Yes, you read that correctly. Not only do you not need to damage your neck every time you use your cell phone, but instead, you could be improving it!
Most of us use our cell phones quite frequently. If you train yourself to adopt a healthy stance every time you use your phone, you will have a built-in posture practice that repeats throughout your day.
Identifying the problem
Cell phones are unfairly regarded as the inevitable cause of neck problems and slouching. It’s not that you use a phone, but how you use it, that matters. Images from Clare Chapman, Pixabay and Pexels
Most people tend to let their head be drawn towards their screen when they use their cell phone. That’s why social media and wellness features are full of warnings about “text neck,” including graphics about how the head gets effectively heavier the further forward it is, and how that puts increasing strain on the neck. This is certainly true. The advice to avoid text neck is often to hold your phone straight ahead, rather than downward. Since this is physically and socially awkward, most people don’t do it.
Common advice to hold a cell phone straight out ahead feels awkward to most people.
Fortunately, there is a better solution…
Neck Saver #1: Adjust your head, bring your phone to your face, and look down
I like to use an analogy with eating...You may have been trained to bring your food to your mouth, rather than your mouth to your plate. Your mother was right! Following the code of table manners, she was teaching not only a more elegant, but also a more healthful way of dining which avoided squishing your neck.
Infants instinctively like to keep their neck tall and head well aligned. Pexels
Similarly, when you use your phone, you want to first establish a healthy head and neck position, and then feed yourself your information by bringing the phone towards your face, rather than your face to your phone. We recommend you get started by watching this free video, which will teach you the basics of how to glide your neck back and up to a healthy baseline position.
Next, you will want to look down. Blaming a downward line of vision for neck problems ignores the reality that for tens of thousands of years our ancestors have looked downward, without any ill effects, and that we are fully adapted to do this. We’ve looked downwards to track animals, avoid snakes, find food, avoid thorns, make tools, prepare food, nurse infants, and more—these activities were essential, often for many hours at a time.
It may be enough to just move your eyes to look down. To look down further, you may need to do a combination of angling your chin down, and/or angling your neck from its base—where the bump of your largest neck bone (C7) may protrude at the back of your neck. No matter how you are looking downward, with your eyes, neck, or head, be sure your neck maintains a good baseline length.
The aim is not to avoid looking down, but to improve how we look down. This teenager has his eyes down, his chin down, and has maintained a tall, spacious neck which remains centered over his body. Image from Pixabay
Neck Saver #2: Get some new wallpaper!
It’s true that a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words. Our species has a very large visual cortex—by choosing a home screen on your cell phone that inspires and reminds you to reposition your neck, you will be reinforcing healthy neck posture every time you pick up your phone.
A little posture know-how turns your cell phone into a smartphone! Image from Freepik
We have put together a selection of downloadable images for you to choose from below.
If only you could be reminded instantly every time your neck migrated forward or your chin jutted upward. Well, we have your back—and neck! Our recently released PostureTracker™ device uses a pair of sensors you can place in many pairs of locations on your body. Via an app on your phone, it gives you real-time feedback (visual, sound, or vibration) every time you depart from your calibrated ideal. No more over-contracting your neck muscles and compressing your cervical discs!
When your chin lifts, compressing your neck (left), PostureTracker will alert you and guide you back to your healthiest calibrated posture (right).
We are often asked why we do not sell the PostureTracker as a stand-alone device. It’s because without training, the device would likely be used to reinforce common misconceptions about good posture; people would use the device to “sit up straight,” for example, and likely do more harm than good. So PostureTracker is available only to our students, past and present. For people who understand what good posture is, the device is invaluable—it helps close the gap between knowing what to do and doing it as a habit. You can sign up here for our next Alumni PostureTracker Course, starting Thursday June 27, 7:00 am PT.
Best next action steps
If you have had trouble with your neck and would like to improve it, 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…
Fiona’s Journey out of Back Ache, via French Byways, to Gokhale Teacher Training
Excerpts from a diary by Fiona Nichols
Date
The Question
Can I get Gokhale-fit in 9 weeks (for a long overseas trip) via the online Gokhale Elements course?
