Straightening your spine

I’ve recently turned my attention back to “the posture lady,” Esther Gokhale. Years ago, Gokhale was suffering from unrelenting back pain. She had surgery but the pain came back. So she embarked on a quest to get to the source of her problem, starting with learning about “anthropologically-based posture modification” at an institute in Paris, and then by observing, in person, indigenous people in various parts of the world. She discovered that our idea of a normal anatomical stance—the way we hold ourselves—had changed radically in the past century: we have significantly increased curvature in our low backs (lumbar) and upper back (thoracic). The illustration below makes this clear.

The image on the left is from an anatomy book published in 1990, showing what is considered a normal spine. The image on the right is from a book published in 1911, showing significantly less curvature. This is the spine Gokhale believes is the natural human stance. (She gives lots of reasons for why our stance has changed over the years.)

More and more medical people are buying into her view. I recently visited a neurologist (Stanford Neurosurgery Clinic) about my sciatica and gnarly looking spine. I told her that I’d recently had a one-on-one Zoom session with Gokhale. The neurologist was enthusiastic and told me that she often refers patients to Gokhale, as do many other physicians.

 I’ve recently embarked on a do-it-yourself program of improving my posture and movement to straighten my spine, using Gokhale’s methods. Gokhale has lots of offerings that you can find on her Web site. You can also find her on various YouTube videos, such as TED talks.

As to my own efforts, I don't have much to report yet. I’ve only just begun. 

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