scoliosis

It’s that time of year again—we know we’re about to get one year older and we hope we’re also going to be one year wiser! If you have applied that wisdom to progressing your posture, you may also experience that you look, and even feel, one year younger. Or if you have a long backlog of ignoring your posture, it’s not impossible that you may feel ten years younger!

Aging is not just about the numbers

Aging is not just a number, nor is it just the arrival of graying hair or wrinkles—unfortunately, for many of us, it creeps up with creaking stiffness in the joints, increasing awkwardness in movement, degeneration in the spinal discs, and a jangling of the spinal nerves.

Poor posture adds years to our appearance, and wear and tear to our joints, perpetuating further problems. Image from Pixabay

Postural distortions usually start long before old age and can go unnoticed to the untrained eye. 

Research has shown that we are tuned to seeing facial symmetry as a way of selecting partners—I suspect a similar instinct is at play for recognizing healthy natural movement and body architecture. Over millenia, we have evolved to be captivated by elegance, strength, and symmetry in the body—because it is associated with good health, function, and longevity. Conversely, when we see severe muscle tension, limping, or marked scoliosis, we recognize it, and it causes us consternation for good reason. Especially so, when we don’t know what to do about it.

Getting older but more capable

Most of the things we do to improve our health help a little at the margins, but every now and then something comes along that has a greater magnitude. Learning to embody healthy posture is one of these pivotal things that can radically change our physical and mental way of being in the world.

The most common transformation that I hear about—a lot—is how much better people feel following an initial training in our method. The Gokhale Method® helps you to Move like you are meant to. You gradually rediscover the natural posture you likely had as an infant, and, because posture is a freeze-frame of your movement, this gives you the right biomechanical baseline for more fluent, coordinated, youthful, and efficient movement. You will learn to hip-hinge, to glidewalk, and if you like, to dance! The first step is to understand that change is possible.

Alumna Laura Goldman Weinberg speaks to fellow back pain sufferers who wonder if they will ever find a resolution of their pain… 

“Coming home” with the Gokhale Method

In our January blog posts we will be featuring alumni, including Laura, who want to share their success stories and their new-found body wisdom. They have followed either our in-person Gokhale® Foundations course, one-day Gokhale® Immersion course, or our online Gokhale® Elements course, plus our Gokhale Active program, and are feeling great and know how to exercise injury free. More times than I can count I’ve heard delighted alumni liken this journey to peeling off the layers of an onion, shedding oppressive stiffness and poor habits, and coming home to their core.

In January we will also offer two special workshops on the topic of getting older and feeling younger, and will announce more details in our next blog post, as well as sending personal invitations by email…keep a look out!

Our students often experience a deep and welcome sense of homecoming and youthfulness in their bodies.

One thing we frequently hear from our students is that friends compliment them on their “beaming it out” and looking more vital. One such example came from our online student, Kevin Ott, who recently told his teacher how a friend he met up with said he was the only person he had not seen in many years who actually looked younger!

Kevin’s posture journey

Kevin and his wife took Gokhale Foundations with me in 2017, when Kevin was suffering with neck pain which radiated into his right shoulder and arm. Lying down was so painful that quality sleep was virtually impossible, despite having his career and a two year old daughter to take care of. Kevin has now been pain free for years, and is continuing to fine-tune his posture with a monthly online Gokhale® Consultation with his Gokhale Method teacher. This year he has used many of his sessions to support strength training regularly at home, and uses free weights, a bench, TRX® Suspension Training and pull-ups/dips apparatus. He enjoys this as a counter-balance to his sedentary job. Below you can see the age-reversing effect of the Gokhale Method time machine!

Kevin has not only resolved his chronic neck pain but is continuing to hone his posture and improve his athletic ability. We think you will agree that he looks more youthful!

