dance

Taking the daily classes has helped me perfect the practice and really get the nuances. I am now able to accomplish the rib anchor, which I was struggling with. Also, the daily motivation that I get from checking in and feeling the energy from the group—it has just been an amazing opportunity.
Elizabeth Kubicki, Gokhale alumna

Gokhale Method® teacher and editorial writer Clare Chapman explores the When and Why of Gokhale® Exercise with its creator, Esther Gokhale.

Clare: Can you tell us how the Gokhale Exercise program got started?

Esther: For a long time now, our teachers and I have been surprised at how much our alumni—graduates of our courses—can forget. This despite their being delighted by the courses and their results. Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising at all, given that humans have forgetting curves as surely as they have learning curves, and that our beginner courses cover a lot of material in a short time frame. 

The forgetting curve was developed by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus and depicts the way learned information falls away over time. Research confirms that, on average, students forget 70 percent of what is taught within 24 hours of a training experience. 90 percent is forgotten within a week. Image: www.organisingstudents.com.au

On January 1, 2020, I decided to try a new format—an online 21-day challenge. Each broadcast was short, reminding alumni of one basic principle of the Gokhale Method that would be familiar, if semi-forgotten. I chose it to be an exercise program to additionally fill the well-understood need for more movement in daily life.

Esther answers a question from Gokhale alumna Elizabeth Kubicki about the posture principle of straightening the back leg in speed walking.

Clare: And before long COVID hit, correct?

Esther: Yes, along with shelter-in-place orders. It became clear people would be stuck in their homes without their usual access to sports and exercise facilities, or their usual interventions for their aches and pains. We had a tested offering whose value had suddenly increased dramatically—it felt important to continue the program, and also to open it up to a wider audience. It gathered a large number of daily participants and evolved to include a great variety of music and dance, art, anatomical education, community and mutual support. Many participants told us that this is what kept their bodies and spirits afloat through the dark period of the pandemic.

Clare: How did Gokhale Exercise evolve its current format?

Esther: Gokhale Exercise started with 1-2-3 Move, which uses dance as the vehicle for posture education and entertainment. It continues to this day without having missed a beat! The 13-minute class is our main program, focusing on 1 posture principle, 2 dance moves, and 3 images. It is preceded by a joyous, free-form, 15-minute Dance Party.

Dance is a human universal, and besides providing a fun way to revisit posture principles, it improves cognition, staves off dementia and depression, brightens spirits and community feeling, and more. Traditional dance is especially true to our ethos of taking lessons from other cultures. Various members of our teacher team contribute: Sabina has deep knowledge of blues and swing styles, Eric loves Latin, and Lang is expert in Capoeira and Brazilian dance moves. My passion is Indian, Brazilian, and Congolese dance​​. . .

Gokhale Exercise has now blossomed into multiple offerings, adding Gokhale Fitness, Moving Meditation, Fitness for Cyclists, and Yoga, with an increasing number of teachers offering their expertise throughout the day. 

Gokhale Exercise teachers enjoy sharing their movement expertise with a “Gokhale filter.” 
Top left to bottom right: Roberta, Julie, Esther, Kathleen, Eric, Sabina, Tiffany, and Lang.

Clare: Can you say more about how these different forms of exercise encourage healthy posture?

Esther: Every 1-2-3 Move class uses traditional rather than modern dance moves. This comes with a level of reassurance about their suitability for the human body; we know these moves have been vetted by entire populations who didn’t have modern pain. 

Gokhale® Yoga, Moving Meditation and Gokhale® Fitness also explore posture principles that are not emphasized or respected in the average class: anchored ribs, recruiting the inner corset, kidney-bean shaped feet, etc. Respecting the body’s natural blueprint enables us to increase fitness, strength, and flexibility without risking injury. 

Across all the classes we follow a Posture Principle of the day—for example, Healthy Rotation of the Torso—so whichever class(es) students participate in, they get the range of healthy posture reminders they need at regular intervals. 

Each Gokhale Exercise email comes with a daily Posture Principle image to remind and inspire. This vintage baseball illustration shows healthy rotation of the torso while keeping good form throughout the body.

Clare: Who attends the Gokhale Exercise program?

Esther: Classes span a variety of pace and challenge, so for example, our Gokhale Moving Meditation classes are gentle enough for even the most physically challenged members of the community, while Gokhale Fitness pushes almost everybody’s boundaries (while giving easier modifications of the exercises offered). 

Clare: Is the Gokhale Exercise program suitable for beginners?

Esther: The ideal starting point for beginners is to take one of our comprehensive courses (the in-person Foundations course, or one-day Pop-up course, or our online Elements course). This is especially true for those suffering pain or dysfunction. In these courses, students can learn with optimal sequencing and detail, and get the one-on-one attention they need. For students who would like a free introduction to the Gokhale Method we recommend signing up for an in-person or online free workshop. For comprehensive personal advice, consider taking an in-person or online Initial Consultation to determine which course is best for you. 

