inner corset

Vacation time is in full swing in the northern hemisphere. For many of us, being beachside or poolside gets us yearning for a dip, a splash, and a swim. And I’m guessing that many of us have been mesmerized and inspired by watching the Olympic pool athletes in action. 

Swimming can be fun for all ages and abilities—and healthy posture keeps it back pain free. Image from Unsplash

In this blog post we’ll discuss breaststroke, which happens to be my favorite way of swimming, and how healthy posture enables you to swim breaststroke better, and avoid the neck and back aches that some people experience after. 

Swimming starts with the inner corset

Have you ever wondered why some swimmers manage to move so well through the water? Here are some things they are likely doing: 

• They are activating their inner corset strongly. This enables the trunk and spine to maintain its alignment in an aquadynamic position, reducing drag.
• Their limb movements originate from the large trunk muscles of the back, chest, psoas, and gluteal muscles, which produce the most power. 
• These two things enable an efficient, coordinated, smooth technique that avoids “flailing” in various directions and dissipating energy. 

There are many preferred variations with arm and leg angles, hand and finger positions, cadence, and so on. But these are details compared with the all-important strong inner corset. Once your torso has lost its structural integrity, any movement you generate will work partially against you, rather than contribute to propulsion.

We need our inner corset in many activities to prevent distortions of the spine. Maintaining a straight course walking in the pool takes a strongly activated inner corset and is excellent prep for swimming.

The clue’s in the name

The name “breaststroke” is a good descriptor for the chest-opening benefits of this stroke. Done well, breaststroke can be a great antidote to many aspects of modern life that encourage us into stooped posture, rounding our shoulders, collapsing our chest, and breathing into our belly. As the hands and arms pull back, most of the muscle power behind that action comes from the upper back and rhomboids contracting to draw the shoulders back. We simultaneously open the ribcage and chest to fill the lungs.

How to breathe in but not sway your back

Breaststroke has an advantage over crawl in that breathing in is relatively easy while your head is well above the waterline. If, however, the lifting of the upper body happens in the upper lumbar spine rather than at L5-S1, the result is likely to be an achy neck and/or low back. 

Professional or elite breaststroke swimmers have the strength and thrust to heave a large part of their upper body up out of the water, bending back exclusively at L5-S1; the upper lumbar spine and neck then have minimal need to extend back, if at all.

Olympic Gold Medalist Adam Peaty maintains a largely straight spine throughout most of his stroke. Image from Wikimedia

Cecily Frederick, a teacher of the Gokhale Method for many years, does a back dive with a healthy L5-S1 backbend—her upper lumbar area through to her head remains aligned straight. 

Whatever your level of swimming, it is important when swimming breaststroke to counter any habit of lifting and swaying from the upper lumbar spine. The solution to this habit is to learn to engage the rib anchor muscles very strongly; with your rib anchor in place, you can learn to cultivate a healthy J-shaped spine rather than an S-shaped spine. You can learn more about spine shape here.

The posture benefits of the exhale phase

During the exhale phase the body settles horizontally into the water. This brings the great advantage of being able to rest, recover, and prepare the limbs for the next stroke. Part of this will include gliding through the water, which is conducive to recruiting the inner corset to steady and slenderize you. It offers a solid platform from which to launch the next stroke.

Practice floating or gliding through the water in a face-down, horizontal position. Then apply this to your stroke. Image from Pexels

If you don’t have the confidence to swim with your head in the water, consider gradually building familiarity with this skill with a friend or sympathetic swimming coach. Most people find it well worth mastering and, approached in the right way, much more enjoyable and comfortable. Wear goggles so that you can still see. Snorkels and full-face snorkels can be a useful measure for getting used to being face down in the water and experiencing the advantages of swimming in a horizontal position. 

Snorkeling is a great way to get used to swimming in a face-down position with a long, more relaxed neck. Image from Unsplash

Hips and kicks

If your hips are very stiff, then you will benefit from breaststroke’s built-in opportunity to gradually increase your range of motion and muscular strength without loading the hip joint. 

While it’s impressive to watch someone kicking wide with strong, flexible hips, it is not necessary, or even optimal, to go very wide with the legs. Watching a bird’s eye view of modern Olympic breaststrokers, you may be surprised by the narrowness of their kick. A narrower kick turns out to be more explosive and minimizes drag. Adam Peaty, the fastest breaststroker on the planet, estimates that up to 70% of his speed is generated by this narrow kick.  

A narrow kick also makes breaststroke more accessible, especially for people with a limited range of motion in one or both hips. To narrow your kick, hold a pull buoy or two between the thighs as you swim. This leg arrangement also helps you to pattern healthy external rotation in your hips, legs, and feet, so you have a carry-over benefit for your land-based posture too!

A narrowed breaststroke kick has the advantages of speed, power, and developing external rotation in the legs. These young swimmers are training with a pull buoy.

If you have a pelvic rotation and/or SI joint instability, you may be prone to difficulties when attempting a wider kick; you are more likely to kick asymmetrically (called a screw kick), which is inefficient, and possibly risks injury. A narrow kick reduces these complications.

Legs externally rotated, a J-shaped spine, shoulders posterior, and an anchored rib cage, are not just tips for swimmers. These healthy posture principles are taught in our in-person Foundations course, one-day Pop-up course, our online Elements course, and our Gokhale Exercise program. Our students often report how much their swimming improves simply by applying these techniques.

Best next action steps for newcomers

If you would like insight on your posture, in and out of the pool, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online, or in person.

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

It is not uncommon for students to show up at our courses aware they have lost several inches of height since their youth. In our culture it is a widely held expectation that you grow up, and then, at some point in later life, start getting shorter again. We all see friends, neighbors, or family members who are on the downward run of this trajectory, and it is virtually common lore that you will “shrink” or stoop in later years.

Losing height in later life is characterized as inevitable in our society. Image from Freepik

Can I expect to lose height as I age?

