We were given minute timers, to time ourselves in differing positions, we had to time how long we could be in each position before the pain got bad. At first I could only do one or two minutes in each position, ie sitting, standing, walking, lying on front, and lying on back. We then had to put the timer on to buzz when we reached that time limit, after a week of doing that we then had to try extending the period by a few seconds at a time, providing it didn't cause extra pain.

We had exercises to do 3 times each day to build up our muscles to help support the spine.

Over the six weeks of the course, I managed to increase my times to 4 minutes standing, 10 minutes sitting (in an upright chair), 10 minutes walking, 3 minutes lying on my front, adn 5 minutes lying on my back.

These times are difficult to maintain in the course of a normal day, as everything I wan't/need to do takes longer than the allocated time, and it is not always possible to change to the alternative position when out of my own home, but it does in fact help me if I can stick to it as much as is possible.

I would recommend this to anyone, it has helped me immensely, the main difference being that I do not overrest now, tempting as it is to rest when the pain is bad, to avoid making it worse. I think the fear of making the pain worse is more to the point, as it actually does make the pain ease when I do keep changing positions particularly during flare ups.

In general I have been a lot more active lately though, I haven't needed to use my wheelchair much recently, only when I wan't to go further than my alloted time allows, or when I can't get to places by car. But on the whole I am feeling so much better in myself.