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Healing Back Pain Naturally: The Mind-Body Program Proven to Work
After suffering from back pain for twenty years, Dr. Art Brownstein shares the cure that worked for him and thousands of others.
Back pain is a global epidemic and the number one cause of disability in the US for people under forty-five. Seven out of ten people in the US will suffer serious back pain at some stage in their lives.
Sharing his own story of surgery, painkiller dependency, and severe depression, Dr. Brownstein guides you through the recovery program that gave him his life back. Today, he runs a medical practice, bikes, surfboards, teaches yoga, and leads an active life—free of pain!
Dr. Brownstein covers topics such as The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back, Your Mind, Your Body and Back Pain, Moving Past Your Pain, The Back to Life Stretching Program, Strengthening Your Back, Stress Management for Your Back, Eating for a Healthy Back, Back to Work: Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Back to Play: An Essential Ingredient for Healing, Back to Life: Emotional and Spiritual lessons for Healing, and special sections on emergency back care, recommended reading and resources.
Back pain is a global epidemic and the number one cause of disability in the US for people under forty-five. Seven out of ten people in the US will suffer serious back pain at some stage in their lives.
Sharing his own story of surgery, painkiller dependency, and severe depression, Dr. Brownstein guides you through the recovery program that gave him his life back. Today, he runs a medical practice, bikes, surfboards, teaches yoga, and leads an active life—free of pain!
Dr. Brownstein covers topics such as The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back, Your Mind, Your Body and Back Pain, Moving Past Your Pain, The Back to Life Stretching Program, Strengthening Your Back, Stress Management for Your Back, Eating for a Healthy Back, Back to Work: Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Back to Play: An Essential Ingredient for Healing, Back to Life: Emotional and Spiritual lessons for Healing, and special sections on emergency back care, recommended reading and resources.
- GenresHealthNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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121 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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May 7, 2024Not the worst book for chronic pain but also not the best. The actual advice aligns with my medical team's methods, but it comes packaged in a pretty simplified look at one type of isolated pain. Not sure if I agree with the starting premise that all pain can be healed, and the section on food was predictably anti-fat, lacked nuance, and oversimplified nutrition to the point of harm imo.
July 5, 2017
More conventional than Sarno, so if you're skeptical (I'm not), lots of good advice....
November 13, 2012
My father has had three spine surgeries to date, and as a yoga teacher, I've wondered what I could do to help him while at the same time fearing to damage his back further. My friend Kyle recommended this book. Dr. Brownstein's program is one that a yoga teacher can really get behind, focusing not just on recovering from physical injury, but on the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of healthy living as well.
Dr. Brownstein begins the book by telling the story of his own struggles with debilitating back pain and his journey to recovery. His experiences give him a special understanding of what those with back pain are suffering. Because of his own search for healing, Dr. Brownstein has a unique perspective on how to heal from a back injury and prevent future problems.
Dr. Brownstein's program for healing is based on his concept of the mind/body connection, described in chapters 2 and 3. According to Dr. Brownstein, mental and emotional stress can result in an increase in muscle tension and tightness, leading to injury. Dr. Brownstein urges the reader not to overmedicate, or to leap ahead to treating back problems with surgery and other invasive techniques; rather, he advocates spending some time with the pain, to understand what's wrong and what the body is trying to communicate. It's important to understand how the back works physically, and chapter 2 describes back anatomy in detail so the reader will understand the structures and terminology and know how back pain can result from weakness, imbalance, or strain elsewhere in the body. But sometimes the best and most permanent solution to a back problem is to make changes to lifestyle and behaviors that cause stress.
This book covers the full lifestyle spectrum in Dr. Brownstein's approach to healing the back. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss the physical body. Chapter 4 includes a wide variety of stretches for the back; most of these are taken from yoga asanas, and may are simple and gentle enough to be done in the midst of back pain and can lead to some relief when done properly. Dr. Brownstein outlines how to use these stretches, in the order he lists them and over time, to regain mobility and reduce pain. Once the back has been fully stretched and the pain is gone, the reader can move on to strengthening the back as described in chapter 5. Back muscles that are both flexible AND strong are less likely to be pulled or strained.
