fashion

As we approach International Women’s Day on March 8, I would like to share a few observations regarding gender and health made over the past three decades of teaching posture. 

Does gender affect back pain?

Back pain and the posture distortions behind it are very democratic—people of all ages, activity levels, geographic locations, and gender are affected by cultural postural distortions. That said, some modern posture guidelines and expectations are gender-specific, and some of them affect women disproportionately. We will discuss posture guidelines for men another time. In this post, I’d like to address some of the messaging that is relentlessly addressed towards women and girls, and the consequences of this messaging. 

In our society back pain affects people across all social groups. Different groups can be affected disproportionately in particular ways. Image from Pexels

Fashion and posture

I think it’s fair to say that women are more subject to fashion and to its extremes than men. 

Conformity to fashion, and rebellion against it, has women, more than men, stuck with uncomfortable, biomechanically unhealthy, and impractical garb. Examples are: 

• High heels that deform the feet and prevent mobility
• Tight clothes that distort body alignment and restrict range of motion
• Eating lightly to be thin and retain teenage proportions 
• Encouraging women and men to unduly judge women by their appearance

 
Most fashion role models for women encourage an emaciated, weak physique, a tucked or forward pelvis, internally rotated legs, and forward shoulders and head. Images from X, Pixabay

One of the most damaging distortions perpetuated by the fashion industry is tucking the pelvis. This pose exploded onto the scene in the 1920s, and has been a look ever since. Perhaps a reaction against corseting and “stiff” pre–World War 1 fashions, it encouraged a relaxed but slouched posture, with a tucked tail, rounded shoulders, and forward head. 

This 1920s portrait shows the new “relaxed” posture which translates as tucking the pelvis, rounding the back, and jutting the head forward. (Photo of Eileen McCahon, New Zealand). Image from Unsplash

While tucking the pelvis is a problem for everybody vis-à-vis spinal health, when it comes to pelvic organ health, women have much more to lose! In addition to the rectum, which is at risk of prolapse in all genders, women are additionally at risk for a prolapsed uterus, vagina, and bladder, as well as urinary incontinence. Women also have a more vulnerable pelvic floor due to the stresses of pregnancy and childbearing. The wider female pelvis is also at higher risk of instability, with this effect amplified by the pregnancy hormone relaxin.

An anteverted pelvis (left) gives optimal support to internal pelvic organs and the connective tissues that hold them in place. A tucked pelvis (right) makes us more vulnerable to organ prolapse.

Pregnancy and the nursing of babies can bring with it yet more musculoskeletal challenges. The extra weight requires additional strength and resilience throughout the body. For example, weak abdominal muscles cause the spine to be pulled into a compressive sway, dangerously loading the spinal discs and nerves. While nursing and caring for an infant, it takes a strong inner corset and posture wisdom to lift, hold, and carry an infant well, or these actions too can cause significant damage. 

Several of our teachers, including myself, came to the Gokhale Method for solutions to pregnancy-related trials. These past blog posts reflect some of our experiences: Esther Gokhale and Julie Johnson, Esther Gokhale and MommaStrong, Esther Pohl, Janine Farzin. 

This young mother in Burkina Faso (left) is using her inner corset to remain tall, stable, and relaxed while carrying on her head with her baby on her back . Gokhale Method teacher Esther Pohl (right) found that traditional posture principles really work, and carried her second child much more comfortably.  

Outside of the physiological and anatomical considerations mentioned above, in my experience women are also disproportionately raised to be “good girls” and people-pleasing, and to conform to current social norms. Postural examples would be: 

• Craning the neck forward to signal empathy and attentiveness
• Turning the legs inward to be “modest”, which forces the pelvis to tuck, cultivates internal rotation of the legs and feet, and compromises circulation to the lower body
• Sitting and standing in ways that diminish size and surrender space, such as rounding the shoulders and stooping.

