Ex Your Back Pain, Use Your X-ray Eyes

If you are suffering from back pain, the most likely reason for it is hiding in plain sight. Like most people, including your medical and complementary health professionals (!), you are just not trained to see it. The root cause of most musculoskeletal problems, whether it be lower back pain, a frozen shoulder, neck pain, plantar fasciitis, or a knee issue, can usually be detected in your posture and your resulting movement patterns.

You may be reading this blog post after already trying several common approaches to solving your pain: physical therapy, home exercises, chiropractic, massage, surgery, diet changes. You may have been told, and may believe, that one of the following is the explanation for your problem: it’s hereditary, you’re too sedentary, it’s because of your build, you’re too stressed, you’re too heavy, you’re too old, or it’s your job that’s to blame.

What is the most common underlying reason for our muscular aches and pains?

The Gokhale Method® regards posture as a fundamental pillar of health, on par with diet, sleep, and an active lifestyle. Unfortunately, on the rare occasions when posture gets attention in the media, it is often portrayed as an old-fashioned, reactionary, and irrelevant preoccupation. While it’s true that many ideas about “good posture” have often done more harm than good, that’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. 

One of the posture skills our students develop from the very start of their journey out of pain is the ability to assess their spine shape. This shape will have developed over decades of using their bodies a certain way. Growing up in industrialized societies, we often acquire damaging postural habits that result in our spines being one of, or a mix of, the following shapes:    

We take it as a given that our spines should be curvy, like the letter “S”. This is what medics and health professionals are taught is normal—but it causes excessive compression in our nerves, discs, and bones.

Our backs rounding into a C-shape is another common shape.

A tucked tail with weak glutes and abs, can result in an I-shaped spine. 

None of these common distortions are ideal for our species. A few people are fortunate enough to preserve the healthy spine shape we all had as infants, and that our ancestors enjoyed. This healthy shape is also prevalent in the villages of non- or later-industrialized societies across the globe, where people report a very low incidence of back pain—single digit, as opposed to above 80% in our communities. The Gokhale Method calls this healthy shape a J-spine:

In its natural J-shape, the spine is relatively straight—apart from a significant angle at the lumbar-sacral junction.

The shape of the spine is the most important clue for any posture detective. And by looking at the way someone is standing, you can see how their posture impacts their structure. Becoming skilled at “reading” your back shape is like having X-ray vision:

The healthy J-shape of Gokhale Method alumna Christine’s lower spine can be seen clearly on X-ray (left). To the posture-trained eye, it can also be observed in the flesh, or from a photograph (right).

The book that trains your eye to see posture

In my book  8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back I discuss how our understanding of healthy posture has strayed off course over the past 100 years, leaving us with poor role models to follow. I also show you well-aligned and healthy structures to learn from, and how to see the difference with confidence. You can then follow the logical, practical steps that help you make these changes in your own body, and take you out of pain. 

And now, I have a surprise for you! We are super-excited to announce that a new edition will be published on September 1:

First published in 2008, the original was so well received, we wanted to do it again! 
Introducing the second edition of 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back . 

If you have read the original, you might be wondering how this inspiring book might ever be improved by a second edition. The new edition is extensively updated and sports fresh images, case studies, QR code links to free videos, and a recrafted chapter on glidewalking. You can preorder the eBook or paperback on Amazon.com using this link (we earn a small commission from Amazon which supports our work). It will also be available on our website from September 1.

Join my special free online workshop for newcomers

This Saturday, August 16, 12–1:00 p.m. (PST), I will help you put on your “Gokhale Goggles” to assess your and other people’s posture. Our special “Gokhale Detective” workshop How to “Read” Your Body’s Clues—and Use them to Solve Your Pain is free and open to all newcomers. Find out more, and sign up here. Attendees will be among the first to preview images from the new 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back edition, plus receive two special gifts and a chance to attend a special event after the book’s release. 

I will also be offering a free online advanced-level Alumni-Exclusive Masterclass, to which alumni have been invited by email. 

Best next action steps 

If you would like to start developing your X-ray vision, and to find out about your spine shape, get started by booking a consultation, online or in person, with one of our teachers. 

You can sign up below to join any one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops…