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According to research a shocking two-thirds of professional musicians live in chronic pain. Those of you who are music makers may have felt challenged at times by the lengthy periods of sitting or standing required for practice and rehearsal. Continuously holding an instrument, maintaining a playing position, or just standing holding sheet music, can, sooner or later, trouble your neck, shoulder, or wrist. Playing can become a physical challenge rather than an activity integrated with the music making.

This graph shows the distribution of pain reported in a group of 490 musicians.

Finding harmony in your body

The good news is that healthy posture can allow music-making to be not only a pleasure for the ears and nourishment for the soul, but also something comfortable and good for your body. Each time you play, practice, or perform, with your body in harmony, it will feel all the better for it, rather than sore and achy. 

In this series of blog posts about making music with healthy posture, you will meet some of our students and teachers who are also musicians. Some are professional while others are keen amateurs, but they all treasure music-making in their lives. They share having had their musicianship curtailed at some point by back pain, and having resolved it with the Gokhale Method®. This first blog post talks about playing the piano. 

As infants we naturally stacksit well to play an instrument. These youngsters have their behind behind them, shoulders posterior, and a tall neck. Their stool is too low though!

Playing the piano pain free

Juan Zurutuza holds the unique position of pianist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Sweden. Juan discovered the Gokhale Method online and then took the Gokhale Method Foundations Course with John Carter in the UK in 2016. He followed up with two one-day Pop-up courses with me in Werkhoven, Holland, and Bonn, Germany. In a recent catch-up he said:

Most of my musician colleagues have problems—that are solvable. I see many fixable postural problems, for example, tight, forward shoulders causing tingling in the fingers and impaired sensation, which causes immense difficulty to string players. But there are examples all over. 

When it comes to physical ease in playing piano, I find two things resonate for me. For the particulars of piano playing, the Taubman Approach. For whole-body posture, the Gokhale Method is an invaluable baseline. I’m not claiming to be perfect, but I know if my lower back gets tight I need to work on my sway with my rib anchor, and my neck position. At least I am aware and can change. 

The straightforward guidelines given in the Gokhale Method have made a huge positive impact on my playing: learning how to glide your neck back, how to lengthen your spine, how to sit using a wedge. . .All these things help me to be able to sit down and practice for what can very often be all day. People may say “oh, all that sitting is really bad for you,” but it really depends on how you do it. 

This photo shows Juan playing in 2008, before he found the Gokhale Method. It shows how his pelvis tucked when he played, rounding his back and sending his shoulders, neck, and head forward. When the pelvis is tucked, coming to an upright position demands the lower back muscles tense up.

(Concert at the Railway Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands.)

Being pain free isn't a requirement to be a great musician, certainly. But for me, being pain free, comfortable, and able to move in a coordinated way, increases my chances of conveying my musical intentions. I would say that I am seeking to align my physical and musical experiences as I play.

Juan practicing in Gothenburg, 2023, applying what he has learned with the Gokhale Method.

Teaching the piano along with healthy posture

Sigrun Franzen is a recently qualified Gokhale Method teacher based in Madison, Wisconsin. Sigrun is also a professional pianist, organist, and harpsichordist. 

I was never completely comfortable playing the organ, but I thought that was just the price you paid for a more awkward instrument which didn’t allow you to balance your feet on the floor when using the pedals and using your arms at different heights to get to the manuals (keyboards). Doing these things gave me back pain because I did them by letting my ribs pop up and contracting my back. Applying the Gokhale Method techniques of rib anchoring and engaging my inner corset solved that problem!

My own piano teacher recommended Esther’s book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back to me, as she had another student who had benefited from the Method. It was the structural integrity I got from the Gokhale Method that proved to be the key to pain-free music-making. In fact to pain-free everything! For example, I suffered with persistent sciatica until I learned to glidewalk. The postural techniques I use at the piano are also directly transferable to healthy working at a desk computer. 

Healthy sitting for working at a computer follows the same posture principles as playing the piano. 

I play and teach piano with the Taubman Approach. In addition, with the Gokhale Method, it feels wonderful to offer a healthy postural role model for my students, which goes a long way. If they are still sitting poorly and in discomfort I can give them a little wedge for easy stacksitting—a light touch that makes a lot of difference. I have had some of my piano students’ parents take the Gokhale Method Foundations Course, which is a great way for them to support their kids. I like to have a few suitable stools and images of good positioning around in my studio. One of the parents said “Oh, you’re kinda like a professional sitter.” 

Here was Sigrun teaching a young pupil piano, back in 2016, before she discovered the Gokhale Method. Like Juan, she was tucked and rounded forward. Sigrun’s young pupil still has her natural posture intact and is setting an excellent example!

Learning the Gokhale Method enabled Sigrun to sit tall and relaxed as she plays. This video excerpt shows Gokhale Method teacher Sigrun Franzen giving a harpsichord recital. (Johann Jakob Froberger, Suite in A minor. St Matthias Episcopal Church, Waukesha, WI.)

Special Free Online Workshop for all musicians

Join Gokhale Method teacher Julie Johnson for our special free online workshop End the back pain and get back to music-making with the Gokhale Method, Monday, November 20, 11 a.m. (PST), 8 p.m. (CET). Julie is a pianist and choral singer in her spare time, and particularly enjoys helping other musicians to make music without strain on the body. You can sign up here.

Best next action steps for newcomers

If you would like insight on your posture, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online, or in person.

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

This is the second post in our multi-part series on floor sitting. For Part 1 on floor sitting, click here.

Why squat? Squatting isn’t something we do much in industrialized societies beyond childhood, but if you can do it healthfully, it is an eminently practical posture for resting the body while keeping the backside elevated off the ground and the clothing clean, as this woman from Orissa demonstrates.

This woman from Orissa demonstrates a healthy, full squat with foot arches intact and a long, straight spine.

It is also the posture used for toilet activities in places with floor toilets, a trend which has recently made its way to the industrialized realm in the form of popular footstools such as the Squatty Potty. If you have ever gone camping in a place without Port-A-Potties, you have had good occasion to squat!

Using a simple footstool to sit on a toilet, supported with a straight back.

And women worldwide, especially in less-industrialized societies, have long used squatting during childbirth. Talk about ancestral posture.

Like mother, like child.

Women squatting in a tribal market in Orissa to sell vegetables. This is a very comfortable, sustainable posture they have grown up with.

The problem
Most people’s hip, knee, and ankle joints do not bend enough to allow the back to remain straight and the arches in the feet to remain intact.

People in modern societies usually don’t have the hip/knee/ankle structure to do a full squat without rounding the back and compromising the feet.

The fix
Raise the heels or resort to a partial squat or B squat (one heel raised, the other down). Do not settle down all the way down on your haunches.

For most people, squatting with raised heels makes it possible to have a straight back.

A partial squat or B squat, with one foot on the ground (not visible) and the other foot with the heel raised. This facilitates a healthy, straight back posture.

In conclusion, for modern urban people to derive the benefits but avoid the pitfalls of squatting, consider raising your heels, or doing a “B squat” or partial squat. For going to the toilet, a Squatty Potty or low foot bench is useful. We recommend on working on your calf and quad flexibility to get low to the ground towards a squat, but do not insist on a full squat because it will likely involve some unhealthy compensations. And enjoy people watching in cultures where squatting is part of daily living.  Every culture has its facilities and limitations and it’s fun that we’re all different!

This woman squats for hours to add slip onto her pots. Orissa, India.

Most of us spend a good deal of time in our cars, commuting, chauffeuring kids around, doing errands, or if we’re lucky, heading out to an adventure spot. Much of this time is spent being physically uncomfortable, especially if the car was manufactured in the last decade. There seems to be a downward spiral of poor posture and design that reflects poor posture - which in turn worsens posture. How can we break this cycle?

The industry standard for human form reflects the average in society: shoulders forward, S-shaped spine, and forward head. Car seats are designed to fit these features.

A checklist for healthy posture when driving includes:

1. Shoulders:  back and down
2. Neck: elongated and stacked over the spine
3. Bottom: well back in the seat
4. Spine: elongated and well-stacked

Modern car seats often make these simple posture practices challenging or impossible. The good news is that it’s relatively easy to fix almost any kind of carseat to make it conducive to good posture. 

1. Shoulder positioning. You may find that the “bolsters” in your carseat get in the way of placing your shoulders back.
   

   The bolsters add considerable horizontal curve to this seat upright, and prevent the arms and shoulders from resting back beside the torso.