Body language and fashion norms for women often result in posture that diminishes their size, space, and sometimes, self-confidence. Image from Pixabay

Unless we have been subject to protection from poor posture by exposure to a strong and healthy postural tradition, we are likely to have acquired at least some of these disabling habits. When women set out on a journey into healthy posture it often awakens indignation as they gain awareness of the reasons for some of their aches and pains. This reaction can act as a useful spur to positive action. A healthy strategy going forward is about repairing the situation—and celebrating being an active woman enjoying a pain-free body. 

Aline was able to start making many empowering posture changes during her weekend Gokhale Foundations Course, and continues her journey of discovery.  

On March 12, 12 p.m. PST, my colleague Julie Johnson and I will be offering a special free online workshop called Women’s Empowerment Through Posture. Join us to discuss the issues raised by our many thousands of female students over the years—some of them mentioned here, and many more besides. 

We are excited that this workshop is the kick-off for a brand new Women’s Empowerment Through Posture campaign. For those joining our free online workshop live we will also have a special offer and will be unveiling a brand new offering! 

Best next action steps 

If you are new to the Gokhale Method, get started by booking a consultation, online, or in person with one of our teachers. 

You can sign up below to join any one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops…

This summer, with blockbuster success, Barbie is front and center! And yes, I did see the movie. I usually use dolls to talk about our physical characteristics, but their intended function is to teach emotional and social skills such as friendship, parenting, and play. Barbie the movie certainly emphasizes this aspect of the iconic doll in no subtle way! 

This blog post looks to dolls for some postural lessons, and also some emotional ones. Research such as a 2017 New Zealand study shows that posture connects with both our physical and emotional stance, and in our company we have come to embrace the deep relationship between posture and emotional health. So, over to Barbie, Wonder Woman, and friends. . .

Barbie, right now, is the most famous doll in the world. What can she, and other dolls, teach us about posture? Barbie is posed here with her first clothing designer, Charlotte Johnson, in 1965. Image: Wikimedia

Barbie

Launched at the NYC American International Toy Fair in 1959, Barbie was a single female archetype, white, fashionable, and slender. Over the decades, Barbie has reflected changing times; not just in fashion, but, more importantly, in how women’s lives have changed, and in representing the diversity of our population. For all its flaws, I think the film celebrated this while acknowledging how far there is to go. . .

This second Black Barbie was introduced in 1980, but still had Caucasian features. Hispanic Barbies were also introduced that year. Authentically styled African-American dolls joined the range from 2009. Image: Wikimedia

It strikes me that Barbie has, over the years, maintained an upright, open stance with a healthy posterior shoulder position and a tall neck. Her posture is closer to that of the children who play with her than their parents’, as in our culture, by adulthood, we are likely to have adopted a slumped posture. 

 
Young children instinctively sit and stack their spine in a healthy alignment. In later years, poor role models and time spent sitting on poor furniture usually result in a tucked pelvis and hunched posture that distends back ligaments and compresses discs and nerves. Images: Pixabay(left), Pixabay(right) 

Antique dolls

Among the Gokhale Method teachers who have developed a fascination for dolls and their posture, Aurelia Vaicekauskas has taken this to a new level in making her own, based on antique designs. When she began 20 years ago, she used FIMO for the head, arms and legs, and cloth for the body, and then got into paper-mache. She explains:

This was well before I encountered the Gokhale Method®, so they all had their necks curved, and chins pointing out. Once I started with the Gokhale Method, the unfinished heads that at the time were sitting on the shelf started to bother me. So I got to chiseling at the “offending” curvy necks. That’s my new project, to see what I can do to make them more posturally healthy.

Since learning about healthy posture, our Gokhale Method Teacher in the Chicago area, Aurelia Vaicekauskas, has been remodeling the dolls she makes. The older head (left) still has a more curved neck and raised chin. . .the larger, more recent one (right) has a taller, straighter neck, and its chin angles down. . . You can learn how to gently align and lengthen your neck here.

Aurelia notes that this antique Austrian doll from c.1850 has a typically tall, straight neck. (Image from The Complete Book of Doll Making and Collecting, by Catherine Christopher.)

