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Yoga is a powerful tool and practice that helps create sustainable change, generates peace, and promotes well-being in all areas of life. It is a sacred practice and a continued journey through challenges and joys.
Yoga is also a great way to help strengthen the structures of the body that support your well-being and functionality – your bones.
One of the first Yoga Sutras is chittavrittinirodaha, or the cessation of the mental mind or monkey mind. This is the ability to observe your life without judgment or attachment and, more importantly, to be present in the moment.
Why Is Bone Health Important?
Bone health is important for longevity, brain health, overall enjoyment of life, and mobility. All of the bones in your body are important, but arguably one of the most important sequences of bones is your spinal column, which is made up of 24 vertebrae.
In yoga, the spinal column is also known as “the pranic tube,” or the energy pathway through which life force energy travels as directed by and connected to the breath. Hindrances or subluxations in the spinal column are known to be the causes of a variety of health issues, from hormonal problems to headaches, mental health issues, and more.
The strongest bone in your body is your femur bone. It is your thigh bone, which attaches to the hip socket in the pelvis and extends toward the tibia-knee joint. It is an essential bone because it connects to two major joints, the knee, and hip joints, and performs essential functions.
How Does Yoga Improve Bone Health?
Yoga is particularly great for maintaining healthy bone density because of the weight-bearing nature of the practice. You are using your own body weight as a tool to push, pull, or hold a pose.
Yoga also helps improve body balance and proprioceptive awareness, which helps to reduce falls. (1) Yoga will increase blood flow circulation, enhance the coordination of major bone structures and muscle groups, and help your spine stay happy and healthy by creating an ideal postural alignment.
Practice yoga anywhere from 1 to 6 days a week. Like anything, consistency is key, so even 30 minutes of yoga for 3 days a week is a great way to diversify your existing exercise routine while keeping it practical.
The most important thing to remember while doing yoga is your BREATH! Remember to connect with your breath as you breathe in and out through your nose. You can also practice ujjayi breathing, which involves 4–6 counts for the inhale and 4–6 counts for the exhale.
Yoga Poses That Strengthen Your Bones
The following are some excellent yoga poses for bone health because they include your major bones. All yoga poses require you to focus inward and feel a long spine, thus facilitating correct posture. Enjoy!
1. Warrior I Pose
How to do this pose:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and parallel like they are on train tracks.
- Keeping your left foot where it is, step your right foot back, angling the foot out.
- Bend your front knee ideally at a 90° angle and keep your back leg straight.
- Extend both arms up to the sky. Your hips should be forward and square.
- Feel your tailbone lengthen down as you reach the crown of your head up.
2. Warrior II Pose
How to do this pose:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Step your right foot back. This time, you are intersecting the front heel of the front foot with the back arch of the back foot, and your hips are open to the side as you press down through the outer edge of the back foot.
- Bend your knee at a 90° angle, and extend your arms out to the side with the front arm reaching forward and the back arm reaching back.
- Maintain your arms at shoulder height. Then, press both feet down into the earth and try to bring them toward each other.
3. Crescent Pose
How to do this pose:
- Step your leg forward and bend both knees.
- Work to lengthen the back leg by pressing down into the ball of the foot.
- Gather the front ribs into the hip points and breathe.
4. Plank Pose
How to do this pose:
- Start on the floor on your arms and knees. Your arms should be shoulder-width apart. Press into all points of your fingers, so you are not sinking into your wrists. Expand the sternum/heart forward, like your chest is smiling.
- Draw your shoulders away from the ears and feel the stabilizing muscles engage.
- Extend your legs straight back hip-width apart, pull your navel into the spine, draw your bottom ribs into the hips, and hold and breathe.
5. Goddess Pose
How to do this pose:
- Stand with your feet wider than hip-distance.
- Bend your knees over the ankles at about a 90° angle.
- Press your knees back, engage the glutes, and lengthen your tailbone down.
6. Mountain Pose
How to do this pose:
- Stand with a tall spine, lengthen your tailbone down, and draw the crown of your head up.
- Let your shoulders drop down and away from the ears as you pull your navel into the spine.
- Feel both feet fully rooted into the earth from the inner and outer edge of the feet. Keep your shoulders stacked over the hips, and your hips stacked over your ankles.
7. Chair Pose
How to do this pose:
- With your knees together, from tadasana, sit back and bend your knees over the ankles like you are sitting in an imaginary chair.
- It is important that your knees are drawn back over the ankles.
- Lengthen your arms toward the ceiling and draw your navel into the spine.
8. Chair Pose Prep for Chair
How to do this pose:
- Lie on your back with your legs lifted off the ground and bent at a 90° angle. Make sure your knees are over your hips, and your shins are parallel to the floor.
- Flex your feet and ensure your knees are hip-width apart.
