8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back Paperback – Illustrated, April 1, 2008

This book was recommended in the personal finance forum I frequent along with the video of Esther's presentation at the Googleplex. I first watched the video and found it convincing; it was consistent with what I have observed when traveling in developing countries. Esther's delivery was intelligent and credible; she was providing logical useful information without holding back or selling. Buying a book after that was an easy decision.I had high expectations for the book, and still when it has arrived it impressed me with its design and beauty. It reminded me of the praise we impart on Steve Jobs: superior user interface, attention to detail, pursuit of the truth in the midst of the mass delusion. Esther too has the courage to go against some common myths such as tucking the pelvis in and swaying the back. She is very convincing in explaining the dangers of these habits and illustrating her statements with numerous examples from the Eastern and Western cultures, from the past and the present, from small children and from practitioners of certain crafts.After reading the introductory chapter I knew that stumbling on Esther and her work was more rewarding than hitting a jackpot. After that the real work has started. The thing about this book is that it does require work, but this work is immensely satisfying, because you are finally working on correcting the results of years of poor posture and exercise habits. You see the images of people holding their bodies well and poorly, you become expert in discerning the difference, and you want to be among those who hold well.Each exercise is easy once you master it, but it takes careful reading, practice, and rereading to get it right and to do it right. Esther helps you with each step on the way. She starts with a broad background of how a particular position or movement is used and includes a wide variety of illustrations. She then describes each step in great detail using words, photographs, illustrations, and diagrams. Esther extensively supplements the "positive" information of how to do things with "negative" information on how not to do them and common pitfalls. And then with Steve Jobesque attention to detail she provides additional hints on fine-tuning the exercise, locating a normally neglected muscle, using little tricks for ensuring that one is not swaying. After the description of an exercise is complete, additional nuances are discussed, and they too prove remarkably useful, even if a few pages ago you had an impression that you had learned everything. The final part of each exercise section is a summary of the moves, very useful once you have learned the move and need quick reminders.The eight steps provide a comprehensive guide to the life of your posture. Two of them teach you how to sit, two of them are about lying in bed. One is on standing, one is on walking, one is on tightening chest muscles in preparation to exertion, and one is on bending. I cannot think of anything missing. The appendices with exercises for building various muscles are the icing on the cake.Let me repeat that the book does require work. But this may be the most important work you will do for your body. One's spine is one's backbone; when the backbone does not work everything else is pretty futile.Get the book, read it, practice the steps, and enjoy your improving posture.

I went online to buy Peter Egoscue's book "Pain Free" (which I also bought). I'd like the thank the kind reviewer in that forum who recommended this book instead. I just got it today and, while I haven't really completed any exercises yet, have already skimmed through the whole thing and tried the first exercise, at least. So you know, I am a body worker and have studied yoga as well.First, this is a beautiful book. There are many color photos of people from around the world with natural posture. They provide an inspiration to try the exercises, and they show how beautiful the relaxed, unaffected human body can be.Second, this book addresses fundamental causes, not bandaid solutions. I do an hour or more of stretching and self-massage daily, but still have tightness and back pain. I tried yoga which helped some things but made other things worse. Every other book I have seen has given a lot of strengthening and stretching exercises - there's not time in the day to do them all, and it's discouraging when you do them but your daily life just negates all that hard work. This book addresses how you carry your body and move in daily activities so (in theory) you don't need exercises long term.Third, the book gives very clear instructions on how to improve your posture and movement in a carefully sequenced fashion. Many people/books have told me I need to improve my posture, by "tucking my tailbone in or out," "holding my thoracic spine straight," or "keeping my head high." What they don't understand is that if I hold my head high, for example, my back is so crooked it's very uncomfortable, the weight of my body goes straight to my low back. Better books caution against trying to hard to force a "correct" posture, but don't give guidance on how to achieve good posture if you don't already have it. This book gives clear, easy to follow exercises which are sequenced so that you work on first things first, and progress over time.This approach instinctively feels right to me. I agree with the author's assessment of what an ideal, healthy body should look like. I have traveled a lot. Many people in Africa and SE Asia have a natural ease in their bodies; that is exactly what I am looking for for myself, but have not known how to achieve. (Note, however, that, contrary to what the book implies, not all people in non-industrial countries are free from back pain - I have heard from farmers in Western Africa and hotel workers in Thailand who complained about back pain in spite of their excellent posture - even "traditional" people are susceptible to overuse and overload injury). I am looking forward to working through the exercises and seeing if they benefit me.Note, not everyone will be able to do all the exercises right away. In some cases, you may be too stuck and need therapy to help you unstick before you start (massage, PT, yoga). Perhaps that could have been explained more in the text - in those cases I think it would be great to get that therapy while gently working through what you can with your therapist on board. As a bodyworker, I think the combination of receiving serious structural bodywork (such as Rolfing or Thai bodywork) and simultaneously working through this book would be very effective. The key is not to force exercises you cannot do easily and comfortably. If you have a structural injury, the author recommends working with your doctor to see what you can do safely. This book is not a panacea, of course, also - will it cure every pain? I doubt it. But for $14 and change, for people who can read through the exercises and apply them; are willing to make some changes in their life and interested in this kind of thing, I think it is a phenomenal value. (In comparison - a decent massage session in Washington, DC costs about $120-160, and the effects usually last a few days).In addition to people with tight muscles, restricted breathing, or back pain, I would recommend this book to another group: new parents, especially mothers! It gives minimal information on what to do, but - at least it raises the idea that how you carry and handle your child is an ergonomic issue both for YOU (reducing bodily strain) and for YOUR CHILD (developing their body). I would love to see the author address this in a specialized book; all my friends with small children complain of back pain. My bodywork teacher in Thailand repeatedly notes how parents traditionally helped children develop healthy postures, but that Western or "modern" parents don't have this knowledge. This is exactly what is shown in the book.

