Do I need another MRI before proceeding with a stacksitting, etc?

The diagnosis, as given by my initial MRI 1 year ago (apologies for the all caps...):

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IMPRESSION:

1. DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE AND FACET ARTHROPATHY WITH RETROLISTHESIS L4-5 AND L5-51.

2. THERE IS L5-51 MILD CANAL STENOSIS WITH CENTRAL EXTRUSION CONTACTING BILATERAL S1 NERVE ROOTS.

3. NEURAL FORAMINAL NARROWING INCLUDES L4-5 CAUDAL RIGHT; L5-S1 MODERATE-TO-SEVERE RIGHT, MODERATE LEFT NEURAL FORAMINAL NARROWING.

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Given this and that the book says to only do spine stretching excercises (lessons 1, 2, 5, ...), how do I know when I'm ready to work on stacksitting and the like?

Do I need another MRI before proceeding?

Is it really likely that properly lengthening my spine will allow real healing of my L5-S1 issues? If so on what time scales, generally speaking?

Hi,

An MRI is a medical test and only your doctor can decide if another one is necessary. However, insurance might only approve another MRI if the symptoms are worse.

The reason we advise against stacksitting and other skills is that if they are done incorrectly they could aggravate your symptoms. Rib anchor is a difficult concept to grasp by reading the book and some people have a tendency to sway the back when getting the behind behind. I would suggest you do a consult with a teacher to make sure you understand how to do these skills correctly. If in person isn't an option, then a video session would work well.

I'm not sure what you mean by "real healing" of your L5-S1 issues. The goal should be to have a life with minimal pain. If a randomized sampling of the population was given an MRI of the lower spine, disc herniations would be found in many people that have no symptoms. Our goal is to move our students into this group of a life with minimal pain.

So initially focussing on spine lengthening exercises like stretchsitting and stretchlying is great. Then have an initial consult with a Gokhale Method teacher in person or online to make sure you're doing things optimally before expanding into stacksitting if there's no pain (and do listen to your pain!)