Posture Tourism for Back Pain Sufferers: A Destination Gokhale Foundations Course
Esther Gokhale
Date
Travel is part of our Gokhale Method® DNA—the method arose and developed through study of foreign cultures (including ancestral cultures), and remains informed by images, videos, statistics, and other data from pain-free and remarkably functional human beings.
I have learned firsthand what healthy human posture looks like alongside the Sami reindeer herders in Scandinavia, tribal people in Odisha, India, villagers in Burkina Faso, and people with African roots in Brazil. When I travel teach, I make it a point to visit the local museums and also check for local cultural events, ethnic restaurants, and areas that might bring to life the kind of insights and body wisdom the Gokhale Method is based on.
These Arnhem Land and Torres Strait Indigenous dancersincorporate both external rotation of their legs and hip-hinging in their movement vocabulary—an example we do well to follow. Image from Wikimedia
In my experience, travel makes the mind especially receptive to new ideas and impressions—we are away from our usual routines and responsibilities and free to take in new sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and thoughts.
Travel with a purpose
If you suffer with back pain, I would like to encourage you to consider traveling to a location to take our Gokhale Foundations course. These courses are often taught intensively in a weekend or a week, and our teachers are spread in many wonderful corners of the globe. You might think of this as a “destination Gokhale Foundations course” that combines wellness, learning, and transformation alongside the local attractions that the destination has to offer.
Combine a city break with your passions, be they history, engineering, science, or the arts, alongside your Gokhale Foundations course. Image from Wikimedia The Clifton Suspension Bridge and Observatory, Bristol, England.
Our teachers can not only offer you instruction and hands-on guidance in how to move like you are meant to, but also information on the posture-relevant sites in their towns. They can offer you tips on museum exhibits, restaurants where the servers have great posture, localities that are home to recent immigrants, and other supplemental suggestions on how to immerse yourself in your wellness vacation. This kind of journey makes you a pioneer in the new field of posture tourism!
Posture tourism also insures you against losing all the benefits of your vacation soon after it ends. Posture learning and transformation will improve the course of your life, even if your life is busy and has tensions in it.
Choose your destination
Geographically speaking, where might your Foundations adventure take you? We have teachers offering both group and private courses all over, so here are some suggestions:
Sea and coastal locations: Cat Island The Bahamas, Celebrity Cruising (Fort Lauderdale visiting Aruba, Bonair, and Curacao in the Southern Caribbean), Hawi Hawaii, Sydney Australia
You can find all our course location details here.
Make “destination Gokhale Foundations course” your own “retreat,” or go with your partner, a good friend, or family member, to share and remember your discoveries. (Aruba, southwest Caribbean). Image from Unsplash
Vacation time away can be an ideal time to improve your posture. Getting away from familiar home and work routines is conducive to being open to new experiences and possibilities. There is space for reflection and relaxation as you explore changing the ways you inhabit your body.
You can easily search for Gokhale Foundations courses and other offerings here.
And staying away from home doesn’t have to be expensive. Many of our students stay with family members, or catch up with friends who live in a Foundations destination. A weekend course can also be a well-earned, self-care extension to a work trip.
I knew I wanted a hands-on experience but was hesitant to make the commitment—an intensive weekend class would require a three-hour drive from my home plus a two-night hotel stay… My in-person with Doreen was a transformative experience… Plus, she helped me correctly set up my stretchsit cushion in my car. Thanks to this, my back and legs were blissfully comfortable on my three-hour return trip home.
Amy Alpine, Gokhale Foundations course student.
The river Dart in the Devon village of Dittisham, England, a Gokhale Foundations course destination.
Can’t come to us? We can come to you!
Many of our teachers enjoy travel teaching, and have visited Northern Ireland and Dublin Ireland, Edinburgh Scotland, Berlin and Freiburg Germany, and Werkhoven Holland. This year I am looking forward to travel teaching Gokhale Foundations in Sydney, Australiaalongside teacher training.
The church on the market square in Öhringen. This October will be my third visit to this delightful German town.
If you have a group of friends, colleagues or clients, who would like a course in your town, please let us know—we would love to make this happen! If you own or know of a venue, a provisional course can be listed publicly on our website.
Whichever destination you choose for your Gokhale Foundations course, you’ll be on your way to healthier posture and breaking away from back and other body pains.
Sunset at Kapa’a Beach Park, Hawaii, a Gokhale Foundations course destination.
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…
Fiona’s Journey out of Back Ache, via French Byways, to Gokhale Teacher Training
Excerpts from a diary by Fiona Nichols
Date
The Question
Can I get Gokhale-fit in 9 weeks (for a long overseas trip) via the online Gokhale Elements course?
