy Policy