Best next action steps 

If you would like help with finding a more youthful posture, get started by booking a Gokhale® 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…

In 2014, at age sixty-four, I began to experience pain in my left hip that eventually became quite debilitating. For the first time in my life, I went to a chiropractor, which resulted in relief that lasted a couple of years. By 2015 I had consulted first one, then a second orthopedic surgeon, who recommended a hip replacement due to osteoarthritis. 

The first clinic I went to, I felt like I was visiting a bone and joint factory…I decided to wait. The second place, they were reading another patient’s notes! That doesn’t give you a lot of confidence!! Not feeling completely comfortable with either of the surgeons, I began doing my own research. 

I longed to get back to hiking and walking pain-free.

I’m not one of those people who jump into things, especially surgery. So I went to a clinic where they did a lot of rehabilitative physical therapy and I asked one of the PT’s: of the people you work with who have success with their surgery, which surgeons do they use? And that’s how I found my hip surgeon. After a successful surgery in January 2016, as well as physical therapy sessions with the excellent physical therapist who recommended the surgeon to me, I recovered quickly and was thrilled to resume walking without pain.  

During the summer of 2018, while out shopping, I experienced both of my knees feeling as if they were on fire. My knees continued to bother me, but, afraid an orthopedic surgeon would tell me I needed surgery, I consulted a sports medicine doctor. He performed X-rays and confirmed that I had osteoarthritis in both knees. He suggested physical therapy and braces, as well as steroid shots (which I declined). Physical therapy helped to provide some relief as the muscles around my knees strengthened.

The following year, I read an article by Christiane Northrup, M.D., in which she shared information about the Gokhale Method®. I researched the method and learned that a one-day Pop Up course, one of the in-person ways to learn the Gokhale Method, would soon be offered in a nearby town, Boulder, Colorado. After the course, I did my best to focus on glidewalking, which did reduce the bone-on-bone knee pain.               

    
Everyday activities, such as bending, are taught in Gokhale Method group courses. Bending can be done in ways that align the bones well, use muscles appropriately, and spare the joints. Learning to hip-hinge benefits the knees, hips, shoulders and neck, and more besides.

I made it until June 2021, when I had successful bilateral knee replacements with the same surgeon.  I opted to do them both at the same time to get it over with, but recovery was challenging. After weeks of physical therapy, I was told to just do normal everyday activities. However, I did not feel I was making the progress I wanted.

My husband took these photos of my knee replacement X-rays at my 6-week post-operative follow-up appointment. Our joints are precious things to take care of!

Because COVID was still raging, I joined the new Gokhale daily online program. This enabled me to extend my recovery in a more enjoyable and focused way, and my knees became ever stronger. Even now, if I am unable to participate in the day’s live session, just receiving the email about the topic of the day is a great reminder and encourages me to focus on practice. And I regularly watch the replays if I miss a session.

Gokhale Exercise members receive a daily email outlining the day’s program, complete with an inspirational posture reminder image. This was May 7, 2024.

In February 2023 I began experiencing pain in my hands and my left shoulder. I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and given exercises and braces for my wrists/hands to wear at night. While the shoulder responded and had some improvement, my hands were still an issue.

At a follow-up appointment six weeks later, it was suggested I could have “a little surgery” on both hands to fix the issue. I looked up information about CTS and the surgery, and learned the pros and cons of having that done. I lived with the pain off and on until this year, when in early 2024 a diagnostic nerve test was performed by a neurologist to check the severity and cause of my particular CTS. Even though C7 (the seventh neck vertebra where nerves to the back of the arm, wrist, hand, and middle finger exit the spinal cord) was mentioned to me during the nerve assessment, the hand specialist who ordered the test did not mention it at a follow-up visit. He suggested surgery on both hands. A day after this appointment, I called the doctor’s office to find out more about possible C7 involvement and to ask if that might be the cause of my CTS. If so, how would surgery to snip the ligaments in my hands fix the problem? Since I never received a response, I did not schedule surgery.  

Pain-free wrists and a mobile neck are important to enjoy my hobbies. Here I am on a painting course that my daughter and I took together.