It is true that trauma, malnutrition, or conditions such as degenerative disc disease or osteoporosis can lead to loss of height. But our experience of working with many thousands of people over the past three decades has shown that most height loss is due to poor posture.

Let’s consider the most common reasons that people lose height:

• A tucked pelvis: The pelvis is actually in its tallest orientation when it is anteverted, which means slightly tipped forward, rather than the commonly advocated “neutral pelvis.” Pelvic anteversion is evident in our infants, our ancestors, and those living in traditional societies today, and is what we teach our students. 

The tucked pelvis (a) is shorter and does not allow the spine to stack well on the sacrum and retain its height. More height is evident in the anteverted pelvis (b). 

• Unhealthy spinal curves: 

Sitting or standing with a tucked pelvis (a.), expect to see the spine adopt a compressive C-shape. This rounding of the back reduces overall height in sitting, standing, and walking. Trying to sit up or stand up straight with a tucked pelvis (b.) takes a lot of muscular tension to maintain and excessively loads the lumbar spinal joints and discs. And it also makes you shorter, not taller! A healthier arrangement (c.) allows the spine to stack in more of a J-shape, formed by a distinct L5-S1 angle, and then ascending with less curvature along the remainder of the spine. This taller spine provides space for the intervertebral joints, discs and nerves.

• A weak inner corset: Weak inner corset muscles allow undue pressure and wear and tear on the tissues, discs, nerves, and bones of the spine. This is a major cause of and contributor to degenerative spinal conditions. All can result in a visible loss of height and thickening around the waist area.
• Unhealthy bending: A lifetime of rounded bending overstretches the dorsal ligaments of the spine and produces excessive kyphosis, or rounding of the upper back—stooped posture.
• Forward head posture: A tucked pelvis and/or rounded upper back projects the neck and head forward. This brings excessive muscle tension and compression in the neck and upper back as the muscles endeavor to hold the head upright. 
• Collapsed foot arches: Loss of the natural arches displace the bones and weaken the tissues of the feet, causing localized problems such as plantar fasciitis, Morton’s Neuroma, and bunions. Height and healthy function can additionally be lost through internal rotation in the knees and hips. 

Most people in our society can expect to live into advanced years—but often with considerable physical and mobility challenges. Retaining or regaining healthy posture is key to remaining free from such disability.

Most of us are taller than we think! 

It is neither inevitable nor natural to lose height as you get older. In fact, we have found that it is possible for most people, including those with degenerative conditions, to regain some height!

For a period in pre-COVID days we diligently measured the height of our students before and after they took their Gokhale Foundations Course. They averaged a height increase of two thirds of an inch (1.7 cm). 

Sometimes people discover that they have stooped for years: through doing desk work in poor furniture; bending poorly; as the result of a physical or mental health crisis; or perhaps since trying to hide growth spurts in adolescence. Many of our students have a sudden awakening to the fact that they are taller than they thought. They report feeling elegant, stronger, and healthier.

Moving like we are meant to, for example using a healthy hip-hinge like these two Portuguese workers, preserves height well into older age.

It always astonished me how students seemed more delighted to measure taller than to get out of pain! Reflecting on this, I think students have often been hopeful that their pain will resolve, but are actually surprised when they find they have recovered long-lost height. For both reasons, I share their joy!

What works to restore healthy height and posture.

Clearly, gaining height doesn't happen within a weekend course through any sort of magical “regrowth”! Nor do you get there by redoubling your efforts to “stand up straight.” But you can make transformational changes by addressing the way in which you align your feet, legs, pelvis, spine, and head. And while many of our students gain an inch or more over time, even a millimeter of regained height can be the change from impinged nerves to a pain-free existence.

Molly, a student who is nearing the end of her online Gokhale® Elements course, just wrote us:

I've been fortunate to have a very active lifestyle these 67 years. As I age, I see some effects of gravity and poor habitual posture showing up. A diagnosis of osteopenia and osteoporosis has me on alert. I was exposed to the Gokhale Method® years ago by a yoga teacher and read Esther's Book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back. Now, I see great results from having a one-on-one online Gokhale teacher providing additional tips, cues, and feedback. In my annual check-up last week, I had gained a half inch (1.3 cm) in height! This is great news for my spine! Thank you, Gokhale Method.

Molly used to lock out her knees and sway her back in standing (left). She is making great progress (right) as she softens her knees, aligns and lengthens her spine with a more relaxed lower back and tall neck, and rolls her shoulders back home. 

My colleague Julie Johnson and I offered a special workshop called Women’s Empowerment Through Posture this week and were overwhelmed by the level of registrations and interest in this topic. Aging well without shrinking is one aspect of what we will be covering in our brand new group offering Women’s Empowerment Through Posture. Join us for six one-hour group sessions, in which we will work together to transform your posture to find a new level of confidence, relaxation, comfort, and self awareness—as well, of course, as helping with aches and pains. 

Best next action steps 

If you would like to know how to restore or make the most of your natural height, 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…

Choose your remedies carefully

There are many approaches to stretching tight back muscles that involve rounding the back. Though these exercises give temporary relief, we recommend against them because they threaten the spinal discs, nerves, and ligaments. They can also result in the back muscles contracting even more tightly to stabilize the area. 

Rounded stretching exercises increase existing upper back curvature (hunching) while pulling aggressively on tight soft tissues and ligaments. Our tissues respond better to sustained, gentle realignment to make healthy changes. Pexels

By contrast, the Gokhale Method rib anchor maneuver brings relief from compression without any negative side effects. It restores your spine to a healthy J-shape, preserving the spinal discs, nerves, and ligaments. Over time, this alignment encourages a more natural, relaxed baseline tone in your back muscles as well as better abdominal tone.