Chapters 6-10 cover stress management, healthy eating, work, play, and spirituality as they relate to back care and overall health. Dr. Brownstein takes a holistic approach based on his mind/body concept: since anxiety and stress can affect the body, causing muscle tension and contributing to injury, it's important to heal not only the body but also the mind, heart, and spirit to truly recover from a back problem. By reducing stress, reducing caffeine intake, improving one's outlook on work, opening the heart in personal relationships, and cultivating a sense of humor and fun, the reader can improve her overall health and happiness and remove many of the stressors that can lead to future back pain and injury.
I've never suffered from a chronic pain condition, so I can't comment on the book's usefulness for those actively in pain. However, as a yoga teacher, this book helped me to understand better the perspective of someone in that kind of pain and gave me some tools to help those future students. I plan to buy a copy of this book for my dad as well.
Dr. Brownstein begins the book by telling the story of his own struggles with debilitating back pain and his journey to recovery. His experiences give him a special understanding of what those with back pain are suffering. Because of his own search for healing, Dr. Brownstein has a unique perspective on how to heal from a back injury and prevent future problems.
Dr. Brownstein's program for healing is based on his concept of the mind/body connection, described in chapters 2 and 3. According to Dr. Brownstein, mental and emotional stress can result in an increase in muscle tension and tightness, leading to injury. Dr. Brownstein urges the reader not to overmedicate, or to leap ahead to treating back problems with surgery and other invasive techniques; rather, he advocates spending some time with the pain, to understand what's wrong and what the body is trying to communicate. It's important to understand how the back works physically, and chapter 2 describes back anatomy in detail so the reader will understand the structures and terminology and know how back pain can result from weakness, imbalance, or strain elsewhere in the body. But sometimes the best and most permanent solution to a back problem is to make changes to lifestyle and behaviors that cause stress.
This book covers the full lifestyle spectrum in Dr. Brownstein's approach to healing the back. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss the physical body. Chapter 4 includes a wide variety of stretches for the back; most of these are taken from yoga asanas, and may are simple and gentle enough to be done in the midst of back pain and can lead to some relief when done properly. Dr. Brownstein outlines how to use these stretches, in the order he lists them and over time, to regain mobility and reduce pain. Once the back has been fully stretched and the pain is gone, the reader can move on to strengthening the back as described in chapter 5. Back muscles that are both flexible AND strong are less likely to be pulled or strained.
Chapters 6-10 cover stress management, healthy eating, work, play, and spirituality as they relate to back care and overall health. Dr. Brownstein takes a holistic approach based on his mind/body concept: since anxiety and stress can affect the body, causing muscle tension and contributing to injury, it's important to heal not only the body but also the mind, heart, and spirit to truly recover from a back problem. By reducing stress, reducing caffeine intake, improving one's outlook on work, opening the heart in personal relationships, and cultivating a sense of humor and fun, the reader can improve her overall health and happiness and remove many of the stressors that can lead to future back pain and injury.
I've never suffered from a chronic pain condition, so I can't comment on the book's usefulness for those actively in pain. However, as a yoga teacher, this book helped me to understand better the perspective of someone in that kind of pain and gave me some tools to help those future students. I plan to buy a copy of this book for my dad as well.
October 3, 2012
I've had back pain for years. I have sciatic joint stiffness and sometimes have spasms that will leave me on the floor for hours. I have tried chiropractic, physical therapy, massage and hot yoga. With all of that I have been able to keep the spasms at bay for over a year now but I haven't been able to get rid of the constant pain and stiffness in the si joint. My brother recommended this book. He used it to get through his back pain - 3 buldging discs which he was told he would have to have surgery in order to fix. He followed the stretching routing for a couple years and was able to avoid surgery and get rid of his pain.
On his recommendation I read this book. As a result, I changed my yoga routine. I hold positions longer, at least for one minute. I focus on positions that target my problem spots - hips and hamstrings. I sit all day and I think the hamstrings are the cause of my problems. I had not realized the connection until I read the book. I also added positions for the neck and arm as I have some shoulder and elbow problems. And finally, I added positions for enhancing the curve of the back.
I've been doing the stretches for about 3 weeks and already feel some relief from the pain. I would not label myself "fixed" yet. But, I'm thankful for the relief I've had thus far and am hopeful for continued progress.
I wasn't thrilled with the mental aspects of the book. I'm sure that is the skeptic in me. However, I will say that it is intriguing and I am curious to try it.
Sometimes the suggestions seemed to contradict themselves. Which made me a little skeptical of their validity. And there were a few things that were vague and could have used more explanations or possible ideas of how to implement.
