What a Downward-Facing Dog Does For Your Nervous System: Chiropractic and Yoga

A Practice Member’s Story:

I’ve started to go to a Gentle Yoga class at my YMCA. It is the best part of my day. At the beginning, we are encouraged to sit comfortably, “lifting up out of the lower back” and making space between our vertebrae. We cycle through side stretches and bends, “downward-facing dog” and “phoenix” and “happy baby” positions. The instructor uses words like subtle, gentle, and self-compassion. We are guided into feeling a stretch in the back of the body. We always come back to breathing down toward the hips and stretching up as if there’s a string at the top of our heads.

It feels a-MAZ-ing. My body has been through a lot. I gave birth to an 8lbs.12 oz baby, just three months ago. Even though I maintained healthy exercises during pregnancy, my muscle tone is reduced and my ligaments still feel loose from hormones.

Last week, I followed up Gentle Yoga on Tuesday with a chiropractic adjustment on Wednesday. Talk about self-care!

Yoga and chiropractic are great partners in full-body health and well-being.

I was reminded of the partnership between yoga and chiropractic by an fascinating change of events. A friend came with me to yoga. She has been suffering from debilitating migraines, with other full body symptoms. Towards the end of class, she felt a gentle pop and cool release flowing down her spine. My friend was excited to find relief accompanied this release. “I wonder how much my body hangs on to stress in my head and neck,” she said.

Yoga can be a calm, healing experience. Add in chiropractic for educated, purposeful, intentional movement of those misaligned vertebrae and it’s a winning combination. Both are wonderful for our nervous systems, which carries messages from the brain, along the spinal column to every organ and part of our body.

Chiropractic takes the pressure off of our nerves.

I asked Dr. Ryan Dopps about my friend’s experience after yoga. He explained that she had probably experienced something with a pinched nerve, just not within the pain fibers but something with the temperature fibers. Different fibers have different sensors that allow us to interpreter our environment.
“We encourage it (yoga) due to increasing flexibility will lead to increased movement of the spine,” said Dr. Ryan. Both he and Dr. Denise are fans of yoga. He explained that 90% of the nourishment the brain and spinal cord gets, comes from regular motion on the vertebral column. “Yoga helps move the spine and stretch the muscles from a sedentary life style.”
So it isn’t just my instructor saying that we should envisage creating space between our vertebrae – it is actually happening. These two practices do a wonderful job of caring for the whole body. We stretch and tone the muscles, while restoring peace in our mind. We return the spine to alignment and return function throughout the body.

Take A Downward-Facing Dog, and An Adjustment and You Won’t Have to Call Me in the Morning

Call 316-636-6550 and make an appointment with Dr. Ryan or Dr. Denise at their Wichita office, Dopps Chiropractic NE.

You can connect with Dr. Denise on Instagram (@ddopps) where she promotes health through nutrition and exercise. Her podcast encourages and stimulates mental health at www.adjustyourvocabulary.com, using vocabulary to “elevate your voice.”

You can also find Dr. Ryan on Instagram (@drdopps) where he lives out a chiropractic lifestyle and @letschalkaboutchiropractic posts fun, humorous snippets of information with colorful illustrations.

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