The Dream
The trip of a lifetime is looming: 3 months in France in Spring 2023—something I’ve dreamed of for a long time. As a 67-year-old Australian, this means a lot of dreaming and a lot of planning! We’re not walking the Camino, though there’ll be lots of walking…it's more about an immersion in beauty and daily life in French towns and countryside.
We're off in search of lush French beauty to top up our more arid and windswept Australian variety—and hopefully shine a light on an elusive French ancestor trail. Freepik
The Reality
Excitement’s building, home-front preparations are ratcheting up, French lessons take on more urgency…but I’ve been aware for a while of anxiety about how my body will cope. In particular I worry about the nitty gritty of travel: hoicking heavy suitcases into cars and taxis and onto airline scales, up and down stairwells and elevators, the sitting for hours…and hours and hours (around 24 each way) in uncomfortable airport lounges and aeroplanes—and the unfamiliar beds, tiny crowded footpaths, ankle-testing cobblestones, showers in baths—and all that walking.
Osteoporosis
I’ve travelled lots, and well off the beaten track—but for the first time I’m aware that my body isn’t as young as it used to be and I wonder how I’ll cope with it all this time around. I’m generally healthy but have inherited thyroid and bone density issues. My current osteoporosis DEXA-scan score is -3 in the worst area—gradually drifting downward over the years despite regular daily exercise of various sorts, a very good diet, and various trials of medication. My back issues have been slowly increasing. Six-monthly injections were the only intervention producing slightly increased bone density but I had to switch medications due to side effects.
Osteoporosis features strongly in my extended family, and I’d seen my own wonderful mum gradually defeated by increasing back aches and its psychological impact, and by inadequate healing and gradual decline after falling, despite her exceptional commitment (well into her 80s) to preventative and post-op exercise and diet.
My lumbar spine DEXA scan showed a high risk of fracture due to low bone density.
I could see—and feel—myself heading in the same direction, albeit 30 years behind her. An increasingly common ache in my back, low energy, increasing need for afternoon naps (something I’d thought was for people much older than me), difficulty sleeping comfortably at night due to back stiffness, and needing to sit with my knees up, whenever decent, to feel comfortable. I’d given up on household and garden jobs requiring back work. My mood and outlook were affected.
Feedback from previous Gokhale Method course participants
Someone I knew had had a remarkable and quick turnaround from severe, crippling, intractable back pain following a Gokhale Method Foundations Course in Sydney, with teacher Michelle Ball in 2017. Her back issue was disc protrusion, not osteoporosis, but like me she’d tried everything recommended to her by conventional medicine and a range of alternative approaches, without success. However, almost immediately on starting the 6-lesson Foundations Course she felt improvement—and since then has had no further back issues. She says,
It saved my life. I have zero pain today and the best posture! Esther is my hero!
Myriam Glorieux, Australia, 2023.
On the Gokhale Method website I’d also read Sheila Terry’s blog: How Correct Posture and a Holistic Approach Helped My Osteoporosis, written after a deep immersion in Gokhale Method training and practice. I was inspired. I dithered for a while because of the expense and the time commitment, neither of which I could manage easily in the lead-up to going away for so long. But I knew the increasing ache in my back—and the movements it was beginning to restrict—would impact a lot on our time away and all the trip preparations.
Osteoporosis is a thinning of the bone and a reduction in its density. The Gokhale Method considers that healthy posture may well be key to the skeleton weight-bearing correctly and maintaining bone density. Image from Wikimedia Commons
My Online Initial Consultation
I had an Online Initial Consultation with Esther Gokhale. She felt that based on the posture photos and medical reports I’d sent, and from what she could see of my movements and posture on Zoom, I had problem areas which if not addressed would likely get worse—but if addressed would improve. I dithered again, but in the end decided my health and my quality of life (and the lives of those around me) were worth the investment in time and money.
The Gokhale Elements Course
By this stage our trip was only 9 weeks away. Travelling to do the in-person Foundations Course was out of the question given time limitations, but I could do the online Elements course from home on a schedule that fitted me. I also decided to buy the Gokhale PostureTracker™, thinking that without a hands-on teacher who could physically check my posture, it’d be the next best thing. Wearing its two sensors told me (via an app) when my spine was or wasn’t in proper alignment. It’s been well worth the outlay—it was so reassuring to have the figure on the screen show green whenever my posture was in correct alignment, or turn to other colours if my body drifted away from this. It can be set to beep or buzz if you can’t watch the screen. PostureTracker™ can help with almost every position.