Many people start with the Gokhale Exercise program because it has a free trial week and costs very little thereafter—we are glad to be able to provide this service for people who cannot afford our courses or who are curious to see what our offerings are like. Having the program open to the public also means that alumni can invite their friends and family members along to try it without any obligations.

Clare: What is next for the Gokhale Exercise Program?

Esther: We want all our students to have a minimum of one month’s live support, available every day, as they approach the end of their courses. So we are delighted to announce that all our valued alumni—from the in-person Foundations, Pop-up, or online Elements courses—will be gifted a free month’s membership of our Online University, which includes the Gokhale Exercise program!

Online University member Claire Phillips explains how membership has inspired her progress.

In addition to Gokhale Exercise, our Online University additionally offers two 45-minute Live Chats every month with me, Esther Gokhale. Topics include flexibility, the human spine, posture and emotional health, to squat or not to squat, and more. There is also unlimited access to our On-Demand Video Library of over 60 topics including advanced posture techniques and practical applications like gardening, cooking, etc.

Clare: Thanks Esther, Gokhale Exercise is an inspiring and continuing journey!

FREE 10-Day Back to Basics Challenge

Alumni often tell us they get a lot of benefit from reviewing the basics—so we are also offering an exciting Back to Basics Challenge, designed for alumni, but also open to beginners, as part of our 1-2-3 Move program and starting September 26 for 10 days.

Here is the Challenge:

Each class will review a different Posture Principle, with exercises for practice and challenge. We have prepared a downloadable booklet for participants to print and journal their postural changes and progress. 

How to take part:

Online University and Gokhale Exercise members automatically qualify for this challenge—their daily emails will tell them about it. 

People who have not yet taken a Gokhale Method course and who are therefore not alumni are also welcome to join, and listen in to the Q&A sessions by signing up to our Gokhale Exercise program with a monthly subscription—with our free trial you can test it without any obligations.

We look forward to seeing both new and familiar faces! 

Gokhale Method alumnus Ben Bernstein PhD appreciates daily reminders of what to work on.

Regular readers and our students will know that I am a great fan of dance—it is a fun, social, and mood-elevating way to get fitter and master healthy posture. 

Dance and the importance of length in the spine

The Gokhale Method® focuses on restoring the spine to its natural length, strength, and shape in all positions and activities. In vigorous activities like dance, with higher impact and distortions like twists, side bends, flexions, and extensions, the inner corset technique becomes especially important.

Vigorous dance requires and maintains a strong inner corset of muscle that keeps the spine lengthened and the trunk stable. The creators of this Indian figurine knew this well.

About Bachata 

Bachata is a sensual Latin American-style dance that is generally a little slower than Salsa. It originated in the Dominican Republic, continuing to evolve as it spread across the globe. The style is characterized by fluid and playful movements which require a great deal of coordination. 

These Bachata dancers embody many of the healthy postural elements that we teach in our in-person Foundations course, one-day Pop-up course, our online Elements course, and our Gokhale Exercise program. Wikipedia

One characteristic ingredient of Bachata that is worthy of closer examination is the sideways “shear” of the ribcage. For those who seek an expanded palette of healthy movement, a shear opens up a whole new realm of possibility. Shearing happens naturally in the neck when balancing a load on the head, and in reaching out sideways or off-center. The shear appears in numerous traditional dance forms including African, Arabic, Indian, and Latin American.

The shearing movement is accessed safely by first lengthening and then adding the inner corset action. The shear is not held, it is a series of positions you visit in transit. The rib mobility involved benefits the thoracic spine and upper lumbar spine, mobilizing an area that can become tense, stuck, and achy. It is also visually compelling!

Here is Gokhale Fitness teacher Eric Fernandez incorporating the rib shear movement in Bachata dance.

Enjoying the positives that Bachata offers

With this modern concoction of traditional ingredients, Bachata dancers can develop a unique view of self. Bachata dance allows for a wholesome expression of sensuality that leads to an increase in empowerment and confidence—as well as a beneficial foray into one’s natural architecture. 

In medical terms shear may be used to refer to a sideways displacement, injury, or degeneration of a spinal vertebra. However, we are talking about a healthy, distributed shear through the lumbar and thoracic spine using well-controlled muscular contraction. This is a tried and tested workout for all the trunk movers and stabilizers, including the deepest intrinsic spinal muscles, the obliques, and quadratus lumborum. 

Quadratus lumborum (left, in red) and the internal obliques (right, in red) are just two of the important muscles that both move and stabilize the trunk. When this is done well, the spine is mobilized—and protected. Wikimedia, Wikimedia

Our new alumni-exclusive course, “Gokhale Dance: Bachata”

If you already enjoy our daily 1-2-3 Move dance parties, you’ll love our upcoming Bachata course that can take your dancing to a new level. Or if dancing has been off the menu since COVID started, and you want to channel your inner dancer, read on. . .

Our new alumni-exclusive, six-lesson course “Gokhale Dance: Bachata” starts Monday, June 12, at 10 a.m. PST. Over the course you will develop the movement skills you need for the basics of Bachata dancing. The course is for a maximum of 20 participants, which allows for plenty of individual feedback.

