Just like other sports, in the early days of practicing yoga, you will be very prone to muscle pain. This condition can bring a lot of discomfort. However, with a few tips, you will easily overcome this situation.
Muscle soreness is a very common condition after practicing yoga, especially with sessions with many strong and difficult movements. These aches and pains can make you feel depressed, not wanting to exercise the next day.
If you also fall into this situation and are looking for a way to fix it, what are you waiting for without immediately viewing the following shares of easyhealthylive.com for some useful solutions.
Perform first aid RICE
RICE is a simple sports injury first aid that is very helpful in relieving muscle pain after yoga practice. This method consists of 4 steps and is very easy to do:
- Rest (REST): When you have muscle tension, you can stop practicing yoga for a few days to let the muscles rest. In addition, you should also avoid moving the injured muscle areas
- Cold compress (ICE): Effective in reducing pain. Use a towel or ice pack (avoid direct cold) to apply cold compresses to the muscle tension for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Each application is about 1 hour apart and applied for 1 to 3 days.
- Muscle Bandage (COMPRESSION): Protect the strained area from further injury by wrapping a good elastic compression bandage around the injured area until swelling subsides.
- Advanced (ELEVATION): Keep the area of muscle tension higher than the heart.
Take deep breaths to relax your muscles
Deep breathing is a very useful method to relieve muscle pain after practicing yoga. You can do this by following these steps:
- Place one hand on your stomach, take a long, slow breath in through your nose, keeping your lungs as inflated as possible. You can feel your belly swell
- Hold for 3 seconds then exhale a long breath
- Focus on inhaling, exhaling about 10-20 times, you will see your aches and pains reduce somewhat.
Meditate
This is also a very effective method to help relieve muscle pain after practicing yoga. Meditation not only helps dispel negative thoughts, but it also helps reduce tension in the muscles.
You just need to sit in a quiet space, relax your body, breathe deeply. After a while, you will feel your body become more relaxed and the muscle pain will also disappear.
Meditation is a very effective method to relieve muscle pain after practicing yoga
Practice stretching exercises
Stretching exercises not only help relax muscles but also increase blood circulation, thereby reducing muscle pain and limiting the risk of injury when exercising.
To overcome muscle pain, you need to identify the muscle that you have pain, then perform exercises to stretch this muscle part. You should try to stretch and stretch for 3-5 seconds and do these exercises about 10 times.
Massage
Massage is a very effective way to relax and relieve pain. If you have muscle pain after practicing yoga, just doing a few simple massage movements can release the pressure accumulated in the muscle area, reduce pain and make the aches and pains go away quickly. You can massage yourself at home for about 15 minutes or sign up for massage sessions at the center.
Deep sleep
Deep sleep is a way for muscles to rest and recover. If after practicing yoga, you have muscle pain, the practitioner should take advantage of going to bed early or take a nap in the afternoon. For the best muscle recovery, you need 7 hours of sleep every night.
Deep sleep is the simplest way for muscles to rest and recover
Acupuncture
Acupuncture can be very effective in relieving muscle pain. However, this method needs to be performed by experienced doctors.
You can get a lot of benefits from acupuncture such as helping to improve blood flow, nerve conduction and lymphatic drainage, which in turn helps in muscle healing. In addition, acupuncture also helps to overcome other problems such as sleep problems, stress relief, fatigue, etc.
Vitamin and mineral supplement
To help relieve muscle pain, you need to maintain a healthy, balanced yoga diet and possibly take nutritional supplements. Such as fish oil to reduce muscle inflammation, magnesium supplements to support nerve signals, vitamin C to repair tissues.
However, the use of these pills also requires consultation with your doctor and remember to only take them for up to 3 months. After that, you need to stop to let the liver and kidneys “rest”.
Epsom salt bath
Epsom salt is a type of salt that is rich in magnesium. Soaking in a hot tub with epsom salts is a very effective treatment for minor aches and pains. Because magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant.
When you soak in salt compounds, magnesium will remove excess water and lactic acid from damaged tissues and reduce inflammation. So many people have done this therapy to treat muscle soreness after practicing yoga.
In particular, this salt also increases energy for the body, relieves headaches, treats insomnia and helps you get a deeper sleep. However, if you are pregnant, you should consult your doctor before doing so.
Epsom salt is a type of salt that is rich in magnesium
Drink enough water
Water is very important for the body, especially the muscles. However, most of us are not aware of this. In fact, water has an extremely important effect on muscle relaxation.
Water helps with nerve conduction and muscle contraction, and helps muscles get the electrolytes they need to function. In addition, water also helps lubricate joints and prevent cramps. To prevent and treat muscle pain, you need to drink at least 8 glasses of water each day and eat at least 6 servings of fruits and vegetables.
To prevent and treat muscle pain, you need to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day
Take medicine if the above methods don’t work
After trying all of the above and still not seeing improvement, you can take over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen.
If you still don’t feel better despite taking medicine or if the pain is too severe, see your doctor to see if you have another medical condition.
Although practicing yoga is proven to be healthy and beneficial for health, you should not force your body to practice too much. Strive for exercises from beginner to advanced and hire a private yoga teacher for guidance to make sure the practice is going properly and to prevent injury.
Reference source
How to Get Rid of Sore Muscle https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Sore-Muscles Accessed: 4/28/2020
10 TIPS FOR RELAXING YOUR MUSCLES https://yellowgazeboclinic.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/10-tips-for-relaxing-your-muscles/ Accessed date: 4/28/2020
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.