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When, Why, and How to Use a Back Brace

Esther Gokhale
February, 2019

A back brace can be an invaluable support that staves away compression in the spine, and spares a vulnerable person significant damage and back pain. A back brace can also become a crutch that allows you to become weaker, less able to support your own structure, and heading into a downward spiral of dysfunction.

Ideally, your inner corset is strong enough and has enough endurance to protect your spine during all your activities. In this case, no external corset or brace is required. But there are situations in which an external device is useful or necessary.

 


There are many different kinds of back braces out there.

 

A back brace as a training device or coach

Back braces can be pretty snug, especially the ones with built-in pulley systems (see recommendations... Read more

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Posture Alone Does Not a Healthy Body Make

Esther Gokhale
February, 2019

In my experience, there are four important pillars of wellness: healthy diet, exercise/movement, posture, and community. In the general population, posture is the least recognized of these pillars. Gokhale Method aficionados don’t have this blindspot; they understand the importance of healthy posture well. What is sometimes not understood is that you need more than healthy posture to cover your musculoskeletal needs. Healthy posture is a base on which you need to build an active life. Especially in modern contexts, which sometimes allow you to fulfill almost all your duties from behind a computer screen, it takes some reflection on how you can supplement, edit, and weave healthy movement into your life.

I was originally trained in a posture tradition that looked down upon exercise as a juvenile and unnecessary pursuit. I would frequently hear that “sport is for kids” and that I “shouldn’t have time for things like running and swimming.”... Read more

What's the Best Way to Stretch Your Hamstrings?

Esther Gokhale
January, 2019

I get this question quite often. The answer is two-fold:

  1. Maintain a healthy baseline length in your hamstrings/glutes by learning to tip your pelvis forward in stacksitting, tallstanding, and glidewalking. When you tuck your pelvis, you bring your ischial tuberosities (sitz bones) in closer to where these muscles attach on the leg. This allows the hamstrings/glutes to adapt to a short resting length. Short hamstrings make you more vulnerable to hamstring injuries when you perform motions that require normal or elongated hamstrings. Tears can happen within the muscle, or, more commonly, where the hamstrings attach to the ischial tuberosities.

 ... Read more

Perseverance Prevails

Mary Walsh (guest author)
January, 2019

By: Mary Walsh, guest author

“Ishi no ue nimo sannen” is a Japanese proverb that roughly means “perseverance prevails.” Even the coldest stone will warm up after someone has sat on it for three years — so the saying goes.

So far, my three-year Gokhale Method journey has been all I knew it would be — and much more. When I first heard about the Gokhale Method (on NPR), the blend of art, cultural anthropology, and physiology seemed like a perfect way to combat the ravages of what time, gravity, and bad alignment — despite my best efforts — had wreaked on my body.

 

 
I've kept the Japanese proverb in mind during my Gokhale Method journey.

 

The negative... Read more

The Tale Your Feet Tell

Esther Gokhale
December, 2018

If you lead an active lifestyle, you are probably familiar with buildups of toughened skin, most commonly on your feet. Besides giving your pedicurist a measurable and objective occupation, those leathery, flaky patches of skin tell a tale of how you bear weight in standing, walking, and other activities.

 


Your feet’s visible signs of buildup and abrasion can give insight into your gait and stance. Photo courtesy Unsplash.

 

Skin and bones toughen in response to stress. Appropriate stress causes appropriate toughening (strong bones and thick skin), while undue stress causes undue toughness (arthritic spurs in bones, calluses and corns in skin). If we are knowledgeable we can read into our habits by examining our skin and bones.

Take a look at your feet. The most common areas... Read more

Learning the Gokhale Method Online

Clare Chapman
December, 2018

Ideally, there would be a Gokhale Method teacher in every town. That way everyone could take their Foundations Course alongside an experienced teacher in the traditional way, with easy communication and plenty of hands-on guidance — plus the fun of a class atmosphere. In fact, we do our level best to make this a reality, and can usually arrange a course in any town where there is enough demand. If you have a group of friends or colleagues wanting to learn, you can even request classes in your town right now!

But sometimes traveling to a course — for students or teachers — is not the answer. It may be that someone lives remotely or has responsibilities that make traveling impossible. So, even while the Gokhale Method... Read more

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