8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back (Remember When It Didn't Hurt)

I've had weak core muscles for years and mild scoliosis, and have tried various exercise videos and always suffered more and different pain from doing the exercises than I had before. (See which back pain books have five stars, and those are the ones I have read and tried. I won't detract them here.) By showing proper posture in people from many different cultures, Esther Gokhale undeniably convinces the reader that there are better ways to bend, sit, and stand. I've been using her ideas in her book for five weeks now in combination with exercises from my physical therapist. He glanced through the book and said, "Yeah, bracing [using the inner corset] is what we tell everyone to do all the time." I haven't felt this good in years. I think the combination of PT and this book is what helped me, and I am grateful to our Lord for bringing this book to my attention when He did. If you only get one back pain book or posture book, make it this one. (Anyone want to buy some slightly used copies of ......... [the many books I have bought that only helped some, or didn't help at all]?) **** Five months later, an update: Daily I've been doing a few of my physical therapy exercises along with many exercises in the appendix of this book. I alternate exercises of samba on one day (see Quenia Robiero's cardio samba DVD The Cardio Samba Workout ) and T-Tapp basic workout on the other day. The samba workout is fantastic for strengthening the inner corset, and the warm up section is just exactly what I need to do. What about 8 Steps? What I use daily (honestly): Stacksitting (due to my inner corset being SO MUCH stronger, this has become easy), Stretchlying on My Side (everytime I turn over at night, I re-adjust), Using my Inner Corset, and Hip Hinging. What don't I use? I don't use stretchsitting typically because I don't sit in chairs that make this easy, and I'm not bringing a special cushion or jacket with me, especially when the jacket would slide right down the back in a slick material chair (wood, plastic). I don't use stretchlying on the back because I'm only on my back to do exercises; I never could get to sleep on my back. I don't use tall standing as written - I do stand with my hips in the proper position and I am standing straight, but I don't arrange my feet or twist out my thighs from the hips. I don't do glidewalking as written. I do use my buttock muscles to push off each step but that's it. I posted a video on Mrs. Gokhale's forum and became quite disheartened about my poor form according to the expert reviewing my video. So now I just walk how it feels good. My favorite things from this book in order: Hip-hinging (feels great and I needed my hamstrings to become looser), inner corset, and stacksitting. It's still the best posture book I've ever seen. What about the special cushion the author sells? I bought it and used it on a 4.5 hour drive, twice in a weekend, and this made the drive tolerable whereas before I would have been in extreme discomfort. I do keep it in the car since the chairs in our house are recliners (too caved in) or the kitchen chairs where I just stacksit. ****** Update after two years ***** Feeling (mostly) pain-free is lovely. Since I last wrote, my knees have hurt me due to improper walking technique (it was difficult for me to learn her walking style from a book). Because of pain in my knees, I have given up trying to glidewalk. I think I finally got the mechanics of it - and it feels glorious - but maybe due to my scoliosis (one hip is one inch higher than the other) or maybe I didn't master the technique - my knees would hurt throughout the day after walking. So, for now, I walk only a bit to allow my knees to heal fully then I'll go back to my old way of walking which hurt my feet (no win situation!) If Esther's class should come near my home, perhaps I would attend for the walking. The glidewalking did seriously shape up the gluteus medius muscles! Other developments: due to the knee pain I did only stretching exercises, planks, things like that (no samba). On PBS (public tv), I found a great way to get my core stronger, which helps me to feel even better and more healthy and strong than I thought possible. The teacher of "Classical Stretch," Miranda Esmonde-White, does bend her back which goes against what Esther teaches (as far as I can tell). However, Esmonde-White seems to do it in a safe manner. It has helped me tremendously, adding to what I learned from Esther's book and her exercises in the back, and I wanted to share it with you in case it may help you (that's why I'm writing this update). How do I sit? Kitchen- stack sit on a bag of rice, in a pretty fabric sack. Den - lean back against two pillows on a firm sofa. Church - lean back, it's only for 1.5 hours. Other chairs - lean back unless it's for a long time, then I'll stack sit for a change of pace on a fleece jacket. If I can, I get up to move around some or I'll get uncomfortable in typical "public seating" chairs. As of a few months ago, I can now kneel in church without back pain, even during the longest prayers, and I can stand for a much longer period without back pain, and I can even sit on the floor with my legs straight out and my back straight, in comfort, for a pretty long time! Hip-hinging has gotten much better since I started Classical Stretch - I can now pull weeds without my shoulders dropping down, with my legs straight, my back straight, and bending at the hips (hooray for flexible hamstring muscles!). I wish you well on your journey toward better health. I share what has worked for me and what hasn't so that it may possibly help you. Be sure to be patient with your body, it's only matter and muscles get stronger a little bit at a time. Baby steps!

I'm a 40+ female and I've had several decades of back and neck pain. As an avid equestrian for 15+ years I had also taken several falls over those years with my most severe fall resulting in a concusion, torn disks and a fractured vertabrae. It would be unfair to blame my back problems just on riding as I spent long hours at a desk. I've seen chiropractors, neurosurgeons, physiatrists, acupuncturists, massage therapists with limited relief. I've had injections, physical therapy and just about every supplement, anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, neurological suppresant or pain med you could think. My MRIs show torn disks, arthritist, stenosis, a fractured vertebrae, mild kyphosis and scoliosis, just to name a few. In other words my back was a wreck and I was in some form of pain 24 hours a day. My pain had gotten so bad that pain meds couldn't touch it. I had to give up riding and any form of exercise because if I walked or stood for more than 15 minutes the pain often became so bad I had to lay down for hours. I had chronic numbness and pain in both arms and legs and in my shoulders, neck and head when things were really bad. Often my back felt like it was on fire. I did find that trigger point massage helped me so I do recommend it, but invariably my muscles would go back into large tight knots. I had purchased Esther's book and tried a few things half-heartedly but thought a posture book can't help someone as bad off as me. I was just about to give in and have my neck fused as my surgeon had recommended, but when he told me that the neck fusion wouldn't fix the numbness and pain in my legs and that I would probably require a second surgery something inside me said don't do it. I thought I'm too young to do so much surgery on my back, but I also knew that I couldn't continue to go on in the pain I was in. In December, 2011, I pulled out Esther's book again and slowly and carefully started applying the concepts. I thought maybe I could get a little pain relief while I tried to figure out which doctor or treatment option I should try next. I did not expect to get any significant relief. Esther's book proved me wrong. Intitally I just did stretch sitting in my car and my 1 and 1/2 hour commute became much more comfortable. So I started stretch lying on my side and trying to stretch sit at work as well. Intially I had to do a lot of repositioning as I'd slumped back into my old curled up posture but I often found minutes where my whole back relaxed and stretched out. When you've been in chronic pain to some degree for years it was stunning to me to experience this at all. Then I started adding in working on my inner corset. To my surprise I was actually starting to feel better. I couldn't believe that I was actually finding pain relief from a book. Now I am certainly not 'cured' but I've gone from being in chronic pain 24/7 that would go as high as an 8 on a 1 to 10 scale to having my pain level sit around a 2 the majority of the day. I've gotten enough relief after 6 weeks that I'm actually starting to believe that I might not need surgery and that I may be able to go back to an active life. You can get direct relief and help from this book. I did, a lot of relief. After spending thousands of dollars on doctors and treatments with limited relief, it is pretty ironic that it was a book (how much more low cost and low tech can you get) that has given me the biggest relief. Just as important as the physical relief I am experiencing is the mental relief of having less pain and knowing how to help myself. I was so impressed with the results from the book that I signed up to take a class with Esther. She is a wonderful and gifted instrutor and she helped me figure out the nuances that I was missing. I highly recommend taking a class with Esther but don't think you have to take her class to get help. You can get it from the book. If you buy this book and apply these concepts I believe you will reduce your pain and potentially dramatically like I have. My advice is don't push for too much progress at once. If it hurts, check your position and adjust or just back off. You didn't develop a problem overnight and you can't fix it overnight. I made rapid progress just by doing little things and reading and re-reading the book and checking and re-checking my form. I tried to focus on one or two concepts in a week, not all of them at once. I actually found that I did better when I didn't try too hard which usually resulted in rigid muscles which increased my pain. Build from small steps of success. When you start to get tired or things start aching go do something else. The flipside is that you do have to be consistent in trying to apply the concepts, you don't however, want to be aggressive with your body. I'm only about 6 weeks in and I can't believe how much better I feel. I'll post in about 6 months with an update. I think this book is a critical component to recovering from and preventing back pain. I wish you success in finding relief from your pain.

I’m an anthropologist, so when I saw that Gokhale Method is modeled on how we evolved to move and people still move in some traditional societies, I was hooked. I wanted to walk like a hunter-gatherer! I bought the first edition in 2013, and joined the Gokhale Method online program during Covid. The second edition is even better. When I received my copy, as I had been having trouble with stretch-lying on the side, I turned to that section. I found the description to be much more detailed, and includes additional photos, so that all my questions were answered. During the five years I’ve followed the program, I have transformed my entire body. The book systematically goes through each part of the body that contributes to correct posture, and analyzes the movements we use every day. Esther Gokhale says that a weekly class or massage session may be wonderful, but what about the rest of the time? It is how we customarily move through the world that really makes a difference. The model for correct posture is our human ancestors whose balance was so perfect that they could carry large loads on their heads for long distances. We don't have good modeling for correct posture in our culture, but most of us can find people with correct posture in old photos of previous generations within our own families. I went for online personal training in Gokhale Method and can attest that online training is surprisingly effective. Everyone comments on how well I look and move--I'm 84 years old and attribute my healthy aging to the Gokhale Method.

The book is an outstanding work in terms of research related to the role of posture causing back pain and the solution in terms of simple steps.

The book contains short explanations and lots of pictures, therefore it is very informative. It describes many situations like standing, sleeping, sitting at the office etc. so you learn how to have a correct posture all day long. I started reading the book after my back problems had started, but it still helped me to get over it as fast as possible and more importantly it tells you how to avoid such situations in future by just paying little attention to your posture in your daily life. Fully recommended.

very easy and simply adjustments that changed my back and neck to being pain free. No necessary equipment or gismos needed and you can do yourself without a teacher or having to do tiresome daily exercises, gym and weight training. I can practice the adjustments whilst cooking, cleaning etc.

It is a beautiful book full of pictures and very easy to follow! I am sure it is very effective for back pain!

Tengo una cervicalgia cronica desde 2 años, tengo 34 años. Medicos no entienden bien lo que tengo et no me han ayudado mucho. Este metodo, y especialmente el cojin que se pone sobre la cabeza, me han ayudado un monton, y recomiendo mucho a cualquier persona con problemas de cervicales. I have a chronic cervicalgia for 2 years now, at 34 only. I have consulted a ton of doctors, all specialties, did all the exams. MRI showed 3 herniated discs but as the symptoms don't match it does not explain anything. I let some doctors give me some medications, which I regret a lot (benzo/alprazolam/xanax/diazepam/valium) and also amiltryptiline/tryptizol. I'm eventually no longer taking any meds. The Gokhale has helped me much more than any doctor did. If you buy one thing, buy the head cushion. You keep it on your head, and it forces you to have good cervical posture, this was the fix for me!