- Pull your navel into the spine and feel your tailbone lengthen away from the crown of your head.
- While you pull your navel into the spine, press your palms flat onto the floor, so you feel your back muscles engage.
9. Savasana
How to do this pose:
- Get as comfortable as possible, and lie on your back.
- As best as possible, allow your whole body to feel supported and relaxed into the earth.
- Stay in this pose for a minimum of 2 minutes.
Note: This is the most important yoga pose and is the final pose of integration, known as “the do-nothing pose,” which can be challenging for a busy mind. As important as it is to strengthen the body in all ways through activity, it is equally important to train the body to be still and relax for the full benefit of the practice to sink in.
Expert Answers (Q&A)
Answered by Cara Anselmo, RD (Yoga Teacher)
Health in the body requires a universal and integrated approach as everything is connected and all parts of the human anatomy, from organs to bones, create a home of health. Preserving or increasing bone density requires attention to the following factors:
• Nutrition: Calcium allows the body to create healthy bone structures, and vitamin D supports calcium absorption so that your bones remain strong as you age.
Calcium-rich foods include dairy foods, tofu, and almonds, as well as dark green leafy and cruciferous vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, and kale. (2)(3) Vitamin D is not found naturally in many foods, and your body mostly makes it through sun exposure. (4)
Many healthful foods contain protein, such as fish, tofu, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, yogurt, and eggs. (5) It is important to remember that taking more vitamin D or calcium in supplement form than your body needs may do more harm than good and does not improve bone health.
• Sleep: Getting at least 7–9 hours of sleep is very important for your body to repair, heal, and rejuvenate itself. (6)
• Stress management: Stress compromises your immune system and contributes to the onset and progression of several diseases, including bone disorders such as osteoporosis or osteoarthritis. You can relieve stress and anxiety through a number of ways, such as by prayer, meditation, exercises, spending time in nature, using laughter as medicine, being creative, unplugging from all technology, cooking, and learning a new skill you always wanted to try.
• Physical activity: Generally, the best physical activities for bone density are those that are weight-bearing (using the weight of the body against gravity) such as walking, running, stair climbing, yoga, and tai chi. (7)
For someone who already has osteoporosis, high-impact exercises such as running or jumping may not be advisable, and movements that involve fast changes in direction or deep extension, flexion, or twisting of the spine may be harmful.
So, it is always important to talk with a qualified exercise specialist or physician first before starting a fitness activity.
For most people with a healthy spine and no diagnosed osteoporosis, it is great to move the spine in all six ways: forward and backbends, right and left side bends, and right and left twists. All of these movements promote a healthy range of motion for the spine.
Standing balancing poses, such as vrikshasana (tree pose), tadasana (mountain pose), and natarajasana (dancer’s pose), can help strengthen bone as well as balance.
Poses that include some weight-bearing in the upper body, such as adho mukha svanasana (downward dog), are also valuable to strengthen and stretch.
Again, people with osteoporosis or other forms of bone damage or weakness must consult a qualified medical provider before engaging in these physical activities.
For an older adult without a history of bone loss, any weight-bearing poses may be beneficial. Generally, gentle rather than deep backbends, forward bend, and twists may be advisable.
Examples are setu bandha sarvangasana (bridge pose) rather than urdhva dhanurasana (full wheel pose) and low/gentle bhujangasana (baby cobra) rather than urdhva mukha svanasana (upward facing dog).
Yes!
I wouldn’t say any yoga asana is inherently harmful to the bones for most people. However, for individuals who have diagnosed osteoporosis or other compromised bone conditions, certain deeper movements (such as a deep standing forward fold with straight legs) may present more risk than benefit.
I think a point that is often forgotten when talking about building bone strength is that while improving or maintaining bone tissue itself is necessary, it is also important to consider how to reduce risk for falls, which are a common reason for fracture (broken bones).
Any physical activity that promotes leg, arm, and core strength, balance, and stability can be useful in this regard. So for instance, navasana (boat pose) or certain Pilates movements may not be weight-bearing per se but do improve overall strength and stability throughout the entire body.
Also, most yoga poses can be done with some modifications or support for safety, such as keeping the toes of the non-weight-bearing leg touching the ground in garudasana (eagle) or virabhadrasana III (warrior III) or keeping a hand against a wall in vrikshasana (tree pose).
Finally, always let your instructor know in advance if you have any medical condition, osteoporosis or otherwise, and ask them to work with you to maintain safety.
Final Word
Keep yoga at the forefront of your mind when thinking about bone health. Yoga provides plenty of opportunities to maintain long holds in specific positions where muscle groups “hug the bone” of the body.
The biggest myth about yoga is that you have to be flexible before you start practicing it, and nothing could be farther from the truth. You can practice yoga at any age or stage in life and at any ability level. After all, the most important part of yoga is your breath. If you can breathe, you can do yoga.
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