Pranayama for Arthritis,Joint problems and Frozen Shoulders

A chapter from my eBook on; 

Arthritis and Joint problems

For most of my life I had been hating my body for holding me back, for causing me so many pains and troubles, often I felt like I was a cripple, and often got bullied at school for not doing well in any sports, wondered why I had to live in a body like this. Some of you are born with many physical disabilities, some of you are prone to many physical ailments, and you just have to put up with it, or do you?

All my life I had issues with my joints and had been very accident prone and it had caused me to suffer from arthritis at an early age.

Well, what can you do? I was told I would need shoulder replacement surgery, and don't worry you can do the knees and hips too when they have enough deteriorated. And for pain, you can use all sorts of drugs no worries.....And nobody ever suggested that there may be a natural way to keep arthritis from getting worse and that there were natural ways to manage pain. 

As I had always been looking for natural ways, and also had no intentions having all my joints replaced through surgery, I began a journey of trying out various things. When I started practising Pranayama and gained so quick relief for my migraines and back issues I continued my practice in the hope to help me with my arthritis, joint issues and my very bad shoulder problems. 

The shoulder problem started around 1988 when I had to drive a lot and my left shoulder started to become very painful from the shifting of gears in my van. In 1991 I had been diagnosed with frozen shoulders and the start of abnormality in my shoulder joint, the beginning of arthritis. I was then told within the next ten years I would need surgery. And of course, my right shoulder also started to deteriorate as time went by. It is 2017 now and I have not had surgery, and I am feeling better than I have back then.

Arthritis is a deterioration of the joints, it causes inflammation, stiffness and pain in the joints. Often the cause of arthritis can be due to injuries to the joint, infections of the joints or due to a family history of arthritis. When you get older there is a natural deterioration of cartilage and the joints, but it does not have to cause inflammation or pain. 

When you suffer from arthritis, there is inflammation most of the time. You may have times during the year that the arthritis flairs up and other times where it is quite good. There are foods that can cause more inflammation and there are foods that can help in reducing inflammation. There are natural herbs that can help with the management of arthritis, without causing the nasty side effects that many pharmaceuticals do. 

Arthritis is a chronic condition and therefore will not heal overnight and there is no real cure for it. But Pranayama and mudras has helped me and has slowed down or even stopped the further deterioration of my joints. 

So when I started my practice of pranayama I started to feel a difference in my joints and my level of pain and stiffness also.

Now I hardly ever experience any pain unless I totally overdo things, like a lot of gardening or long hours of typing on the computer, can bring on stiffness in the joints, but by the next day after a good night sleep and doing some Pranayama with mudra and a few stretches I am fine again. 

I sometimes take a few Ayurveda herbs, but my budget often does not allow me to buy them for long-term use. I think that if I could afford to buy the herbs I may even have a chance to rebuild the joints and become even more flexible again. But for now, the Pranayama with mudra gives me very satisfactory results, actually, it gives wonderful results. 

Symptoms of arthritis; 

Stiffness

Inflammation of the joints

Swelling of the joints

Redness of the joints

The heat of the joints

Restriction of the movements in the joint.

In the advanced stage of arthritis, there can be nerve pain due to bones touching or pinching the nerves. I had this often on my shoulders when the bone hit a nerve I was in agony and for a short time, a few minutes my whole arm would become paralysed. I had to just wait and allow it to settle down. And certain movements could set off the aggravating pain as well.

Aches and pains in the joints. Pains can come in waves, they can get aggravated due to the weather, or too much of acidy foods.

The finger joints, they can become thicker and nodules can grow from the calcium deposits in the joints these will cause stiffness, pain and restriction of movement.

I no longer hate my body, I feel my body has been a blessing for me as it has given me the opportunity to work and experience Pranayama and mudra on this physical level. Amazing when your health improves with age!!!

Below, my old posts on  Trauma, Shock and Pain, Excruciating pain, Arthritis and Frozen Shoulders