An X-ray of my cervical spine in March did indicate osteoarthritis in my neck, which in our society would be regarded as “normal” for my age. I discussed this finding with my chiropractor, who uses the Gonstead Technique. She felt confident that regular, gentle adjustments of affected areas, found by palpation and the use of a heat sensor that indicates inflammation, could be successful in eliminating the CTS symptoms. She checked my grip strength and adjusted my hands and wrists. Because I had difficulty using my hands for so long due to pain and numbness, they had become stiff and weak. I was also given suggestions about what I might do to help with my neck after my appointment. This made me once again think about what more I could do to contribute to my own healing.

My neck X-rays showed several areas of degeneration and misalignment that would potentially cause radicular pain. 

It had been almost five years since I first attended the one-day Pop Up course. I would say that up until recently, I had been somewhat “dabbling” in the Gokhale Method, without a full understanding or commitment to change my posture. Although chiropractic treatments helped to relieve my symptoms, I recognized that a healthy baseline posture was lacking, resulting in repeated misalignments. Understanding that an issue with my cervical spine might actually be the cause of my CTS, I finally came to the realization that I had been overly relying on others to fix me, and that I also needed to do everything I could to help myself. Just the thought of yet another surgery became extremely motivating!

That’s when I decided to circle back to the Gokhale Method. During an Online Follow-up with Esther in January this year, I explained that I wanted more confidence about what I should be doing for my posture and wanted coaching. Shortly after, I began the one-on-one online Elements course with Esther, which ended in April. In the early sessions, it was difficult for me to even get into positions that required me to use my hands and shoulders. By about halfway through the course, my pain from CTS had subsided, as well as the stiffness and pain in my shoulders which had not been in the healthy place they should be. I used to change up my mattresses and pillows a lot, but now I realize it’s not all about these external things—good mattresses and pillows can help, but how you position your body makes a big difference. 

On a regular basis, non-genetic scolioses/asymmetries tend to diminish with standard Gokhale Method training—that is, without any special focus. In my case, it reduced the strain on my neck. This surprised and delighted me.

Now for the really great news! I have not experienced CTS at all since completing the Elements course. While I practice healthy posture with my whole body, as everything interrelates, my main focus has been on my neck, head, and shoulder placement. Chiropractic appointments have gone from bi-weekly, to weekly, and now, only occasionally. For weeks now, C7 has not needed an adjustment and it makes my heart so happy when my chiro tells me the instrument that measures heat and inflammation in that area is clear! She has seen how my improved posture is making a difference and has been extremely supportive of the Gokhale Method.  

My exercise and walking had greatly diminished over the years after the onset of osteoarthritis, pain, and then surgeries. My upper body has been my main concern recently, but other techniques, such as glidewalking, have greatly improved my mobility and stamina. I would like to take the Advanced Glidewalking course in the future. I am working my way back to a healthy weight and an active life—thanks to the Gokhale Method.    

In this video I share how glidewalking has enabled me to travel and walk longer distances in comfort.

Best next action steps 

If you would like to improve your joint health, 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…

In January and February this year I took the Gokhale Method Elements course, which consists of 18 brief (13 minute) but potent lessons. I would like to share my experience of the Gokhale Method with you in this blog post.

My goals were to find out how to sit, stand, and walk well, so that I don’t overstress the scoliotic parts of my back. I was also in search of more comfortable and beneficial sleeping positions. I felt I needed guidance to help me develop a better sense of my body posture and alignment. To be able to do a one-on-one course online made this possible for me. 

It was only when I saw the difference between my “Before” and “After” pictures that I realized just how much change it was possible to make to my posture in such a relatively short period. 

Learning to stand well has been transformational for me. You can see that I used to park my hips forward and sway back, pressuring on my lower spine and sending my neck forward—little wonder I was in so much pain. Though still a work in progress, I know how to align my weight better throughout my whole body.