Every Bachata lesson is followed by a home practice video so that participants can drill down into the moves between classes. Here is a taster of the rib shear movement from the Lesson 2 home practice, taught by Gokhale Fitness teacher Eric Fernandez.

Who can learn Bachata

You don’t have to be an accomplished dancer to learn Bachata. There are no dance prerequisites* for this Alumni course—we expect this to be of value for complete beginners and professional dancers alike since the emphasis is on healthy postural form while learning the basics. You don’t need a partner, or even a sense of rhythm. This class is for any alumnus who wants to enhance their coordination and posture awareness, learn to dance, or just for “shear fun”! We look forward to seeing you there. . .

*Bachata moves do include some controlled swaying, tucking and rounding of the spine. If you have acute back pain, disc herniation, significant degeneration in your spine, or are not yet out of the woods from recent injury or surgery, an in-person Follow-Up or  online Follow-up is recommended.

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. . .

My name is Sheila Bond, and I am the mother of four sweet kids, an artist, a knit and jewelry designer, and a private art teacher. In this blog post I would like to share with you my Gokhale Method® journey out of pain and despair.

Photo of me after my second disc herniation in seven years.

On May 6, 2022, I severely herniated the spinal disc between my L4/L5 vertebrae. In addition I had developed bursitis in my left hip during the previous three months, I believe from sitting improperly teaching online classes.

It happened on the Friday before Mother’s Day. By Saturday morning I could barely move and thought I might die or at the very least never recover. I ordered a TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, a mild electrical current to give pain relief) from Walgreens, and bought Salonpas patches and a walking cane. I took three Advil and two extra strength Tylenol alternating every six hours. 

I had previously herniated my L4/L5 in 2015, and had a laminectomy (a surgical operation to remove part of the back of vertebrae, usually to relieve pressure on nerves.) That surgery had left me in terrible pain. When I told the surgeon I was still in pain in my tailbone/sacrum area, he told me he could remove my tailbone. I declined. Following surgery, I also went to physical therapy for a year and a half, but it gave me more pain than it took away.

   
My MRI from January 2015, showing my first L4/L5 herniation (red arrow).  

My MRI from May 2022, showing my second L4/L5 herniation. I was particularly disturbed by the amount of tissue damage in the area after my first surgery (circled in blue).

It wasn’t until five years later when I discovered a traditional Chinese acupuncturist that I found any real relief in that area. During that timespan I was also diagnosed with EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder), and discovered that I consequently had a hypermobile sacrum that was prone to dislocation.

Returning to May 2022, I was in denial that it could be my spine and insisted it must be my hip causing the electrifying pain that ran all the way from my hip to my foot. I thought maybe it was something wrong with the joint. I just really didn’t want it to be my spine again. On Monday, May 9, I finally agreed to go to the ER after hearing that my GP could not squeeze me in.

The electrifying pain ran all the way from my hip to my foot.

At the ER they gave me an IV, Valium and Fentanyl. It barely touched the pain, and only for an hour, and then they’d give me more. They did an MRI of my back and an X-ray of my hip. After about four hours they sent me home with the diagnosis of a severely herniated disc and bursitis in my hip. They gave me 10 Vicodin pain pills, 30 muscle relaxants, and a package of steroids and told me to see an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon. 

The ER room looked bleak, just like my state of mind.

The pain continued. I couldn’t dress myself. I could barely move or function at all. I called the orthopedic surgeon the next day who said my hip didn’t need an operation since the problem was bursitis, and that I should see a spinal surgeon or a neurosurgeon. I did not as I was so scared by my last experience. (I didn’t take the steroids either.) Instead, on May 12, I headed three hours away with my youngest kid in tow to see an acupuncturist who specialized in chronic pain and spinal injuries.

There was severe weather on my agonizing 3 hour drive to seek help. But I was desperate—and determined.

The acupuncturist recommended daily treatment so I checked into a hotel. She told me all my L1-L5 discs were not doing well. After five days of treatment, I experienced some pain relief, but sadly I tripped on my cane and fell into a wall, reversing any healing done. The pain then became so bad that I felt as though I was being constantly electrocuted. I couldn’t sleep. I drew and painted from my bed trying to explain what I was feeling. 

I tried to communicate my experience visually.

I am the main breadwinner for my family and I really could not miss work. I tried to teach my private Zoom art classes, but standing and sitting were both unbearable. I forced myself to teach some of them and rescheduled others. My birthday was on the 22nd and I felt like I was on my deathbed. I am used to being the one to care for others, so this was a terrible place for me to be.

I felt so bad for all my kids. I took the youngest one, who was with me, to the zoo, but had to use an electric wheelchair. I took the prescribed Vicodin and muscle relaxants to make it through, but still had to keep changing positions, fighting the pain. Some of the time I couldn’t even hold the steering wheel to make the wheelchair go, and then my kid would offer to steer for me. We didn’t stay long.

This video shows a GIF I made from two drawings to express the pain I experienced.

My sweet sister Aileen who lived states away was worried about me. She had recovered from back pain having worked with Esther Gokhale in California, and told me Esther could help me and sent me the Gokhale Method website. From my hotel bed she and my father helped me to sign up for the 18-session online Elements course. 

Before meeting Esther Gokhale I tried. . . 

Ice
Advil
Norco
Tylenol
Tens unit
Massager
Hydration 
Electrolytes 
Arnica salve
Heating pads 
Cyclobenzaprine
Lowering my chair 
Gentle safe stretches  
B and C vitamins, zinc 
Short walks every day 
Heat wrap around calf
Gentle and slow motion 
Hot baths with Epsom salts
Trying to correct my posture myself
Hand massage of my leg muscles, daily
Inversion table—horrible, won’t do it again
Acupuncture—two weeks of daily treatment 
Herbal tea from my acupuncturist and herbalist 

I met Esther on May 24 from my hotel room over Zoom. Esther was kind and gentle, and confident that she could help me. I couldn’t sit so Esther guided me to a position lying on the floor with my feet in a chair—that relieved enough of the pain so we could talk. We set up the sessions to begin on May 31. It was so hard to take the before-course posture photos.

From the very first Elements lesson I found some relief. It was small gains at first, but I could tell the difference. I was in so much pain even the littlest movements were hard. The tiniest shifts helped a lot. I hadn’t slept well in so long.

Esther thought pain medication might be helpful to assist me though the sessions. Finally in the middle of June I went to see the neurosurgeon. I carried with me my copy of 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back. I told him I had been having private posture lessons with Esther Gokhale—I had done five at that point. He hadn’t heard of the Gokhale Method, and, as he could see that my herniation was pressing against my spinal nerves, he wanted to do surgery immediately. I told him I wanted to continue to try to heal myself, and that I wanted to try pain medication to support that. He couldn’t believe I had held on so long in my condition, and I think he realized my strength and conviction. He made an appointment for a spinal injection in two weeks’ time (which I never had) and prescribed me the second strongest Percocets available. 

I took the pain medication for only three-to-four days as they made me nauseous, but it was long enough to give me some relief and I was able to do more during our posture sessions. Each session gave me a posture gem that I needed to know. I practiced over Zoom with Esther, and by myself in between our sessions. It was amazing to me that I was learning how to heal myself and avoid pain. 

Today I find myself returning to making joyful and more optimistic drawings like this sketch of a tree, looking skyward.

Things really began to shift for me about a third of the way through the course. When Esther taught me standing, I changed my stance by kidney-bean shaping my feet, externally rotating my legs, and relaxing my pelvis and belly, allowing my behind to be behind me. I’ve had four kids, and had gotten used to holding tension and trying not to let my belly show. I had become scared to move out of my “locked up” position for fear of more pain. After learning how to relax into a healthy standing posture, a huge percentage of the back pain dissipated. 

Around mid-July, halfway through Elements, we started learning to glidewalk. This brought another huge shift, as my searing leg pain finally started to recede. I had admired my sister’s strong, smooth way of walking since she had taken the in-person Foundations Course, and now I too was learning how to keep my back heel down, and to land on a bent front knee. Having struggled even to stand for months, getting walking again took some determination just to move a few yards. 

By August I was able to return to making jewelry like this charoite and copper pendant.

By lesson 14 or 15 I was able to walk without a cane. I realized I still had to focus on anchoring my ribs as well as all the changes with my gait. I still hear Esther saying to me “heel down, ribs down. . . ” Having a teacher prompt you in real time was so helpful.

Some days were better than others, and progress ebbed and flowed. I have learned that I need to treat myself with love and patience. I had become so used to having to push through my pain to look after everybody else—to work, look after my kids, even just to get the dishes done. 

I still keep a 20-minute reminder (app) on my phone, to bring me back to mindfulness about my posture, whatever I’m doing. I realize that the pathway for the disc herniation is still there—but I feel that it isn’t going to happen again because I now have the tools to stay long, strong, and well aligned in my back.

I’m getting back to living again. I’m able to teach my private art classes comfortably and have hope for the future.

At the end of my 18 lessons, I actually danced to the 1-2-3 Move Gokhale Exercise program. I have always loved dance, and it was thrilling to start to do that again, at my own gentle pace. I want to share my story far and wide, so please share this post. Everyone in pain deserves to have realistic hope, and to know that they can heal.

If you would like guidance on any aspect of your posture and spine shape, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person, with a Gokhale Method teacher.

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. . . 

At the beginning of the pandemic, my tween daughter was the dancer in my house. When her in-person hip-hop class was canceled, she quickly turned online for inspiration, showering me with her 30-second Tik Toks.

I was amused, but resolute that dancing online was not for me. I had my own exercise regime, at the heart of which were a series of Pilates-based exercises that I had incorporated in the hopes of healing a nagging injury. 

But now, 16 months into the pandemic, I’m dancing online too, maybe even more than my 12-year-old. This is thanks to Esther Gokhale and her unbelievably fabulous community who, like me, wanted to find a safe, therapeutic, and fun way of exercising after injuring our backs.

I first heard Esther years ago on a podcast and subsequently checked her book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back out of the library. I remember being especially interested in the pictures of women holding their babies so comfortably; I had recently given birth, and I tried my best to imitate the women pictured. 