How your rib anchor works

Rib anchor describes the pivot of the rib cage around a horizontal axis at about breast height, bringing the lower border of the front of the rib cage in and down thus sending the back of the rib cage up and out. Since the back of the ribs are attached to the vertebrae, this pulls the curvy “necklace” of the lumbar spine into a flatter, longer arrangement. This means of tractioning the lower spine is a fundamental Gokhale Method technique for removing sway. It restores healthy length in the lumbar area, alleviating compression of the discs, nerves, and vertebrae.  

a.                                                          b.             

A forward pivot of the rib cage at breast height (b.) corrects for a tight lower back (a.), restoring lumbar length. Maintaining this orientation requires the abdominal muscles that anchor the ribs down to develop a healthy baseline tone.

The art of transmission 

Over many years of hands-on work helping students with their rib anchor, I became increasingly aware of an intuitive sequence of moves in what I was doing. My hands could guide a student to a pleasing endpoint, but what exactly I was doing fell short of verbal description and a conceptual framework. The gap between what we were doing and articulating in words showed up especially when our teachers got together for continuing education offerings, when questions and case studies were discussed. There was a need for new language, fresh insights, and deeper understanding. While teaching posture is both an art and a science, it is also a hallmark of our method that there be kinesthetic, visual, and intellectual understanding of our process; this takes the right words and analogies.

A fresh analogy for the rib anchor

For a very long time, we’ve taught three things that need to happen to help most people find a healthy head position. It’s a combination of: 

1. Pivoting around an axis from ear to ear
2. Lengthening the neck through relaxing certain muscles and recruiting others (especially the longus colli)
3. Shearing the head and neck gently back               

1.                                         2.                                       3.

Gliding the rib cage home follows a similar pattern:

1. Pivoting around an axis that goes from side to side through the chest at about breast level (this being the main component of what I’ve described as rib anchor so far)
2. Relaxing the erector spinae and other muscles and recruiting the deep abdominal and back muscles (inner corset) to create additional length in the back, as described and included in our teachings
3. Shearing the ribcage backward relative to the pelvis. This is the movement that I’d been intuitively weaving into my hands-on ministrations that previously wasn’t well described

When students aligned their ribs by only pivoting the rib cage, I could see that it sometimes resulted in an awkward movement that did not integrate the rib cage into the torso quite right. Adding, and even better with practice, integrating this element of shear, transformed their outcome and experience. 

We can describe the shear element, for both the head and the rib cage, as analogous with backing your car into its garage: 

An analogy that is true and versatile

Neat and easy parallels can, of course, be seductive but false. However, here we have a really useful and accurate analogy of what needs to happen. Deploying your rib anchor to come into a healthier orientation usually feels somewhat strange at first—especially if you have spent years actually leaning backwards from your waist—but this new analogy is already helping our students to enjoy a more buoyant uprightness, and less of a leaning forward sensation. 

This “backing up” of the ribcage can be tailored to affect different levels of the spine, as appropriate for each person. And while every body is a unique landscape known only to its owner, a teacher’s guidance is always available to help you map it out sooner. 

a.                                                          b.             

 
This girl (a.) stands with her lower back swayed. Her rib cage is angled back, and she can feel her lower front ribs popping up under her hands. She gently but firmly presses on her ribcage to “back it into the garage” and into a healthy alignment (b.), removing the sway in her lower back as she does so. 

Best next action steps

If you are new to the Gokhale Method, are resuming your posture journey after a little while, or struggle with your rib anchor, book a consultation, online, or in person with one of our teachers, who will be happy to help.

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

Podcasts are one of my favorite media. It’s hard to reimagine a time when you couldn’t take your pick and enjoy their entertaining and compelling content. Over the years I have been invited to be interviewed for many podcasts about the Gokhale Method®, and for this blog post I would like to introduce you to three of my favorites, which I hope you will now enjoy if you haven’t done so already.

My Body Odyssey

A recent interview was for the Fluent Knowledge series, My Body Odyssey. Fluent Knowledge introduces their audience to experts who convey knowledge on important issues, topics, and trends in wellness, neuropsychology, media, and politics. It was a pleasure to discuss the root causes and solutions of modern back pain with them. 

Artwork by Emily Crocetti for Esther Gokhale podcast with My Body Odyssey for Fluent Knowledge

For the podcast I introduced Fluent Knowledge to my friend and advocate of the Gokhale Method, Dr. D.J. Kennedy, Professor and Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who you can hear in the brief audio clip below.

The podcast is an elegant production, weaving the Q&A between the interviewers and myself, along with Dr. Kennedy’s commentary and that of back pain contributors, in a well-constructed and informationally rich blend that is easy to listen to. I particularly like that it covers both the Gokhale Method’s respect for the ancient roots of healthy posture, and our engagement with modern science and technology to confirm and augment the efficacy of our teaching.

My cohosts were Brittany Thomas and Robert Pease, and it turned out that Robert was one of the 80% of Americans who suffer back pain. Hearing back from Robert recently, I am delighted to share that he is already experiencing substantial improvements by implementing Gokhale Method techniques: 

Fluent Knowledge also featured a complimentary blog post with an interesting timeline of posture pioneers which you can find here.

Screenshot from fluentknowledge.com

Listen to the My Body Odyssey podcast:  on Apple on Spotify  

Hypermobility Happy Hour

My second podcast pick goes back to June 2020 and a talk with Kerry Gabrielson, founder of the Hypermobility Happy Hour. Kerry’s podcast grew from her own experience, and is dedicated to discussing hypermobility conditions, including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). 

Artwork from Hypermobility Happy Hour

We talked about how COVID-19 had necessitated further development of our online teaching, giving rise to our Elements course. Kerry was quick to appreciate its potential for widening access to the Gokhale Method and enabling a greater impact on our runaway U.S. back pain statistics with a relatively low-cost, noninvasive approach.  

One of the challenges we both appreciated was the roller-coaster of raised and then crushed hope that many back pain sufferers ride. Musculoskeletal problems can be especially unpredictable for people with hypermobility conditions, and stabilizing the joints through healthy postural alignment, and knowing the techniques to get there, are key.

I was pleased to offer HHH listeners some practical posture guidance—how to engage their inner corset, the column of muscles in our torso that protects our spine from compression and jarring:

Since the podcast, we have been able to update Kerry on the launch of PostureTracker™, our 2-sensor Bluetooth wearable and app. I am particularly excited about its applications for people with hypermobility. For example, they can be particularly prone to hyperextension in the knee joint in standing, walking, and running, but PostureTracker™ can catch this in real time, giving users visual, audio. or vibration feedback and allowing them to self-correct. Kerry and I look forward to future conversations.

                 
PostureTracker™ will alert wearers when they inadvertently hyperextend their knees (a.). With Gokhale Method techniques and know-how they can then correct this habit and return to a safe range of motion (b.), preserving healthy knee joints.

Listen to the Hypermobility Happy Hour podcast:  on Apple    on Spotify    on SoundCloud

So Frickin’ Healthy 

My third podcast is Back in the Game, a podcast for So Frickin’ Healthy, hosted by Megan J. McCrory and Danna Levy Hoffmann. For this podcast I was joined by Gokhale Method teacher Julie Johnson.

Artwork from So Frickin’ Healthy

I experienced a serious episode of back pain while pregnant—in Julie’s case, her back pain started after giving birth to twins. If your posture is not as healthy and your structure not as robust as it might be, the extra stress of pregnancy or birth can be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” 

It is worth saying here that in pregnancy our structure has to contend not only with the additional weight of a baby (or two), but also the effect of increased relaxin. Relaxin is the hormone which helps loosen muscles and ligaments in the pelvis so it is ready for birthing, but it can also bring greater mobility throughout the body. This can leave a pregnant woman especially vulnerable to back and joint issues, including flat feet. And if you already have hypermobile joints, you can all too readily find yourself in extra trouble. 

Fortunately, as I, Julie, and the many Gokhale Method Alumni can testify, by aligning our bodies well and avoiding the pitfalls of poor posture it is possible to get “back in the game,” active, and pain-free once again.

Listen to the So Frickin’ Healthy podcast:  on Apple    on Spotify   

Spread the word

If you would like to let friends and family know about the Gokhale Method approach to back pain, please share our podcasts. 

Catch our new podcasts in the “In the News” section of our free newsletter Positive Stance (subscribe). You can find all our podcast recordings here on our website. 

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. . .

August is peak holiday time across the northern hemisphere, and many of us who live here will find ourselves poolside, or even better, in it!

Being in water has the natural advantage of lifting weight off the joints while providing gentle resistance training. Aching backs or knees can find relief from compression in the natural buoyancy that water provides. This has made pool exercises a popular prescription with physical therapists over many years, especially for post-operative or post-injury rehabilitation. 

On land, to relieve pain and compression, people usually use elaborate measures like inversion tables, traction units, or going to outer space! In the Gokhale Method we provide decompression for the lower back relatively simply with the Stretchsit® Cushion or the nubs on our Gokhale™Pain-Free Chair. But stepping into water is the simplest of all, giving you freedom of movement and the ability to strengthen yourself simultaneously.

Pool exercise also provides a fun and refreshing environment for exercise in summer heat waves! Wikimedia

This blog post gives you three ways to harness the unique benefits of being in water to practice and develop healthier posture. These exercises are challenging enough to do as a stand-alone workout or as a way to prime your swim session.

Healthy posture habits honed in water will benefit your daily life on land, as well as giving you greater stability and power for your swimming or other sports. 

For safety and best results, I recommend that you progress the session in the order given here, starting with Exercise 1 and, once you are familiar with it, move on to Exercise 2 and finally add Exercise 3. 

1. Stabilize your spine by using your inner corset

You will use a natural brace of muscles as you walk across the pool. It will give you the stability you need to cut through the resistance of the water without wobbling and threatening the alignment of your spine. 

Imagine you are getting into ice cold water. Feel how all the muscles around your middle can contract and make you more slender. You want to work hard enough to feel this from deep in the pelvis all the way up to your rib cage. You want to feel the muscular engagement all the way around your mid torso, like a tightly laced corset. 

The muscles of the inner corset include the deep intrinsic back muscles, the abdominis transversus, and the obliques. 

Gokhale Method teacher Eric Fernandez shows how engaging the inner corset draws the abdomen in and makes the torso slender.

This is one way of recruiting your “inner corset," which will help stabilize your spine as you walk and is key to swimming with a more streamlined, efficient stroke. We teach this technique and others in more detail in our in-person Foundations course, one-day Pop-up course, our online Elements course, plus our Gokhale Exercise program. You can read more about your inner corset here.

2. Headload to lengthen your neck and to find deep spinal support

In industrialized cultures we have an epidemic of forward head carriage, putting enormous strain on the neck and structures throughout the back. Finding healthy alignment through your neck, combined with the inner corset, helps your whole spine to support itself well. Resting even a modest additional weight on the head can help us to find our vertical axis and stand tall. This is the reason I developed the Gokhale™ Head Cushion. 

Headloading encourages recruitment of the deepest muscles of the inner corset and the neck, especially the longus colli at the front of the spine. 

In the pool I suggest you use what you have at hand—your hands! Rest them on your head and push up against them with your head. Keep your nose and chin angled downward. Proceed very gently if you have neck issues. You can gradually build up the intensity over a number of sessions. 

Gokhale Method teacher Clare Chapman headloading in the pool using the weight of hands and arms. Create space between your shoulders and your ears—keep your shoulders down as your neck grows tall. 

Establishing healthy length in your neck will help you to retain a straighter, more spacious alignment while swimming, especially in breaststroke where people tend to crane their necks to hold their heads above water. Consider training to swim with your head in the water, if you do not do this already, which will enable a much healthier alignment of your torso, neck, and head.

