Take care of your Spine: Prevention and Emotional Causes

Have you taken a look at how you’re sitting?  You do easily hunch your back?  When you walk or when you’re standing, do you have good posture?  Do you frequently carry heavy things?  Does your lumbar spine hurt and you don’t know why?

The spinal column, also known as your spine, is located in the middle of the back starting at the base of the head until reaching the coccyx.  This area is hugely important in the body.  It is comprised of 33 vertebrae which are separated by small, spongy discs which generally divide into 4 sections:

• Cervical spine: formed by 7 vertebrae in the neck.
• Dorsal spine: formed by 12 vertebrae in the middle of the back.
• Lumbar spine: formed by 5 vertebrae, located in the lower back.
• Sacral vertebrae: formed by 5 vertebrae known as the sacrum, at the base of the spine.
• Area known as the coccyx: 4 vertebrae fused together in the last part of the spine.

The spine has important bodily functions.  It is fundamental for circulating energy, and practically all nerve endings in the body connect here.  It is made up of discs.

What is a hernia, fracture, or protuberance of the lumbar disc?

When a vertebral disc loses water and dries out, the exterior ring can deteriorate or become squeezed.  This allows in internal nucleus in the disc or ring to pop out of place, forming hernias.  This can be caused by several different things, one of the most common of which is aging.  When this happens, one could experience symptoms like weakness, back pain, numbness in the extremities or changes in sensitivity.

Spinal care and prevention

In order to maintain a flexible, healthy spine for the rest of your life, we recommend the following:

• Eat a healthy diet, rich in minerals and nutrients, and avoid junk food, especially anything refined, which robs the body of nutrients.
• Exercise in some way daily.  The body is made to move.  If you live a sedentary life, or if you spend long periods of time sitting, your spine will be one of the first things to suffer from it. We recommend yoga or tai chi, which not only help you relax, but they also stretch and relax the muscles around the spine.  This helps to keep them relaxed along with healthy vertebral discs.
• Don’t carry very heavy things, especially if you’re not used to it, or you haven’t warmed up your body well beforehand.  Carrying heavy things could unleash a series of problems with your spine.
• Avoid exercising without warming up the body beforehand.
• If you sit a lot because of your job, you need to get up at least every hour to stretch and to move a bit for 10 minutes.  This will help avoid overloading your spine from stress and from the weight of your body.
• Check your posture!  Bad posture from sitting or walking is one of the most common causes of back problems.  Every now and again, take a look at whether you are standing or sitting well.  If you are standing, your abdomen should be pulled back, along with your shoulders; but keep your shoulders relaxed.  If you are sitting, your glutes should be stuck to the back of the seat or chair, your spine straight, shoulders relaxed but in line with the sides of your body.  If you don’t review your posture when sitting, and you spend a lot of time sitting, you could suffer from lumbar pain later on for “no apparent reason”.
• Swim, which helps maintain a healthy spine.

Emotional causes of Spinal pain

Emotional causes noticeably influence health.  The areas of the back are divided into several emotional causes.  For example: the lumbar area is related to the kidneys, and their emotion is fear or excessive worry, along with lack of flow when relating to a certain experience.  The middle area could demonstrate sadness or disappointment, and the neck reflects inflexibility or stubbornness, along with not accepting the ways in which other people do things, or face their own experiences.  Whenever you control an emotion, your neck with be tense, whether this is fear, anger or sadness.  We recommend learning to release your emotions, and to get to know yourself better.  Stop criticizing yourself and accept yourself as you are.  Read the book “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise L. Hay.

References

1. Hay, L.L. 1984. You can heal your life. Paperback: 272 pages. Publisher: Hay House Inc.; 2 edition (January 1, 1984). Language: English. ISBN-10: 9780937611012. ISBN-13: 978-0937611012. ASIN: 0937611018

Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 10/08/2022

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