bone density

In keeping with Claudia’s wishes we are not going to use any photographs of her in this blog post. We are always happy to respect our contributors' wishes for privacy. We are very grateful for Claudia’s generosity in sharing her personal posture journey, and are sure that you, our readers, will appreciate it too.

—Esther Gokhale

How I came to the Gokhale Method

I decided to take the course with Esther in person for a few reasons—firstly, I have received emails periodically about her offerings for some years and actually live close to Palo Alto where she is based. Secondly, I have been having some physical challenges recently. Lastly, my 93-year-old mother passed away in December and I felt that, after settling her estate, taking the Foundations course would make good use of some of what I received. I felt, “this is my gift from my mother.” It would make my mother happy to know this is what I’ve done…

Towards the end of my Foundation course, our garden burst forth with abundant, fragrant plumeria flowers. I brought some to Esther for my lesson and she remembered them very fondly as Champa, or frangipani flowers, from growing up in India. Image by Claudia

Improvements despite hip arthritis and osteoporosis 

A few years back I was walking with a friend and my toe somehow got caught in a brick-paved area—I don’t even remember falling, but found myself on the ground. I broke my humerus and radius. I knew I had osteoporosis, and guessed it had gotten worse—my doctor wanted to put me on medication for it, but the more I read the less I wanted to take that route—so I looked into other possibilities. 

If you are prone to tripping, the Gokhale Method Toe Tap exercise will strengthen your tibialis anterior, the shin muscle whose tendon lifts the front of your foot clear of the ground. 

I fell again a couple of years later and didn’t break anything, but I did say to my doctor how stiff my hips were feeling, despite being so active. He advised me to get an X-ray, which confirmed that I had severe hip arthritis. This surprised me as I am very active and used to run marathons—my doctor told me right away that I should get hip replacements. I thought, “I am going to explore every alternative route.” 

I have also been working on my osteoporosis since my first fall, in 2020. Every week I do Osteostrong®, using weight machines that are geared for building your bones, and take a high-quality calcium and strontium supplement. I think these measures, combined with the healthy posture I learned with the Gokhale Method aligning my bones well to respond to gravity on a daily basis, are producing significant results. I recently got my DEXA scan for the last year and my spine bone density improved by 10% and my hip bone density 20.5%, to which my doctor said “Wow!”. 

Early success motivated me to discover glidewalking

My Foundations one-on-one course was six weeks of learning a couple of new posture techniques each week, and working to incorporate these into my daily life. I worked really hard all week between lessons, practicing and rereading the book—I felt very motivated to be prepared for the next week’s lesson as I was having some immediate success. I often found it helpful to look in the mirror to check my posture learning, just to be sure of what I was doing—for example, to see that I was keeping my shoulders rolled back.

Our shoulders are naturally positioned in a posterior position that gives space for the joint, muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves that populate the shoulder girdle. Shoulder rolls can gradually return hunched shoulders to this healthier arrangement. You can learn to shoulder roll with this free video.

Other new things, such as glidewalking, felt like there was almost too much much to think about when I first learned the techniques, but slowly, steadily, my body just adapted. It was wonderful how all the pieces of the glidewalking instruction came together for me.

I work two days a week and I go for a long walk on my lunch break. With this regular practice, I was able to incrementally regain the flow in my walk… I could just keep going, and I no longer had any of the tension in my hip muscles that had crept in. It was like I just floated along. My body relaxed into it and there was a beautiful, primal familiarity: This is how good I used to feel.

Our natural gait pattern is optimal for our entire structure. For Alumni seeking to deepen their experience of glidewalking, the online Advanced Glidewalking course is designed to do just that. The next course starts October 7. 

How the Gokhale Method helps me at my job

For years I had my own lettering design studio, and then eleven years ago I started working for Trader Joe’s as a signwriter, doing the handwritten chalk boards and pricing signs. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Trader Joe’s signs, here is a taste of my artwork. Image by Claudia

My Gokhale Method course helped me a lot, as we often ended up hunched over our work at flat tables. Esther gave me some suggestions which I try to pass on to the many younger people in their twenties working there who are getting back pain. For example, we have brought in some drawing boards to slant back like easels and enable us to work in a more upright posture at the tables.

In bygone eras people would commonly use a slanted surface or easel for writing, drawing, and painting, rather than hunching over. This drawing is from an 1893 technical journal. Image from Wikimedia Commons

For my hips, the hardest thing is sitting for too long and not moving. Esther encouraged me to take movement breaks to stretch out my psoas and hip muscles, so I get up and find things that need doing around the store. I do have a Gokhale™Pain-Free Chair at home, and I wish I had one at work because I love it. The seat angle of this chair situates my hips perfectly and then I can put my behind behind and let the nubs in the back hold my spine just right. It makes my hips and spine very happy!