A footballer doll by Schoenhut, 1915, U.S. These wooden dolls were the first in the world to have compressed spring metal joints and holes in their feet, which allowed them to be posed. Feet facing out rather than straight ahead was common until the second half of the twentieth century . (Image from The Complete Book of Doll Making and Collecting by Catherine Christopher.) 

Baby Dolls

For many of us, girls especially, our first introduction to dolls is not the teen or adult doll, but a baby doll. Often, the characteristics of healthy posture which are so clear in infants, such as externally rotated legs, posterior shoulders, open chest, and a centrally balanced head, are particularly well observed. 

“I just cannot take my eyes off her”
Our Gokhale Method teacher in France and Israel, Michal Tal, was thrilled to find this little vintage doll at a flea market last year. It's from the 20s or 30s, and the arms and legs are attached with elastic. Its form and posture closely matches that of the baby below.

The styling of dolls often reflects natural baby proportions—like the relatively large head size and disproportionately small hands and feet—and exaggerates them. Capturing a figure’s essential characteristics and magnifying them is an important aspect of any doll's appeal, including when they are fantasy characters—or even aliens!

This 1972 friction-driven Ultraman Ace and motorcycle from Japan shows more typically modern, slumped posture. From Japanese Toys! Kokeshi to Kaiju, San Francisco Airport, Terminal 3, 2013–14.

Antique dolls generally reflect the healthier posture of bygone eras. By contrast, modern dolls, especially from the 1960s onwards, reflect the tucked pelvis, rounded upper back, and forward head carriage that we have gradually drifted into and which is now so predominant that it passes as normal for our species. Barbie is a welcome exception to this pattern.

Wonder Woman

One of our regular 1-2-3 Move participants, Anita Medal, is a longtime fan and collector of Wonder Woman, and has generously shared her passion with us.

These dolls are just a small part of Anita’s Wonder Woman collection. It is interesting that some are modeled to have a more muscular, athletic appearance than others. Muscular contours, like the plumpness of babies, are much easier to replicate in modern plastics rather than wood.

1-2-3 Move participant Anita Medal showing us her original 1942 Wonder Woman doll.

Anita explains the personal inspiration and support she found in Wonder Woman in this interview. She points out that this was three years before she started her 1-2-3 Move sessions and was able to make her posture healthier:

Anita admires Wonder Woman’s qualities:

She fights for goodness, she fights for justice, but also she is wise like Athena—she has intelligence. She has physical strength, which I think is important. She’s swift, like Mercury, she’s compassionate and caring. She's honest, but also, she is beautiful. I think beauty is important. She is the best that she can be.

Best next action steps for newcomers

If you would like insight on your posture, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online, or in person.

You can sign up below to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops. . . 

When it comes to foot position, feet parallel is often regarded as the ideal in our present-day culture. Standing with the feet apart, pointing straight ahead, is also seen as the starting point of a normal and healthy gait. Walking then proceeds along two parallel lines, like being on railway tracks. 

In our culture today, standing with feet pointing straight ahead is regarded as normal, and the best biomechanical option. Unsplash

From a Gokhale Method® perspective, a healthy baseline position for the feet is angled outward 5–15°, or “externally rotated.” Why is there such divergence of opinion—and angle? 

Most people learn and then teach feet straight ahead

Feet straight ahead is the model learned and perpetuated by most professionals who are trained in anatomy, whether they are fitness coaches, yoga teachers, Pilates instructors, physical therapists, podiatrists, family physicians, or surgeons. Training regimens, gait analysis, shoe design, and equipment such as elliptical trainers and step machines are also based on this belief. 

There’s compelling evidence for feet out at an angle 

The Gokhale Method approach to solving back pain and the many other musculoskeletal problems that beset our society is not based on such current assumptions, but on direct observation of biomechanically healthier populations. The Gokhale Method understanding of healthy posture draws on field research among traditional and tribal populations in many parts of the world, where despite differences in culture, age, gender, and occupation, posture remains remarkably consistent—and includes a 5°–15° foot turnout. This same turnout can also be seen in our infants, historical artifacts, and our ancestral images prior to the early twentieth century. 

