Back pain: "Sitting is the new smoke"
 |
| Back-Pain |
Back pain is easy to relieve, says Esther Gokhale. For this, we have to relearn walking, standing, and sitting. In an interview with achim-achilles.de, the Californian explains why people have lost the knowledge of the right posture.
Ali Health Info: Ms. Gokhale, why do so many people suffer from back pain?
Esther Gokhale: We have forgotten how to use our body properly in everyday life. I believe that there is a kinaesthetic tradition, a knowledge of good attitude that was passed on to future generations. We have lost this natural sense of movement, so we improvise.
Ali Health Info: We improvise? What do you mean?
Gokhale: Let's take the gang, for example. For many people, the corridor looks like it's a series of falls. The leg is stretched out to prevent falling. Ideally, walking is a smooth sequence of controlled forward movements, a glide that tenses the gluteal muscles while protecting the joints and back.
Ali Health Info: So we're wrong. But the bigger problem is that we sit too much.
Gokhale: Sitting has had a bad image for some time. It has become the new smoking (laughs). Of course, I also think that one should not sit around all the time without moving. But I think the mistake is not that we sit too much, but that we have a bad attitude while sitting.
TO PERSON
Esther Gokhale lives and works in Palo Alto, California. The native Indian suffered after the birth of her child even for years under back pain. For 20 years, she says she is pain-free. The Gokhale method aims to relieve people of back pain by learning to regain their natural primal posture. Gokhale studied biochemistry at the elite universities of Harvard and Princeton. She offers courses and trains teachers. Only recently her book has been translated into German. "Never again back pain, lasting improvement in 8 steps"
Ali Health Info: What can you do wrong while sitting?
Gokhale: Many feel that they have to choose between two positions - both of which are bad. Either you relax and huddle collapsed in the chair or you straighten up - and sits very stiff and strained.
Ali Health Info: They recommend to relearn walking and sitting. But you can hardly find out the automatisms that have been impressed for years.
Gokhale: But, easier than you think. You do not have to study to learn the right postures and movement patterns. Sometimes an intensive weekend course is enough. Especially sitting is relatively easy. You can also learn from the book. I'm teaching two techniques that make you feel comfortable and healthy: When you "stack", the pelvis is tilted forward to serve as the base for your spine. Stretching, we stretch our backs. This relieves the intervertebral disc.
Ali Health Info: People have back problems for a variety of reasons. Do you think that really everyone can get well with their techniques?
Gokhale: I do not want to say that I have a solution for everyone. There are certainly medical needs that have their justification, no question. But I think that a good, healthy attitude has so far been criminally neglected. If we change the way we move, we have a great chance of relieving back pain and back pain comparatively quickly.
Ali Health Info: Do not you ignore the individual medical history?
Gokhale: The courses we give are, of course, also about the history and the clinical picture, but there is generally a misconception of what really causes back pain. As an example, it is always said that back problems are a result of being overweight. I've studied that - in fact, there is little correlation between obesity and back pain unless you're talking about people weighing in at 200 pounds and more.
Ali Health Info: What about mental factors such as stress?
Gokhale: Stress makes everything worse. But I do not think he is the main cause of back pain; I think the main reason is that people have forgotten how to move their bodies.
Ali Health Info: You had to learn it again.
Gokhale: For a long time, I had serious back pain that was not cured by the usual methods, even with alternative medicine. I tried everything: physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture ... I even had surgery. After a few years, the same problems reappeared, and they advised me to go back under the knife - which I did not want. I was in my mid-twenties
Ali Health Info: You traveled the world in search of solutions.
Gokhale: I studied other methods, studied medical literature, traveled, photographed and interviewed other people. For example, women in Burkina Faso can see how to do it right. It is very impressive how elegant, beautiful and resilient they are. They walk for miles, with luggage on their heads and baby on their backs and yet they do not get tired. There are medical studies showing that they carry their cargo much more efficiently than US soldiers.
Ali Health Info: Do not we have to be fit to prevent back pain?