The Dream
The trip of a lifetime is looming: 3 months in France in Spring 2023—something I’ve dreamed of for a long time. As a 67-year-old Australian, this means a lot of dreaming and a lot of planning! We’re not walking the Camino, though there’ll be lots of walking…it's more about an immersion in beauty and daily life in French towns and countryside.
We're off in search of lush French beauty to top up our more arid and windswept Australian variety—and hopefully shine a light on an elusive French ancestor trail. Freepik
The Reality
Excitement’s building, home-front preparations are ratcheting up, French lessons take on more urgency…but I’ve been aware for a while of anxiety about how my body will cope. In particular I worry about the nitty gritty of travel: hoicking heavy suitcases into cars and taxis and onto airline scales, up and down stairwells and elevators, the sitting for hours…and hours and hours (around 24 each way) in uncomfortable airport lounges and aeroplanes—and the unfamiliar beds, tiny crowded footpaths, ankle-testing cobblestones, showers in baths—and all that walking.
Osteoporosis
I’ve travelled lots, and well off the beaten track—but for the first time I’m aware that my body isn’t as young as it used to be and I wonder how I’ll cope with it all this time around. I’m generally healthy but have inherited thyroid and bone density issues. My current osteoporosis DEXA-scan score is -3 in the worst area—gradually drifting downward over the years despite regular daily exercise of various sorts, a very good diet, and various trials of medication. My back issues have been slowly increasing. Six-monthly injections were the only intervention producing slightly increased bone density but I had to switch medications due to side effects.
Osteoporosis features strongly in my extended family, and I’d seen my own wonderful mum gradually defeated by increasing back aches and its psychological impact, and by inadequate healing and gradual decline after falling, despite her exceptional commitment (well into her 80s) to preventative and post-op exercise and diet.
My lumbar spine DEXA scan showed a high risk of fracture due to low bone density.
I could see—and feel—myself heading in the same direction, albeit 30 years behind her. An increasingly common ache in my back, low energy, increasing need for afternoon naps (something I’d thought was for people much older than me), difficulty sleeping comfortably at night due to back stiffness, and needing to sit with my knees up, whenever decent, to feel comfortable. I’d given up on household and garden jobs requiring back work. My mood and outlook were affected.
Feedback from previous Gokhale Method course participants
Someone I knew had had a remarkable and quick turnaround from severe, crippling, intractable back pain following a Gokhale Method Foundations Course in Sydney, with teacher Michelle Ball in 2017. Her back issue was disc protrusion, not osteoporosis, but like me she’d tried everything recommended to her by conventional medicine and a range of alternative approaches, without success. However, almost immediately on starting the 6-lesson Foundations Course she felt improvement—and since then has had no further back issues. She says,
It saved my life. I have zero pain today and the best posture! Esther is my hero!
Myriam Glorieux, Australia, 2023.
On the Gokhale Method website I’d also read Sheila Terry’s blog: How Correct Posture and a Holistic Approach Helped My Osteoporosis, written after a deep immersion in Gokhale Method training and practice. I was inspired. I dithered for a while because of the expense and the time commitment, neither of which I could manage easily in the lead-up to going away for so long. But I knew the increasing ache in my back—and the movements it was beginning to restrict—would impact a lot on our time away and all the trip preparations.
Osteoporosis is a thinning of the bone and a reduction in its density. The Gokhale Method considers that healthy posture may well be key to the skeleton weight-bearing correctly and maintaining bone density. Image from Wikimedia Commons
My Online Initial Consultation
I had an Online Initial Consultation with Esther Gokhale. She felt that based on the posture photos and medical reports I’d sent, and from what she could see of my movements and posture on Zoom, I had problem areas which if not addressed would likely get worse—but if addressed would improve. I dithered again, but in the end decided my health and my quality of life (and the lives of those around me) were worth the investment in time and money.
The Gokhale Elements Course
By this stage our trip was only 9 weeks away. Travelling to do the in-person Foundations Course was out of the question given time limitations, but I could do the online Elements course from home on a schedule that fitted me. I also decided to buy the Gokhale PostureTracker™, thinking that without a hands-on teacher who could physically check my posture, it’d be the next best thing. Wearing its two sensors told me (via an app) when my spine was or wasn’t in proper alignment. It’s been well worth the outlay—it was so reassuring to have the figure on the screen show green whenever my posture was in correct alignment, or turn to other colours if my body drifted away from this. It can be set to beep or buzz if you can’t watch the screen. PostureTracker™ can help with almost every position.