This video explains how and why the design of the Gokhale® Pain-Free Chair makes it uniquely comfortable—and therapeutic.

I also pay particular attention to my shoulders and my chin when at work. When I first started with Esther, she told me that I walked around with my chin way up, so I have learned to lengthen the back of my neck and keep my chin down now.

Building on my Foundations course

I finished my Foundations course at the end of June. But there were still some things around hip-hinging that needed gelling for me. So I went back August 1st, and am so glad I got the extra help I needed with my hips. Due to my severe hip arthritis Esther realized that I needed to start with a smaller range of motion and plenty of support, so she came up with ideas like me leaning on a table or wall to bend, and was constantly offering alternatives that enabled me to get a feel for where I was heading. 

One of the details Esther noticed was that I held my lower belly in all the time. All my life I had thought that was important; now I know to practice relaxing that area to allow for the alignment I need at the hips. 

Bending deeply happens most easily with the thighs out of the way (externally rotated and wide) and the lower belly relaxed.

Another thing that I needed to experience was the way that kidney bean shaping the feet enabled the rest of the leg to open up and externally rotate, which again changes things in the hip joint. We did that over and over so eventually I got to feel and manifest that difference. I now know so many aspects of  natural posture that will improve my joint health. 

Our foot’s natural kidney-bean shape and outward angle helps to support healthy hip joint architecture.

Healthy posture and what the future holds

I definitely feel I can go further in changing my posture. I have signed up for the Online University—I often do the daily program, and then there is so much more I can access in the video library. I sometimes find there’s something lands that I didn’t get the first time around. At the very least, I’m inspired by the daily reminder email. 

Each day your Gokhale Exercise email tells you what’s on, and gives you a visual reminder of the daily Posture Principle. 

I still regularly refer to Esther’s book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, which has so many layers of interesting information that I’m aware I haven’t yet fully absorbed. I am only at the tip of the iceberg with this beautiful Gokhale Method, but it has already been life-changing. This really is life-long inspiration and learning! 

Best next action steps 

If you would like to start or reboot your healthy posture journey, book 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…

If you are prone to tripping, the Gokhale Method Toe Tap exercise will strengthen your tibialis anterior, the shin muscle whose tendon lifts the front of your foot clear of the ground.

In January and February this year I took the Gokhale Method Elements course, which consists of 18 brief (13 minute) but potent lessons. I would like to share my experience of the Gokhale Method with you in this blog post.

My goals were to find out how to sit, stand, and walk well, so that I don’t overstress the scoliotic parts of my back. I was also in search of more comfortable and beneficial sleeping positions. I felt I needed guidance to help me develop a better sense of my body posture and alignment. To be able to do a one-on-one course online made this possible for me. 

It was only when I saw the difference between my “Before” and “After” pictures that I realized just how much change it was possible to make to my posture in such a relatively short period. 

Learning to stand well has been transformational for me. You can see that I used to park my hips forward and sway back, pressuring on my lower spine and sending my neck forward—little wonder I was in so much pain. Though still a work in progress, I know how to align my weight better throughout my whole body.

I have always enjoyed exercise, movement, and body work, including hiking, Qigong, and yoga. I now have a healthy standing point from which to do all these activities.

When walking, for the first few steps I might omit to squeeze my glutes and check through the other things I know to do…but it is becoming more habitual so my muscle memory soon kicks in. Or I recall my favorite prompt of Esther’s, “if your glutes snooze, you lose.” 

The J-spine concept was entirely new to me. I had tucked my pelvis under (as you saw in the above “Before” photo) all my life as far as I can recall. Consequently, I believe, the place that hurts for me is around L5-S1 at the very bottom of my spine, so I have to be accurate to squeeze my glutes from a relaxed pelvic position and not to sway and compress my lower back trying to make it happen with the wrong muscles. A single follow-up lesson on this was really useful to help me relax my pelvis back even more.

A healthy L5-S1 angle (J-spine) permits the wedge-space disc there the space that it needs (a.). Learning the Gokhale Method finally enabled me to stop tucking my pelvis and sacrum, and damaging my L5-S1 disc (b.).

Due to my scoliosis I have to be extra careful about how I do things, and with poor bending form, I would always ache—or have a more acute disaster. Now I understand why. I use the hip-hinging technique as I’ve been taught (plus putting my hands on my hips) and I can bend comfortably—it amazes me! I don’t straighten my legs like some of the pictures we see, as I don’t have the hamstring length, but I can follow the principles involved. 

