For fun and mutual learning, we're launching an interactive blog feature where we invite you to share images of posture (healthy, unhealthy, and everything in between) for us to analyze. By us I mean me, Esther, and my Gokhale Method teaching colleagues.
Periodically, we'll select from all the submissions "best-of" images that offer a rich platform from which we can launch an online conversation. After we've added our two cents to your contribution, we'll publish the photo and commentary here, as a blog post.
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A quote from one of my cherished Gokhale Method students captures the before of his posture-improving, pain-eliminating journey with me:
"I was a managing director at a telecommunications company supervising a lot of people, but there would be days when I’d put in my time lying on the floor in my office--to take pressure off my spine. At first colleagues would walk in and do a double-take, but gradually they become accustomed to my having to stretch out the floor while I worked. This had become my new normal."
Though a sway back is commonly perceived as good posture, most people recognize it to be a problem. What is the best way to fix a sway? And for those of you who don’t quite know, what is a sway?
A swayback is an inappropriate curve usually in the upper lumbar spine. It is frequently the result of trying to “sit up straight,” or “stand up straight” in a sustained way. Sometimes it is the result of modern activities, most notably women’s gymnastics, women’s ice-skating, women’s ballet and misguided forms of yoga.
At the end of his rope after chiropractic, physical therapy, massage and surgery, a Transportation Planning Consultant finds relief with Gokhale Method Foundations Course.
Travis Dunn, PhD, remembers clearly the onset of his excruciating back pain. He was all of 24 years old.
“It first appeared while I was on vacation in June 2005,” he recalls. “There was no specific, major incident that precipitated the pain, but it grew sharper and more debilitating over the course of a week or so, including occasional sciatica.”
He would start each day with his back pain registering “one or two” on a scale of ten, he recalls. As soon as he sat, the pain would grow worse. “If I were to remain seated, I’d be at seven or eight within a half hour. When I stood up, I would be like a hunchback.”
Why Samba?
Apart from the fun, the exercise, and the infectious music that's central to this Brazilian dance form, I endorse Samba as a way to promote healthy posture. Among the many benefits, dancing Samba:
As the summer sun mellows and fall approaches, this is my favorite time of year to go hiking. Hiking brings so many benefits, from lifting your spirits and relaxing in nature, to catching up with friends and spending quality time with family.
The physical health benefits of walking are well documented. Choose your terrain well, and hiking provides great cardiovascular exercise for all ages. If you have a sedentary job, walking around town can be an important part of what helps you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
I like to exercise in the woods. There! I’ve said it. I’ve said it aloud too - so there’s no going back. Truth be told, I’m much happier here among the trees than the squeezing between the pec-decks and stationary bikes at my local globo gym. I even prefer it to pounding the streets or hiking through the fields. In fact I prefer it to pretty much everything.
There’s something primal about the woods. It’s not just the smells, the sounds of the whispering trees, the presence of birds and other wildlife, or the dappled sunlight effect that the forest canopy casts on the ground. I think it goes further than that.
The 2012 study A Single Bout of Exercise Improves Motor Memory published by scientists in Copenhagen found that exercise impacts the development and consolidation of physical memories. What particularly caught my eye were the findings that:
"A single bout of intense exercise performed immediately before or after practicing a motor task was sufficient to improve motor skill learning through a better long-term retention of the skill."
"The positive effects of acute exercise on motor memory are maximized when exercise is performed immediately after practice, during the early stages of memory consolidation."
Is there a relationship between your eyeglasses/sunglasses and your posture? In the years I have been teaching people to restore their primal posture, I have discovered that glasses can hurt – or help - your posture, especially your neck posture. Here are some guidelines to help you maintain, and even improve, your structure as you aid your vision.