The Elements course is 18 sessions, each 13 minutes long. I knew my learning style and that to absorb things well (and make the most of my financial and time investment) I’d need several days between each lesson to do the required pre-reading/video-watching/lesson prep, and then the practise/fine-tuning afterwards. By spacing things this way (I chose Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7.30am my time) I could factor everything into daily life. The helpful Customer Support staff were able to lock in all lessons at times that fitted well for me. This way I’d finish the 18 sessions the day before we flew to France. Pretty good motivation I thought.
The Elements course covers the key components required for re-establishing the basis of natural, healthy human posture with regard to standing, sitting, bending, walking, and lying. The 18 online classes teach Gokhale Method techniques such as the rib anchor, shoulder roll, and stretchsitting, and many more, in detail and tailored to each person.
Each Elements student has a private log-in User Dashboard on the Gokhale website, containing all their student records, submitted photos, PostureTracker™ data (if used), Student Notes etc. At the end of each Elements lesson, I did 5–10 mins of practice to lock in what I’d learnt, then logged into the Dashboard to write a brief summary, for my own benefit, of my key learning or queries—plus comments about body changes I was noticing.
These notes were also a way to send progress reports and questions to Esther (who, as my teacher, was notified every time I posted). Sometimes she answered these online and sometimes during lessons.
Lesson 2. Shoulder roll
Very helpful to see the shoulder anatomy slide for visualising this busy space—and importance of allowing everything adequate room. This visual stuff is very helpful to me.
Lesson 3. Stretchsitting
V good to have Esther's fine-tuning on this—hadn't realised how much I put my head down throughout the whole movement. Good to see the videos Esther sent since our session: hair pull, stretchsitting, placement of the Stretchsit® Cushion…all these components helping refine the movement.
Lesson 6. Kidney bean shaped feet
Body changes: Back feeling better both day and night (tho still wake most days with some degree of lumbar stiffness—not every day, significantly less stiff than pre-Gokhale). Back much better when sitting—not feeling the need to bend knees and put feet up. Back generally feeling both more stable & more flexible (still uncomfortable bending to put things in low drawers/bottom of fridge, etc.—but less so). Whole body feels lighter/more breezy (great sensation!), shoulders and chest feel broader and more upright (some clothes already tighter across front of shoulders). I have more energy, get more done, gut working more efficiently, less likely to wake up to wee at night, sleeping much more soundly, outlook brighter…progress, hooray!
Lesson 8. Inner corset and tall-standing review
Note to me:Purpose of inner corset: to brace the spine against damage, particularly when lifting, carrying, running/jumping etc. Reserve strongest inner corset action for the most potentially disc-damaging movements.
Body changes:Doing Tai Chi today, noticed all movements felt much easier, lighter—body felt more flexible and fluid—great feeling.
My Elements Handbook 'inner corset' pictures showed me how engaging key trunk muscles lengthens and protects my spine.
Lesson 9. Gluteus medius strengthening (1st of 4 glidewalking lessons)
Body changes: Woke this morning with a spine that felt 'loose'/flexible—such a dramatic change from waking tight, clenched and stiff. More of this please!
Lesson 10. Glidewalking
Note to me: The cross-country skiing analogy helps me a LOT in getting movements right—a gliding, tangential pushing-off from outward-pointing foot, then other outward-pointing foot, back knee straight but not locked, front leg bent, body slightly forward, head in alignment with back. PostureTracker™ on ‘piston walking’ setting helpful.
The PostureTracker™ setting ‘piston walking’ can be used to check for healthy back leg straightening (a.), and alert users to hyperextension (b.) in walking.
Lesson 12. Glidewalking with front knee bent
Body: The light and fluid feelings remain. Sleeping more deeply, waking feeling more flexible??… we shall see. Background headache I've had for 6–12 months, especially when bending forward, seems to have gone!
Lesson 13. Stretchlying on the side
Note to me: This one's been a challenge for me—wish Esther was here, to put hands-on and tweak the bits I’m not sure of. I think the main issue is I’m still arching my back…but angling the laptop screen for an 'aerial view' of the body, when lying on the floor, can help show the full body posture. Sometimes I get it right and sleep through the night…gradually finding what works for me.
Note to me: Keep rolling shoulders back into position as arms are heavy, and if not in healthy position their weight can pull thoracic spine out of alignment. We're nearly finished—16 sessions so far! Reassuring to be plugged into Alumni offerings and opportunities for Q&As, etc. Gokhale Method by now so integrated into everyday movements that I’m confident they’ll all continue.
Click here for excerpts from my Elements course Student Notes:
A New Reality? (…am hoping so!)