Gokhale: You do not have to be super-muscular. But the good thing is that when learning the right attitude, you also become more automatic. And this strengthening, in turn, has effects on the musculoskeletal system.
Ali Health Info: Ms. Gokhale, why do so many people suffer from back pain?
Esther Gokhale: We have forgotten how to use our body properly in everyday life. I believe that there is a kinaesthetic tradition, a knowledge of good attitude that was passed on to future generations. We have lost this natural sense of movement, so we improvise.
Ali Health Info: We improvise? What do you mean?
Gokhale: Let's take the gang, for example. For many people, the corridor looks like it's a series of falls. The leg is stretched out to prevent falling. Ideally, walking is a smooth sequence of controlled forward movements, a glide that tenses the gluteal muscles while protecting the joints and back.
Ali Health Info: So we're wrong. But the bigger problem is that we sit too much.
Gokhale: Sitting has had a bad image for some time. It has become the new smoking (laughs). Of course, I also think that one should not sit around all the time without moving. But I think the mistake is not that we sit too much, but that we have a bad attitude while sitting.
TO PERSON
Esther Gokhale lives and works in Palo Alto, California. The native Indian suffered after the birth of her child even for years under back pain. For 20 years, she says she is pain-free. The Gokhale method aims to relieve people of back pain by learning to regain their natural primal posture. Gokhale studied biochemistry at the elite universities of Harvard and Princeton. She offers courses and trains teachers. Only recently her book has been translated into German. "Never again back pain, lasting improvement in 8 steps"
Ali Health Info: What can you do wrong while sitting?
Gokhale: Many feel that they have to choose between two positions - both of which are bad. Either you relax and huddle collapsed in the chair or you straighten up - and sits very stiff and strained.
Ali Health Info: They recommend to relearn walking and sitting. But you can hardly find out the automatisms that have been impressed for years.
Gokhale: But, easier than you think. You do not have to study to learn the right postures and movement patterns. Sometimes an intensive weekend course is enough. Especially sitting is relatively easy. You can also learn from the book. I'm teaching two techniques that make you feel comfortable and healthy: When you "stack", the pelvis is tilted forward to serve as the base for your spine. Stretching, we stretch our backs. This relieves the intervertebral disc.
Ali Health Info: People have back problems for a variety of reasons. Do you think that really everyone can get well with their techniques?
Gokhale: I do not want to say that I have a solution for everyone. There are certainly medical needs that have their justification, no question. But I think that a good, healthy attitude has so far been criminally neglected. If we change the way we move, we have a great chance of relieving back pain and back pain comparatively quickly.
Ali Health Info: Do not you ignore the individual medical history?
Gokhale: The courses we give are, of course, also about the history and the clinical picture, but there is generally a misconception of what really causes back pain. As an example, it is always said that back problems are a result of being overweight. I've studied that - in fact, there is little correlation between obesity and back pain unless you're talking about people weighing in at 200 pounds and more.
Ali Health Info: What about mental factors such as stress?
Gokhale: Stress makes everything worse. But I do not think he is the main cause of back pain; I think the main reason is that people have forgotten how to move their bodies.
Ali Health Info: You had to learn it again.
Gokhale: For a long time, I had serious back pain that was not cured by the usual methods, even with alternative medicine. I tried everything: physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture ... I even had surgery. After a few years, the same problems reappeared, and they advised me to go back under the knife - which I did not want. I was in my mid-twenties
Ali Health Info: You traveled the world in search of solutions.
Gokhale: I studied other methods, studied medical literature, traveled, photographed and interviewed other people. For example, women in Burkina Faso can see how to do it right. It is very impressive how elegant, beautiful and resilient they are. They walk for miles, with luggage on their heads and baby on their backs and yet they do not get tired. There are medical studies showing that they carry their cargo much more efficiently than US soldiers.
Ali Health Info: Do not we have to be fit to prevent back pain?
Gokhale: You do not have to be super-muscular. But the good thing is that when learning the right attitude, you also become more automatic. And this strengthening, in turn, has effects on the musculoskeletal system.