Me with Baby Yael in 2013. I now see I had a very pronounced S-shape curve. 

From reviewing pictures of myself during that time, I see now that I did a poor imitation, but at the time I didn’t have any pain, so I returned the book to the library. 

However, last November while experiencing non-stop back pain, I purchased the book, which led me to Esther’s website and one-on-one coaching. Six weeks later, after completing the Elements course, this is what I wrote to friends and family in my 2021 New Year’s letter:

I’ve been relearning how to walk, stand, and sleep over the past six weeks. This is what one does when she becomes so desperate for relief from unrelenting sciatica, the kind that starts in the buttock and runs down to the calf. It all began with a yoga injury in May 2019, but the pain became unbearable after our move (hello, stress and grief, and, yes, more disc degeneration.)

An MRI from December 2020 had pinpointed “severe facet arthritis bilaterally” at L4-5, and mild to moderate facet damage elsewhere. I had tried everything from PT to Pilates, from massage to medical marijuana, but what seems to have made the biggest difference is the Gokhale Method, which attempts to reteach the body how to do the work of everyday life without further degrading our discs.

I was skeptical about how much I could actually learn online from a Gokhale coach, given that postural work benefits from hands-on adjustments and corrections. But with COVID-19 raging, this is not the time for in-person classes. Happily for me, my coach was terrific, and after completing the 18 introductory classes, I’m feeling so much better. It’s definitely not a magic bullet, but it’s the best thing I’ve tried so far, and I want to believe that if I keep it up, I’ll eventually be pain free. Here’s hoping I can report that next year.

Seven months later, I am thrilled to say that I am indeed pain-free and living a full life that enables me to care for my family, return to writing, and relaunch my health coaching practice that I had put on hold due to the pandemic and pain.

My recovery has been so complete that in May I undertook training to become a certified canoe instructor and am now teaching at the American Canoe Association’s Camp Sebago in New York. 

Now free from back pain and sciatica I am once again able to canoe.

Even though I feel great, I know that wellness takes regular work, and I’m grateful for the ongoing Gokhale Exercise program. Gokhale Fitness teacher Eric Fernandez has gotten me to enjoy strength training; teachers Kathleen O’Donohue and Roberta Cooks are responsible for me incorporating Moving Meditation into my morning routine, while Esther’s daily 1-2-3 Move program has rekindled my love of dance and taught me steps from traditions that include bharata natyam, samba, capoeira, 50s rock, and reggae. Joan Baez’s music is a fave—she is a student of Esther’s and will often be dancing on the screen with the rest of us. 

Head-loading is a fun way to practice many important posture principles, shown here on the 1-2-3 Move program. 

Esther will also occasionally focus on yoga asanas and offer modifications that have enabled me to safely return to a yoga practice. If you see me balancing boxes (or my canoe) on my head, it’s thanks to all the practice I’ve now had with the Gokhale™ Head Cushion, gently “head-loading” my way to a taller, healthier neck. Thanks to the Gokhale Pain-Free™ Chair and Gokhale Stretchsit® Cushion, I’m also able to sit well at my desk and to drive long distances without pain, something that was impossible seven months ago.

1-2-3 Move often features artefacts such as Greek statues, Indian deities, or photographs of people from different cultures going about their work. Esther points out that examples of healthy posture by Americans are more readily found some generations back, in works such as those by Grant Wood or Winslow Homer.  

A Basket of Clams, 1873, Winslow Homer

My favorite class was the one devoted to the Hindu deity Ganesh, who takes the form of an elephant with a pot belly. While dancing to the “Ballad of Ganesha” by Lil Darkie, we took a cue from Ganesh, who holds himself beautifully, despite his roly-poly largesse. Esther talked about how strong abs are something that everyone, no matter what size, can cultivate. If Ganesh can carry himself well, the rest of us can do so as well. She made a similar point using images of Japanese sumo wrestlers. I deeply appreciate that Esther, raised in India by her Dutch mother and Indian father, takes a global perspective on healing. 

Dancing Ganesh, India, 900–1000 AD, sandstone - Fitchburg Art Museum

As a Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner, I’ve come to view the Gokhale Method as nonnegotiable, or what Andrea Nakayama, CEO of the Functional Nutrition Alliance, calls “Tier 1”—the basics that must be in place before supplementation (Tier 2) or any kind of medical intervention (Tier 3). 

Tier 1 includes community support, something that is available in any Gokhale Method group class. These social and emotional components of healing, and the importance of surrounding yourself with healthy posture cues from people, artwork, and music, are frequently discussed during the Q&A on the 1-2-3 Move program. 

In this 1-2-3 Move video, Esther shows how traditional artefacts such as shadow puppets from Java, Indonesia, inspire us to free our arms and open the chest.

The Gokhale Method is not against appropriate medication or procedures. Back in February when I was still having some pain upon waking every morning, I asked Esther what she thought of “injections” as a way to mitigate this. To my surprise she said that she sometimes suggests that her students consider this “Tier 3” approach, but only after they have tried “Tier 1” first. Medical interventions such as injections and painkillers can create a window of pain-relief that enables students to learn to improve their posture and address the root cause of their problem. 

