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My Quest for a "Just Right" Chair

Gokhale Pain-Free™ Chair
May, 2013
American philosopher-poet Henry David Thoreau wrote in the "Visitors" chapter of Walden, his 1854 account of his life in a cabin he built on the edge of Walden Pond, near Concord Massachusetts: "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." I'm a fan of Thoreau, and I favor simplicity. And although I have more than three chairs in my house, I have just one type of chair that has become "go-to seating" for most solitary and social activities--not just for me, but for family members, friends, and co-workers. The chair is the Gokhale Pain-Free™ Chair, and I designed it myself. Read more

Pregnancy and Lower Back Pain

The lumbar spine is the region of the spine between the rib cage and the pelvis
May, 2013
I'm reaching out to pregnant women today, because I've been reflecting on a clinical study that captures the scope of the problem of lower back (lumbar) pain in expectant mothers and because I have all too vivid memories of how lower back and sciatic pain affected me when I was nine-months pregnant with my first child. This crippling pain continued for a year, at which point I had back surgery that provided only temporary relief. This painful chapter in my life is what started me on my path to understanding the causes and treatments for back pain. Read more

How to Modify Your Car Seat For a Pain-Free Ride

December, 2016

Most of us spend a good deal of time in our cars, commuting, chauffeuring kids around, doing errands, or if we’re lucky, heading out to an adventure spot. Much of this time is spent being physically uncomfortable, especially if the car was manufactured in the last decade. There seems to be a downward spiral of poor posture and design that reflects poor posture - which in turn worsens posture. How can we break this cycle?

Drawing of gap between head and head restraint; Photo of man with gap between head and head restraint
The industry standard for human form reflects the average in society: shoulders forward, S-shaped spine, and forward head. Car seats are designed to fit these features.

A checklist for healthy posture when driving includes:

  1. Shoulders:  back and down
  2. Neck: elongated and stacked over the
  3. ... Read more

The Story of the Stretchsit® Cushion

April, 2017

Earlier in the history of our company, we didn’t intend to create any posture products and thought education alone would be sufficient. We still stand by our philosophy that education is the most important ingredient in restoring primal posture.  


Posture braces, seat cushions, and shirts are not able to take the place of hands-on coaching to establish posture ideals or healthy ways of getting to those ideals. The Gokhale Method trains people on the look and feel of healthy posture; now you can choose aids wisely to support you.

... Read more

Holiday Poem

December, 2017

Written by Lori Szalay, Gokhale Method Teacher

 

Here’s a little story I’d like to tell,

Some of you may know it well…..

 

Twas the day of the Foundations Course and all through the room,

Backs, necks, shoulders and much more were aching and there was a feeling of doom.

The stretchsit cushions were attached on the chairs with care,

A Posture Poised Teacher was there with knowledge to share.

 

The students knew they would learn to stretchlie to be comfortable in their beds,

As visions of a pain-free life continued to dance in their heads!

With compressed spines, slouchy shoulders and many with rounded backs,

Each had their own concern yet all eager to learn the posture modification facts.

 

When they lengthened their spines and used the stretchsit cushion for traction,

They sighed with... Read more