The Elements course is 18 sessions, each 13 minutes long. I knew my learning style and that to absorb things well (and make the most of my financial and time investment) I’d need several days between each lesson to do the required pre-reading/video-watching/lesson prep, and then the practise/fine-tuning afterwards. By spacing things this way (I chose Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7.30am my time) I could factor everything into daily life. The helpful Customer Support staff were able to lock in all lessons at times that fitted well for me. This way I’d finish the 18 sessions the day before we flew to France. Pretty good motivation I thought.
The Elements course covers the key components required for re-establishing the basis of natural, healthy human posture with regard to standing, sitting, bending, walking, and lying. The 18 online classes teach Gokhale Method techniques such as the rib anchor, shoulder roll, and stretchsitting, and many more, in detail and tailored to each person.
Each Elements student has a private log-in User Dashboard on the Gokhale website, containing all their student records, submitted photos, PostureTracker™ data (if used), Student Notes etc. At the end of each Elements lesson, I did 5–10 mins of practice to lock in what I’d learnt, then logged into the Dashboard to write a brief summary, for my own benefit, of my key learning or queries—plus comments about body changes I was noticing.
These notes were also a way to send progress reports and questions to Esther (who, as my teacher, was notified every time I posted). Sometimes she answered these online and sometimes during lessons.
Lesson 2. Shoulder roll
Very helpful to see the shoulder anatomy slide for visualising this busy space—and importance of allowing everything adequate room. This visual stuff is very helpful to me.
Lesson 3. Stretchsitting
V good to have Esther's fine-tuning on this—hadn't realised how much I put my head down throughout the whole movement. Good to see the videos Esther sent since our session: hair pull, stretchsitting, placement of the Stretchsit® Cushion…all these components helping refine the movement.
Lesson 6. Kidney bean shaped feet
Body changes: Back feeling better both day and night (tho still wake most days with some degree of lumbar stiffness—not every day, significantly less stiff than pre-Gokhale). Back much better when sitting—not feeling the need to bend knees and put feet up. Back generally feeling both more stable & more flexible (still uncomfortable bending to put things in low drawers/bottom of fridge, etc.—but less so). Whole body feels lighter/more breezy (great sensation!), shoulders and chest feel broader and more upright (some clothes already tighter across front of shoulders). I have more energy, get more done, gut working more efficiently, less likely to wake up to wee at night, sleeping much more soundly, outlook brighter…progress, hooray!
Lesson 8. Inner corset and tall-standing review
Note to me:Purpose of inner corset: to brace the spine against damage, particularly when lifting, carrying, running/jumping etc. Reserve strongest inner corset action for the most potentially disc-damaging movements.
Body changes:Doing Tai Chi today, noticed all movements felt much easier, lighter—body felt more flexible and fluid—great feeling.
My Elements Handbook 'inner corset' pictures showed me how engaging key trunk muscles lengthens and protects my spine.
Lesson 9. Gluteus medius strengthening (1st of 4 glidewalking lessons)
Body changes: Woke this morning with a spine that felt 'loose'/flexible—such a dramatic change from waking tight, clenched and stiff. More of this please!
Lesson 10. Glidewalking
Note to me: The cross-country skiing analogy helps me a LOT in getting movements right—a gliding, tangential pushing-off from outward-pointing foot, then other outward-pointing foot, back knee straight but not locked, front leg bent, body slightly forward, head in alignment with back. PostureTracker™ on ‘piston walking’ setting helpful.
The PostureTracker™ setting ‘piston walking’ can be used to check for healthy back leg straightening (a.), and alert users to hyperextension (b.) in walking.
Lesson 12. Glidewalking with front knee bent
Body: The light and fluid feelings remain. Sleeping more deeply, waking feeling more flexible??… we shall see. Background headache I've had for 6–12 months, especially when bending forward, seems to have gone!
