I am not a lower back pain kind of person. At least, I wasn’t until I experienced a horrendous travel experience at Christmastime, and my lower back suddenly spasmed while waiting in line at a customer service desk at SFO.
It hasn’t felt right ever since. Yes, I’m doing Kegels, which are helping, but the pain remains. So I decided to search for a back pain book I purchased in 2013: 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back. I bought the book after The New York Times called its author, Esther Gokhale, the “Posture Guru of Silicon Valley.”
I wish I’d read the book 7 years ago.
When I started reading the book last week, I immediately loved Esther’s approach. It’s not conventional, but neither is she. Esther developed severe lower back during her first pregnancy. She needed back surgery, which was ultimately unsuccessful. Finding no solution to ease her pain using traditional techniques, she decided to develop her own. (This story sounds very familiar to anyone who explores the #Woo).
Esther’s Gokhale Method is built on the idea that those of us who live in industrialized countries do not know how to properly use our bodies, causing an epidemic of back pain. She believes we can change that if we simply learn how to move our body correctly — as nature intended and as many indigenous cultures still do today.
Her approach had me hook, line, and sinker, so I jumped into Lesson #1: Stretchsitting. Stretchsitting teaches you how to stretch your spine while sitting to protect your back and avoid compressing your discs. It’s harder than it sounds, and I couldn’t quite master the steps.
Then the #Woo stepped in.
I was scrolling through my email and saw a message from The Gokhale Method. Esther was going to be offering an online introductory course! For free! In two days! And it was going to focus on stretchsitting! YES!
Two days later, I joined the course, and Esther very clearly and slowly taught us how to stretchsit. She also taught us how to properly roll our shoulders back to open up our chests without straining the spine, neck, or shoulders.
“Go slowly, go slowly,” she kept cautioning us.
Then she said something that struck me: “Relaxing is an art and a science.”
I immediately stopped my shoulder roll to write that down. The phrase stopped me in my tracks because it is so true. We all seek quick fixes when it comes to pain management and relaxation. When we pencil in time for “relaxation,” we expect it to be instantaneous, brought to us by a massage, a drink, our favorite food, a book, or a pill.
But as I explore the #Woo, I’m learning that relaxation is a mindset that requires practice and patience. You have to teach your mind and your body how to relax. We aren’t very good at it. Why? Because just as no one teaches us how to properly use our body to protect it from injury, no one properly teaches us how to use our minds to coax our bodies into relaxation.
That is why I love this #Woo journey. I am constantly learning about our body’s remarkable and innate ability to heal and care for itself. All it takes is finding the right #Woo teachers to show us how