The lumbar region carries the weight of the body, but, according to the theory of psychosomatics, the body is not able to recognize a physical weight from a psychological weight. When the burdens of life become overwhelming, blocking the back is a rather common reaction. Some people feel like they can’t go on and in fact, in many cases of herniated discs and sciatica, the legs get blocked and you can no longer walk. It is curious that in Tuscany people call lumbago and the common back pain “life pain“.

What has yoga to teach about it?cĀsanas can be used to improve posture, lengthen the spine by returning space between the vertebrae and relaxing the lumbar musculature. However, you can work at a deeper level too, by trying to understand the mechanism that makes the mind so heavy and then using yoga techniques to lighten up psychically, too.

«So while thinking about your back pain, consider all your bad habits – bad posture at the desk, too many hours driving, a wrong way to lift weights – but then consider also how do you project yourself in your actions» (Gilda Giannoni,” Action in Relaxation “, article appeared in Watkins Magazine).