Lesson 13. Stretchlying on the side
Note to me: This one's been a challenge for me—wish Esther was here, to put hands-on and tweak the bits I’m not sure of. I think the main issue is I’m still arching my back…but angling the laptop screen for an 'aerial view' of the body, when lying on the floor, can help show the full body posture. Sometimes I get it right and sleep through the night…gradually finding what works for me.
Note to me: Keep rolling shoulders back into position as arms are heavy, and if not in healthy position their weight can pull thoracic spine out of alignment. We're nearly finished—16 sessions so far! Reassuring to be plugged into Alumni offerings and opportunities for Q&As, etc. Gokhale Method by now so integrated into everyday movements that I’m confident they’ll all continue.
Click here for excerpts from my Elements course Student Notes:
A New Reality? (…am hoping so!)
It was almost spooky how quickly my body responded to these subtle changes. Esther talks about body parts (once Gokhaled) “coming home to where they belong”—and that’s how it feels. I’m taller, straighter, firmer, stronger, and I’m walking, standing, sitting, and bending better. I’m more energetic, powering along pathways on daily walks (glidewalking is amazing!), and feel back in sync with my body.
I finished the Elements course the day before we flew to France. My body felt so much stronger and I can see it in the “After” photos.
I’ve had to remove the books under my desktop computer screen because the angle of my chin (and line of sight) has shifted slightly downwards without my being conscious of it, to a more comfortable position. Maybe this has something to do with the disappearance of the background headache I’ve had for the past year or so.
I’m gradually sleeping better (i.e. more comfortably), with stretchlying on the side still to be fully mastered. The increasing discomfort I’d had for many months prior to the course has disappeared. My head is clear and I’ve got my mojo back. I feel more positive. Significant and wonderful changes.
Of course, having France on the horizon no doubt helped (!), but it couldn’t account for the physical changes, or the confidence I felt about managing upcoming travel challenges. I skipped off into the French “coucher de soleil” (sunset) feeling ready for just about anything.
Bridge at Cirque de Navacelles, near Montpellier, southern France.
I felt Gokhale-fit—and sailed through pretty much everything on our trip. We’ve just arrived home after a wonderful three months: stunning landscapes, beauty-reservoirs full to overflowing, layers of history, French lessons given full workout, replete with delicious food, shoes worn thin, walking muscles well and truly toned. What a country!
The Seine river, in the heart of Paris.
This curious little fish-chef artwork kept appearing (in different poses) on walls all over Paris— generally without text—but on this one was the German word “zeitenwende,” which translates as “turning point.” It seems to fit, so I’m taking it as a sign for my posture journey:)
Gratitude
I’m very grateful to Esther and her team for what she’s created and made available in the Gokhale Method. It’s extraordinary stuff. At times it feels too good to be true…and yet it is. Such subtle changes, yet such profound impact. All delivered in such an engaging, very human, immensely skilful and positive way. This gift is life-changing.
PS: The Gokhale Method in Australia
As we were flying into Australia, I saw on the Gokhale website that Tegan Kahn (one of Australia’s 2 Gokhale teachers) was running a Foundations Course in Canberra that weekend. It was a hands-on opportunity (too timely to miss) for tweaking my still problematic stretchlying on the side.
I detoured and spent 2 days with Tegan, who took me through all 6 Foundations lessons—with extra attention to stretchlying on the side. She was impressed by my “Gokhale-fit posture” and only small refinements were generally needed, but with stretchlying on the side some extra input and hands-on clarified the changes I needed to make. These are progressively becoming part of my “muscle memory” and a side-lying posture that works for me. Thank you, Tegan!
Tegan refined my stretchlying on the side position (I'd been overdoing most of the steps) and it felt great. The tricky bit is being able to repeat it at home… bit by bit training my muscle memory.
My results from practising the Gokhale Method keep growing. After my Foundations Course I was able to nestle my pelvis even deeper and align my upper back and neck straighter in hip-hinging.
Teacher Training—possibly in Australia!
I’d been wondering while away if I could apply to do Gokhale Teacher Training—as a way to deepen my own understanding and help others (including family members) out of long-term back pain.