But, overall, I would highly recommend it to anyone having back problems. I also think the mental discussion would be beneficial to anyone dealing with chronic pain.
Here's to healing!
On his recommendation I read this book. As a result, I changed my yoga routine. I hold positions longer, at least for one minute. I focus on positions that target my problem spots - hips and hamstrings. I sit all day and I think the hamstrings are the cause of my problems. I had not realized the connection until I read the book. I also added positions for the neck and arm as I have some shoulder and elbow problems. And finally, I added positions for enhancing the curve of the back.
I've been doing the stretches for about 3 weeks and already feel some relief from the pain. I would not label myself "fixed" yet. But, I'm thankful for the relief I've had thus far and am hopeful for continued progress.
I wasn't thrilled with the mental aspects of the book. I'm sure that is the skeptic in me. However, I will say that it is intriguing and I am curious to try it.
Sometimes the suggestions seemed to contradict themselves. Which made me a little skeptical of their validity. And there were a few things that were vague and could have used more explanations or possible ideas of how to implement.
But, overall, I would highly recommend it to anyone having back problems. I also think the mental discussion would be beneficial to anyone dealing with chronic pain.
Here's to healing!
April 28, 2025
If you are reading this review, you are probably looking for some pain relief. Keep reading. I've read a number of back books and there were always problems.
For example John Sarno's book tells you "hey, its all in your head. Go ahead and run. If it hurts you its because you've been taught to fear running because society tells you it can't be done with a bad back". Really?
A book on posture gives you 15 steps to sitting correctly, a dozen steps to sleep correctly, 92 steps to lift things correctly, 244 steps to walk correctly and so on. You never really know if you are doing it right and who can remember it all anyway.
This book was very different for me. It tells you simply what is likely going on but then actually gives you easy ways to help you recover. Primarily the advice to fix yourself focuses on stretching and some mental exercises for relaxation and to reduce stress. I added in a walk every single day to what he taught me and I've improved very rapidly since reading this book. The improvement only started when I stopped seeing my physical therapist and took these simple steps.
I upped my score from 4 to 5 stars in the couple weeks since I read the book because of how big a difference its made for me. Hope it works for you too!
For example John Sarno's book tells you "hey, its all in your head. Go ahead and run. If it hurts you its because you've been taught to fear running because society tells you it can't be done with a bad back". Really?
A book on posture gives you 15 steps to sitting correctly, a dozen steps to sleep correctly, 92 steps to lift things correctly, 244 steps to walk correctly and so on. You never really know if you are doing it right and who can remember it all anyway.
This book was very different for me. It tells you simply what is likely going on but then actually gives you easy ways to help you recover. Primarily the advice to fix yourself focuses on stretching and some mental exercises for relaxation and to reduce stress. I added in a walk every single day to what he taught me and I've improved very rapidly since reading this book. The improvement only started when I stopped seeing my physical therapist and took these simple steps.
I upped my score from 4 to 5 stars in the couple weeks since I read the book because of how big a difference its made for me. Hope it works for you too!
February 5, 2008
it's not been a good year for my back so far.
this book really was a great find. it's honest and real. it made me view my pain in a different way. with that said, there are WAY too many exercises in this book to memorize and be a 20 minute a day regime! it would take me 2 hours to get through them all. and most still hurt me to do. so i'm going back to it in a few more weeks.
still it was a bargain of a book and i'm glad to have it.
this book really was a great find. it's honest and real. it made me view my pain in a different way. with that said, there are WAY too many exercises in this book to memorize and be a 20 minute a day regime! it would take me 2 hours to get through them all. and most still hurt me to do. so i'm going back to it in a few more weeks.
still it was a bargain of a book and i'm glad to have it.
January 14, 2012
LOVE the many yoga-based stretches and strengthening exercises in here. Was also reminded about the importance of deep relaxation and meditative practices. The book could have been shorter and equally effective for me, but then it wouldn't have worked for some others whose problems are different than mine. So far, the practices in this book, plus regular yoga practice, are keeping me mostly pain-free!
August 20, 2007
This is a MUST READ for anyone who struggles with back pain and issues.
June 2, 2008
This is one of the very best helps when dealing with chronic back pain. A must read for people who suffer from frequent problems with back spasms.
September 3, 2010
This is a really good read for anyone suffering from back pain and considering having back surgery.
January 21, 2011
This is a great book. My back has really benefited thus far.
September 28, 2012
Very helpful for people with chronic back pain!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews