Several years ago a wellness study of individuals with back pain was done at a Fortune 100 company. The one factor they all had in common? They were all unhappy with their jobs!

Do I really advocate you quit your job to eliminate you back pain? No.

But, what I do suggest that you move. Many people who develop back pain stop moving that area because it’s painful, or they become fearful that they will hurt themselves again. I know, I was one of them.

But, when you stop moving a body part, you lose awareness in that part of the body (we call that sensory motor amnesia, or SMA). Once you lose the awareness in one part of your body, you are likely to stop taking part in activities that would involve that body part, which starts limiting the scope of what you can do – and it becomes a slippery slope. It only takes a few months for the acute portion of an injury to heal, but the pain and fear of movement can stay with us forever — unless we re-educate ourselves.

For this Move It Monday, I want you to move your back. Because the back is a really touchy area, I have a couple of ground rules first.

• Never move in to pain. If anything you are doing makes the back pain worse, stop. You can try again with slower or smaller movements. If it still hurts, don’t do it.

• Do not contradict your doctor. I do not know you or your specific situation, so if your doctor has told you not to do back exercises, don’t.

Now that we’ve established the ground rules, here is what I want you to do:

1. Stand up nice and tall. If you’d rather sit, really tall in your chair. Think of pushing the crown of your head up through the ceiling. We call this “lengthening.”
2. Arms straight out to your sides. Re-lengthen.
3. Rotate your trunk gently and slowly left and right. Think about rotating then entire length from the pelvis on up to the base of your neck. Re-lengthen.
4. Rotate back and forth three to four times in each direction, taking your time with every rotation. It’s about the quality of the movement.
5. Return back to facing straight ahead. Brings your arms down for a minute and shake them out.
6. Now, arms back up, and re-lengthen.
7. Now, I want you to glide your back side to side – as if you are trying to reach your fingertips for something that is just out of reach. Visualize each vertebrae stair-stepping over to the side, and be sure to keep the pelvis square while you do this.
8. Glide back and forth three to four times in each direction – gently, slowly, and deliberately. Again, the quality of the movement is much more important than the speed or how far you go. Re-lengthen between each repetition.
9. Put your arms down.
10. Get up and go for a walk for a minute or two. Do you feel any different?

Many clients report feeling much better, taller, more relaxed. Tell me how it goes for you?