“Divine” Intervention for My Back?

Somehow, the serendipitous winds of fate danced their gentle dance around me, and carried me further on my quest for healing. I don’t even recall the specific chain of events nor web searches (you know how that rabbit hole can be!) that brought me to a website offering a 30 day free “Kokoro Yoga Challenge,” lead by Navy SEAL, Mark Divine.  But somehow, I found myself there, and they had this nice looking mug pictured, offered to those who completed the 30 day challenge.  What the heck, this Quester signed up.

Each day, a new video was sent to us, and early on, Divine taught us about a “Morning Routine” that he wanted us to do each day.  It involved doing “Box Breathing,” Visualization, Gratitude journaling, and then watching the daily video (which sometimes was just a short talk, sometimes a meditation, sometimes yoga.)

And so I started this – with nothing else really changing in my day.  I still did workouts that had to be modified for my pain, I still slept on the same bed, stood at the same desk at work, used my TENS unit every morning, took pain killers roughly 5 times a week… I haven’t done extra physical therapy, haven’t restarted acupuncture.  Status Quo.

And then one day, about 2 weeks in, I was walking my dog Koda, and just had this itch. I just… had to move faster!  So I kicked in to a slow, gentle jog, and before I knew it, I was running along the dry dirt road, the sun shining down, the wind brushing back my hair, and I lifted my arms and shouted out a gleeful whoop!  It nearly brought tears to my eyes to feel that freedom again without the staggering sharp pain like a dagger in my spine.  I had to force myself to stop, just to be safe.

I got home, bubbling with joy, and hubby immediately started the concerned questioning, “you did WHAT?!  Why?  You know that’s bad!  Girl, you need to be careful, I know you’re excited…”  And, to be cautious, I did throw an ice back on my back, took another dose of pain meds, and ran the TENS unit.  The next morning – all was normal.  Not pain-free, but not extra painful.

I took it easy, didn’t jog any more that week… and on week 3, I woke up one morning and realized, “I don’t hurt… at all.”  Sure, a bit of stiffness like most people probably feel in the morning. But not that deep core of pain. It wasn’t till I was at work that I realized I hadn’t used my TENS unit nor taken my pain meds. I figured this was a fluke – a lucky day.  The next morning, the same thing.  This went on for the rest of the week!

Week 4, I got a little busier, so I dropped the Box Breathing and jumped right into the visualization, the video, and my workout.  And by Thursday, I had some pain coming back.

*blink blink*

Box Breathing? I was still doing deep abdominal breathing with the visualization practice, but that is slightly different than Box Breathing. Was it just the shorter time of deep breathing? Or was it the specific style of breathing?

Box Breathing includes not just the slow, deep inhalation and exhalation, but also a few counts where you hold your breath in, and hold it out.  Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold out for 4 with abdominal muscles lightly engaged.

Was Divine’s breathing technique making all the difference?? (Note: I know he did not create this pattern of breathing, it was taught to us in yoga school as well, but he is the one who reintroduced it to me, so I give him credit for the accountability to practice it – all because I’m ridiculous and really wanted yet another mug for my crowded cabinets!)

Serendipity graced my path again.  It was 5 weeks in to this new routine with Box Breathing, and I was starting to feel befuddled by the minimal back pain (it just seemed too good to be true!), and I was studying the Cardio-respiratory system of my NASM Personal Training Book.  In it was a section on Dysfunctional Breathing Patterns.

I was already aware that breathing in to the chest is considered Stress Breathing – it’s what we do when we are stressed, and it perpetuates stressful feelings by keeping our Oxygen-to-Carbon Dioxide ratios out of whack.  Breathing into the belly can relax us, and calm us down.

Diagram from backpain88.com

But there were some other interesting points I was NOT aware of:

The bones and joints that move, and the muscles you use are different.  When you breathe into you chest, you are moving the bones of your sternum and clavicles, and using mostly muscles up around your chest, shoulders, and neck. (Which can lead to tension which leads to headaches and other issues)  But when you breathe more deeply, you are moving more of your vertebrae as well as ribs, using more of your abdominal muscles and muscles along your ribs.  Suddenly, you are using new muscles, thus lightly strengthening those core muscles, while also expanding and opening up your spine.  Chest breathing means a lack of movement in your lower back, and lack of joint motion over time tends to lead to stiffness, pain, and fatigue.

http://www.spinalhub.com.au

So a deep breath in while holding meant an extended amount of time “stretching” my lower vertebrae, and moving those muscles!

The NASM book went on to also state that lack of oxygen (from shallow breathing all day every day – most of us are chronically under-oxygenated) can cause an increase in the activity of our pain receptors. It didn’t go into detail on how that worked, but it makes sense – whenever you have to get a shot, they tell you to relax and breathe deeply.  I figured it was to calm me, but perhaps it also helps with the pain!

(If only Obi-wan’s Ewan McGregor knew that before getting crazy big shots prior to his round-the-world trip!) WARNING: needles and blood in this clip.  Don’t watch if you get queasy from that 😉  “Think manly thoughts!”

To sum that all up… Box Breathing Saved My Back!  (Or so I theorize)
Deep belly breathing with a hold provides my body with much needed oxygen to help calm pain receptors, creates movement and space in the spine and ribs, and gently uses core muscles to strengthen them a little bit more every day. I’m not 100% sure about why it’s working or why in 4 weeks it made such a big difference – I just know:

I.can.run.again!

I started with just those small 5 minutes, but I’ve gradually increased in the last week or two.  Once I was able to hit 2 miles in 20 minutes, I realized I had something good going on, and I’m crossing my fingers that it’s permanent.  The pain isn’t 100% gone, but I’ve gone from my “normal” morning pain of a 7-8 out of 10, down to maybe a 2-3.

Will it work for everyone? Probably not – but, from this Health Quester who hasn’t been able to run even 100 meters for the last 3 years, it was a huge find, and so I had to share!  Perhaps there are others out there who could benefit from a few minutes of Divine Breathing every morning!

To Mr Mark Divine, I say a huge, heart-felt, teared-up THANK YOU, “Cyborg”.  Hooyah.

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