Chronic back pain keeping you from your favorite fitness activity? Consider signing up for a meditation or yoga class. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that mindfulness practices like these significantly helped relieve chronic lower-back pain. Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle asked 342 participants to take part in either mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) like yoga and meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to change pain-related behaviors through relaxation techniques, or usual care. After six months, both the MBSR and the CBT-intervention groups had greater improvement than the conventional-care one. Those in the yoga and meditation group even had an easier time with daily activities (like standing up or bending over to put on their socks).