Especially when you raise your arms, you may need to use your rib anchor muscles to prevent your back from swaying.

3. Power up your walking using your feet and glutes

Many of us compromise our walking by overusing our quads and hip flexors (psoas muscle) and underusing our glutes. We predominantly reach our front leg forward in our strides, instead of generating propulsion from the rear leg with our glutes and foot muscles. 

Our ancestors and many people living in more traditional or nonindustrialized societies—where joint and back pain are rare—walk using their glute and foot muscles more than we typically do.

As you walk in the pool, make each step a rep. Each step wants to progress through a pose that includes a straight back leg and a bent front knee. As each leg goes back behind you in turn, squeeze your buttock muscles on that side. Engage the upper outer quadrant of your glute pack. This is not the kind of glute squeeze that clenches your lower butt cheeks together and tucks your pelvis. 

Gokhale Method Alumna Christine Andrew working hard to achieve healthy walking form in the buoyancy and resistance of water.

Grab the floor of the pool with the whole sole of your foot, and then push off from your toes. Focus on maintaining the convex foot shape as you do this. Propel to glide forward, not bounce upward.

Eric actively grabs the floor of the pool with each foot to pull the body forward and then push back.

Putting it all together: Aim to keep healthy form and walk as smoothly as you can through the water. This develops both healthy length and muscle power in the right places.

If you notice your back arches back as you walk, take smaller steps and lean more forward until you master the art of keeping your spine stable with the rib anchor and inner corset techniques. Enjoy!

Best next action steps for newcomers

If you would like to know which posture changes will help you be pain-free and functional, schedule an Initial Consultation, online, or in person.

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

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. . .

I have often written about the elegance of people in bygone years. The women, sometimes corseted, show striking deportment.

This young woman shows wonderful alignment and poise in an age when corsets were commonly worn. Corsets encouraged abdominal support, a tall straight spine, and the behind behind. Pinterest

The excesses of nineteenth-century fashion understandably gave corsets a bad name. Extreme tight lacing had some terrible effects, imposing some drastic anatomical remodeling:

The stomach and liver are crammed down, with the ribs compressing into drooping S-loops. The neural spines of each vertebra, the little projections that stick up from the central body of each bone, are also pushed out of place. Normally they stack nicely one atop the other in a neat midline ridge, but in long-term corset wearers these spindles of bone jut to this side or that.

Science writer Brian Switek in Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone.

The extremes of nineteenth century corsetry had unhealthy effects, including restricting breathing and digestion (left). Wikimedia

The majority of people nowadays enjoy the freedom of not wearing a corset, and are understandably determined never to return there. However, some kinds of external corset, well chosen and used judiciously, can have protective benefits for the lower back area. They can also serve as a training tool for developing a stronger, healthier, inner corset. Let’s consider this in more detail.

External corsets can offer protection in some contexts

Belts and corsets are often worn by manual workers—for lifting heavy goods at Home Depot, for example. The extra stability they give the trunk can be protective in awkward maneuvers, when workers are tired, if they have previous injuries, or are vulnerable due to a weak “inner corset.” 

A corset provides extra protection for the lumbar spine, which, unlike the thoracic spine, is not protected by the architecture of the ribcage. Ninelife.uk

Another common use for external corsets is in weight lifting. In this case, should the natural inner corset fail and the considerable weight over challenge the lifter, a resultant twist or buckle of the spine could cause serious injury. The corset will guard against this and also help the lifter to maintain length and space in the lumbar area despite the compressive force from the weights. 

   
A weightlifter protects his lower back with a belt. Unsplash

External corsets can be useful training aids

A corset or belt can give a feeling of strength and stability that you want your own muscles to provide. A corset or belt can be used as a reminder and a training tool. External corsets can be used as supplements to your own inner corset musculature, not instead of it, when bending, lifting and carrying.

Healthy posture trains your  inner corset

Healthy posture naturally strengthens your inner corset. Poor posture will lead you to slump and collapse your inner corset, or sway and make your back muscles overwork and tighten. Either way, your inner corset is sidelined, making you more vulnerable to injury and degenerative spinal conditions.

Some traditional cultures wear external corsets

Some societies have integrated corsets into their traditional dress. Members of the Dinka tribe from Southern Sudan, Africa, wear surprisingly rigid corsets with metal ribbing and beading to show their status. These are worn day and night for years. The corsets allow no appreciable flexion, extension, side-bending, or twisting, yet the excellent physique of the young men and women who wear them is testimony to how little spinal movement may be necessary to preserve good health.

A member of the Dinka tribe wearing a corset. Note that the L5-S1 area is allowed to assume its normal curvature.

Another corset-like garment, this time from East Asia, is the Japanese obi, or sash, worn in various styles with different types of kimonos. Nowadays they are mainly reserved for bridal wear. Over the centuries, owing to their increasing ornamental width and stiffness, other more functional belts would be tied underneath to close the kimono.

A woman tying the obi of a geisha in the 1890s. Wikimedia

Gokhale Method students can make use of corsets

Some of our students have explored wearing corsets. Alumna Fatimah has experimented with very different types of corsets. She tells us that in the old days in Java the kemben, an item of traditional clothing she knows from her Indonesian heritage, was similar in function to the modern bustier, and was worn with a sarong (wrap around skirt). However, nowadays most people would wear a sarong with a corset over it, and a kebaya (longer blouse/jacket, sheer and often lacy) on top. Fatimah remembers her grandmother wrapping herself in a sash that acted as a corset over her sarong, with a long straight kebaya on top.