Since learning to hip-hinge I can bend without distorting my back and without pain. There are many principles to learn that contribute to healthy bending, which comes later in the course, but it has been well worth it.

Since 2005 I have been playing the harp, for which being in the right position is important. I pull the harp towards me more now, and when I bend, I bend at the hips, not rounding my back. When sitting with a backrest I have found using the Stretchsit® Cushion makes a good deal of difference to my comfort—I have one in the car, and in fact I’m sitting with one in this interview right now to reduce the pressure on my lower back.

The gentle traction you can get in your lumbar area by using a Stretchsit® Cushion reduces compression and asymmetry in your spine.  

Since a hysterectomy in 1995, I have lost bone density and three inches in height. I am working nightly with stretchlying to lengthen my spine and reduce my scoliosis. I am confident that stretchlying at night and using my inner corset to support my spine during the day will prevent any further height loss and increase in my scoliosis, as I have already seen such improvement in my posture. These two measures may well enable me to regain some of the height in my spine that I have lost.

In October I had an eye surgery, a partial cornea transplant, and to make sure that it stayed in place, for three days following the operation I had to keep my head still and remain on my back. I practiced stretchlying carefully leading up to the operation and found I could lie there all night comfortably; stretchlying is the best!

Come morning I have the option of switching to stretchlying on my side, which I also learned in the course. Again, I found a follow-up lesson on stretchlying on the side helpful as it involves a little more technical precision, especially with anteverting the pelvis, to work its magic.

For me the biggest help for my upper body was learning the shoulder roll…and I feel like my neck automatically gets into the right place after I’ve positioned my shoulders well. It also positions me better in sitting and standing, and helps me do more of the things I care deeply about.

One of those things is artwork, and I am now much more aware of my body while I’m doing it. For example, I’m standing straighter, and if I start to slouch—oops—I can feel it. 

I love the poetry of combining imagery and words in my artwork.

I’m also at the computer writing books, including a biography, children’s books, and poetry. As I spend a good deal of time sitting, it’s important to do it well. 

These are four of the numerous books I've published. I have illustrated the three books shown along the top here. Seven Meditations for Children I have recorded as an audiobook—see how the child is sitting with a nice straight back!

My husband had an eminent career in public health which took us all over the world. Rather than take a lucrative post as an Obstetrics and Gynecology trained MD, he chose instead to work for the poor and underserved of the world, becoming Founder-Director of the Center for Population and Family Health, 1975–86. He was then Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, 1986–2008, and honored while alive with the naming of the Allan Rosenfield Building and after his passing by the Tribute Wall I fundraised for. The first year of our marriage was spent in Nigeria, and we were in Thailand for six years. I must have seen a lot of examples of elegant posture in the rural areas of those countries, but back then I didn’t recognize how important it was.

Here is a photo of the Tribute Wall to my husband—there we are together, bottom left. My husband served in Korea as an Air Force doctor. You can see people headloading in Nigeria (left hand panel, photo top right).

I have six grandchildren, three boys and three girls, aged 12–23. When I’m with them I try to help them with their posture—they spend so much time hunched over. I guess it’s hard for children to envisage they are statistically likely to have back pain down the line, but at least I can sow the seeds for them to think about posture, and set as healthy an example as I can. I’m so glad that the Gokhale Method is there to help all generations—and especially the young—to rediscover their healthy posture heritage.

I’m known to my grandchildren as “the Nana who raps instead of naps!” Here is a rap I would like to share with you:

IT'S TIME WE VOW TO SPEAK RIGHT NOW
 

It's time we vow to speak right now

our vow to share a peace we dare

to live and keep and not let sleep

In mere intentions while old conventions

Toot horns of war. No more, no more,

We shout out loud, no more to shroud

Our depths of heart. It's time to start,

Yes, twenty-four seven, on Earth bring Heaven,

So one, two, three, it's you and me

To take a dive in what's alive,

Our YES to fate before too late

To emanate our LOVE not wait,

to one and all, the world enthrall

So they will see that all we be

One family! Yes all we be

One FAMILY!

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. . .

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.

The short, free Gokhale Moments videos can get you started with key techniques like rib anchor, shoulder roll, and stretchsitting.

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.

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!

We’re here to help with your New Year’s fitness resolution. Join us for a FREE 10-day New Year 3 x 3 Fitness Challenge, which is offered as part of the Gokhale Exercise program. It will be fun, safe, and effective, enabling you to build your strength without strain and injury, because, all the while, you are also training for healthy posture! 

