… and not just because I love a good cup of joe to start my morning off. This simple change in your morning routine may become paramount for your spinal health, and here’s why …
We all have a spine, yes? When we think of our spine we think of our bony vertebrae. But what’s in between those vertebrae are what really matters. We have this spongey marshmallow-like disc between each vertebra that we call intervertebral discs. We can thank these discs for being shock absorbent as we crash down from handstand or fall back into wheel during a yoga class.
These discs are like sponges, as we lay resting in our beds for the 6-9 hours of sleep we get, those discs are non-weight-bearing. The lack of weight allows the discs to soak up some water, fluff themselves up and become big and juicy before they begin their shock-absorbing duties of tomorrow.
HOWEVER, these big juicy intervertebral discs need the first hour of your morning to bear weight, naturally squeeze out some toxins and return to a suitable state for bending through a yoga flow. Think of a super blown up, maximally expanded water balloon – this is your intervertebral disc first thing in the morning. Now imagine how fragile that blown up water balloon is. Poke it the wrong way and you’ll be wet. Now let some of that water out, retie your balloon and you’ve got some flexibility. You can toss that balloon from hand to hand, watch it morph shapes and accommodate, and nobody gets wet.
So, next time you hop out of bed and feel like getting right into a yoga flow, pour yourself a cup of joe first! Intervertebral discs CAN TEAR with repetitive motion and excess stress and cause pain either at the time of injury or down the road as they worsen.