I have always enjoyed exercise, movement, and body work, including hiking, Qigong, and yoga. I now have a healthy standing point from which to do all these activities.

When walking, for the first few steps I might omit to squeeze my glutes and check through the other things I know to do…but it is becoming more habitual so my muscle memory soon kicks in. Or I recall my favorite prompt of Esther’s, “if your glutes snooze, you lose.” 

The J-spine concept was entirely new to me. I had tucked my pelvis under (as you saw in the above “Before” photo) all my life as far as I can recall. Consequently, I believe, the place that hurts for me is around L5-S1 at the very bottom of my spine, so I have to be accurate to squeeze my glutes from a relaxed pelvic position and not to sway and compress my lower back trying to make it happen with the wrong muscles. A single follow-up lesson on this was really useful to help me relax my pelvis back even more.

A healthy L5-S1 angle (J-spine) permits the wedge-space disc there the space that it needs (a.). Learning the Gokhale Method finally enabled me to stop tucking my pelvis and sacrum, and damaging my L5-S1 disc (b.).

Due to my scoliosis I have to be extra careful about how I do things, and with poor bending form, I would always ache—or have a more acute disaster. Now I understand why. I use the hip-hinging technique as I’ve been taught (plus putting my hands on my hips) and I can bend comfortably—it amazes me! I don’t straighten my legs like some of the pictures we see, as I don’t have the hamstring length, but I can follow the principles involved. 

Since learning to hip-hinge I can bend without distorting my back and without pain. There are many principles to learn that contribute to healthy bending, which comes later in the course, but it has been well worth it.

Since 2005 I have been playing the harp, for which being in the right position is important. I pull the harp towards me more now, and when I bend, I bend at the hips, not rounding my back. When sitting with a backrest I have found using the Stretchsit® Cushion makes a good deal of difference to my comfort—I have one in the car, and in fact I’m sitting with one in this interview right now to reduce the pressure on my lower back.

The gentle traction you can get in your lumbar area by using a Stretchsit® Cushion reduces compression and asymmetry in your spine.  

Since a hysterectomy in 1995, I have lost bone density and three inches in height. I am working nightly with stretchlying to lengthen my spine and reduce my scoliosis. I am confident that stretchlying at night and using my inner corset to support my spine during the day will prevent any further height loss and increase in my scoliosis, as I have already seen such improvement in my posture. These two measures may well enable me to regain some of the height in my spine that I have lost.

In October I had an eye surgery, a partial cornea transplant, and to make sure that it stayed in place, for three days following the operation I had to keep my head still and remain on my back. I practiced stretchlying carefully leading up to the operation and found I could lie there all night comfortably; stretchlying is the best!

Come morning I have the option of switching to stretchlying on my side, which I also learned in the course. Again, I found a follow-up lesson on stretchlying on the side helpful as it involves a little more technical precision, especially with anteverting the pelvis, to work its magic.

For me the biggest help for my upper body was learning the shoulder roll…and I feel like my neck automatically gets into the right place after I’ve positioned my shoulders well. It also positions me better in sitting and standing, and helps me do more of the things I care deeply about.

One of those things is artwork, and I am now much more aware of my body while I’m doing it. For example, I’m standing straighter, and if I start to slouch—oops—I can feel it. 

I love the poetry of combining imagery and words in my artwork.

I’m also at the computer writing books, including a biography, children’s books, and poetry. As I spend a good deal of time sitting, it’s important to do it well. 

These are four of the numerous books I've published. I have illustrated the three books shown along the top here. Seven Meditations for Children I have recorded as an audiobook—see how the child is sitting with a nice straight back!

My husband had an eminent career in public health which took us all over the world. Rather than take a lucrative post as an Obstetrics and Gynecology trained MD, he chose instead to work for the poor and underserved of the world, becoming Founder-Director of the Center for Population and Family Health, 1975–86. He was then Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, 1986–2008, and honored while alive with the naming of the Allan Rosenfield Building and after his passing by the Tribute Wall I fundraised for. The first year of our marriage was spent in Nigeria, and we were in Thailand for six years. I must have seen a lot of examples of elegant posture in the rural areas of those countries, but back then I didn’t recognize how important it was.

