Back pain is an unfortunate part of my life and my yoga practice. While I've made great progress, there are days when I may have tweaked my neck during a sun salutation or long hours in the front of the computer make my back unhappy.

But Annie Carpenter and Sherry Brourman believe there’s a way to move through life and through your practice with an awareness that heals rather than hurts. They imparted these thoughts and many tips last weekend at a four hour YogaWorks workshop called “Happy, Healthy Back”.

In addition to being a yoga teacher, Brourman is a physical therapist and her yogi-friendly anatomy lesson was not only comprehensive, it also taught us how to distinguish between pain caused by discs versus those resulting from soft tissue injury. She also offered practical notions like encouraging us to pay special attention during transitional moments between poses because that’s the time when most injuries occur.

Carpenter, with her wicked sense of humor and nurturing energy, then showed us how to use those principles during an asana practice where she offered up pose prescriptions (for example, slow moving cobras for lumbar disc related pain) and introduced the idea of “containment” in our practice – striving not for perfection but rather an individualized symmetry.

I can’t disseminate all the nuggets I learned here, so I encourage you to attend their yoga classes and receive their expertise first hand. Your back will thank you.