When Priya Iyer was scheduled to meet Dr Bharath Shankar, the co-founder of Chennai-based Heavenly Bodies, a posture alignment clinic, she went with research and a bulky folder of all alternative and mainstream medical reports she had filed for her lower back pain. The 43-year-old had just one question to Dr Shankar: what kind of magical transformation (as people claim it to be) can you bring about that an orthopaedic can’t?
At the end of the appointment, she was surprised. Both Dr Shankar and his wife Preethi Bharath believe that a body should be seen as one unit; that when you suffer from pain, what needs to be treated is the cause, not the symptom.
The early days
Dr Shankar comes with an experience of over 15 years as a physical therapist. And, in fact, he is the first person to introduce posture alignment therapy in India, as is his wife. But the seeds for this venture were planted several years ago, when Dr Shankar injured his shoulder and realised (in front of a mirror) that it was tilted.
His findings led to a specialisation in sports sciences in the US, and a deep understanding of the human bio-mechanics, kinesiology, posture alignment and nutritional sciences. “We make our patients understand that the cause of the pain is usually not located at the site of the pain. That, if the body posture is aligned, the organs start functioning properly and the body through a self-mechanism brings itself back to the form,” Dr Shankar says. Not less than an year ago, they had conducted a survey in the city to find out what kind of health problems people faced. “We noticed that over 90 per cent of them suffered from muscular skeletal dysfunction, and tried to treat it with pain killers and other therapies, without realising that they were treating the symptoms only,” he says.
While explaining this, Dr Shankar adds a word of caution. That, what he and his trainers believe can be recovered is a muscular pain, and not auto-immune diseases.
Brushing shoulders with the eminent
“Have you heard of Bob Cooley?” he enquires. Then, he goes on to narrate an interesting anecdote. Typically, world class Olympic swimmers begin at 13 or 14 years of age, and retire by 18. But Dr Shankar’s trainer, Bob Cooley, popularly known for authoring The Genius of Flexibility, was a startling exception. “He once trained Dara Torres, who was all of 33 and never competed in Olympics. She spent just two weeks with them, trained in ‘resistance stretching’, and went on to win the gold medal soon after that,” he says.
At the clinic, you’ll notice his photographs with Ratan Tata, and a line of framed articles speaking of his many testaments of treating athletes and eminent people the world over. While he indulges in those moments for a brief period, he soon snaps into a dialogue about the importance of good posture. “I can’t really share tips about how to sit, or walk or what exercise to do. Because every body is different and needs to be treated differently. But with good posture should also come a solid nutritional intake, the raw material,” he says.
Taking a customised approach
While the duo has been running the clinic since 2004, their team of trainers have begun to offer customised solutions; for dancers, swimmers, schools and athletes in varied fields. In fact, not long ago, Dr Shankar trained five athletes from the YMCA, and prepared them for sporting championships.
The objective of the treatment is not just to correct the posture, but to make people independent. “I have patients who’ve been in touch with me for a decade. They don’t have to visit the clinic every time. Just an exercise chart, and simple exercises every day will do,” he says.