Here is a photo of the Tribute Wall to my husband—there we are together, bottom left. My husband served in Korea as an Air Force doctor. You can see people headloading in Nigeria (left hand panel, photo top right).

I have six grandchildren, three boys and three girls, aged 12–23. When I’m with them I try to help them with their posture—they spend so much time hunched over. I guess it’s hard for children to envisage they are statistically likely to have back pain down the line, but at least I can sow the seeds for them to think about posture, and set as healthy an example as I can. I’m so glad that the Gokhale Method is there to help all generations—and especially the young—to rediscover their healthy posture heritage.

I’m known to my grandchildren as “the Nana who raps instead of naps!” Here is a rap I would like to share with you:

IT'S TIME WE VOW TO SPEAK RIGHT NOW
 

It's time we vow to speak right now

our vow to share a peace we dare

to live and keep and not let sleep

In mere intentions while old conventions

Toot horns of war. No more, no more,

We shout out loud, no more to shroud

Our depths of heart. It's time to start,

Yes, twenty-four seven, on Earth bring Heaven,

So one, two, three, it's you and me

To take a dive in what's alive,

Our YES to fate before too late

To emanate our LOVE not wait,

to one and all, the world enthrall

So they will see that all we be

One family! Yes all we be

One FAMILY!

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. . .

Many of the questions I hear from students are about concerns they have due to left/right asymmetry in their bodies. People will often see a clearly visible asymmetry as the root cause of any dysfunction and pain. This strikes me as a natural and understandable assumption—but my experience as a posture educator leads me to think there is more to consider here than meets the eye. 

Anna Wintour of Vogue magazine sporting a symmetrical bob haircut. Wikimedia

Searching for symmetry

Visual symmetry is highly prized by our species; we have adapted, over millennia, to find symmetry attractive. Research¹ shows, for example, that we look for symmetry in our mates, and that is because symmetry in the body correlates with a lack of genetic defects, high function, youth, and good health. Human attraction is multilayered of course, and our species seeks out many other qualities such as intelligence, kindness, and even a sense of humor, but symmetry is known to be given a high value. 

As a consequence of this adaptation, the human eye and brain are highly sensitized to picking up asymmetry. We use this ability in everyday tasks such as decorating cakes, or pruning in the garden—and in professions like art, hairstyling, and product design.

A formal garden imposes symmetry on Nature to great effect. Pixabay

When it comes to assessing the body, physical therapists and doctors often rely on being able to compare one side of the body with the other to determine what is healthy and normal for any individual patient. Asymmetry may be an early indication of injury, swelling, or even stroke—it can signal a condition that needs urgent medical attention. 

Some asymmetry is usual, and a part of how we function

Throughout our history and prehistory, our species has used our body asymmetrically. By examining a stone tool, we can tell if the knapper was right-handed or left-handed. Similarly, spear-throwers in indigenous societies use one arm or the other, not both. And many modern athletic endeavors are strongly asymmetric in nature. 

As the result of many hours of practice with a racket, bat, or club, many of today’s elite sportspeople become prodigiously one-sided. And yet it seems most don’t suffer any more from this asymmetry than the average person. Their preference for one side over the other will likely extend into a preferred rotational direction, weight-bearing arrangements, and an “anchor versus action” relationship between the left and right sides of the body. It seems we have the wherewithal to be asymmetric in both our structure and movements and still be highly functional. 

Serena Williams in action. Many human activities demand very different 
actions and specialization on each side of the body. Wikimedia

Asymmetry is not a diagnosis

In contemporary bodywork and ergonomic circles, we have gone too far with an insistence on symmetry. It's common for people to be told they have "muscle imbalances" and to believe this much touted diagnosis to be the root cause of their aches and pains. In fact, for most minor asymmetries, our bodies have very adequate compensations, structurally and positionally, and there is no urgent need to symmetrize. Clumsy or overly aggressive interventions to symmetrize an intricate system that has evolved over a lifetime can even do harm rather than good.