I am 45, do lots of sports (soccer), and repeatedly sprain my back since my late 20's. It happens a few times a year, and will not be ale to sit for two weeks. I have done a few MRIs and the diagnosis is Degenerative Disk Disease. I am a "try hard" peronality and I have tried many things to ease the pain, from beer to muscle relaxants, and done a lot of PT and core and back strengthening.This book is THE ONE thing that has worked for me. Especially chapters 1 and 2, stretch lying and stretch sitting. It is natural physical therapy that you can do all day. It makes sense and it works. It has literally changed my life. I have not had a single back "event" in all of 2023, after spending much of 2022 on the brink of thinking that life was not very much worth living any more. I am recommending this book to all my friends and acquaintances who complain of back pain (there are many).In addition, I really like the pictures of people exhibiting good posture. This drives home the point, a picture is worth a thousand words, and shows you clearly what the objective is.Dr Gokhale deserves Nobel in Physiology and Medicine for this groundbreaking work.

Really great book, very well put together - step by step instructions on how to change posture, lots of photos which are really helpful. This really feels like common sense stuff that makes huge difference to quality of life, instead of keep paying out on physio/osteopathy etc (which I was doing) I have made more difference to my body with 6 months of practice with these techniques. I am now doing a physical job which I would have struggled with before due to constant pain and discomfort. It is not an overnight fix it does take practice and commitment but completely worth it.

Ich habe mich 25 Jahre lang gekrümmt - weil meine Beckenstellung falsch war.Ich kann dieses Buch nur empfehlen! Anhand von Beispielen aus der natürlichen Haltung von Kleinkindern, oder auch aus der gesunden natürlichen Haltung indigener Völker, wie man stehen, laufen, sitzen und sogar liegen soll. Es öffnet einem die Augen für die in unserer modernen Gesellschaft allgegenwärtige Fehlhaltung - selbst bei vielen Sportlern!Mein Huckel schwindet und ich habe nie mehr Rückenschmerzen. Ein Muss, dieses Buch!

Très détaillé, super pour toutes les douleurs du corps.

Official diagnosis of my problem is 'Spondylitis', is genetic as half of my fathers's side suffers from it. Have only used for first step of the book and I would say 70% of my back and neck problems have gone. Been suffering from last 10-11 yrs, now solved by making very small changes.Eager to finish the book in coming weeks.

Tengo una cervicalgia cronica desde 2 años, tengo 34 años. Medicos no entienden bien lo que tengo et no me han ayudado mucho. Este metodo, y especialmente el cojin que se pone sobre la cabeza, me han ayudado un monton, y recomiendo mucho a cualquier persona con problemas de cervicales.I have a chronic cervicalgia for 2 years now, at 34 only. I have consulted a ton of doctors, all specialties, did all the exams. MRI showed 3 herniated discs but as the symptoms don't match it does not explain anything. I let some doctors give me some medications, which I regret a lot (benzo/alprazolam/xanax/diazepam/valium) and also amiltryptiline/tryptizol. I'm eventually no longer taking any meds. The Gokhale has helped me much more than any doctor did. If you buy one thing, buy the head cushion. You keep it on your head, and it forces you to have good cervical posture, this was the fix for me!