Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind and Heal Your Chronic Pain (The New Harbinger Whole-Body Healing Series) Paperback – Illustrated, December 2, 2009

Review of Yoga for Pain Relief: simple practices to calm you mind and heal your chronic pain, by Kelly McGonigalReviewed by Jerry WoolpyAccording to contemporary neuroscience, the nervous system is no longer thought to be fixed once it has developed, it changes with experience, which neuroscientists call neuroplasticity. The feeling of pain is not located in the part that hurts, but resides in the central nervous system. Chronic pain occurs when peripheral pain persists beyond the immediacy of the trauma that caused it. Chronic pain can result in physical or emotional trauma. Chronic pain is an adaptation that protects against the recurrence of the injury that provoked it. Sometimes chronic pain persists well beyond the healing time when it was protective. Various mind-body treatments address the reduction or even the elimination of chronic pain, whether the origin is physical or emotional. This book delineates one highly successful approach to the reduction or elimination of chronic pain based on the thousand-year-old practices of the breath-centered body movement of gentle yoga and mindful meditation. McGonigal explains, demonstrates, and documents, various yoga practices that have worked for many. She provides alternatives so that each person can develop a practice suitable to their needs. This is a welcome introduction to the application of our current understanding of the integration of mind and body. Whether you are seeking the relief of pain or just catching up on the application of the latest neuroscience, this book is well worth reading.

Finally, a book written by somebody who not only gets pain science and yoga, but who actually understands what "yoga" means. It's not only going to a gym and paying for a sweaty class trying to bend better than everyone else or hold a pose or sweat in a bikram class. From my understanding, the word "yoga" actually encompasses three separate parts - they can be done alone or combined - meditation, breath, and movement ("poses"). I haven't been using it long, but I have had annoying chronic pain and know that my body is sensitized to pain. So far, even just the breathing exercises help me feel more open and accepting!!! I was dubious to buy this because it was "yoga," but I read enough about it to suspect it was much more.Only 1 complaint: There's tons of pictures in the book, but video for exercises (breathing and poses both) would help a lot! Thank you, Kelly!

Outstandingly written. A simple truth expressed very well, with how-to information.How do you best handle a chronic condition in you body? First, befriend your body, and enlist your body's aid. Remember, the two oxen pull the cart better in cooperation, than they do in contention.I have a yoga student with chronic pain. I began guiding her towards controlling the suffering she was experiencing, and she responded very well. Then I found this book. It expressed in words, what I had been doing by intuition. I read the book in one (rather long) sitting. It is engaging, enlightening, and honest. I shall gift her this book at the next class.The clearly laid out logic of why this approach works, and how to utilize this approach, are helpful for people who have not yet distinguished between pain and suffering.Highest recommendation.

I haven't gotten all the way through this program/practice yet, but to the point I am at now, the base of pain relief is mental and emotional and what I was seeking is a physical yoga practice to reduce and HEAL the damage from where the pains originate. That is, if a tight muscle us CAUSING the bunion that hurts, I don't seek friendship and acceptance of the bunion; I seek releasing the.muscle that is misaligning the bone that IS the bunion.Perhaps the answer lies later in this process, however, I haven't arrived at that point yet--assuming that it is included.

This book is calming and soothing in tone and content. It gives a clear path to follow in handling chronic pain and by extension, a lot of life's other challenges. The yoga exercises are not difficult and should be possible for a lot of people to do, depending on their situations. The breathing and meditation sections are great and focus on the concept of coping with your situation. The author gives a total program that can be customized to fit anyone's particular circumstances. I was very interested in her discussion of how the mind treats chronic pain and how changing one's thinking and approach can make pain easier to bear - and also happy to see that there were practical ways to go about it. Clearly written and easy to follow with sufficient photos.

My neurologist recommended this book to deal with my status migraine. I rolled my eyes when she first said it because it's like -- come on migraines are horrific isn't there a pill to take? News flash. There is no magic pill. All the medications I've been on have failed and I had to take my healing into my own hands. This book is a great resource. I've since recommended to anyone dealing with pain. It's not a book of yoga poses. It offers many methods to deal with the pain. Try them all and see what work for you. Meditation, Breathing, Restorative yoga, yoga practice -- I cannot recommend this book enough. It really changed my life.

This has good information, but a lot of it was stuff I had already learned through various research and classes I have been to. The layout is kind of odd and I was hoping for more (or clearer) sequences for specific pain relief (if you have hip pain, do these. If you have neck pain, do these). It's more about breathing and noticing pain, and then doing some general gentle movements, which can be very effective. It is a good resource but not what I was looking for.