I had already had an injection into my SI joint the previous September, which didn’t give me any relief. So I booked a one-on-one appointment with Esther, who pinpointed an excessive curve in my lumbar area. The transformation I brought about in my spine led to me being used as an example of progress in a blog post about spine shape. 

My “before” (above) and “after” (below) Elements photos show a considerable change from an S-spine towards a J-spine. You can read more about spine shape here.

With ongoing attention to creating more of a J-spine and less of an S-spine I no longer have pain. Perhaps even more importantly, I have greater trust that my body, with the right support, can heal.

Loren Edelson is a Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner who writes Given the Givens, a bimonthly newsletter on reaching our full potential, even after receiving a life-changing diagnosis. To subscribe, visit https://loren6c2.substack.com/welcome

Claudia Cummins is a yoga and meditation teacher, poet, and talented writer. Already familiar with Esther’s book and DVD, she joined the 1-2-3 Move program on Thanksgiving last year. It quickly became a favorite way to lift her spirits and do her body good throughout the darkest times of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this essay Claudia generously shares her beautiful account of discovering the 1-2-3 Move dance party. You are invited to visit and enjoy more of Claudia’s writing and expertise on her website.

Dancing Through the Dark

When I log on to my computer just after lunch, the dance has already begun. Bodies sway and bounce to the beat all across the checkerboard tiles that fill my screen. The instructor smiles and shimmies from her own makeshift dance floor, while others move in their bedrooms, their kitchens, their offices, and on their porches. First there are 40 and then 120 and finally more than 200 people logged on from all over the world, here to share in this strange and lovely stay-at-home pandemic dance party.

I’ve come to this class to learn more about healthy movement. I’ve read about Esther Gokhale for years and am eager to learn more about living in a body with strength and ease. It’s the dance, though, that intrigues me most. I suppose you’d say I’m a closet dancer, happy to turn up the music on my own when life feels like it’s ready to burst out of my bones, but puritanically shy about dancing with others.

I scroll through the Zoom screens like a voyeur. I see a mother dancing with children. I see an older man exercising with weights while swaying to the beat. I spy a grey-haired woman who looks so very familiar dancing in her kitchen and an older couple in their living room who seem to move as one. My eyes land on a tall fellow dancing alone with such élan that he must have been a samba dancer in a former life.

I close my bedroom door, turn up the volume, and begin to dance. Shyly, at first, but curious. My feet tap. My shoulders sway. And then I begin to let the music carry me, growing bolder in my movements. I skip. I spin. I sing. My brain grows quiet, my body leads the way and my spirit begins to lift. For the first time in a long while, I smile.

Our free-form, no-rules dance party lasts 15 minutes, and then Esther guides us through the day’s movement principle. She explains why strong muscles support a healthy back, she shows us images of healthy bodies with long and spacious spines, and she offers up a few movements that can cultivate ease and stability in the body. Then the music returns and we strengthen our muscles again on our virtual dance floor.

“ She shows us images of healthy bodies with long and spacious spines…”

I’ve tried this class on a whim. The world feels so claustrophobic right now, with winter darkness settling in like a shroud and the pandemic driving us all to our knees. I walk, I meditate, I practice yoga and qigong, but still my footing feels unsteady and my fears are vast. I’ll try anything to keep my heart afloat through the dark tunnel of winter ahead and into next year’s promised summer sun. Dancing suddenly seems like a not-so-crazy way to shake off our sorrows and perk up our souls.

And strangely, it works. After my first class I find myself moving lightly through the house, a little more chipper and cheery than I’ve felt in months. My body feels refreshed and renewed. My spine feels longer. My legs feel steadier. The troubles of the world seem a little less difficult to carry. My shoulders feel more willing to bear life’s heavy load. 

And so I return the following day. And the next, and the next. In short order my lunchtime dance party becomes a bright light and an anchor to my days. You could say I’m hooked.

“ I am so thankful for my fellow dancers…”

I keep my computer camera turned off because I’m still a little shy about this unlikely COVID survival strategy. But I am so thankful for my fellow dancers who keep their screens on as the music plays. They fill me with a sense of community and shared movement. I follow their leads and imitate their moves. I learn their names and begin to recognize them by their trademark footwork and signature shoulder shimmies. 

My dance partners and I have never met in person, and likely never will, but I feel such kinship with these lovely souls who show up with me, day after day, to shake off the world’s heaviness and reclaim our freedom and light. Dancing alone just wouldn’t feel the same.

This happens every single day. At 12:45pm I leave my kids to their algebra and American history and walk away from the work of the day. I slip upstairs to my bedroom and log on to my computer to dance. I leave my COVID thoughts at the door and let the rhythm of the music transport me to a clean and wide-open space. I stomp my feel and flail my arms and for a little while, at least, forget about masks and stay-at-home orders and the latest round of test results. I feel like a kid again, as light and carefree as I was so long ago when I sashayed around the house and carved out cartwheels in the summer sun.

