Back Care Basics: A Doctor’s Gentle Yoga Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief

By Admin-SBC • April 21, 2008

Back Care Basics: A Doctor’s Gentle Yoga Program for Back and Neck Pain Relief
by Mary Pullig Schatz (Author), William Connor (Foreword), B.K.S. Iyengar (Preface)
Average Customer Review:
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Product Details
Published on: 1992-05
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
264 pages

Book Description : Back Care Basics offers the low-cost solution for back care in the new millenium: therapeutic yoga. Dr. Schatz’s approach to back rehabilitation is gentle, effective, and without drugs or surgery. Her program encourages both positive health practices and a positive outlook; the important tools needed for prevention and healing. Dr. Schatz has designed this program to help those with pain from chronic musculoskeletal back and neck strain, spinal arthritis, osteoporosis, premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, and scoliosis. Simple and practical ways to heal the back, restructure the body, and cope with stress are taught so that one becomes more sensitive to early warning signs of an impending “back attack” and what to do to ward it off.

Editorial Reviews

Midwest Book Review
Back Care Basics: A Doctor’s Gentle Yoga Program For Back And Neck Pain Relief offers a gentle and effective approach to back rehabilitation without drugs or surgery. Using the therapeutic techniques of Iyengar style yoga, Dr. Mary Schatz’s program encourages both positive health practices and a positive outlook. Readers will learn simple and practical ways to heal their back, restructure their bodies, and cope with stress. Readers will become more sensitive to early warning signs of an impending “back attack” and learn what to do to ward it off. Readers will learn how their daily activities may be hurting their back and how to modify them to prevent pain and injury. Back Care Basics is “must” reading for anyone with chronic back pain, and an invaluable (and popular) addition to any community library collection.

Customer Reviews

Life Saver!
I had a pain in my lower back, right above my buttocks for nearly a year. I couldn’t run.. it never went away. I heard a crack when I was hitting a tennis ball against a wall with my racket repeatedly, practicing my very weak backhand. I was sore for 2 weeks and then I couldn’t function.

I went to a Chiropractor and they charged me nearly $1000 with treatment.
At least I learned the name of the problem. The Sacro-iliac joints.
Where the Spine meets the pelvis.
I tried a private physical therapist. A couple of rubs and massages… less pain but was no different.

Well, I found this book and followed the Yoga instructions.
I did the warm up procedures. I did the general Yoga and then I did the chapter on my injury… in a month I felt more flexible. After 3 months I was perfect!! Been perfect since. This was nearly 15 years ago!

I’ve bought this book for 2 people and recommended it to many more.
No one has given me their feedback. However, I know that if you can spend money on a single doctor’s visit, than you can afford this book.

The standard in back care knowledge
My wife picked this book up for our daughter with scoliosis. Needless to say, this book is very technical and full of solid medically sound information. You need to get this book. It helped us understand the vital link to health that our spiine represents. It made me realize that I too had to take better care of my back, being that I have a sedentary job(office). This book is the standard by which all back care books should be judged.

Great Resource for Teachers and Students Alike
I notice that a few reviewers have mentioned they found exercises in the book too easy and it’s true that the book is geared toward those who may be recovering from injury and/or are new to yoga. That said, as a yoga instructor and long-time practitioner I’ve found this book to be a wonderful resource. In fact, some of the poses in the book have become staples in my lesson plans (and in my own practice) because they serve - for beginners and advanced students alike - as excellent warm-up poses to begin opening the body or cool-down poses to release the lower back. In addition, some of the poses shown using a chair or wall as a prop are useful both for beginners unable to do the full pose and (of equal importance!)for intermediate students who have experience with the full pose, but have never learned, or are still working on mastering correct points of alignment, which are integral to gaining the full benefits of the pose. Finally, I’ve found one set of exercises - aimed at identifying and correcting pelvic torsion (a slight - and common - misalignment in which the left hip point is drawn a bit too forward while the right is pulled back (or vice versa) - that I’ve found nowhere else and which has elicited a lot of positive feedback from student in classes where I’ve used it.

A few words to intermediate students: (1) If you’re suffering back pain, it’s quite likely that the Iyengar-based exercises in this book, rather than other, more “advanced” or novel asanas (poses) will prove to be better tools for dealing with it. (2) If you have a regular, committed yoga practice and it either is not mitigating or is making your back-associate pain worse you may need to take a closer look at your alignment in the poses, particularly if you began doing yoga in a vinyasa, or flow style and have never received, or have only minimal instruction on how to align yourself in different poses.(It may also be a good idea to seek the advice of a doctor.)

Although yoga studios tend to frown on mirrors in classes (for good reason), occasionally practicing in front of a mirror(s) at home - particularly with a book like this one that includes “simple” poses and poses performed seated in a chair, which can be done safely while watching yourself - can be quite helpful in identifying habitual patterns of movement of which you’re unaware - many of which stem from a belief that we can go deeper into a pose than our current range of motion and/or strength allows, causing us to sacrifice key points of alignment - ultimately reinforcing the very patterns of movement that are sources of pain and discomfort. You may be (unpleasantly) surprised to find that the pictures of some of these very basic poses - ones you “already know” and have “moved beyond” - look nothing like the reflection in the mirror when you actually see yourself in the poses.

Three other superior yoga books that I suggest (and I own upwards of 30) are (1) for beginners and people with limited range of motion [i.e., lacking flexibility], “The Runner’s Yoga Book” by Jean Couch (2) for intermediate students “30 Essential Yoga Poses” by Judith Lasater and (3) for advanced students, teachers and anyone who wants a thorough physiological and anatomical understanding of the mechanics of yoga, “Anatomy of Hatha Yoga”, by H. David Coulter.

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