You can see that the feet of this woman in Odisha, India, angle outward.

Let’s look at some more examples of evidence for feet out. 

Ancestral and antique photographs

This Victorian photograph decorates a table mat at a country hotel in the UK. The group on the right all clearly show significant external rotation in their legs and feet.

These Scottish soldiers from the mid-twentieth century show degrees of foot turnout that would be uncommon today. Pinterest

Contemporary traditional and tribal culture

These women in tribal Odisha, India, habitually stand and bend with externally rotated legs, which orients the feet outward.

This snippet of video from a market in tribal Odisha, India, shows people walking with feet turned out.

The ancient world

As ancient Greek statuary became ever more naturalistic, it captured the outward angle of the feet, even lifting one foot to suggest walking or a relaxed, “contrapposto” standing position. Marble Statue of Serapis, from Amorgos, 2nd Century BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens. Wikimedia

Children

Children naturally externally rotate their legs from the hip joint, angling the feet out.

Being held in poor positions or sitting in furniture which tucks the pelvis will counter healthy external hip rotation and cause an infant's legs and feet to roll inward.

Extreme outward feet angles

Some dance forms, including those based on traditional posture, have evolved an exaggerated degree of external rotation for artistic effect. Several of the base positions of ballet take natural external rotation to an extreme. Such angles also feature in Indian classical dance. These angles work in people who have been raised with them from early childhood but can be impossible or problematic for modern hips which formed while using Western furniture, including seated toilets. Squatting and sitting cross-legged in childhood encourages healthy hip socket development.

The “first position” in ballet requires considerable external rotation in the hips to turn the feet out at 90 degrees. Wikimedia

There are numerous foot gestures in Bharata Natyam, a traditional Indian dance form, which require 90 degrees of outward angle in both feet. Pinterest

Footprints that follow a central line—not parallel tracks

Soft sand is great for capturing footprints, and those of tribal people will clearly show not only the external angle of the feet, but also how the heels touch either side of a central line. John Carter, one of our teachers in the UK, shares a telling tale: 

It was 2010 and I was staying in a beach hotel near a fishing village in southern India. Checking my well-thumbed copy of Esther Gokhale’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, it was instantly obvious who had left their footprints in the sand. Local fisherman left kidney bean shaped footprints, with strong indents from the heel and big toe, and landed with the inside of each heel on either side of a central line. Tourist footprints were wider in the center, indicating lower foot arches, and were usually placed along two parallel lines.

I was traveling with my yoga teacher friends and colleagues. We all admired the grace and poise of the locals, how beautifully they stood, walked, bent from the hips, etc. However, this was strikingly different from the posture that my yoga companions had been taught, in line with conventional yoga ideas. I was eager to discuss the differences, but my colleagues, confused by their received wisdom, continued to repeat what they had learned in training, which included sticking with parallel feet. 

Two sets of footprints from Brazil, showing both feet out and walking on a central line. Unsplash

In modern Western culture it is much more common that footprints are straight ahead and run along parallel tracks. Unsplash

A workman stepped in paint… the prints that his boots left on the sidewalk show a healthy angle of turnout, and that he walked on a central line—this combination is relatively rare in industrialized cultures (UK).

Why do feet point straight ahead?

From our anthropological perspective, having feet straight ahead is actually an inward turn from a healthy norm of “external rotation.” This has come about for several reasons:

• Weakened arches cause the foot to collapse inward (pronation), also rotating the leg inward.
• Concave “bucket” seating, soft sofas, “sling” style footrests, and other poor furniture all lead to poor posture and a lack of healthy external hip rotation.
• “Ergonomic” design and anatomical teaching are both based on the false paradigm that feet should be straight ahead.
• Fashion role models, footwear, clothing, and mistaken ideas about what is healthy perpetuate parallel or even internally rotated feet.

What are the benefits of feet out?

• Encourages kidney-bean shaped feet with strong arches and healthy function.
• Brings optimal alignment to the ankle, knee, and hip joints.
• Facilitates natural pelvic anteversion and a well-supported spine.
• Facilitates healthy deep bending (hip-hinging) as the pelvis can nestle between the thigh bones.