“Shaking off our sorrows and shimmying to our unlikely delights…”

In these moments, dancing seems like the most natural way to keep life flowing even when the outer world comes to an icy standstill. Every once in a while in my body I catch a glimmering of a whirling dervish or an Indian dakini or a child stomping through the mud. Occasionally I even slip into a place of utter absorption where my sense of self melts away entirely into the greater flow of life. In these moments my bones tell me that the secret to this strange time is to keep moving to the beat, whatever it takes, refusing to let life freeze us in our tracks.

Our daily dance parties aren’t going to make COVID disappear or keep the hospitals from overflowing with patients. They aren’t going to cure hunger or cancer or racism or global warming. We could do worse, though, in this strange and lonely time, than to strengthen our bodies and our souls, to cut loose every once in a while and turn again toward joy.

We show up with whole body and unfettered heart. We swing to the rhythm of the beat, shaking off our sorrows and shimmying to our unlikely delights. We strengthen our spines and our lungs. And then we carry our fancy footwork and unburdened hearts back out into the larger world to cast a little light into the darkness so that others, too, may find their way to the dance.

Feeling that Thanksgiving exercise motivation? Learn how to work out smarter, not just harder, today and every day! Image courtesy Andrea Piacquadio on Unsplash.

Ah, Thanksgiving. For many of us, it’s a time for gratitude and connection. It’s also a time when many people’s minds turn to exercise to offset the rich and abundant food on the menu. How can we make that extra push, enjoy it, and not injure ourselves in the process? Due to the pandemic, more and more of us are working out at home, without our usual exercise partners or in-person access to recreational facilities. Now’s the perfect time to learn to work out smarter, rather than harder.

Exercising harder and longer on top of poor structural alignment is like continuing to drive a car with a mechanical problem. Better to address the root of the problem so nothing slows you down long-term. Image courtesy Pixabay on Pexels.

#1: Fix your posture
Fixing your posture helps you work relevant muscles more efficiently. It also prevents unnecessary wear and tear. When people want to get more exercise, they often simply increase the time spent or the intensity of their exercise. Sometimes they drive themselves to exercise more because of an injury. But if they don’t address systematic posture problems while exercising, they may in fact exacerbate their injury. The analogy that comes to mind is driving a car with a crooked axle. If the car begins to have problems, the solution is not to drive extra or drive faster; you need to fix the axle. Fixing your posture can do wonders for getting more out of your exercise time.

If our daily activities are done with good posture, they can dovetail with exercise. Image courtesy Mark Timberlake on Unsplash.

#2: Use your daily-life activities as the main dish in your regimen
We’re all busier than ever, so it makes sense that it’s challenging to shoehorn separate exercise time into our schedules. A way around this is to use the activities you do every day, around the home and/or office, as the central piece of your exercise regime. Much like this recent Medium piece in which a Japanese writer shares the central role walking plays in keeping Japanese people fit without dedicated gym time, using our bodies wisely as we go about our day means that exercise is built into everything we do. Think of it as clever, efficient multitasking for the body.

To really encourage healthy habits to stick, it helps to do them in community — whether that’s friends, family, or fellow participants, or a combination. Image courtesy Andrea Piacquadio on Unsplash.

#3: Include friends and family if you're going to dedicate time for a workout
Working out smarter can also happen by incorporating the community aspect of exercise. It’s simply smarter to double up your exercise time with social time by exercising with friends, family, or online classmates. Working out with others is wonderful for both habit retention and our mental well-being. On this very strange Thanksgiving, where we can’t be together in the usual ways, having a ready-made vehicle for time spent together safely is another purpose that exercise can serve. Everyone within a family has their individual exercise needs that are valid and more important than ever to satisfy, so be sure to pick something with variety that is accessible to everyone.

We aren’t machines, but humans born of rich traditions, who need things like art, music, dance, and culture to thrive. Exercise that incorporates such enrichments satisfies multiple needs simultaneously. Image courtesy Omotayo Tajudeen on Unsplash.

#4: Include art, music, dance, and culture
You only have but so many hours in the day, and art, music, dance, and culture are universal human needs that must be met somehow. Especially in COVID times, when we cannot attend live, in-person performances, go out dancing in groups, or easily visit museums, incorporating art, music, dance, and culture into our exercise helps fill our primal human need for creative input and enlivens our spirits. And our spirits can use every boost they can get these days!

Every journey begins with a single step. Why not start yours today? Image courtesy Bruno Nascimiento on Unsplash.

Get going on the good foot, starting today
With the live, daily Gokhale Exercise program, we have arrived at just this combination of ingredients. Starting out with figuring out how to meet my own needs, I realized the audience has roughly the same needs for a textured, multi-layered, upbeat offering. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’re offering 3 free days of access to our vibrant and ever-growing Gokhale Exercise program, beginning today. Feel free to invite your friends and family to join you in a safe way this Thanksgiving weekend.

My passion for researching posture has taken me far and wide. I was in a village in Burkina Faso in western Africa when I first noticed how people there would track the conversation from speaker to speaker mainly by using their eyes, rather than by turning their heads. Along with their excellent body posture it contributed to a strikingly well-centered, dignified bearing.

