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Teaching My 95-Year-Old Lithuanian Mom the Gokhale Method, Part 2

June, 2020
My mom had beautiful posture when she was young, as you can see in the photo above. Healthy posture has helped her age well. After working with some Gokhale Method techniques, her pain has subsided. She now sleeps better and has more energy. I recently took the opportunity to teach her a new technique to help with her housework. One is never too old to learn a few Gokhale Method tricks. And we never know what changes are possible until we try! Read more

Old Family Photos are a Great Posture Tool: Part 4: From Abroad

February, 2022

This is the fourth blog post in our series on old family portraits and photographs. Previously we have looked at how antique images can inspire us to improve our posture in the Upper Body, Lower Body, and Small Bends. Here we are going to focus on how old family photos from abroad make a special contribution to our posture knowledge.

Photographs as historical evidence
Antique photographs are often notable for the healthy posture they capture. Even images taken well into the twentieth century are likely to show healthier posture than we see around us today.
In the US you have to go back several generations to reliably find images of healthy posture, and usually even to a time when photography was not widely available due to its elaborate processes and cost. Had the first immigrants to North America settled later, we would have much more photographic evidence of their intact posture. As it is, we have rare but valuable examples from the 1840s onward. Read more

Success Story: Julia Leete Rabin

March, 2022
ALL OF ME In December 2020 I received an email from Gokhale Method® offering a five-day trial period of exercise classes and dance parties with posture lessons. Every day for five days! I was thrilled to receive this email and joined on January 1st. From day one I knew I had found something very special. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I swam to stave off the pain I felt in my back and hips. But when the virus struck I wasn’t able to swim. Eventually my back pain returned to being constant. This showed me that being dependent on an external circumstance, swimming in this case, to feel good, could not give me everything that I needed to heal. Read more

Family Cycling: That’s How We Roll

July, 2022
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

“It Takes a Village” for Healthy Posture

June, 2023
The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” is thought to originate from an ancient African proverb. As I have grown into being a parent, uncle, and beyond, I have realized that this quote extends to any age. I have directly experienced this with my own posture journey—my own family “village” has helped me and others dear to me find a near pain-free life through the Gokhale Method®. My Story: Annoying Body Pains Were Affecting My Fun In Life In my late thirties, a stream of inflammatory pains permeated my body, including back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, and—worst of all—plantar fasciitis in my foot. While these weren't absolutely crippling pains, they were painful enough to keep me from enjoying life as I gave up my favorite hobbies—tennis, golf, and playing the piano. I visited numerous renowned doctors in California. They genuinely tried to help, but nothing resolved my pain. So I began searching for other solutions. The Key Find: Esther’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back In 2012 I bought Esther’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, as it was highly recommended on Amazon. Read more