Feet pointing outward adds stability when maneuvering heavy loads, and, with a wider stance, aligns the legs and hips well for hip-hinging. This man is able to bend deeply to the ground.

If your feet are currently straight ahead, or somewhat internally rotated, and you want to move toward external rotation, we recommend you introduce small degrees of change very gradually to allow the tissues and bones of your feet, legs, and hips time to adjust. We strongly recommend you do this in combination with other postural principles taught in 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, and our Gokhale Method® in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, and our online Elements course. 

If you would like guidance on any aspect of your posture, including how best to use your feet, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person, with a Gokhale Method teacher.
I’ll also be giving a free online workshop on Thursday September 15, 4:00pm PT, Fix your feet with the Gokhale Method. You can sign up here. I look forward to seeing you there.

Why is neck length so important? When I have taught in corporate settings, neck pain seems to be an even more common problem than back pain. It doesn’t help that most ergonomic furniture is not only unhelpful, but even counterproductive (the Herman Miller Aeron chair won the “cool” race in corporate America — and it’s my least favorite of all). Posturenomics®, a term I coined, reflects the philosophy that it's not furniture alone, but also knowledge, which together create the conditions for healthy posture.

We’re also surrounded by people who model poor (usually slumpy) posture with forward head — and whether we know it or not, it’s in our DNA to mimic what’s around. And last, but not least, our lay and medical experts have adopted a particularly unhelpful (and in fact, counterproductive) set of posture guidelines (including “chin up,” “chest out,” “stand up straight,” do crunches, tuck your pelvis — all of which harm the neck among other parts of the body).

I photographed this mannequin at the Stanford Shopping Mall years ago. "Her" neck curvature is intense and unhealthy.

Observe this mannequin from the Stanford Shopping Mall in Palo Alto, CA. She cranes her neck to look up. The base of the skull where it meets the neck is fine as a joint to rotate on, but the amount of curvature in her neck here is intense and unhealthy. I like to think of the neck as beginning in the thoracic spine (upper back). T5 is usually at the apex of the thoracic curve. Her thoracic curve is excessive. The origin of this problem is actually lower in the back and pelvis. Her pelvis is tucked, causing excessive sway in the lumbar spine, which gets reflected higher up as excessive curve in the thoracic spine, Then, in order to look ahead of her, instead of down toward the ground, she cranes her neck. If you pattern yourself on mannequins like this, you’ll soon end up bent out of shape.

 
This renowned arm surgeon working in the OR displays intense neck curvature as well. Unfortunately, many surgeons develop spinal problems.

Observe this surgeon’s cervical (neck) curvature. This posture will not serve to maintain healthy cervical discs and nerves. Surgeons are remarkably able to step up to work incredibly long hours, and sacrifice comfort for the benefit of their patients, but at some point the effects of bad working posture catch up with even the most determined of us. Paresthesias in your hands are not symptoms anyone can will their way past. Surgeons have trust in their craft, and seem to readily subject themselves to surgery (I saw a surprising number of neck scars in my 2-week stint as an observer in the OR at Stanford University hospital). But if surgery is not accompanied by measures that get to the root of the problem, the problem comes back — like it did with my own failed back surgery. The plight of many surgeons is to be forced into early retirement due to injury. They have usually earned enough to have a financially comfortable retirement, but their older years are often compromised by pain and disability.  Most of this, based on my experience, is preventable — and such a poor reward for enormous effort and societal contribution.

As is true of surgeons, forward heads and craned necks among dentists often lead to problems over time. Image courtesy H Shaw on Unsplash.

Dentists also receive no training on sustainable, healthy ways to bend over their patients and twist to examine their teeth. A full third of dentists retire early due to disability.

This Yao woman’s head and neck posture are exemplary. Not only does she have a regal and dignified bearing, but her healthy posture also protects her neck and spinal health.