It was almost spooky how quickly my body responded to these subtle changes. Esther talks about body parts (once Gokhaled) “coming home to where they belong”—and that’s how it feels. I’m taller, straighter, firmer, stronger, and I’m walking, standing, sitting, and bending better. I’m more energetic, powering along pathways on daily walks (glidewalking is amazing!), and feel back in sync with my body.
I finished the Elements course the day before we flew to France. My body felt so much stronger and I can see it in the “After” photos.
I’ve had to remove the books under my desktop computer screen because the angle of my chin (and line of sight) has shifted slightly downwards without my being conscious of it, to a more comfortable position. Maybe this has something to do with the disappearance of the background headache I’ve had for the past year or so.
I’m gradually sleeping better (i.e. more comfortably), with stretchlying on the side still to be fully mastered. The increasing discomfort I’d had for many months prior to the course has disappeared. My head is clear and I’ve got my mojo back. I feel more positive. Significant and wonderful changes.
Of course, having France on the horizon no doubt helped (!), but it couldn’t account for the physical changes, or the confidence I felt about managing upcoming travel challenges. I skipped off into the French “coucher de soleil” (sunset) feeling ready for just about anything.
Bridge at Cirque de Navacelles, near Montpellier, southern France.
I felt Gokhale-fit—and sailed through pretty much everything on our trip. We’ve just arrived home after a wonderful three months: stunning landscapes, beauty-reservoirs full to overflowing, layers of history, French lessons given full workout, replete with delicious food, shoes worn thin, walking muscles well and truly toned. What a country!
The Seine river, in the heart of Paris.
This curious little fish-chef artwork kept appearing (in different poses) on walls all over Paris— generally without text—but on this one was the German word “zeitenwende,” which translates as “turning point.” It seems to fit, so I’m taking it as a sign for my posture journey:)
Gratitude
I’m very grateful to Esther and her team for what she’s created and made available in the Gokhale Method. It’s extraordinary stuff. At times it feels too good to be true…and yet it is. Such subtle changes, yet such profound impact. All delivered in such an engaging, very human, immensely skilful and positive way. This gift is life-changing.
PS: The Gokhale Method in Australia
As we were flying into Australia, I saw on the Gokhale website that Tegan Kahn (one of Australia’s 2 Gokhale teachers) was running a Foundations Course in Canberra that weekend. It was a hands-on opportunity (too timely to miss) for tweaking my still problematic stretchlying on the side.
I detoured and spent 2 days with Tegan, who took me through all 6 Foundations lessons—with extra attention to stretchlying on the side. She was impressed by my “Gokhale-fit posture” and only small refinements were generally needed, but with stretchlying on the side some extra input and hands-on clarified the changes I needed to make. These are progressively becoming part of my “muscle memory” and a side-lying posture that works for me. Thank you, Tegan!
Tegan refined my stretchlying on the side position (I'd been overdoing most of the steps) and it felt great. The tricky bit is being able to repeat it at home… bit by bit training my muscle memory.
My results from practising the Gokhale Method keep growing. After my Foundations Course I was able to nestle my pelvis even deeper and align my upper back and neck straighter in hip-hinging.
Teacher Training—possibly in Australia!
I’d been wondering while away if I could apply to do Gokhale Teacher Training—as a way to deepen my own understanding and help others (including family members) out of long-term back pain.
And…a golden opportunity has come up. Esther is considering coming to Australia to run a teacher training course in early 2024! This would make the teacher-training process so much more accessible and affordable for those of us in the Australasia region. A minimum of 4–6 teacher trainees are needed. The Gokhale Method team is already in the process of contacting all Gokhale Alumni in Australia, India, Singapore and New Zealand, and inviting anyone interested to contact them for information. I’ve put my hand up and have nearly completed the application process.
If you live in our region of the world and are inspired to train in Australia to become a Gokhale Method Teacher, please contact [email protected]. I hope to see you there!
Salvador, Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil throbs with a pulse that is African and Brazilian all at once. In spite of the particularly brutal conditions of slavery in Brazil, the African immigrants kept their musical and dance traditions alive. Salvador, Bahia is where the Afro roots of Brazilian culture are most in evidence. I visited two times and those visits reawakened something in me from way, way back — from when my ancestors drummed and danced in Africa 60,000+ years ago. There’s nothing that gets to my gut the way African / Afro-Brazilian drumming and dancing does. Here follow some posture lessons I brought home from that magical place.
Healthy posture is sexy
Bathing beauty in Salvador, Bahia.