A woman wearing a kemben, the traditional Indonesian female torso wrap, circa 1900.
The traditional kemben is worn by wrapping a piece of cloth around the torso, folding and securing the edge, tying it with binding, and then covering it with a sash or angkin around the abdomen. Today, there are also tight-fitting and tailored kemben secured using buttons, straps, or zippers similar to the Western corset. Wikimedia

Modern shapewear as a corset

Modern shapewear is, as the name suggests, usually worn to achieve a smooth and shapely body contour—in the case of the corset, while reducing the waist. The sensation of wearing it can provide a reminder to engage the deep abdominal muscles. Fatimah discovered a shapewear corset via her hairdresser, who uses it while working to prevent back pain. Fatimah comments:

If I wear it high, covering my lower ribs, it reminds me to engage my rib anchor, keeping my front ribs down and flush with my torso and avoiding swaying my back. I actually don’t find it comfortable to wear for long periods, so I’m getting good at remembering to use my rib anchor without it!

 A SKIMS corset, a modern piece of shapewear in a style made popular by Kim Kardashian. Pinterest

Ideally, we all have a strong, natural inner corset

Since our first human ancestors stood upright some 5–7 million years ago, we have acquired not only a J-spine but also a strong matrix of tissues designed to support and protect it. (You can read more about spine shape here.) We evolved perfectly to do this. Unfortunately, about one hundred years ago, our industrialized culture took a wrong turn in notions about healthy posture. Going forward into modern times, we have exported a distorted view of human posture to much of the world through our design, fashion, and manufacturing. This unraveling of global postural health and traditions is explained in more detail in my book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.

Fortunately, there remain traditional societies where healthy, pain-free posture is still intact, and they provide precious role models for us to learn from. The Gokhale Method® in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, and our online Elements course, teaches how to stand, bend, walk, and even sit as these people do. The inner corset is also explained in detail in my book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.

The muscles of the inner corset include the deep intrinsic back muscles, the abdominis transversus, and the obliques. 

This young mother in Burkina Faso is using her inner corset to remain tall, stable, and relaxed while carrying on her head with her baby on her back. Headloading, done well, can encourage the inner corset to engage and the spine to align. Traditional posture principles really work!  

Strengthening your inner corset

There are few of us who can’t do without some attention to our inner corset. What you don’t want to do is common ab exercises such as the aptly named crunches, which squish your discs and crunch your spine, or, worse, sit-ups. You can read more about ab exercises here.

We recommend you start by learning to use your rib anchor, an ingredient of your inner corset, which will prevent you from swaying and compressing your lumbar area. You can watch our free rib anchor video here. 
If you would like guidance on any aspect of your posture, including ways to cultivate your inner corset and protect your back, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person, with a Gokhale Method teacher.

Welcome to the second blog post in which I am delighted to tell you more about our exciting recent TV project. If you missed it, you can read The Secrets of Pain-Free Sitting, Part 1: The Inspiration behind a New TV Show here.

Getting the Gokhale Method out there

People are sitting poorly and continue to blame sitting for their back pain. And so we created Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting, a pledge show that the Gokhale Institute made with producer Frank Zamacona for American Public Television (APT). The solution to back pain has never been so urgently needed—and now, with our new 45-minute show, so available. 

Here I am with the stars of the show! We are, from left to right, Susan Van Niekerk, Esther Gokhale,
Dennis Bennet, and Eric Fernandez. Go team! 

We have a high prevalence of back pain in our culture and a low level of effective solutions. The Gokhale Institute’s mission “to make back pain rare” through postural reeducation has been embraced by “early adopters” and those for whom our anthropological and historical approach to ending back pain resonates. 

The Gokhale Method teaches the posture principles you see in antique photographs and artworks, in children, and in traditional societies, where healthy posture has been handed down uninterrupted through generations. 

Our students are wonderful ambassadors, and are often keen to share their success stories with friends, family, and particularly generously, via our blog posts and testimonials. However, making our message super-accessible, and getting the word out far and wide, has been a challenge for a small company such as ours. 

My book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, which continues to be in demand in 12 languages, and also the DVD, Back Pain: The Primal Posture™ Solution, have certainly been key ways for many people to encounter and learn the Gokhale Method®. Yet to make it easier for people to discover our approach, and to see what it can do for them, we wanted to make our solution to back pain available in every American home. This goal became a reality when our pledge program was picked up by APT, who saw that its content was of increasing relevance to the public.

A place to make the show 

For some time the show felt a long way from happening, as we tried and failed on landing a suitable location for filming, this being made much more challenging by COVID. Eventually I made an appeal on a local social media platform. I was delighted when I was contacted by the owners of a beautiful and spacious home on Skyline Boulevard, nestled in the hills of Woodside, CA.

The stunning venue we were offered enabled the project to become a reality. It was an inspirational setting for everyone involved. 

Readying our venue for filming required a surprising amount of work, both inside and out. Control of the light levels inside was essential, and so some blackouts had to be erected over the windows of the room where we were filming.

Controlling the light levels by rigging blackouts was another physical task for the TV crew.

Our hosts were gracious and generous. Their home worked as a venue on so many levels, and not just for us, but for the family too. They homeschool their kids, some of whom watched the show take shape in real time, learning about film making and about posture simultaneously. It also turned out that one of their daughters had amazing posture (possibly the subject of an upcoming blog post!) 

Whatever job you do, posture can hurt or heal

Our very first feedback about the show came from the people engaged in producing and shooting it. The TV crew were pleased, indeed grateful, to have learned this information about sitting. They had various issues with their posture and were surprised and delighted to find this assignment so relevant to the professional demands on them. Dan Friedman, the cameraman, emailed Susan, my personal assistant, saying, “BTW, the lessons came in VERY handy with transcontinental flights and a TON of sitting around chatting with family. So simple, so therapeutic. Now to stacksit and stretchsit my way through the edit!

As you can see, some of the TV crew’s tasks are physically challenging, especially to sustain for longer periods. Here, Jermaine Battle holds a heavy boom pole.

The boom operator shown in the photo above models an excellent example of stacksitting adapted to a physically challenging situation. Jermaine sits with a wide stance, his feet and legs externally rotated, astride the ladder in a well balanced position. He holds the boom close to his body with his shoulders back so that its weight is held by the larger muscles of his arms and upper back, supported by his spine and inner corset—it does not pull him into a swayed backward or a rounded forward position. Meanwhile, his neck remains tall, adding to his poise. 

