5 Yoga Poses That Relieve Arthritis Pain

If you have arthritis, it's probably difficult to imagine yourself doing yoga, but it's one of the best exercises for people with this condition. Yoga stretches can help reduce pain and increase mobility. One study found that it may improve muscular strength, flexibility, and functional mobility in people with knee osteoarthritis.

To further reduce stress and anxiety due to chronic pain from arthritis, try taking some time each day to practice yoga. Deep breathing exercises can help you relax, while other yoga moves can tone the muscles and improve overall health.

---

Yoga Poses to Help Ease Arthritis Pain

If you'd like to try a bit of yoga on your own, it's recommended to start with the following poses. If you feel uncomfortable, try a different pose or simply sit quietly, and focus on your breathing:

1) Mountain Pose

How to do it?

• Stand with your feet close together and toes and knees pointing forward.
• Relax your shoulders, and lengthen upward through the spine so that the top of your head is pointing towards the ceiling.
• Find a focal point at eye level, and allow yourself to breathe deeply throughout the pose.
• Stand in this posture whenever you need to feel grounded, calm your mind, or reset your day.

---

2) Warrior I

How to do?

• Stand with your feet together, holding a chair or wall for support.
• Step one foot back a few feet, angling the back toes out slightly but keeping your hips facing forward.
• Bend the front knee into a lunge, keeping the front knee from bending past the ankle.
• Keep your shoulders over your hips.
• Take five full breaths, and repeat on the other side.

---

3) Seated Figure 4

How to do it?

• Sit tall in a chair, with your feet on the floor and back away from the back of the chair.
• Bend one knee, and cross your ankle over that thigh or your knee.
• You can also place a block or stool under your foot if it doesn’t reach comfortably.
• Relax your open hip, and take five deep breaths. Switch legs, repeating on the other side.

---

4) Downward Dog with Chair

How to do it:

• Stand with your back to a chair, feet together and arms at your sides.
• Bend your knees slightly, and step back with one foot, keeping the other foot behind you.
• Keep the front heel on the floor, and reach the hip behind you as far back as feels comfortable.
• Hold for five breaths, and repeat on the other side of your body.

---

5) Tree Pose

How to do it?

• Stand in the mountain pose with your left hand on the back of a chair.
• Shift your weight into the left foot, and bend your right knee outward to bring your right foot to the lower leg or ankle.
• Lengthen your left hip so that you aren't sinking onto that side.
• Find a visual focus, and reach your right arm up as high as it feels comfortable for your shoulder.
• Take a few seconds to test your balance, and bring yourself back to the mountain pose, and try it on the other side.

---

How Can Yoga Help Alleviate Arthritis Pain?

People with arthritis often do yoga, as they're in pain. However, pain is complicated — a physical sensation, sure, but also a mental and emotional one — and it could have many causes. Yoga can help alleviate pain, though. It can strengthen the muscles or stretch them out; it can soothe nerves and ligaments; it can reduce stress and improve focus.

Yoga can help deal with chronic pain by shifting the way we breathe and strengthening the body's ability to relax. The mind-body connection also works in the opposite direction — that is, when we change what happens in our mind, we change what happens in our body.

---

Key Takeaway

There are all kinds of yoga poses for people with arthritis, so it's important to find the ones that work best for you.

When practicing yoga, make sure to consult your doctor beforehand, and get individualized instruction rather than follow a generic class routine. The practice may not cure your arthritis altogether, but it could help make it easier for you to live with.