   
   The origin of bolsters lies in the racing car industry - bolsters keep racing car drivers in their seats as they whizz around corners at high speeds. For those of us not compelled to turn corners at 100 mph, the bolsters are an annoyance that make it impossible to set the shoulders in a comfortable and healthy place. Solution: Build up the backrest area between the bolsters, so your torso is no longer sunk between the bolsters with your shoulders forced forward. Depending on how much your car’s bolsters protrude, a towel folded over a couple of times may suffice, or you may need a much thicker support. When I travel, I use rental cars. With each rental car, my first action is to profile it: will a single Stretchsit cushion suffice or will it need additional thickness? Technique: After adding some thickness to the mid-portion of the chair upright, move one shoulder at a time a little forward, a little up, and then significantly back and down. Once you have your shoulders back in place, you may discover you need to move your seat closer to the steering wheel to comfortably hold the steering wheel. Be sure to keep a safe distance from the airbag. 
    
2. Neck support. Have you noticed that many car headrests push your head forward uncomfortably? The degree seems to get worse with the years. Headrests now have a new official name, which is “head restraint.” They are shaped to stick far enough out that the head is resting against the headrest and would not have any space in which to whip backward in the event of a collision. 
   
   
   The head restraint, as headrests are now named, reflect, and perpetuate, forward head posture.
   
   The standard that determines the extent to which the head restraint juts forward is the Crash Test Dummy. The Crash Test Dummy was modeled on a person with typical Forward Head Posture, and therein lies the rub.
   
   
   
   The Crash Test Dummy has forward head posture
   
   When I taught a workshop to the designers at Johnson Controls in Ann Arbor, they pointed to my Stretchsit cushion and remarked “the reason your products are popular is that we’re legally obliged to design seats the way we do.” It is sad when designers become constrained by deterioration in people's posture. 
   
   
   Forward head posture is now so common it negatively influences car headrest design.
   
   Solution: Very similar to the solution for bolsters, but the extent of how much you build up the central portion of the backrest now depends on how much the head restraint juts forward. DO NOT turn the headrest around 180 degrees or remove it or sit forward in your seat - in case of an accident, this would put you at risk of severe damage from whiplash. Technique: Determine the best posture you are able to assume in your neck. Now pad the central portion of the backrest so that the headrest works to rest your head against. Elongate your neck in any of the five ways described in 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, and “hook” the back of your head against the headrest so your neck is getting a gentle stretch. 
    
3. Setting the bottom back in the seat. This is not a problem in most cars. Some notable exceptions are: 

• very old cars whose seats have worn down so your bottom sinks into a “cave.” 
  
  
  Some carseats wear out in ways that create a "cave" for your bottom to sink into. 
  
  Solution: build up the cave to horizontal or near horizontal. Do not build it up to be a wedge - wedges are helpful for stacksitting, but not for stretchsitting, and in a car you want to stretchsit, not stacksit.  
   
• Bucket seats: Ouch. Solution: It’s very difficult to fix these. I recommend starting from scratch - go to Relax the Back, buy a seat to place in your bucket seat, and modify as needed.
  
  
  Bucket seats are very difficult to modify so they support healthy posture
   

4. Spine support. Does your car seat have lumbar support? This is based on conventional wisdom about an S-shaped spine being normal and healthy.
   
   
   An unhealthy amount of built-in lumbar support in a carseat.
   
   My experience is that it causes extra curvature in the spine, tight back muscles, degenerated discs, and arthritic changes in the vertebrae. Solution: What you really need is a thoracic support that you can stretch your back against. Technique: Use a Stretchsit cushion (if you have a fabric seat, a folded towel can also provide the grip you need) suspended behind your mid-back. Follow the instructions in 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back to stretchsit and put your lower back into a gentle, comfortable amount of traction. 

So what can you do to set your car up for healthy posture?

• If you're in the market for buying a car, examine the carseat. Some brands are better than average in the design of their seats. The Fiat 500, for example, has a head rest that works with healthy neck posture, and has bolsters that do not extend all the way up shoulder level. 
  
  
  The Fiat 500 is an example of car model that has a relatively well-designed carseat.
   
• The Stretchsit cushion is remarkably effective in mitigating a lot of flaws in carseat design. It can neutralize the effects of exaggerated lumbar support, deep bolsters, and head restraints that jut forward too far. In addition, it facilitates stretchsitting, which is healthful in itself, but also dampens the effect of bumps and jolts in driving, especially on bumpy roads.  
  
  
  The Stretchsit cushion helps transform poor carseats into healthy carseats.
   
• Set yourself up with good posture. No matter how good your carseat is, there is no substitute for knowing what to do in your own body. Stretchsitting, which is one of the easiest Gokhale Method techniques, is well suited to driving. Lengthen your spine against a support at the level of your mid-back, roll your shoulders back, elongate your neck against the head rest, and enjoy the ride!

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What kind of car do you drive and how well do the seats work to support you? How have you improved your carseat?