Even in this hi-tech age, I was struck by the physical bulk of the equipment needed in the making of this, production-wise, relatively modest undertaking—ladders, boxes, lights, tripods, and what seemed like miles of heavy electric cables. 

Here is a glimpse of just some of the equipment that had to be carried to, assembled, and moved around the set. 

Make-up artist Jenny Zielon arrived on set with heavy cases full of the tools of her trade. Her job involved a lot of lifting, carrying, and standing, as well as fine control and expertise with the make up.

Producer Frank Zamacona and I discuss the next segment that the filming schedule will jump to…
You can see my teleprompter beside Frank. 

New experiences along the way

One completely new experience for me was using a teleprompter. Previously when teaching and presenting, even for the DVD, I had always worked from memory. But my friend and Indian classical violinist, Kala Ramnath, had shared with me how much easier it had been to work with a teleprompter for the instructional videos on her website. (where you can also enjoy her wonderful playing!) Frank was agreeable to letting me use a teleprompter for this shoot and it was indeed painless by comparison with memorizing a show’s worth of content.  

How to stretchsit in a car

I would like to share with you a short but extremely practical tip from the show. It explains why sitting in a car can be especially bad for your back, and how to rectify it—in fact, how to change your seat into a therapeutic posture tool to help you become pain-free. 

In this excerpt from the show Gokhale Method teacher Eric Fernandez shows how to make car seats comfortable and healthy for your back.

How to watch Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting

Hopefully that clip has whet your appetite for more! The pledge program is aired seasonally—the first round was aired on 32 networks from June, with over 125 broadcasts. There are still some broadcasts to come this month, and we expect more in Aug/Sept and Nov/Dec. You can find dates already scheduled here. To request for Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting to be shown in your area, you can email your local PBS Station Programming Department. If you need help finding the contact details for local stations, you can find them here. We hope you will enjoy watching the show and recommend it to your friends and family. 

To complement the TV show, we are offering a special online workshop on July 24, where you will be coached in 5 Top Tips for Sitting Well. In this bespoke workshop a Gokhale Method teacher will be helping me to give you personal attention and answer your questions.

If you would like to get started on your posture journey right now, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person, with a Gokhale Method teacher.

Our Free Online Workshop program continues as usual:

It has been 14 years since my book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back came out in hard copy. For years I had wished I had a book to send to those people who called me from the East Coast or Midwest. These were often relatives or friends of people I had worked with in California, who were suffering terrible back pain and needed help. And so I got writing. 

A book to solve back pain

Although there was clearly a huge need for a book to solve back pain, I was still surprised to find I had written a bestseller. It reached number two on Amazon.com following our American Public Television program in 2011, and number three following the New York Times article (paywall) naming me “The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley” in 2013. It has now been published in 12 languages (Croatian later this year), and sold over 250,000 copies.

 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back is available in many languages: Spanish, Croatian, English, Polish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Hungarian, Slovenian, and Italian editions. 

Digital download or hard copy?

In recent times digital books have revolutionized publishing. It is perhaps surprising that figures from the US publishing industry show that, in 2020, hard copy was still outselling downloads by 2 to 1¹. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back is available as a digital download, but the paperback version continues to be in high demand. I have come to realize that there are numerous and perhaps unusual virtues for having a paperback edition of this book, some of which I would like to share to inspire you!

Every digital book has the primary advantages of price and portability, but can remain out of sight and out of mind. Encountering a physical book invites you to engage with it, to pick it up and thumb through it. You don’t have to sign into wifi or wait for it to load—you just start reading. 

Visual cues help pattern healthy posture

One factor which works against us developing and maintaining healthy posture in our society is that we don’t have good examples and reminders around us. In fact, we are continually exposed to a norm of bad posture, while our culture’s idea of good posture, the S-shaped spine, is deeply problematic. What we want is to be surrounded by healthy visual examples on which to model ourselves.

8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back has over 1,100 images, mostly photographs, showing healthy posture from all over the world, from history, and in infants. Students find these images a motivating and practical reminder on their posture journey. Many a person has fallen in love with the African carpenter on the frontispiece, who insisted I take his picture, or marveled at the babies stacksitting with ease. 

This African carpenter stands tall and relaxed by his bench. This is also excellent form for preparing food in the kitchen, or any work at a counter. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, pg 3.

My youngest child stacksitting next to her “sitting tub.” 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, pg 69.

You can of course collect your own posture pinups, and I encourage you to do so. But selecting your favorites from 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back is convenient, plus you will know the posture shown passes muster. The quality of the prints means that they look completely at home popped into a frame, or even laminated and placed around the garden or garage or in your shower stall (true story about the tallstanding image leading Lesson 6). The key thing is to place them exactly where you need the reminders. For example:

Here I am reaching up to engage my inner corset. Use this reminder near a high shelf or cupboard that you regularly reach up to. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, pg 127.

This African woman is hip-hinging as she harvests water chestnuts—a perfect picture reminder for your vegetable garden.  8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, pg 151.

Here I am stretchsitting. Place this reminder by your easy chair or sofa, where you may otherwise tuck and slouch. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, pg 47.

If you are of a technical bent you may be drawn to the many diagrams. Students find the mechanism of a shoulder roll drawing helpful in executing this technique. The shoulder roll helps your shoulder joint to return home to a healthy posterior position. 

The mechanism of a shoulder roll diagram is especially useful at any desk or computer. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, pg 42.

Lastly, the recaps at the end of each chapter make a handy cheat sheet while you are revising a new technique. For example, the recap of stretchlying on the side may be beneficial pinned onto your bedside table. 

Starting a conversation about healthy posture

Your book can take pride of place on the coffee table, where, unlike a download, it will always be there to catch the eye. This is a nice organic way of keeping posture on your radar and introducing it as a talking point with family and visitors. We certainly know of parents who leave 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back strategically placed for their children to discover!

