Is yoga good for fibromyalgia ?

[Rosewine72]

I have terrible pain in my muscles around my shoulders and neck! I also get ibs a lot and my stomach is completely untoned even though I'm slim , will yoga help me anything too strenuous even Zumba which I love just makes me tired and headachy, do you guys think yoga is a good option for me? X

I got huge (and lasting) relief for joint pain from regular yoga practice. Not sure if strengthening core muscles through yoga will help with IBS but it seems to me that yoga could help with your neck & shoulder pain.

Thank u coteDAzur x

Start with Hatha yoga - it's gentle. Let us know how you get on

Hi Rose. I have fibro and practice yoga. It really does help, but only when i'm in a phase when i'm well enough to practice consistently. Much of the time any exercise, even very gentle is impossible. Then i get deconditioned and have to go back to the beginning.

I think a lot of the problem with fibro is that we process pain differently, so things that should be minor niggles become major problems - yoga helps to iron out many of those niggles so there are less triggers. It helps improve sleep and mood as well.

When well i practice vinyasa style, but when i've been ill and just coming back to practice then i take it very slowly with gentle hatha yoga, and build up gradually. Try it out, but listen to your body. Fibro isn't something that improves by working through it - fighting through makes it worse and you need to pace yourself and rest when you need to rest.

I'd say some are, but not all yogas are created equal. I have fibro, and I find that if I do a class that asks for much more exertion and sweat (such as Forrest, which I love, but which I need to ease into), I need to have worked up to its level first, or I get a back-lash afterwards, whether cystitis or pain.

A better yoga to start out with would be, yes, Hatha, and, better still imo, Yin Yoga, which is very slow, restorative, and you can use as many props as you need. It also works to ease the fascia tissue in the body, and that can be very helpful with fibro too.