I experience lower back pain mainly caused due to my piriformis muscle and sacroilliac joint. During glide walking, a key practice is to squeeze your glutes. Is this still advisable for patients with piriformis syndrome? Just want to make sure so that I don't make things worse for myself.
6 days 22 hours ago
11/09/2010 - 2:51pm
You should always listen to your pain and not try to push through it. If it hurts you to squeeze your glutes, squeeze much, much less, and try taking smaller steps. Make sure you really relax each buttock and leg in the relax phase of the glidewalk and only take a few steps if that is all you can do without pain. As you continue to learn Gokhale Method techniques, you will be working on changing your pelvic architecture. This change will help your body to shift from overworking your piriformis to being able to use your gluteal muscles without having the piriformis muscle also get involved. Learning the proper posture in glidewalking will help with the healthy changes in your pelvic architecture which, in turn, will make glidewalking more comfortable. But work on these changes slowly at the pace your body and pain signals indicate. If you aren’t currently working on the Gokhale Method techniques with a teacher, I would recommend that you find a Gokhale Teacher in your area or in another city nearby and take the Gokhale Method Foundations Course, after consulting with your physician to make sure you are proceeding in a safe way. There are weekend intensives in many cities around the country. Glidewalking is subtle and complicated and you have special issues. In a GMF small group course, a Gokhale Teacher will use personalized, hands on methods to evaluate your posture and gait and guide you in learning healthier ways of sitting, standing, sleeping and walking at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Good luck with your posture journey.
Roberta Cooks MD
Gokhale Teacher