The coffee table is a great place for browsing a book. 

Introducing your wider circle to healthy posture 

If you are part of a wellness group, then 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back is a natural fit for study. If you are a book club member, then this may be the book you are looking for to invite discussion beyond back pain extending into anthropology, history, health, and lifestyle. 

Given that 80% of people in the US will experience back pain², not to mention the many other musculoskeletal problems addressed in its pages, this book has broad relevance. Many of our students are grateful to have discovered 8 Steps while visiting their physician or other healthcare professional. 

To help you spread the word among your family and social networks we have created “clan packs." The launch price has an additional discount: 4 books for $79 (instead of $99), or 8 books for $119 (instead of $159), and is valid until March 13, 2022.

Sometimes when I speak at conferences or wellness events (e.g., Google, Mimosa Systems, TiE Silicon Valley, Global Fund for Women), the company offers their employees/members/donors a gift copy of my book. To encourage this, we offer special bulk discounts. For information please contact [email protected]. For speaking engagements please contact [email protected]. 

References:

¹Felix Richter, “Infographic: E-Books Still No Match for Printed Books,” Statista Infographics, August 9, 2021, https://www.statista.com/chart/24709/e-book-and-printed-book-penetration/. 

²Janet K. Freburger et al., “The Rising Prevalence of Chronic Low Back Pain,” Arch Intern Med 169, no. 3 (2009): 251-258, doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2008.543

Free Online Workshops

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, sign up to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops.

This is our fourth 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 “low plank,” a whole-body exercise that particularly develops abdominal strength and trunk stability. 

Our model for the photographs is Eric Fernandez, our Gokhale Exercise teacher who teaches the Gokhale Method in the Philadelphia area.

Low plank is done on the forearms, which avoids pressure on the wrists. 

The classic version of this exercise with straight arms. Active hands and a slight bend at the elbows will likely ease strain on the wrists, but we recommend you do low plank first.

Get all the benefits of plank, avoid any risk of damage

Plank is an excellent exercise for developing the muscular strength and coordination you need to align, support, and protect your spine. While pursuing these benefits you don’t want poor form to distort your spine and risk damage to your spinal discs and nerves. The exercise guidelines that allow you to do plank safely also train your body for healthy posture in daily life.

If you are new to this exercise, or the Gokhale Method®, I recommend that you prepare your body by learning to use your inner corset. The inner corset consists of 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

To help you on your posture journey we are delighted to offer you two gifts:

• A subscription to our bi-weekly informative newsletter Positive Stance™
• A pdf of the Inner Corset chapter (ab strength) from 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back

Please enter your email address in the field below. If you aren’t already a newsletter subscriber, you may need to respond to a confirmation email.

CAUTION: If you have back pain or a diagnosis or suspicion of herniation, stenosis, osteoporosis, or other spinal deterioration, you should consult your preferred health professional before practicing plank. 

Let’s get started

Start with a baby version of low plank in which your knees remain on the floor. This creates a shorter span and requires less abdominal strength to hold you horizontal. From a kneeling position:

• Engage your inner corset—you will maintain it throughout the exercise.
• Roll your shoulders back, lengthen your neck, tuck your toes under. 
• Lower yourself into your start position, elbows on the floor directly under your shoulders and forearms forward and parallel. You can also start in a baby Cobra position and lift your trunk away from the floor. 
• Bring your trunk to horizontal. Maintain your torso, neck, and head in this straight, horizontal line. 
• Initially, aim to hold baby plank for 5-10 seconds at a time. Repeat 5-10 times.
• Breathe steadily throughout. 

Baby plank develops healthy muscular strength, endurance, and coordination.

Full low plank

When doing plank on your knees is easy and you can breathe evenly, you can progress to doing the exercise with your legs straight and your weight on your toes. 

Full low plank. You may need to drop back on the duration or repetitions initially, and then build up again. 

Common Mistakes:

Neck tension:

Keep your neck lengthened with your head parallel to the floor; do not crane to look up. Tension in the back of the neck should not be attempting to lift you up. Neither do you want to drop your head down—rather, you want the deep muscles at the front of the cervical spine (longus colli) to support your neck, along with the inner corset.

Do not tense the back of your neck and pull your head up. 

Swaying the back:

It is important to not sag in the middle. Without a strong inner corset, the abdominal contents will hang downward, which will sway your lumbar spine and compress your discs and nerves. Practice the inner corset exercises consistently and you will soon be able to maintain a horizontal position.

The lower back is dipping into a sway, with tell-tale shirt creases in the lumbar area.

Tucking the pelvis, rounding the back and shoulders:

You may find yourself tucking your pelvis, especially if you have been trained to do this when working your abdominals. You may also be working your glutes inappropriately—you want your inner corset to brace you, not clenched buttocks. Work with a more relaxed feeling in your pelvis and hips and allow your behind to remain behind you. 

Rectus abdominis is flexing the spine and tucking the pelvis. Rounding the back and shoulders are also misguided efforts to push or lift up. 

It can be tempting to push away as you take your weight in plank, rounding your shoulders. Resist this habit and allow your chest to remain closer to the ground. Drawing your shoulder blades together may help.

Make sure you are not tucking your pelvis or pushing your chest away from the ground, both of which will likely result in rounding your back.

If you would like to practice this great exercise for your back health, join Eric for a “low plank” Gokhale Exercise class on Friday, November 26 at 9:45 a.m. (Pacific Time). If you have not yet subscribed to the 1-2-3 Move program, sign up now for your 7-day Gokhale Exercise Free Trial.

1-2-3 Move happens daily with Esther or guest teachers at 9:45 a.m. 
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)
Gokhale Moving Meditation with Roberta is Mondays at 2 p.m. and with Kathleen is Wednesdays at 12 p.m. (Pacific Time)