Decades ago, I had the chance to hike to remote locations in the highlands of Thailand. I was fortunate to have encountered this woman and child when I did: more recently, this area has become more heavily trafficked by trekkers and finding a spot where the local people welcome a non-commercial interaction with foreigners is more challenging. But in those days, it was possible. I’m actually the proud owner of a Yao jacket. It has a wool ruff sewn onto a hemp shell, a fabric so durable that only after 30 years is it starting to fray. This woman’s elegant, lengthened neck is something we can all learn to approach.

How to get to a lengthened neck: a few techniques

1. Gather in your hands a handful of hair at the base of your skull on each side and gently and smoothly tug upward and backward. Try to pull symmetrically. if you’re able to move your arm back enough to grab one tuft of hair and pull back and up, go for it, but this does require some mobility in the shoulder joint.
2. You can also pull on your head itself. Be careful that you’re not pushing or pulling your face in the opposite direction from the front. Your hands should be on your ears or behind them, gently guiding your head up and back.
3. My favorite way uses the tips of your three central fingers on each hand (index, middle, ring) on the occiput to gently push the base of the skull back and up.
4. You can also imagine that you have a helium balloon inside your head. Survey the area, discover and release tensions, and let your head waft up.

The key ingredient in all of these techniques is to first relax your neck. If you tense your neck, your hands are going to be challenged to help with lengthening. You want to yield to the push/pull of your hands.

There’s more to learn, but if you begin with the above steps, you’ll be well on your way to repairing whatever damage has happened and preventing future damage. Your neck will then be able to live a long and happy life!

Aarani silk from Tamil Nadu, Southern India. Aarani, a small town, weaves only silk sarees in 3-plied or 2-plied yarns, making it a lighter silk to wear. The first national flag of independent India hoisted at the Red Fort is rumored to have been woven in Aarani. Stacksitting helps showcase the saree in its full glory.

People who know me well have come to associate me with my posture work, my love for sarees — the traditional Indian unstitched garment — and my frequent travel owing to my management consulting work. This is an accurate perception: I love all these things.
 

Bhujodi cotton from Gujarat, Western India. Made in a small town near Bhuj, this Khadi fabric is fully made of organic cotton grown in the region. Originally a weaving technique for shawls, it has been adapted to sarees in recent decades. Once you know to tallstand, you can shift the position of your legs.

Chanderi Silkcotton from Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Woven in the town of Chanderi, these sarees were patronized by the royalty of the region. They are known for their sheer, gossamer texture. Shoulder rolls always help show off the neck.

I am proud of the work I do in posture. It is not an exaggeration when I say that learning the Gokhale Method from Esther in 2012, after suffering from back-related issues for over 16 years, has changed my life. Along with helping me regain my lost posture, it helped deepen my understanding of my body and gain better control over it, and enhanced my sense of confidence. Becoming a Gokhale Method teacher has helped me practice the method diligently in my own life and help others who want to learn it for themselves. A striking aspect of the Gokhale Method, and one which has impacted my outlook on many fronts, is the fact that one can marry tradition with modernity.

Many things in the modern world affect our posture. Poorly-designed furniture, changing movement habits, and sedentary work are often blamed for most musculoskeletal ailments. However, this is our reality, and one cannot give up everything and go back to what our ancestors did for their livelihoods. The Gokhale Method helps us adapt natural and traditional body wisdom to modern ways of life. My students are surprised when I tell them that they don’t have to give up anything at all, but rather can learn to reach into their ancestral past and bring some habits into the current. We help people transition from a paradigm of “don’t do this” to a world of “you could do it this way,” based on the learnings from our ancestors and people in cultures where this wisdom has been retained. “You could do it this way” is an empowering view.

Dholabedi from Odisha, Eastern India. Odisha can easily be the Burgundy of sarees, as every sub region has its own specialty. This one is known for the “dola,” the house like structures that are woven as an extra weft, representing the altar of Lord Jagannath of Puri. Pivot the neck and look tall.

Pochampally Ikat from Telengana, Southern India. Ikat is a technique that spans from Central America to Japan. The specialty is the patterns, which are decided while preparing the yarn and dyed accordingly with mathematical precision. The weaver then weaves the patterns on the loom with meticulous planning which always boggles my mind! A well-placed shoulder ensures the hands fall to the side.

