Yoga for Chronic Pain

Yoga is a recognised, evidence-based approach to managing chronic pain. It works by calming the central nervous system, releasing muscular tension, improving body awareness, and addressing the stress and emotional components that amplify pain perception.

The NHS recommends yoga as part of a multidisciplinary approach to chronic pain management.

How Yoga Helps Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is complex. Pain is an individual experience — no two people experience pain from the same injury in the same way. Pain is not simply a signal from an injured tissue — it is an experience shaped by the nervous system, emotional state, stress levels, sleep quality, and movement history. This is why purely physical treatments often fail: they address only one dimension of a multi-dimensional problem.

Yoga addresses chronic pain at multiple levels:

Nervous system regulation: Breathwork and relaxation activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing the central sensitisation that amplifies pain signals.

Physical deconditioning: Chronic pain often leads to inactivity, which causes muscle weakness and stiffness, which increases pain. Yoga gently breaks this cycle with safe, progressive movement.

Emotional processing: Chronic pain is frequently accompanied by anxiety, depression, and fear of movement. Yoga's mindfulness component helps you observe pain without catastrophising, reducing the emotional charge that worsens the experience.

Body awareness: Many chronic pain patients have disconnected from their bodies as a coping mechanism. Yoga gently reconnects you with physical sensation in a safe, controlled way.

Good posture: Pain and injury cause the body to compensate. Our neural pathways create new movement patterns that are intended to protect the injured tissues or painful joints. Often these compensations have unintentional consequences causing new problems. Yoga helps us understand how good posture through correct alignment enables the body to move in a more cohesive way.

Releasing muscle tension: Chronic pain almost always leads to muscular tension. When a muscle is partially contracted it quickly fatigues causing the dull aching pain that many people suffer. Yoga trains you to release the unnecessary muscular tension that is so draining.

Recommended Practices

1. Breathwork (pranayama): Extended exhalation breathing (inhale 4, exhale 6-8) reduces pain perception by calming the nervous system. Do this daily for 5-10 minutes.

2. Gentle Cat-Cow: The safest, most accessible spinal movement. Move only within a pain-free range.

3. Supported Reclined Poses: Lie back over bolsters and blankets in restorative positions. Allow the body to be held and supported. Stay for 5-10 minutes per pose.

4. Legs Up the Wall: Decompresses the spine, reduces inflammation, and deeply calms the system.

5. Yoga Nidra (Guided Relaxation): A systematic body scan that teaches you to relax deeply. Research shows it reduces chronic pain by up to 40% in some patients.

Who This Is Suitable For

Anyone living with chronic pain, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, persistent back pain, arthritis, or post-surgical pain. Always consult your GP or pain specialist before starting.

A bespoke private lesson is the best starting point for chronic pain, as I can design a practice specifically for your condition and gradually build from there. My Gentle Yoga for Back Care class is also appropriate for many chronic pain conditions.

Your body is not your enemy. Yoga can help you make peace with it again.