Table of Contents
This book is dedicated
To my father, Richard Murphy Pullig, M.D., who gave me a thirst for knowledge, an appreciation of the joy of learning, and his personal example of helping those in pain.
To my yoga teacher, the Honorable B.K.S. Iyengar, who has unselfishly shared with me and his yoga students around the world the knowledge and experience he has gained through fifty years of teaching back patients.
To my husband, Walter Frederick Schatz, whose steadfast love and patient companionship have helped make this book a reality.
Acknowledgments
In addition to those mentioned in the dedication, I gratefully acknowledge the following for their contributions to this work:
The dedicated men and women who were my teachers and mentors at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Louisiana State University School of Medicine, for giving me the Western medical background through which I could understand and appreciate the therapeutic efficacy of yoga;
My patients and students, for helping me learn to teach and to recognize the importance of the therapeutic transformations that yoga can bring about;
Anne Cushman, for her editorial professionalism, her devotion to yoga, and her gentle ways;
Carol Nelson and Franois Raoult for their enthusiasm and their tireless energy during long photo shoots;
Clark Thomas for his photographic expertise, his commitment to excellence, and his creative talent;
Bill Myers for his beautiful and informative drawings;
Lynne Denny for her swift and accurate secretarial support;
Betty Larson for her well-educated knees;
Donna Gurchiek for her radiant pregnant presence;
Susan Underwood, P.T., for her positive suggestions about the manuscript;
Judith Lasater, Ph.D., R.P.T., for starting me on the road to postural improvement;
Linda Cogozzo and Donald Moyer, my publishers, for their vision and tenacity in bringing this book to fruition.
Foreword
Yoga, which means union or harmony, is both a philosophical system and a science whose goal is the attainment of self-awareness. With its beginnings enshrouded in the prehistory of India, evidence of yoga practices has been found in the Indus Valley civilization of 2,000 to 4,000 B.C.E. Although ancient, yoga is not outdatedit has value for the modern world. Yoga offers us the opportunity to deepen our self-understanding through physical movement, breathing, and meditation. The medical applications of yoga are numerous: It can help those with heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, musculoskeletal problems, and, in particular, with the prevention and treatment of back pain.
The human back reflects acutely and chronically the disharmonies of our sedentary Western lifstyle. Back problems are a major health problem in our culture. They are responsible for the disability and pain of millions of Americans, and account for a large share of the health-care dollar. Dr. Mary Schatz provides us with a solution to our modern dilemma in Back Care Basics. She brings to her book both unusual and splendid qualifications. Dr. Schatz is a board-certified pathologist as well as chief of her hospitals medical staff in Nashville, Tennessee. She is, therefore, well-grounded in her understanding of the pathology of the diseased back. More important, she herself suffered from back pain and learned, through yoga, how to correct the problem and restore herself to good health. In this process, she studied with master yoga teacher B.K.S. Iyengar of Pune, India, who taught her how to modify traditional yoga poses to make them safer to practice during times of acute back distress. Back Care Basics reflects Dr. Schatzs many years of experience in applying the principles of yoga patients with back pain. She has indeed become a specialist.
I can empathize with Dr. Schatzs experience since my own life has been enriched by my four years of yoga study. My chronic hip pain, which limited my hiking considerably, has completely disappeared with daily yoga exercises. My outlook has also changed as my body, mind, and spirit become more united in purpose and achievement.
Back Care Basics is an important book for the medical profession to consider most carefully, as it is for those with back problems to integrate into their daily lives. More and more medical practitioners are finding that yoga can benefit their patients. I regularly refer my patients with coronary heart disease, obesity, and musculoskeletal problems to qualified yoga teachers, and they are encouraged with the results. Dr. Schatz has done us all a tremendous service in bringing this time-honored system of healing to our attention.
William Connor, M.D.
Professor and Head of Clinical Nutrition
Department of Medicine,
Oregon Health Sciences University
January, 1992
Preface
In Back Care Basics, Mary Pullig Schatz, M.D., helps to guide and educate those suffering with back pain. While explaining back problems from the viewpoint of Western medicine, she offers a comprehensive approach to self-care and healing using the ancient science of yoga.
Yoga develops the health of the body and the clarity of the mind. It also has therapeutic value, providing ways of preventing and curing diseases. Yoga enables the various parts of the body to function in harmony, keeps the cellular system healthy, and improves circulation and respirationthe main vehicles of health.
Dr. Schatz has demonstrated the efficacy of yoga by blending the thoughts of the West with those of the East. She has described the construction of the spinal column with its vertebrae and its protecting muscles in a clear and simple way, so that all can easily understand its functioning. She has given correct cautions to observe while exercising and stresses the importance of rehabilitation after injury and surgery. Her well-defined emphasis on alignment is beautiful.
I hope that Back Care Basics will encourage other health-care professionals to study alternative approaches to healing back pain. I am happy to have contributed to Dr. Schatzs book. If it helps suffering people, as well as those who care for them, I shall feel even more delighted for having participated in its creation.
B.K.S. Iyengar
Pune, India
January, 1992
Begin with Caution
This book is designed to help those with pain from chronic musculoskeletal back and neck strain, spinal arthritis, osteoporosis, premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy, and scoliosis. The information contained in this book is not intended as a substitute for medical treatment.
Do not begin practicing the exercises in this book until you have studied Chapters 1 through 4 of the book, and have obtained a thorough evaluation of your condition and advice about the exercises from a qualified health-care professional who is familiar with them.
Consult your health-care advisor:
If you experience a worsening in severity or duration of pain after beginning this program
If pain persists even when you are lying down in one of the Relaxation poses
If headache, vomiting, or fever develops in association with back pain
If back pain is associated with loss of bladder or bowel control
If one or both legs or arms develop weakness or numbness