My love for sarees comes from this same paradigm of marrying the traditional with the modern. This garment, which most women of my mother’s and previous generations wore all the time, was lost for many of my generation. Like many others, I adopted outfits from other cultures, as doing so was considered “modern.” Traditional wear was relegated to special events. My connection with my heritage was locked in a wardrobe — until I learned to look at the meaning behind these beautiful handwoven fabrics I had. As my interest grew, I discovered the uniqueness of each of these weaves and the stories they spun. One estimate says that there are over 450 varieties of hand-woven textiles in India, each telling a unique tale about the region, the terrain, and the way of living from which they arose. I know only a fraction of the tales these textiles have to tell.
 

Natural indigo linen with motifs in jamdani from West Bengal, Western India. Growing indigo changed the history of Bengal forever. It still remains a sought-after pigment for its depth and unique color. The 3x3x3 of tallstanding always helps.
 

Handpainted Kalamkari from Andhra, Southern India. Can you imagine painstakingly hand-painting every inch of 6 meters of cloth in natural colours? Mostly done by women craftsman, this is an exquisite art form. Don’t miss the stacksitting!
 

Kanjeevaram silk from Tamil Nadu, Southern India. The “Queen of silks” woven in the town of Kanjeevaram, this weave represents true commerce with mulberry silk yarn from Mysore and gold thread from Surat in Gujarat. The body and the border are woven separately and integrated with the special technique of “korvai,” requiring two people to work together simultaneously. Once you learn to stacksit, you can sit on any surface with ease.

Wearing these sarees has helped me understand my own heritage a little better. And they helped me realize I do not have to give up tradition in order to exist in the modern world. Instead, I can adapt tradition to flow in ways that feel contemporary. That means, for example, I drape the saree differently depending on context. I experiment with mixing-and-matching, bringing elements from my Western wardrobe into play with elements from my Indian wardrobe. I wear the saree short or long, depending on what the fabric feels like. I adapt different regional draping styles that suit the occasion — there are over 200 documented regional styles in India alone! I wear it at home, out at work, and overseas when I travel. It is a beautiful experience that helps me come home to myself.

Karvati Kinar from Maharashtra, Western India. From the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, known for its arid terrain. This saree is mostly woven in a rough silk and has unique “mountain” motifs in the border. An anteverted pelvis helps us stand restfully.

Pochampally silk from Telengana, Southern India. Just look at the modernity in the ikat motifs! Who would imagine that the weavers have never left their villages, yet can create such marvelous designs and such a sophisticated color palette? Once you learn tallstanding, you don’t need high heels!

Sometimes it seems that moving with the times means giving up things from the past. But if we look carefully, the present is actually interwoven with the essence of the past. They are not necessarily at odds. Uncovering the meaning of the past and blending it with the needs of the present creates gracefulness. Beauty lies in this harmony. The saree and the Gokhale Method: both are traditional, elegant tools to achieve harmonious results, blending past and present.
 

Sungudi from Tamil Nadu, Southern India. A tie-and-dye technique from Madurai, this has an interesting history of internal migration. Settlers from Gujarat in the west of India who came to this region brought this art form along with them in the 16th century. Have we said enough about tallstanding?
 

Ajrakh handblock-printed saree from Gujarat, Western India. This saree demonstrates a unique block-printing technique that involves 14 different steps and has a history spanning centuries. Even today, many motifs exhibit Persian influence. Does this have a Greco-Roman feel in the draping and the posture?
 

Jainsem from Meghalaya, North-East India. A two-piece textile that is worn as a layered outfit by the Khasi tribe in this region’s pristine, hilly terrain. Traditional clothing was and is designed for practical, everyday movements with ease.
 

Boro from Assam, North-East India. A beautiful cotton with motifs made from extra weft, and which has a unique feature: the border is woven separately and then stitched on top. Creativity has so many different expressions!
 

Sangeeta Sundaram is a qualified Gokhale Method Teacher based in Mumbai, India.