Healthy posture looks sexy, feels sexy...it is sexy! Healthy movement patterns result in a slimmer waist and juicier hips for women, and broader shoulders and better-toned gut for men. As one of our slightly bawdy physician referrers puts it, “you get a tummy tuck, boob job, and butt lift all for the price of one course.”
More seriously, you’re really not doing your reproductive organs a good turn when you internally rotate your legs, tuck your pelvis, and put your (imaginary) tail between your legs. The reproductive system, like all your other systems, needs sound architecture, vigorous circulation, and healthy innervation (nerve action) to perform its amazing range of functions. Over the years, our Gokhale Method teacher team is very proud to have been proffered credit for romantic matchups, improved sexual function, conception of babies, and sans trauma deliveries.
Healthy posture connects with and facilitates joy of life
Preparations for Carnaval in Salvador, Bahia.
You’ve got to give it to the Brazilians for outstanding ability to have fun in the face of grave challenges. As with all strengths, when taken to extremes, strengths can become weaknesses — sometimes work doesn’t get done; sometimes children roam the streets uncared for...
I visited Salvador, Bahia two times, including during Carnaval preparation time in December. Salvador is the party capital of Brazil, with most events happening in outdoor spaces and on the streets. It doesn’t matter what you wear; most people are stripped down to little clothing. In the bigger parties, you are surrounded by people whose energy is infectious. Limited to a tiny space, dancers express themselves in small writhing movements that are artful and powerful and do not escape your notice. The song callouts notch up the general energy level and the crowd takes it from there. Truly intoxicating.
There’s magic to be had from samba or any traditional dance form
Dancing in El Pelourinho in Salvador. The name of the plaza means pillory, or whipping post, where African slaves received punishment for various infractions, as well as for disciplinary purposes.
In trying to figure out what makes Brazilians stand out (though this is sadly changing with the rise of junk food consumption) in their physique, I concluded that samba was a part of the equation. Samba is ubiquitous in Brazil. You samba to celebrate a soccer win, you samba to spend time with your friends and family, you samba (differently) when you need to work through a difficult emotion (e.g. saudade, a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is a mainstay of Portuguese or Brazilian culture). Whatever your reason, samba means you are toning your glutes, abs, and leg muscles, loosening up your shoulder girdle, stimulating circulation throughout your body, and laying down helpful neural pathways in your brain. Samba, I came to an early conclusion, is the ideal counter activity to sitting (or standing) behind a computer. It strengthens and lengthens appropriate muscles, it patterns you for healthy walking, it helps keep dementia at bay (helpful for your computer job — tell your HR person that!), and it helps connect members of a corporation or community.
So here’s a little snippet of what lies ahead of you, straight from the environs of Brazil:
But first (yes, there’s a catch!) you must learn your basics in our ever-popular Gokhale Method Foundations course. Our course, which has earned us the #1-ranked intervention (out of 44 interventions for lower back pain) on the crowdsourcing website healthoutcome.org, will teach you the basics needed to samba without swaying your back and pounding your joints, and rather, become the new (old) sexy, joyful, healthy you!
This post is part of a series about posture lessons learned from Esther's travels. See the previous installment, about Burkina Faso, here.
A Stretchsit cushion helps fill the unhealthy C shape found in many airplane seats, or even better, facilitates gently stretching the spine.
The summer is upon us and many of us will be traveling in buses, boats, cars, and planes. I have spent a lot of time on planes and have observed people in discomfort all around me. The shape of airplane seats varies from airline to airline, but all of them have a curvature that forces the spine into an uncomfortable C-shape. In this season of airline travel, I’d like to share some simple tips to protect the spine and reduce muscle tension during an airplane flight.
1) Fill the C
The concave shape of airline seats puts pressure on the spinal discs and is the starting point for muscle tension. Fill the lower part of your seat with pillows, blankets, sweaters, or ideally a Stretchsit® Cushion to create a flat plane along which you can lengthen your spine.
A seated hip hinge helps bypass the poor design of some airplane seats.
2) Hiphinge Forward
You can avoid the C-shape altogether by hiphinging forward. Use your hands to support your head with your elbows resting on the open tray. You can adjust the placement and height of your hands to provide a gentle stretch in the neck.
Another possible variation for keeping your spine healthy during a flight.
3) Support Your Head
One of the best ways to rest or sleep on a flight is to lengthen your spine and support your head against the seat in front of you. If you are lucky enough to be in a window seat, you can find even more support in the corner between the seat in front of you and the wall of the airplane. This technique works especially well for taller individuals, who can adjust the placement of their heads to allow the spine to stretch and relax even in cramped spaces. Be sure to use a Stretchsit cushion, blanket, pillow, or sweater to cushion your head.
