Esther Gokhale (GO-clay) has been involved in integrative therapies all her life. As a young girl growing up in India, she helped her mother, a nurse, treat abandoned babies waiting to be adopted. This early interest in healing led her to study biochemistry at Harvard and Princeton and, later, acupuncture at the San Francisco School of Oriental Medicine.
After experiencing crippling back pain during her first pregnancy and unsuccessful back surgery, Gokhale began her lifelong crusade to vanquish back pain. Her studies at the Aplomb® Institute in Paris and years of research in Brazil, India, Portugal and elsewhere led her to develop the Gokhale Method, a unique, systematic approach to help people find their bodies’ way back to pain-free living.
Gokhale practiced acupuncture and taught posture, dance, and yoga in her Palo Alto wellness center for over twenty years. The Gokhale Method continues to grow as qualified Gokhale Method teachers now teach the method worldwide.
Gokhale's book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, has sold over 150,000 copies and has been translated into ten languages. In 2010, Gokhale hosted the nationally televised program Back Pain: The Primal Posture Solution (available on DVD).
Gokhale has taught at corporations such as Google, IDEO, Varian Medical Systems, and Facebook Inc. She has also presented at conferences including TEDx(Stanford), Ancestral Health Symposium, Weston Price Foundation Conference, and PrimalCon. She continues to speak with physician groups including Stanford, PAMF, UCSF and has consulted for the trainers of the SF 49ers and several Stanford sports teams.
In May 2013, The New York Times featured Esther in an article giving her the title, “The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley”.
Esther Gokhale lives on Stanford University campus where she raised three children with her husband Brian White, professor in the Math Department.
Awards:
1978 Dean’s honor list at Harvard University
2008 Foreword Silver Award for best health book
2009 Nautilus Gold Award for best Pilates/Tai Qi/Yoga/bodywork book
2009 Ippy Bronze Award for best health book