And…a golden opportunity has come up. Esther is considering coming to Australia to run a teacher training course in early 2024! This would make the teacher-training process so much more accessible and affordable for those of us in the Australasia region. A minimum of 4–6 teacher trainees are needed. The Gokhale Method team is already in the process of contacting all Gokhale Alumni in Australia, India, Singapore and New Zealand, and inviting anyone interested to contact them for information. I’ve put my hand up and have nearly completed the application process.
If you live in our region of the world and are inspired to train in Australia to become a Gokhale Method Teacher, please contact [email protected]. I hope to see you there!
The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” is thought to originate from an ancient African proverb.
As I have grown into being a parent, uncle, and beyond, I have realized that this quote extends to any age. I have directly experienced this with my own posture journey—my own family “village” has helped me and others dear to me find a near pain-free life through the Gokhale Method®.
Annoying body pains were affecting my fun in life
In my late thirties, a stream of inflammatory pains permeated my body, including back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, and—worst of all—plantar fasciitis in my foot. While these weren't absolutely crippling pains, they were painful enough to keep me from enjoying life as I gave up my favorite hobbies—tennis, golf, and playing the piano.
I visited numerous renowned doctors in California. They genuinely tried to help, but nothing resolved my pain. So I began searching for other solutions.
Finding Esther’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back
In particular, what caught my attention was how traditional and tribal communities across the globe do not have the level of musculoskeletal pain that we are seeing in modern society. The book explained how their cultures have preserved our natural blueprint for healthy posture over the centuries, while industrialized societies have lost it.
This made a lot of sense to me, because as an American with Indian heritage, I used to visit India a lot and noticed that many traditional communities there do not have body pains as modern cultures do. There were people in their sixties and seventies doing manual labor regularly without pain.
As an Indian-American, I visited India often as a child, so I could relate immediately to the images like this one in Esther’s book that showed people with traditional posture performing physically challenging tasks with relative ease.
I then took the Gokhale Method Foundations Course. It took me a couple of months to meaningfully understand the core concepts. And then I felt significant pain relief for the first time in a long time and knew I was onto something. I began playing sports and music again! I was so happy.
The Gokhale Method Foundations Course helped me stand, walk, sleep, and sit comfortably. Before the course (left)) I would sit with my pelvis tucked, back rounded, shoulders forward, and my neck compressed at the back. During the course I began to change this, learning to antevert my pelvis and stack my spine.
Helping each other out posture-wise
I shared my Gokhale Method story pretty regularly with family and friends. My family—perhaps knowing that I am a rather talkative person—would give me the “ol’ eye roll” when I talked too much about Gokhale posture!
That said, many of my family members nevertheless found the Gokhale principles intriguing. For example, my wife spent much of her childhood in India—and also learned the Bharata Natyam Indian dancing which Esther draws from—all of which gave her good posture and a relatively pain-free life. Equally importantly, it gave her a keen eye for good and bad posture. So she was able to provide excellent feedback to me as I kept trying to improve my posture with the Gokhale Method principles I was learning.
However, my sister Annissa grew up in America, and began experiencing hip and other arm pains as an adult, which was hard for her as she is a keen athlete. She realized that her posture might be the root cause. She learned the Gokhale Method with Esther’s younger daughter, Monisha, and started feeling meaningful relief. She is now a regular participant in Online Alumni Classes, which help her to keep healthy posture on her radar and continue refining it.
My sister Annissa (shown here with her PostureTracker) likes to use her Alumni membership most days—it makes checking in on and refining healthy posture comparatively effortless—and fun!
The next-gen
Interestingly, as my daughter Saya became a teenager, my wife noticed that her posture began to deteriorate. We were concerned that our daughter’s posture would worsen further when she went to college, leading sooner or later to inevitable pain and discomfort. Trying to offer advice and corrections to our daughter just caused a lot of frustration for both of them.
When our daughter turned 16, we suggested that she learn the Gokhale Method before going to college. For her it was perfect to take the online Elements course. The fact that it was 18 compact 13-minute Zoom sessions worked perfectly for her busy high school life. Her posture markedly improved with Gokhale Method TeacherKathleen O’Donohue.
We were so encouraged that we also asked our 15 year old niece Riya to take the course. She did the Elements course as well, and her posture improved too!