Your 10-day challenge consists of three sets of three (3 x 3) popular exercises. Our approach to these well-known exercises is unlikely to be found in any standard gym or fitness program where, unfortunately, poor postural habits go undetected or are even unknowingly promoted. Here the exercises will be taught with our “Gokhale filter” to respect what is natural and healthy for your body.

The New Year 3 x 3 Challenge Exercises:

Exercise #1: Push-ups

Push-ups are a highly functional exercise that will assist you with many daily tasks and a range of activities—getting up from the floor, yoga, weight training, gardening, pushing heavy doors or strollers, etc.

A lot of people, especially women, have difficulty supporting their weight with their arms; their upper body muscles are much weaker than lower body muscles. That was certainly my story.

To this day I haven’t yet done a full push-up though I am getting tantalizingly close thanks to our Gokhale Fitness and Yoga programs. I can now lower myself to the ground with full control, (an excellent eccentric exercise, which you can read more about here), and can push up from part way up. I am hopeful that the 10-day New Year 3 x 3 Challenge will take me all the way! 

This push-up is done at a bench rather than on the floor to be easier. However, common problematic habits can still creep in, as Gokhale Fitness teacher Eric Fernandez demonstrates.

This push-up shows healthy form.

Exercise #2: Squats

Growing up in India, I was surrounded by people sitting on the floor and squatting frequently throughout the day. These habits contribute to greater mobility in the formation of the hip joint, and flexibility in the tissues surrounding the hip joint. 

People in our culture rarely have this degree of mobility and flexibility in the hips and ankles, and so squat poorly in a way that does damage—rounding the back and pronating the feet. This is more of a collapse downward than a well-supported, well-aligned squatting movement. 

In the 3 x 3 Fitness Challenge, Eric will show you how to do squats in a safe way, to boost the strength of your knees, quads, glutes, thighs, and whole lower body. Done well, deep squats are not only safe—research shows that they can improve the health of knee menisci and cartilage, ligaments, and bones.

This squat demonstrates poor form, such as internal rotation of the legs. 

This squat demonstrates healthy form.

Exercise #3: Deadlifts

Often known as a Romanian deadlift due to its popularity among weightlifters in Eastern Europe, a deadlift strengthens almost everything on the back of your upper and lower body. It is also a good exercise to test and develop hip mobility, and to develop bone density. 

The deadlift utilizes our primal way of bending, which we call hip-hinging. Hip-hinging is instinctively used by our infants, and widely by adults in many parts of the world where traditional patterns of movement have been maintained. Hip-hinging is taught in our Gokhale Method® in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, and our online Elements course.

This deadlift demonstrates common mistakes such as rounding the back.

This deadlift demonstrates healthy form.

Here’s your Challenge:

Day 1: You’ll test how many reps of each exercise you can do in a minute. You’ll take a minute’s rest between each of the three sets, and between each exercise. 

Days 2–4: You will do other exercises that compliment and build up your strength for the 3 x 3 Fitness Challenge.

Day 5: Check-in on your goals.

Days 6–9: Continue with strength training.

Day 10: You’ll go through the challenge again and see in what ways you have improved. Expect an improvement in your strength, in the number of reps you can do, and in your range of motion!

Is this fitness challenge suitable for everyone?

The 3 x 3 Fitness Challenge is designed for practically everyone, with easier options given for those taking steps towards the full exercise, and additional challenges for those who find them relatively easy. 

People are often surprised at how working with healthy posture changes their experience of an exercise—depending on the situation, you may feel stronger and lighter, for example. Or you may discover that you were unknowingly “cheating” and can benefit your body by making different, healthier efforts.

If you have had an injury or surgery recently, or have a particular health issue, we recommend that you seek the advice of your preferred physician or health professional before starting the Challenge. We encourage everybody to work within their capabilities—this is not a no-pain, no-gain program!

I look forward to meeting you as we challenge ourselves to greater fitness, and healthier posture.

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, sign up to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops. . .

Sheila enjoying carrying her granddaughter.

I am a small-boned, postmenopausal woman with osteoporosis. I first showed signs of osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis) 10 years ago and agreed with my physician to take a Western medicine called Boniva. After a year of nasty side effects, I discontinued the medicine and decided to try to pursue other options.

I researched and experimented and eventually found a routine comprised of nutritional supplements, weight-bearing exercises with a trainer twice a week, and walking as much as possible. This routine seemed to help a little but was complicated by an undiagnosed fissure in my L5/S1 lumbar disc. At the time, I was in chronic pain and in constant fear of having a back spasm with each weight-bearing exercise. I did my best, but the gusto I needed to push through these exercises soon evaporated.

