I’m Galen.  I’m 38 years old and have been tattooing for about 8 years now.  About 2 years ago I started experiencing back and neck pain as a result of long hours, hunched in a chair, peering at the details of the art piece I’m working on.

I’ve talked to numerous artists about ways to deal with this problem.  The answers I got varied from doing nothing and just dealing with it (which sounds ludicrous to me) to stretching, to chiropractor visits.

At this point, I’ve tried most of these which usually result in temporary relief.  The only solution I’ve found which brings sustainable relief as well as overall health for my whole body and mind is yoga. I used to have back pain that would last for days or weeks.  Since starting yoga, which I usually attend twice week as well as going through short routines at home, I haven’t had any back or neck pain persist for more than a day or so.  I highly recommend for any tattoo artist to practice yoga. My favorite is Hatha yoga although all types offer benefits.