Bringing different generations together with the Gokhale PostureTracker
In the last year, my daughter, sister, and I were really intrigued by the PostureTracker™ wearable, which gives real-time feedback on your posture by displaying the feedback from two highly accurate sensors on an app. My daughter and I did the first online Alumni PostureTracker class during the summer before my daughter headed to college.
My daughter Saya is a young Gokhale Alumna, and has taken her PostureTracker with her to college. She has real-time feedback on her posture wherever she wants it.
We then bought the PostureTracker (which comes with one-to-one tech assistance) for my sister Annissa’s birthday. She loves it and uses it most days, including in her Alumni Classes. When we all get together, we often have fun correcting each other’s posture and also talking about our PostureTracker experiences.
The village beyond my family
Beyond my family, my “village” extends to the Gokhale Alumni community too. I have truly enjoyed and benefited from the collective curiosity and wisdom of the 1-2-3 Move classes. The teaching and follow-up questions and answers have been so helpful and insightful. I will never forget Gokhale Alumna Mary Walsh’s saying, “Good things come to those who ‘bean-shape’ [their feet],” which really captivated me and continues to help me in my own posture journey.
Here we are on the 1-2-3 Move class sometime in the COVID winter of 2020–21. The online community we forged back then has continued to thrive and be a great resource for everyone on their healthy posture journey. There is a 7-day free trial open to the public.
Best next action steps for newcomers
If you would like insight on your posture, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online, or in person.
You can sign up below to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops. . .
SCIJ isn’t a very memorable acronym, but the shapes of the letters do accurately represent the four most common spinal shapes. In this blog post you will discover which SCIJ category you belong in, what changes you might want to make, and the first baby steps to improve your spinal shape.
The letter “S” is widely used to describe the conventional paradigm for an ideal shape of the spine. The Gokhale Method perspective is that we need a paradigm shift.
Loren had developed a pronounced S-shaped spine before she took the Gokhale Elements online course. Tightened lower back muscles formed a pronounced lumbar curve, and her upper back had to round over to return her to upright.
S. This is the spinal shape considered to be normal (as well as ideal) in today’s conventional wisdom. You will find the S template for spinal shape in lay circles, alternative health circles, as well as medical circles. Massage therapists, yoga teachers, physical therapists, and medics, are all taught the S-shape paradigm, which may include arguments about the strength of arches and “opposing curves'' and their ability to absorb vertical load like a spring.
The S-spine consists of a significant concave curve in the lower back meeting a significant convex curve in the upper back. From the Gokhale Method perspective, both curves are exaggerated and can lead to pain and dysfunction. This posture loads the spinal joints and takes a lot of muscular tension to maintain. It is the reason, we posit, that maintaining “good posture” has a reputation for being hard work. If this shape fits your spinal contour, it is unlikely to have been called out by either conventional or alternative practitioners. After all, it is the described ideal. If you have faced the frustration of having your back “go out” soon after an intervention, or your symptoms return again and again, a possible reason is that your S-shaped spine has never been recognized as the root of your problem, let alone be treated.
This medical illustration (1990) displays the excessive curvature that can result in pinched nerves and compressed intervertebral discs.
As both the vertebrae and the intervertebral discs have virtually parallel upper and lower surfaces, like a cylinder, the exaggerated curves of the S-spine create pinch points that can impinge on nerves, and cause wear and tear on the discs and degenerative change in the bones. Any of the tissues of the back, shoulder area, and neck might well “complain” about being obliged to maintain these contours.
An ideal first step to improving the shape of your S-spine would be stretchsitting. You can begin to learn stretchsitting here.
The letter “C” describes the most common modern posture of all—slumped.
The C-shaped spine will curve more at the top if we hunch more…
or curve more at the bottom if we tuck more…
either way, a C-shaped spine is bad news for our discs.
The C-spine is the product of slumped posture, with the tail tucked between the legs, shoulders rounded, and head forward. This compresses the front of the spinal discs, squeezing the interior contents (the nucleus pulposus) backward. This is the most dangerous direction to load the spinal discs since the nerve roots exit the spine right behind the discs. Slumping with a C-spine also overstretches and weakens the ligaments around the spine, undermining their ability to maintain the integrity of our all-important spinal column. Many people alternate between forcing an S-shape in their spine in the name of “good posture” (wrong!) and collapsing into a C-shape when they are fatigued from their efforts. Both these shapes in fact cause damage—in different ways—and need to be replaced with a J-shape (keep reading!).
