Transcript: Four out of five Americans will endure a serious episode of back pain at some point in their lives. Why do so many of us suffer from back discomfort?  One of the main reasons we experience back pain is because we sit in chairs. It's really that simple! Even though millions of years of evolution have designed our spines to do otherwise, we eat, travel and sit in chairs for hours at a time.  Sitting on the floor cross-legged, as is standard in many developing countries, is much better for our backs. This forces the spine into perfect alignment and maintains flexibility in the hips. For this reason, back pain is much less common in Asian nations.  Our modern chair-bound lifestyle cramps and stresses our spinal discs, weakens back muscles and reduces hip flexibility. It is clinically proven that the less flexibility one has in the hips, the more back pain will result.  To understand why our backs hurt, it helps to look at the how this part of the body works.  The back is made up of layers of interwoven muscle that wrap around the S-shape of the spine. The spine has twenty-four vertebrae connected by facet joints. The vertebrae are cushioned by shock-absorbing pads, called intervertebral discs. These discs fill with fluid that absorbs shocks and dissipates the energy of harsh impacts.  When we're born, this shock-absorbing fluid is 80 percent water. But as we age, these discs gradually lose water and turn brittle. This is one of the underlying causes of persistent back pain and loss of flexibility.  This natural aging process, combined with our chair-bound lifestyles, contributes to our back pain epidemic. Another surprising cause of back pain is actually, “all in our heads.”  A relaxed, balanced posture is the key to a pain-free back. To achieve this healthy stance, a group of cells, called proprioceptors, send data to the brain regarding the proper position and alignment of muscles.  But in our hectic lives, we often don't stop to listen to the signals our bodies send us. The more we ignore these signals, the worse our posture-and our pain-becomes. To test your own body and mind connection, try this.  Stand on one leg with your arms extended at shoulder height. You'll notice a little wobble, but probably nothing you can't control. Now, increase the difficulty by closing your eyes.  The better your mind/body connection, the longer you'll be able to maintain this position. This exercise demonstrates that the mind is a vital instrument in maintaining healthy balance in the back.  Wheter it is from consistent poor posture, excessive chair sitting, or just from the natural process of aging, back pain is all too commmon.  The good news is: there's help for chronic back pain! For more information on treating and preventing chronic pain, cheeck out my book, Back RX a 15 minute a day yoga and pilates based program to end low back pain or other wideos in this series. Remember to please see your doctor immediately if you are experinceing persistent back pain.