8 Steps to a Pain Free Back Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back Neck Shoulder Hip Knee and Foot Remember When It Didnt Hurt
Filed Under Book
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A Wonderful Help
This book is dedicated “To the millions of people who suffer needlessly from back pain.” Anybody in that category knows what they’d give to become–and stay–pain-free.
To my mind, here’s a great book to help. Esther Gokhale offers natural posture solutions for pain in the back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and feet. The book consists of eight lessons, meticulously explained, with beautiful illustrative photographs. Half of this large book consists of photos–many of people in non-Western societies standing, walking and bending in natural and harm-free ways. Everything discussed is illustrated–so nothing is too hard to understand.
How we sit, how we stand, bend, sleep–all are vital to our comfort and health. When we learn to maintain correct posture, we’ll find we’re moving out of the realms of misery, and into a situation of relief and health.
I really liked this book. There is just enough science for me to understand what my posture is doing to my body, and just enough explanation for me to understand what I can do to make things better. Changing habits is not automatic, of course–I know it takes time before the new ways feel natural. But when there’s a blueprint before me, if I have any motivation, I can practise and learn what’s healthy.
If you’re looking for some relief, get this book. You will learn a lot–and you’ll be so glad you did.
5 Stars This more than back pain: it’s about correct posture, and this book is the best.
I love the book, but the title is all wrong. It should be called “Fix Your Posture” or “What Posture is Supposed To Be”.
The book does a fabulous job of comparing Modern/Western/Adult posture to Ancient/Child/Asian/African posture. It does so with wonderful diagrams, clear descriptions, and lots and lots of great photos. The summary is that young children, ancient cultures, and some current cultures all have great posture, but adults in modern cultures, especially in Western cultures, have terrible posture. Most of my life, I’ve been sitting, standing, bending over, and even walking wrong! Here are some of the ways:
* Walking and standing: Most of us hunch over. Sitting straight is correct, but we even do that wrong when we try because you have to get your hips aligned correctly first.
* Bending over: Most of us bend our back, which is actually quite dangerous, especially when lifting. Keeping the back straight and bending the legs is better. Bending at the hip is even better.
* Walking: This one is harder to explain, but most of us stick our legs forward and then pull our body forward, and a lot of our weight lands on our toes. It’s better to push your legs back and keep the weight landing on your heel, like when you’re skating.
The key, as far as I can tell, is in the hips and shoulders. Once you get those right, everything else falls into place. I tried correcting myself before reading this book, just from reading things online, and it was a disaster. I made myself sore and tired.
Now, I’ve been following the directions and excercises in the book. It took a few weeks to finally “get it”, but now it seems natural to hold my body correctly. Although some muscles are sometimes tired (probably because I never used them before), I haven’t experienced any real discomfort in the transition. I’m still working on many things, and have a long way to go, but I’m happy with the results so far.
The change is subtle, but once you get used to correct posture, if you try and go back to incorrect posture, it feels akwards and even hurts.
I never had any back pain, but I’m happy I’ve been able to transition to natural and correct posture thanks to this book. And, it will probably save me from future back pain that I would have experienced since it’s so easy to hurt your back by bending and lifting incorrectly.
5 Stars Unique approach to back pain
8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee, and Foot (Remember When It Didn’t Hurt)
Esther Gokhale uses ancient methods to treat a modern problem. Especially for people who spend a lot of time on the computer, back pain is a wide-spread problem. Esther’s solution focuses on posture, taking cues from cultures that never experienced back pain. I first learned about her work when she exhibited her photographs of women in Africa, India, and elsewhere with the “right” posture in a gallery in Palo Alto. Her approach is unique and widely endorsed by orthopedic experts.
5 Stars It works
After reading this book and employing the techniques I am stronger, straighter, and healthier. If I start to experience back twinges I can track them to my poor posture (long airplane rides, sitting in overstuffed chairs, being in a hurry when I walk/hike and forgetting to pay attention to my shoulder & spine position, etc.). When I make a correction with the techniques described in this book, my pain disappears. Overall, it took less time than I would have thought to shift into good posture habits. The effect is very reinforcing and there is something intuitive about standing and sitting properly. It’s as though my body takes over and remembers how it is supposed to be used.
5 Stars Excellent investment; these methods work!
This is an excellent book for learning how to avoid and alleviate chronic body pain, including back, neck, and knee pain. Gokhale’s methods are based on scientific principles and anthropological studies — and clearly a lot of research. The book provides a detailed description of ideal posture and gives in-depth instructions on proper techniques for standing, sitting, walking, bending, and sleeping to avoid pain. Exercises and stretches to facilitate the methods are included. The explanations are clear and concise and supplemented with numerous excellent photos and illustrations. I found Gokhale’s teachings easy to follow and, most importantly, have been able to easily and consciously incorporate them into my daily life. These methods work! The book is beautifully presented and a joy to read. I highly recommend this book.
Leave a Reply
