Posture expert Esther Gokhale traveled around the world, studying cultures where there is almost zero incidence of lower back pain and sciatica. Why, for instance, does lower back pain affect 80% of the U.S. population, but only 5% of the population in parts of Africa?
While not many Africans are getting stuck in rush-hour traffic, flying in airplanes, or sitting at a desk all day, the answer may be more obvious:
Africans tend to have better posture than Americans.
"The less industrial a country, the more more likely your are to find people with correct posture and movement." says Gokhale.
Gokhale claims that all babies naturally use good posture, but in most industrial societies, we tend to develop bad habits.
Learning more about how to hold and move your body takes "re-learning" what is already genetically imprinted in our genes...which makes it a fairly easy thing to do, IF...and it's a big "if"...you have a good teacher.
A simple, first step is to focus on simple changes, such as sitting with your tail bone out, as opposed to tucking the pelvis in.
Then move on to specific sciatica exercises to address your condition.
Some of those basic movements can be found here.
Look for Gokhale's book, Eight Steps to a Pain Free Back, which is supposed to be in bookstores by spring of 2008.
Source: Mountain View Voice
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