Walk Yourself Well: Eliminate Back Pain, Neck, Shoulder, Knee, Hip and Other Structural Pain Forever-Without Surgery or Drugs

Given the exotic nature of so many bodywork practices, readers will be surprised to learn that they can improve their health and well-being with something as simple as walking. But that's just what Los Angeles physical therapist Brourman asserts here. Walking isn't just a great physical and meditative exercise, she points out, it's the physical activity we do most often. And just as imbalance, poor posture and untoned muscles can lead to painful injuries, correcting the way you walk and strengthening and stretching your muscles can speed your recovery or prevent you from getting hurt in the first place. Because Brourman doesn't have the luxury of seeing every reader personally, a great deal of the book is devoted to diagnosing and solving individual gait problems--something that can be done, she says, because the standards of human symmetry are the same for everyone. "The truth is that height, weight, proportions, age, sex, and all other human features and options don't change the basic elements of a symmetrical walk," she writes. The instructions are reasonably easy to follow (although some readers may be disconcerted by a common experience--when you start thinking about how you should be doing something you do every day, you start to "forget" how you did it in the first place). Those who are suffering from pain in such places as the back and the knees may be most motivated to follow Brourman's instructions, but she makes it clear that just about everyone can benefit from a good walk.