In particular, it is helpful to have an informed perspective about scoliosis, that is, lateral curvature of the spine. To be told you “have a scoliosis” can sound like a serious medical condition. Like many medical terms that sound like a diagnosis, it is essentially a description, using the ancient Greek skolios, or “bent.” We nearly all have some degree of lateral bend or rotation in our spines, most of which does not produce any symptoms as our bodies find organic adaptations and compensations.

This man’s torso shows muscle imbalances and a mild scoliosis. Imgur

When asymmetry is problematic

However, sometimes asymmetry is the problem. If your asymmetry is pronounced, or has an obvious correlation with symptoms, it may be at the root of your problem, or at least be a significant contributory factor. In this scenario it makes sense to work with a healthcare professional of your choice, such as a physical therapist, chiropractor or osteopath, orthopedic consultant, or other musculoskeletal specialist. For babies, children, and adolescents, who are still growing rapidly, interventions can, in general, be more conservative and highly effective. 

For older children and adults, treatments for musculoskeletal issues will be much more likely to hold and bring long-term improvement when they are accompanied by postural reeducation. Several of our teachers have experience of working with their own imbalances, and actually became Gokhale Method teachers when they discovered that changing their posture was the “missing piece” in resolving their symptoms—you can read teacher Cynthia Rose’s story here.

Techniques that help the body to symmetrize 

Lengthening shortened muscles is integral to most Gokhale Method techniques—using the rib anchor, growing the neck tall, stretchsitting, stretchlying on the back and on the side—all have a lengthening component that helps to ease out tight curves in the muscles and soft tissues. As the tightness releases to a more normal tone, “slack” underused parts of the body’s structure are called upon to engage and do their duty, restoring symmetry to both form and function. 

Students often notice a newfound symmetry when they learn tallstanding. They discover a much more stable and athletic stance. Restacking the bones in a way that respects their skeletal architecture improves the relationship with gravity and has a symmetrizing effect. Progressing to hip-hinging, students combine a well-arranged lower body (kidney-bean shaped feet and externally rotated legs), with a well-integrated upper body (shoulders rolled back, neck tall, and engaged inner corset), leaving their pelvis free to rotate and nestle deeply between the thigh bones. This transforms bending from a high-risk activity into a highly functional one that no longer leaves SI joints and lower backs at the mercy of asymmetrical stresses. Many are amazed to find touching their toes not only possible, but pleasurable!

Julia shows how a restricted and uncomfortable left hip and SIJ area used to prevent healthy turnout on that side.

Daily participation in the Gokhale 1-2-3 Move has brought significantly greater symmetry, and freedom from pain.

One student’s experience

Julia Guenther joined the Gokhale 1-2-3 Move program last year and has been so delighted with her symmetrizing experience that she would like to share it with Positive Stance readers. 

My asymmetry comes from the left SIJ (sacroiliac joint) and hip area. The left hip cannot turn out as much or as comfortably as the right hip. I noticed this when stretching, exercising, putting on shoes, etc. When I relaxed in a reclined position, my feet were not symmetrical from the vertical centerline. The left foot was more straight up and down and the right about 30 degrees from the centerline. My left side would get uncomfortable even in a reclined position.   

I started the daily Gokhale 1-2-3 Move class in October. In January I had to go to the dentist for a chipped tooth and noticed that my elevated feet in the dentist’s chair looked symmetrical when I looked at them, and I was not uncomfortable like I used to be in the dentist’s chair. I have been stretching, doing yoga, and massaging the area for years, and after three months of Gokhale daily classes and reminders I have achieved relaxed symmetry. Although I could live the rest of my life happily with this amount of improvement, I now believe my left side hip and SIJ will someday become as mobile as my right hip and SIJ.

As happened for Julia, when people improve their postural form, some self-regulation occurs, and their bodies undergo degrees of symmetrization. Whether asymmetries are minor or major, this process can start immediately when Gokhale Method principles are applied: for example, a shoulder roll can enable a hiked-up shoulder to relax and reposition itself, or kidney-bean shaping a flat foot will straighten and support an inwardly rotated knee. Over time, the soft tissues and bony structures remodel to these new arrangements, bringing a more permanent symmetry to the body.

Esther teaches a student to kidney-bean shape a foot.

Calming the perfect storm

For the most part, our culture is caught up in a perfect storm: on the one hand we have a hyperawareness of musculoskeletal pain, and on the other, a “hyper-ignorance” of posture. They unite in a vortex of back pain, around 85% of which is diagnosed as “nonspecific,” i.e., cause unknown. The Gokhale Method hypothesis is that our culture’s ignorance as to the postural cause of most back pain connects to many misdiagnoses that asymmetry is the cause of our back problems.

It seems likely to me that a degree of asymmetry which could cause issues for the average modern person with problematic posture is less likely to do so in someone who enjoys healthy posture. So for most people I would say, consider relaxing around your small asymmetries, and instead invest in improving your posture in general. Consider joining us on the Gokhale 1-2-3 Move program, or immersing yourself in the Gokhale Method Foundations Course or Gokhale Elements. Regaining your healthy baseline posture, which is your birthright, can allow your structure to heal and harmonize. Pain-Free. 

We would love to hear how these reflections on symmetry resonate for you…

¹Wade, T. Joel. “The Relationships between Symmetry and Attractiveness and Mating Relevant Decisions and Behavior: A Review,” Symmetry 2, no.2 (June 2010): 1081–1098. doi:10.3390/sym2021081

When I was 12 years old my mother took me to our family doctor for a check up. I remember him looking at me and saying “One of your shoulders slopes down more than the other. Isn’t that interesting!” What’s interesting to me is that the word scoliosis never came up in the conversation and that there wasn’t any further investigation of my sloping shoulder. As a 12-year old I had never heard of scoliosis, so I thought my sloping shoulder was just an oddity I would live with.

It was not until many years later when I returned to school to study massage therapy that I began to notice changes in my spine that manifested as chronic low back pain. I thought it was because of the sitting I was doing in classes or the crawling around on the floor for shiatsu practice sessions. The pain never really subsided, though I did find temporary relief through bodywork and the application of heat. Though the pain was not severe, it was bothersome because it was relentless.

When I was in my early 40’s, I worked with a chiropractor who took a standing X-ray of my complete spine. This was the first time I saw my scoliosis clearly. I also saw how my lumbar vertebrae compromised my discs. No measurements were taken so I don’t know about the progression of my scoliosis over time. But the pain that lived on the left side of my lower back and extended into my left sacroiliac joint was my motivator to do something.

I approached my back pain in a similar way to how I now approach my patients’ complaints as a licensed Acupuncturist and Bowen therapist. I work with a complaint, especially a longstanding one, as a puzzle and pay close attention as I observe changes, both positive and negative. Though there were days when my back felt OK, the exact same pain would inevitably return. I kept trying different things to make it better. Exercise became a big part of my life. Too little exercise resulted in more pain; too much exercise had the same effect.

In 2014, I came across a blog in the NYTimes about the Schroth Method (https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/hope-for-an-s-shaped-back/). Everything about it sounded promising and I was ready to explore this direction. I found a group of three therapists at Alta Physical therapy in Manhattan that were trained in Schroth and spent about a year working with them. The sessions gave me a deep understanding of what was happening in the curves, as well as the rotations that compensated for the curves. I began to understand what was weak in my back and how I needed to strengthen and stretch to relieve the pain.

The exercises were changing my upper spine more than the lower spine and I began to feel there were gaps between doing the exercises and how I moved in my day-to-day life. I went back to re-read the article in the Times and noticed the many comments on the posting. They included information about other methods, techniques, and braces that had helped other readers. I looked through these and clicked on every link.  This is where I first heard of the Gokhale Method®.

As readers on this blog know, the Gokhale Method teaches you how to sit, stand, bend, walk, lift, and lie in bed with what Esther Gokhale calls “primal posture”. You find the ideal way to stack your bones in relation to gravity so that there is less wear and tear on the structure and less impingement on the intervertebral discs.  For a scoliotic this can be difficult to feel but the method is taught in a way that benefits anyone. Having a clear picture of the twists and turns in my spine from my Schroth work helped me a great deal. I had always felt that posture was contributing to my pain; the Gokhale Method helped me learn, with clarity, the correct way to position my pelvis and my rib cage to optimize my posture no matter what activity I was doing.

I took the six-lesson Gokhale Foundations Class in December of 2014 - about six months into my Schroth sessions - and it made a big difference in how I was feeling and moving through my day. It gave me clarity on where my body should be in space and I felt almost immediate improvements in the frequency and intensity of my pain. The best part was that when I had pain I could ask myself “how am I using my body that could be causing the pain? What could I change that would make the pain go away?” With the Gokhale Method I had specific knowledge of what I needed to change.

The change of my pelvic position from tucked to anteverted took a lot of pressure off of my disc at L5-S1. A tucked position was my default and I had a lot of stiffness around that joint, but even the smallest change to an anteverted pelvis helped me a lot. You can see this in the before and after pictures taken at the class.

Cynthia Rose (after reading 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, but before taking the Gokhale Method Foundations course)

Cynthia Rose after taking the Gokhale Method Foundations course

Cynthia Rose bending (after reading 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, but before taking the Gokhale Method Foundations course)

Cynthia Rose bending after taking the Gokhale Method Foundations course

The Gokhale Method teaches how to elongate the spine in both passive positions (such as sitting or lying) and in active techniques like using the inner corset. This elongation changes the shape of the scoliotic curves in the spine and puts a positive stressor on the bones and muscles allowing them to change in a positive way. For me, this quickly translated to less pain and, over time, I can feel the changes in the muscles on either side of my spine. The pictures below show my back without and then with my inner corset engaged.

Gokhale Method teacher Cynthia Rose shows a view of her scoliosis with the inner corset (right) and without (left)

The Schroth exercises taught me what it felt like to have my curves evened out and my rotations untwisted. I continued doing the exercises for a while. They involved a lot of props (poles, cushions, multiple chairs) and eventually felt too complicated to continue wth them. The Gokhale Method taught me how to move with healthy posture to prevent wear and tear on my structure and reduce my pain. I was able to use what I learned throughout my day and night, withot taking time out to do so.

Not everyone who has scoliosis has pain - I didn’t until my late 30’s. Pain is now one of my reminders to check how I’m using my body; I also use mirrors and my reflection in store windows to take a glance at the shape of my spine. Often, I see the return of my old habit of tucking my pelvis or rounding of my shoulders; I can easily make corrections.

People-watching has become a hobby of mine. The primal posture we teach in the Gokhale Method can readily be seen in people who are from a non-industrialized environment. I live in NYC so there are many of these beautiful people for me to learn from.

The work has had such a profound effect on me, that in 2015 I trained to become a teacher of the Gokhale Method. It has been a valuable asset for many of my acupuncture patients who have chronic or recurrent pain. I am able to teach them posture using the Gokhale Method language I have trained in. It is exciting to be able to communicate with depth and clarity what I use for myself to someone else and to see the changes that can happen in their bodies.

I enjoy being a part of the network of over 50 Gokhale Method teachers around the world all trained by Esther Gokhale. Though her book 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back is a good way to begin changing posture, Esther always recommends getting hands-on instruction from a qualified teacher. I, like many of my colleagues, am available to travel, as well as to answer questions you might have.