Osteoporosis is a thinning of the bone and a reduction in its density. Good posture 
may well be key to the skeleton weight-bearing correctly and maintaining bone density. Wikimedia Commons

In 2015 a DEXA scan (bone density test) indicated I was at a score of -2.5 and officially in the osteoporosis category. I decided that I was just not doing enough. I saw an Ayurvedic doctor and upped my game by taking Ayurvedic herbs to improve bone density as well as spending several months at an Ayurvedic treatment center in India. 

As I look back, I see my life at that time was not going the way I wanted it to; my attention was constantly drawn to my back pain, and now, osteoporosis. But I remained hopeful that what I was doing would do the trick. In 2016 I had a partial discectomy to correct the fissured disc in L5/S1. Although I was able to get the disc repaired, the back pain continued. That year I was limited in the weight-bearing exercises I could do. 

CT scans showing the annular fissure at Sheila’s L5/S1 intervertebral disc. 
When a disc’s tough outer casing tears, some of the disc filling (nucleus pulposus) 
is squeezed out, often toward sensitive nerve roots.

Two years went by and in 2018, my next DEXA scan indicated my numbers had worsened to -3.1. Now there was no option for me but Western medicine to avoid fractures. I did what was needed and took a onetime infusion of a medicine called Reclast (Zoledronic Acid). The recommendation from the doctor was to continue with annual doses for 3-5 years to see results. However, I stopped after one year due to jaw pain, which is a known possible side effect.

In 2019 my life took a positive turn. I read a book by Esther Gokhale called 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back and immediately sensed that I had found the solution to my back problems. I took the Gokhale Method® Foundations Course in June 2019 and put this newfound knowledge into practice. The Gokhale Method turned everything around for me by correcting my bad posture, which almost entirely resolved the back pain. I did the exercises at the back of the book religiously and attended every online workshop. I could now sit, stand, bend, walk and actively exercise without fear of pain or spasm. I have continued to thrive ever since with NO BACK PAIN.

During the last year and a half, I have continued practicing the Gokhale Method and now attend the Gokhale Exercise offerings 7 days per week. The daily programs frequently include dancing, bobbing, jogging, jiggling, shaking, and light-impact movements.  I also practiced Qi Gong, a martial arts type exercise, 3 times per week. I have continued taking the same supplements that I had prior to 2018: RAW Calcium and Cissus quadrangularis (an Indian Ayurvedic herb that I have taken for 6 years).

A moment from our 1-2-3 Move session, November 19th 2020. The theme was 
“Jiggling and Jumping.” Movements that cultivate a strong core and protect your back can be fun!

On November 30, 2020 I once again went for a DEXA scan of my spine, hips, and femur. The next day I was filled with anxiety about what my results would show. I was afraid that my bone density might have plummeted and that I would now be in serious danger of a fracture. I had already planned on resuming Western meds and had even decided on which one would be the best choice for me in the long term.

When I opened my DEXA scan results I was shocked. My lumbar  spine T-scores indicated that I had improved from -3.1 in 2018 to -2.7 in 2020. Compared to the previous exam, the BMD (Bone Mineral Density) had increased 6.1% within the spine and increased 4.9% within the femurs. This increase in spinal and femoral density was statistically significant.

On Dec 10, 2020 I went for a follow-up visit with my rheumatologist to review the lab results and get some perspective on the DEXA scan. He said that my bone density improvement was extraordinary. The Reclast infusion I had completed 2 years prior (one time only) was expected to only preserve my bone density at -3.1.  There was a tiny chance of a 1% improvement, but a 6.1% improvement was not an expected result. He remarked that this kind of positive change is extremely rare. He kept saying, “Keep doing what you are doing, because it is working and for now there is no need to return to Western meds.” At that point I told him about the Gokhale Method and showed him 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.

Exercise with weights, when done with healthy postural form, 
will help increase bone density and strength. 
Gokhale Method teacher Eric Fernandez shows how on the Gokhale Fitness Program.

Other than the Reclast infusion in 2018, the only additions I have made to my routine are the Gokhale Method daily techniques, the Gokhale Exercise program including 1-2-3 Move with Esther, and Qi Gong.  I have been dealing with this bone density issue for about 10 years now and have tried a large number of different approaches—this is the first time I have had any kind of an improvement in my bone density.

I want to emphasize that I am a strong believer in Western medicine. I will certainly use it again if my bone density decreases. In the meantime, I will continue with my Gokhale Method routine and get tested again in a year to see if the improvement lasts.

For now, my expectations are GREAT!