mobilizing

Regular readers and our students will know that I am a great fan of dance—it is a fun, social, and mood-elevating way to get fitter and master healthy posture. 

Dance and the importance of length in the spine

The Gokhale Method® focuses on restoring the spine to its natural length, strength, and shape in all positions and activities. In vigorous activities like dance, with higher impact and distortions like twists, side bends, flexions, and extensions, the inner corset technique becomes especially important.

Vigorous dance requires and maintains a strong inner corset of muscle that keeps the spine lengthened and the trunk stable. The creators of this Indian figurine knew this well.

About Bachata 

Bachata is a sensual Latin American-style dance that is generally a little slower than Salsa. It originated in the Dominican Republic, continuing to evolve as it spread across the globe. The style is characterized by fluid and playful movements which require a great deal of coordination. 

These Bachata dancers embody many of the healthy postural elements that we teach in our in-person Foundations course, one-day Pop-up course, our online Elements course, and our Gokhale Exercise program. Wikipedia

One characteristic ingredient of Bachata that is worthy of closer examination is the sideways “shear” of the ribcage. For those who seek an expanded palette of healthy movement, a shear opens up a whole new realm of possibility. Shearing happens naturally in the neck when balancing a load on the head, and in reaching out sideways or off-center. The shear appears in numerous traditional dance forms including African, Arabic, Indian, and Latin American.

The shearing movement is accessed safely by first lengthening and then adding the inner corset action. The shear is not held, it is a series of positions you visit in transit. The rib mobility involved benefits the thoracic spine and upper lumbar spine, mobilizing an area that can become tense, stuck, and achy. It is also visually compelling!

Here is Gokhale Fitness teacher Eric Fernandez incorporating the rib shear movement in Bachata dance.

Enjoying the positives that Bachata offers

With this modern concoction of traditional ingredients, Bachata dancers can develop a unique view of self. Bachata dance allows for a wholesome expression of sensuality that leads to an increase in empowerment and confidence—as well as a beneficial foray into one’s natural architecture. 

In medical terms shear may be used to refer to a sideways displacement, injury, or degeneration of a spinal vertebra. However, we are talking about a healthy, distributed shear through the lumbar and thoracic spine using well-controlled muscular contraction. This is a tried and tested workout for all the trunk movers and stabilizers, including the deepest intrinsic spinal muscles, the obliques, and quadratus lumborum. 

Quadratus lumborum (left, in red) and the internal obliques (right, in red) are just two of the important muscles that both move and stabilize the trunk. When this is done well, the spine is mobilized—and protected. Wikimedia, Wikimedia

Our new alumni-exclusive course, “Gokhale Dance: Bachata”

If you already enjoy our daily 1-2-3 Move dance parties, you’ll love our upcoming Bachata course that can take your dancing to a new level. Or if dancing has been off the menu since COVID started, and you want to channel your inner dancer, read on. . .

Our new alumni-exclusive, six-lesson course “Gokhale Dance: Bachata” starts Monday, June 12, at 10 a.m. PST. Over the course you will develop the movement skills you need for the basics of Bachata dancing. The course is for a maximum of 20 participants, which allows for plenty of individual feedback.

Every Bachata lesson is followed by a home practice video so that participants can drill down into the moves between classes. Here is a taster of the rib shear movement from the Lesson 2 home practice, taught by Gokhale Fitness teacher Eric Fernandez.

Who can learn Bachata

You don’t have to be an accomplished dancer to learn Bachata. There are no dance prerequisites* for this Alumni course—we expect this to be of value for complete beginners and professional dancers alike since the emphasis is on healthy postural form while learning the basics. You don’t need a partner, or even a sense of rhythm. This class is for any alumnus who wants to enhance their coordination and posture awareness, learn to dance, or just for “shear fun”! We look forward to seeing you there. . .

*Bachata moves do include some controlled swaying, tucking and rounding of the spine. If you have acute back pain, disc herniation, significant degeneration in your spine, or are not yet out of the woods from recent injury or surgery, an in-person Follow-Up or  online Follow-up is recommended.

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. . .

This is our third blog post in the series where we put popular exercises under scrutiny to examine how they stack up—or not—against the principles of healthy posture. Here we are looking at “Cat-Cow,” a common exercise for mobilizing the spine.

Cow is one of the “holy cows” of conventional exercise. Done on all fours, it puts the spine into extension (swaying). It is paired with Cat, which puts the spine into flexion (rounding). Alternating between these postures is widely considered to be a good or even necessary exercise for mobilizing the spine.

Cat-Cow is widely considered to be a good mobilizing exercise for the spine—but there is a big downside. Pixahive

Alternating between extreme extension and flexion stresses the joints of the spine, which then sustain wear and tear. It also results in the surrounding muscles stiffening to protect the spine. True, it can feel good to stretch out tight muscles in this way, but rather than relying exclusively on repeated extension and flexion, it’s better to address the underlying cause of the stiffness, which is usually poor posture. People with good posture are not compelled to do this sort of exercise. 

Arching the back (above) and slumping (below) are common but damaging postural habits 
that we do not want to reinforce in our exercises. Freepik

In addition to the real-time wear and tear in the spine, Cat-Cow reinforces the poor postural patterns of arching and slumping that are common in our culture. 

Many of us arch the lumbar spine to be “upright.” This compresses the discs, nerves, and soft tissues of the lower back which leads to degeneration, pain, and dysfunction. It is also common to slump the upper back when sitting or standing. This progressively overstretches the spinal ligaments, increasing kyphosis. Cat-Cow augments both these common characteristics of modern posture. 

Cow (above) can deepen and compress an already tight lumbar curve. Cat (below) will then overstretch an already rounded upper back.
Both movements compound common posture problems.

If the chin is lifted and the neck is swayed in Cow, this will additionally put pressure on the cervical joints.

Due to its horizontal orientation, without an awareness of healthy posture, this is an exercise that encourages the abdominal muscles to “switch off” rather than retain a healthy baseline tone. Hanging the abdomen from the lumbar area like a deadweight encourages exaggerated distortion of the lumbar spine.   

After compressing the lower back in Cow pose, most people then round into Cat to stretch it out. Training the upper back to hunch in Cat will then send the shoulders and head further forward in daily posture. Rather than mobilizing the spine, Cat-Cow can create a destructive spiral of a tight lower back and an overstretched upper back. 

Rather than encouraging even length throughout the spine, Cat-Cow pushes deeper into the existing curves. Freepik 

If you are concerned that the yoga or exercises you do could be exacerbating a habit of arching and/or slumping, we recommend exploring how to modify your regimen in an Initial Consultation. You can arrange an Online Initial Consultation or an in-person Initial Consultation if you have a Gokhale Method® Teacher near you.

The 1-2-3 program on Monday, August 9 will show you how to do a modified Cat-Cow. In Cat you will learn to stretch the upper back without overdoing it, and how and why not to round the lower back in the process. In Cow I will teach how to restrict the concave sway in the lower back while giving a satisfying stretch through the thoracic spine where it will do no harm. You will learn how to invite the right amount of movement in the right parts of your spine.

If you would like to join the Cat-Cow class but have not yet subscribed to the 1-2-3 program, sign up now for your 7-day Gokhale Exercise Free Trial.

1-2-3 Move happens daily with Esther at 9:45 a.m. (Pacific Time)
Gokhale Fitness with Eric runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 7–7:25 a.m.
(Pacific Time), and Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays from 3–3:25 p.m. (Pacific Time)