Hello
Stretch-sitting and stretch-lying (on the back) are working great for me, and I am no longer waking with back pain in the night (though still feel an ache in the morning).
I am having a couple of issues when trying to stacksit.
1 - It feels comfortable for a very short time (often less than a minute), then I get an ache in my lower back quite quickly, and want to slump. Does this indicate a problem, or is it normal that I should just do it in very very short spells at the beginning?
2 - I cannot be sure what I am doing with my pelvis. I have tried shuffling backwards, or forwards, to correct it in case it is tucked or too tipped, but when I look in the mirror, I cannot see any difference (the back looks quite straight, and definitely much better than when I am slumping as usual), and it doesn't really change how it feels.
I am using 22 degree wedge. I have seen that most wedges are 11 degrees, but the description of the one I bought said that 11 degrees is not enough to correctly position the pelvis. Do you think that actually an 11 degree wedge might be better?
Thanks for any advice.
1 year 2 months ago
05/18/2013 - 8:49pm
I think I have a sway back. I am finding that stacksitting results in low back pain if you dont push your rib cage low, as shown in the book, without tucking your tail. In fact, dropping the rib cage seems to give me relief in many positions, including standing, walking and sitting. I have to check the groove in the lower back to make sure it stays normal.
However, it is very difficult to hold this position of dropped rib cage for long periods. All the muscules in the lower back stiffen and I also catch myself rounding my shoulders to hold it. I find it impossible to do a shoulder roll and drop my rib case at the same time.
A mirror is not a good aid to assessing whether your back is straight, I find, if you have a sway back. The buttocks stick out behind, the shoulders are straight, and the stomach looks flat, but its not possible to know if your rib cage is lifted or not. Its only when I drop it consciously that I feel the difference. I also found that lumbar support belts are counterproductive to a sway back. They tend to push the stomach further out and lift the rib cage. It was very painful.
I do hope somebody from the institute can give some tips about how to deal with a sway back. There is relatively little about it in the book. Dropping the rib cage is very hard over extended periods, resulting in stiff back and throat muscules, and hunched shoulders.
9 years 7 months ago
08/15/2014 - 7:12am
Sway back is really an obstacle when you want to make the posture healthy, especially for those people who have a sway back for many years and the back, especially thoracic vertebra, seems to be settled. I have been caught in this problem for a long time and haven't found the solution to fix it. I can't find any solutions about how to solve the long-year sway back problem in the book or video, either. I want help, too.
10 years 6 months ago
06/13/2013 - 1:13am
In the book the first troubleshooting issue is lower back pain. I'd check that out. It says to go to the inner corset section - I haven't had that lesson yet, but as soon as I have a handle on it, I'll try and help.
I would guess it's less wedge and more internal abdominals.
Pelvis should be anteverted, maybe I'm not understanding your question?