Blog | Gokhale Method® - Primal Posture™ for a Pain-Free Life

Family Cycling: That’s How We Roll

Tiffany Mann

July, 2022

The Graves family have just completed the “D2R2” fundraiser ride. Their son is just 9 years old—the family that rides together, has fun together!

Cycling has been a passionate sport and hobby of mine for decades. I am no longer a professional bike racer; I am now a mother and Gokhale Method® teacher. As a result, I have become more observant of what can “go wrong”, posturally speaking, when riding a bicycle. And I work to improve my posture as I pedal. For example, it takes vigilance to keep my shoulders back and my head aligned with my torso. I now know how cycling can enhance my form, and vice versa. I also enjoy modeling key posture principles to guide my daughters and partner so that they too can be comfortable and healthy on a bicycle. Cycling is a part of family life In this blog post I would like to share with you some of the cycling activities and posture tips that have benefitted us as a family. Prior to parenthood, my partner and I raced and trained together for many years, traveling to quite a few states and even abroad to indulge our passion. When our daughters were born we decided that, at least in our busy city, Somerville, MA (the most densely-populated city on the Eastern Seaboard, USA!), we would get about with them on bicycles instead of driving. Read more

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The Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting, Part 1: The Inspiration behind a New TV Show

Esther Gokhale

June, 2022

Gokhale Method teacher Eric Fernandez enjoys a more reclined version of the highly therapeutic stretchsitting technique.

People are sitting poorly and continue to blame sitting for their back pain. We believe the solution to this problem is more urgently needed than ever… and that the solution is now more readily available than ever, given one of the Gokhale Institute’s recent projects. I am excited to tell you about The Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting, a pledge show we made with producer Frank Zamacona for American Public Television (APT).

Sitting has become a problem
In recent years people have become confused about and even afraid of sitting. Sitting is considered problematic in our society, both because it is associated with an unhealthy level of inactivity, and because it is generally done with poor posture, leading to discomfort and pain. Read more

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Secrets to Pain-Free Sitting

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Running: Part 4: Taking care of your knees

Michelle Ball, Gokhale Method teacher

May, 2022

Here you can see me about to land midfoot with a bent front knee.

Welcome to the fourth blog post in our series on running. My name is Michelle Ball, and I am a Gokhale Method® teacher living in Tasmania. I am also a lifelong runner and am passionate about sharing the benefits of healthy posture with the running community, be that beginners, seasoned runners, or everyone in between. Even if you don’t run, but do want happy, pain-free knees well into old age, this blog post is for you!

Common knee injuries and pathologies
As hinge joints situated in the middle of long, weight-bearing limbs, knees can be vulnerable to injuries. Let’s take a look at some common knee problems, and their solutions…

Ligament tears may result from twists, or the sudden changes of direction that are common in soccer or basketball—or from an awkward landing while running. Read more

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How the Gokhale Method Solved my Neck Pain and Transformed my Life

Felicia Grimke

May, 2022

Applying Gokhale Method techniques such as this healthy stance, I continue to tease out residual sway and rounding in my spine as I massage my clients!

I am an acupuncturist and massage therapist who specializes in assisting individuals with chronic pain. Over my 30 years in the profession I had been exposed to hundreds of continuing education classes but had never heard of the Gokhale Method®. I suffered with cervical stenosis, multiple herniations, and bone spurs My battle with cervical stenosis (a narrowing of the neural canal in the neck, causing compression of the nerves), multiple cervical herniations, and osteophytes (bone spurs) began 40 years ago, all of which progressively worsened over time. Read more

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Comparing and Contrasting the Herman Miller Aeron Chair and the Gokhale Pain-Free™ Chair

Esther Gokhale

April, 2022

I frequently get questions about what makes a good office chair. Of course, some office chairs are primarily fashioned for style and aesthetic appeal. In general, I would say these may be easy on the eye, but over time are hard on the body! Ergonomic chairs People frequently ask my opinion on how various ergonomic chairs on the market might help them. This makes sense given the rising prevalence of back pain¹. “Ergonomic” means that something is designed primarily for the health, comfort, and protection of users. Among the specific chairs people ask me about, the Herman Miller Aeron Chair tops the list. To answer efficiently, I like to compare and contrast it with the chair I designed, the Gokhale Method Pain-Free™ chair, as this embodies the posture principles confirmed by my research and experience. Read more

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Herman Miller Aeron Chair

Gokhale Method Pain-Free Chair

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How Not To Do Yoga

Esther Gokhale

April, 2022

Gokhale Method teacher Lang Liu shows how anchoring your rib cage prevents swaying and encourages healthy articulation at L5-S1.

This blog post explains how some common yoga injuries occur and how applying the principles of healthy posture to yoga postures replaces this scenario with movements that are good for your body. Yoga postures and back pain Growing up in Mumbai, India, my Dutch mother was a student of BKS Iyengar and the Satyananda yogis, and keen for me also to learn yoga asanas, or postures. I practiced, and, being reasonably athletic as a child and already trained in Indian classical dance (Bharata Natyam), did not find it particularly difficult to choreograph the back bends, forward bends, and twists that were asked of me. I became a yoga model, demonstrating postures alongside visiting swamis’ presentations to induce the audience to sign up for upcoming yoga courses. Read more