An ideal first step to improving the shape of your C-spine would be learning to use your inner corset, the deep muscles of the abdomen and back which support and protect the spine. This is explained in detail in my book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.
Free Chapter of 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back
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Please enter your email address in the field below and you will be sent an email with your Inner Corset chapter. You may receive a confirmation email to sign up to the Positive Stance newsletter first.
The I-spine shape results from a “sinking into oneself” without a significant increase in spinal curvature. Older people may develop an I-spine as they lose height due to spinal degeneration. Unsplash
The I-spine is common in older folk living in modern industrialized societies. There are no particularly pronounced contours in the spine, but rather a general “melting into itself” with the disappearance of 1 or more inches in height accompanying the aging process. The shrinkage is often the result of degeneration in the discs or mini-fractures in the vertebrae. Some diagnoses that might accompany this spinal shape include osteoporosis and stenosis. The pelvis is tucked, there is no angle between the buttocks and the back, and the buttocks are underdeveloped. Though the I-shape is most common in older people, it can begin at a young age with tucking the pelvis.
This photo of Taylor Swift shows how a tucked pelvis flattens the lumbosacral angle, and disadvantages the gluteal muscles, combining to produce a flat “behind."
The letter J represents the healthiest spinal shape.
The shape of this Ubong tribesman’s back is best described as a J-spine.
Though rarely preserved in adults in modern industrialized societies, the J-spine is the shape we all enjoyed as toddlers and is still prevalent in many nonindustrialized areas of the world. This “J” is a modern, stylized “J,” reflecting the relatively straight alignment of the vertebral column and the pronounced angle at the lumbosacral junction. There is no exaggeratedlumbar sway or thoracic curvature. You can see this shape embodied in the Ubong hunter’s torso.
This medical illustration from 1911 more closely depicts the J-shape spine rather than the S-shape of modern conventional wisdom. The only pronounced curve is at the L5/S1 junction at the base of the spinal column.
Since taking the Gokhale Elements online course, Loren has made good progress in losing unwanted curvature in her back. Her upper lumbar spine has straightened out considerably. Over time, given her dedication, we expect to see her most pronounced curve move lower as she continues to cultivate her J-spine.
If you are interested in restoring your J-spine, we recommend taking our Elements course (one-on-one coaching online), or our Foundations Course (one-on-one or small groups in-person) or Pop-up Course (not available during COVID). These courses teach you to systematically lengthen, strengthen, and remodel your spine to a healthier J-shape in a safe and effective way.
To gradually and safely improve their spinal shape students learn well-honed techniques using their fingertips to monitor their spinal groove, kinesthetic and visual cues, customized exercises, and visualizations. Because it is still challenging to rely heavily on your proprioceptive sense, we have also developed the PostureTracker™, a tool that tells students exactly where they are positioned using Bluetooth sensor technology. PostureTracker tracks the shape of your spine in real time—it gives immediate and intuitive feedback, is easy to use, and reveals information about your spine that a plain mirror cannot show you. Though PostureTracker is not yet available for sale, it is available as a loner (while supplies last) to students who sign up for the online one-on-one Gokhale Elements course.
If you sway in your lumbar area, PostureTracker will show what is going on with your spine.
To get an idea of the current shape of your spine, view yourself side-on. You can use a mirror, but it is best to photograph or video yourself, or use several mirrors, so that you can observe your shape without turning your head. Take a while to study yourself both sitting and standing. Notice that your spine changes if you alternate between swaying and slumping. You may discover that your habitual posture combines elements from two or more of the categories we have described—for example, you may most closely resemble the I-spine, except that your head and neck jut forward.
The curves in our spines precisely reflect our everyday posture habits.
If you would like a trained eye to help you understand your spinal shape and how to improve it we recommend an online Initial Consultation with a Gokhale Method teacher. In-person Initial Consultations may also be available depending on the COVID status of your area.