29.03.2014 Trauma, Shock, Pain

Just over a week ago I experienced a very traumatic time, I will not go into the situation that happened on Friday but it did shake me up very badly. I was shivering and shaking uncontrollably and felt very traumatised, with anxiety and worries. I noticed my breathing was rapid and I just about hyperventilated.
Quickly I thought of Pranayama and started to slow down my breathing. Closing my eyes and just breathing deeply and slowly. I felt my heart slowing down and my whole being started to relax.
Friends around me and neighbours also worried about me and it was interesting how everyone was trying to comment on the situation reading into it in many different ways. Listening to this all was trauma in itself and I realised how we make a situation worse by just talking about it twisting it in all direction. I had to keep on breathing and reminding myself of breathing deeply and not to read to much into the situation.
I felt the breathing really helped me not to take everything in a bad way, but to turn the situation around and be grateful as it could have turned out much worse.
The next day early in the morning as I was taking my dogs for a walk I knew I had still been a bit shaky from the trauma the day before but felt a walk with the dogs would do me good.
I did not make it very far, as soon I was outside my gate my dogs pulled me in one direction, I tripped and fell onto my knees and flat on the stony ground. I had smashed both my knees, twisted my wrist and pulled a chest muscle. I was feeling very nausea and hobbled back into my house. Sitting down and again my breathing was panting like a dog and I was in shock again and in pain.
Again I started to focus on my breathing and wow it was amazing how it helped me to calm down and then to assess my injuries and just getting my Homeopathics sipping them with just resting and breathing. At first, I was quite angry thinking that I had to get through hell twice, I felt again traumatised and all my friends and neighbours came to my aid. And I guess it is human to talk about it all in a negative way and to see just the negative about the trauma, but I could feel as more I had focused on my breathing and doing breathing exercises, slowing the breathing down to three breath per minute just relaxed me and also helped with pain and shock. Then doing the alternating nostril breathing helped me to focus and do the right thing for my injuries as I do not like to go to doctors and take pills and have them squeezing and fiddling around my bashed knees.

Later on in the day I also did an hour of my usual Kundalini Yoga meditation and then added a fifteen-minute pranayama meditation for the neutral mind. This went like this, just breathing long and deep and quiet and when relaxed, then focusing on the third eye point silently chanting wa- he- gu- ru while breathing slowly and deeply. After the fifteen minutes of this meditation I felt relieved, I felt positive and I was feeling so grateful that I got through all this trauma so well and that everything turned out so well, I felt I had been protected and looked after as it all could have turned out so much worse.
I also realised when being honest with myself, it is nice to get all the sympathy from friends and neighbours and I know that I often thrive on getting sympathy, but with Pranayama I was quickly feeling better and the healing of my body also happened more quickly, with this, people often do not believe that a situation was as bad as it truly was because they can not see that pranayama and meditation can be so powerful. So the sympathy from others quickly disappears.
I often have been hoping for a bit of recognition that being able to think, while going through trauma, of pranayama and meditation takes discipline and great awareness. It is easier to just fall back into the trap of negativity and allowing trauma to have a hold over you than to focus and do Pranayama and meditation for a speedy recovery and for a more positive outlook on the situation.
But breathing is so important, it calms, it relaxes, it takes you out of shock, it helps to think positive instead of negative, and it helps to see the blessings in the trauma.
So think of your breathing, when stressed stop and breathing consciously deep and slow, when traumatised think of slowing down your breathing, breath deeply, when in shock, breath deeply and focus on your breath. Pranayama and meditation are wonderful tools to see the sun rising again after a very dark night.

Excruciating pain; 6.09.2011

A couple of nights ago I woke up with excruciating shooting pain in my left cheek and jaws, my teeth were hurting my ear and the cheekbones, the pain was 10 out of 10. I tried to do some pranayama, but the pain was so bad I could only cry. I had found some orthodox painkiller and decided to take some as I could not bear the pain. I got only slight relief and went to sleep for a short time then woke again with this horrible pain. I got up and tried to do more pranayama and could only do some Bhastrika and some Anuloma Viloma, this gave some relief enough for me to focus on finding some homoeopathic remedies to take. This only gave slight relief. I went to see a friend to try and keep my mind away from the pain but it was so bad. My friend wanted to take me to a dentist, but I did not want to go. I continued the day with homoeopathy and some deep breathing and relaxation. The evening came and I felt I just needed some more relief, I was worried I would have a sleepless night again. So I sat down to do more Pranayama and my cat came and sat very closely by my side. I could do Bhastrika, Anuloma Viloma, some Nadi-sodhana with three bandhas and some Bhramari. Any other Pranayama hurt my jaws too much. In the end, I decided to do a self-heal kriya kundalini meditation, and as I started with this meditation, my cat put one paw on my knee and its head gently on my knee. He purred loudly and it felt like he was humming. I felt strong energy, warming energy entering me, coming from my cat, and when I finished the meditation and the pranayama all the pain had gone I felt at ease again my teeth, my jaws were fine and I had a very good night sleep. My cat looked at me and it was as if he'd smiled. He is my miracle cat as I had lost him once and found him very badly injured at a shelter a few days later and he had surgery on his jaw that was broken in six places. he recovered so well and it is now five years since his accident. We are very in tune with each other and it felt so nice that he assisted me in my Pranayama and my meditation to heal my pain.

Arthritis
25.05.2011

Over the past six weeks, the weather has been very wet, windy and it is now getting cooler, winter is approaching. This is the kind of weather that usually upsets all my joints, especially my ankle, wrist, fingers, knees and hip. Since practising Pranayama, my joints have started to improve, pain is much less I now have pain -free days. I would say the pain is better by 80% the swellings have also reduced a lot and the only swelling I get is on my left ankle which has been a problem since as long as I remember. The biggest improvement I can see in my fingers as the nodules in my finger joints have gone. All the finger joints look normal again. I still get twinges in my lower back and a bit of an ache in my left hip. Since practising Pranayama I have not been able to sit cross-legged for a long time, now I can sit cross-legged for about 30 - 40 minutes comfortably. It's just great how Pranayama works.

Update 4.09.2011

Over the past 10 or so years, I have had problems with arthritis in my hip, knees, shoulders, wrists and fingers. It is now a year that I have been practising Pranayama and the pain that use to be about 8 out of 10 is now down to 1 out of 10. I only get pain or stiffness if I have been lifting too much or doing a lot of physical work. The weather has not affected me anymore and arthritis in the finger joint has gone the swellings and nodules on the joints have gone. I can now sit cross-legged during my one-hour Pranayama practice with only very slight discomfort towards the end of my practice. With the extra yoga I am now doing regularly my flexibility has also improved a lot. The only restriction and inflexibility I have is the shoulders, but as they had been frozen for 20 years and had very bad arthritis in it, I know it will take more time, I had been offered to have shoulder replacement surgery but have not accepted it as I have hardly any pain and I believe my shoulders will heal completely. It is just amazing how well Pranayama works and I can not put it into words how amazing Pranayama is. It has changed my life, it has given me life back.

Update 28.10.2011

I have found that Pranayama is continuing healing my arthritis and my joints. There has been more improvement since my last post. I can now sit cross-legged for any length of time without any pain I now sit for 1 1/2hours during my Pranayama practice without any problems, except maybe that my legs go to sleep a little bit, depending on how I am sitting.
All my joints seem to feel better and become more flexible. I have only slight twinges in my knees, but my hips are fine now. During my week of working a lot on the computer my wrists and fingers flair up a bit but after each Pranayama session, it went back to normal. The swelling in my ankle is very minor and it does not flare up as much as it used to.
Overall I feel great no pain and move so much easier. I teach now four classes of yoga without any problems and I can stay a step ahead of my students which I could hardly do before. Coming down from a pain level 9 out of 10 to 0 is a great achievement. As the joints had been badly deteriorated I would imagine that it takes a long time for them to maybe even regenerate and heal but be pain-free and not feeling so restricted in my joints with stiffness is wonderful and well worth the effort of practising Pranayama daily
It is just great!


Frozen shoulders;
10.05.2011

It is now 9 month since I started practising Pranayama and doing some gentle yoga exercises. I have been having frozen shoulders diagnosed in 1989. First, the left shoulder ceased up and 2 years later the right shoulder started to give problems. I was offered steroid injections which I refused. I was told most likely by the time I am 50 I would need shoulder replacement surgery. I am 52 now and I was in a lot of pain day and night often the pain would be about 8 out of 10. I often was tempted to take painkillers but just put up with the pain and the restriction. It was very difficult for me to hang out the washing I could not reach up high with my arms. Cleaning windows I could just not do. At night it was so painful I could not sleep on my side on the shoulder it felt as if I was lying on raw bone. The restriction got worse over the years and the pain eased if I did not use my arms too much. When I started practising Pranayama, I could not hold my arm up for the Anuloma Viloma for the opposite nostril breathing I needed arm support. Also, I needed arm support for the Bhramari Pranayama, and after this Pranayama, my shoulder was sore. Now 9 month into practising Pranayama, I do not need any support for my arms and I can do the Anuloma Viloma for 20 minutes in one go without any pain. The pain has improved 75% and the restriction has improved by about 50 % I am much more flexible now in my shoulders and can hang out the washing without any problems. I have many days now where I am completely pain-free. I feel pain only if I have been on the computer too long or if I have been doing some gardening for a few hours, or the weather is wet and damp. I teach now exercise classes, including Yoga and many stretch exercises and I can do almost all of the exercises now. It is just amazing what benefit I have gained from practising Pranayama. Doing an hour of Pranayama each morning and about 1/2 an hour in bed before going to sleep is not much hard when I think that I have gained so much relief in only 9 months. I think I never really knew how much pain and restriction I was until now where I often do not even feel my shoulders and the hardness and knots in my shoulders and muscles have gone completely. How much money could be saved by the health system if we all just gave an hour a day to practising Pranayam Make a start today! I am happy to help you along.

Update 28.10.2011

My frozen shoulders are improving too, the healing is slow, but considering that my shoulders had been so bad that doctors suggested shoulder replacement surgery, they are doing just fine. The flexibility is getting better, the pain is down to 1 out of 10, I only get pain if I have been on the computer too long or have done too much gardening.
But after a session of Pranayama, the pain goes. The tension in the muscles around the shoulders is easing and sometimes now the knots are gone for a few days. I feel there are just amazing improvements and people have commented on how my flexibility is improving on my shoulders. All thanks to Pranayama.
In my yoga classes, people are always commenting on how my flexibility in my shoulders have changed and how well I look and move now. The arms flow much better.

This is all about my personal experiences,copyrights@BarbaraSchaer all rights reserved