This young man in Burkina Faso demonstrates the dignified bearing that comes with an appropriate amount of eye tracking.

Comparing what I saw in Burkina Faso with what I was used to seeing back home, I realized that in the US, and the wider industrialized world, we move our eyes a good deal less and our necks a good deal more. Why such a difference, I wondered, and what is its significance for our well-being?

In Paul Gauguin’s 1893 painting from one of his Tahiti trips, Woman Holding a Fruit, the unnamed subject shifts her gaze with her eyes, rather than by turning or twisting her neck. Public domain image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Babies and infants in all cultures track actively with their eyes, both when they are still, and when they turn or reach. One possibility why this changes for children of school age in the industrialized world is due to the amount of reading, writing, and screen time they experience. It seems we grow into a more restrictive, “ahead only” habit.

Infants in all cultures track very actively with their eyes, as my daughter Maya demonstrates here.

My son Nathan tracks with his eyes while reaching for a toy.

As adults, this trend can continue with desk jobs and other prolonged, forward-oriented activities, such as driving. Perhaps this is why, as we age, we develop a more fixed “tunnel vision,” which results in moving our necks rather than our eyes.

Computer and desk work are possible factors in reducing our range of eye movement. Original image courtesy Studio Republic on Unsplash.

Excessive dependence upon neck movement to reorient our visual field often contributes to soft tissue strain and wear and tear on the delicate discs and joints of the cervical vertebrae. Far better, then, to try to reduce this dependence and reintroduce eye tracking now and then.

Time spent in nature provides us a chance to practice our eye tracking. Follow that movement! Photo courtesy Nathan Anderson on Unsplash.

How can we reintroduce this ancient technique into our industrialized-world lives? I am a great advocate for getting out into nature whenever possible to literally expand our horizons. Time spent with young children, especially babies and toddlers, can give us an opportunity to mimic and mirror them — to their frequent delight!

This dancer in San Diego demonstrates beautiful eye tracking. Image courtesy Avnish Choudhary on Unsplash.

Many dance forms, including, but certainly not limited to, classical Indian Bharatnatyam and Kathak, also offer us ample opportunities to practice eye tracking, which lends our dance gestures and movements a depth of emotion. By allowing our eyes to track while on a walk or hike — perhaps while watching a darting squirrel or rabbit cross our path — or while watching a sports game from the stands, or while trying out a new dance style, we can provide ourselves a chance to relearn this method of respecting the neck and maintaining an especially dignified composure.

These elegant dancers in Trinidad and Tobago show the gravitas and depth that can come from skillfully-employed eye tracking. Image courtesy Isaiah McClean on Unsplash.

SALVADOR, BRAZIL

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.

Stretching is a common prescription to help with back pain. At https://www.healthoutcome.org, the world’s first crowdsourcing platform to rate medical interventions, stretching is the 6th most commonly used intervention, after physical therapy, NSAIDs, heat, rest, and cortisone injections. On a scale from 0-5, stretching (rated 2.6) is the 5th most highly rated intervention after Postural Modification (3.8), Yoga (3.1), Supplements (2.9), Weight Loss (2.8), and Meditation (2.7).

Back pain caused by tight muscles is common

The Gokhale Method considers stretching to be one of many essential pieces in solving most people’s back problems. Even though stretching alone cannot give an equivalent result to that of a well-crafted Postural Modification approach, it is a good thing, and if slightly tweaked, could give better satisfaction and results in less time. If done poorly, on the other hand, stretching can harm, rather than help you.

A few key concepts that can help your approach to stretching are:

1. Your hunter gatherer ancestors, with whom you share the vast majority of your genes, didn’t do stretches per se. In the course of their daily activities, their bodies were self-stretching, self-maintaining, and mostly, self-healing. It’s true our lifestyles are different from theirs, but this realization should provoke some enquiry about small modifications in our ways of moving that would enable us, too, to be as efficiently and effectively stretched out as our ancestors were.

This hunter gets a natural shoulder stretch from using a bow and arrow

2. Not every muscle in your body needs to be super flexible. Unless you’re a gymnast or yogi, some stiffness here and there is well-tolerated, and can be beneficial when there isn’t great strength to balance extreme flexibility.

3. Flexibility is very useful in the following muscles: hamstrings (allows pelvic anteversion and hip-hinging), psoas (allows a full length stride without a swayback), external hip rotators (allows deep hip-hinging), pecs and traps (allows normal shoulder alignment and prevents pathology in the shoulder, facilitates good range-of-motion for the arms), and calves (allows the heels to remain on the ground for an extended time in a stride).

Calf stretches can help achieve a healthy stride

4. The reason these flexibilities are useful is that they facilitate normal human movement, which also gives a clue on to how to keep these flexibilities: PERFORM NORMAL HUMAN MOVEMENT! Hip-hinge well, stride well, maintain shoulder alignment well while moving the arms extensively, etc., and you’ll be largely covered for flexibility.

Hip-hinging in the garden keeps hamstrings flexible

Actor Shemar Moore keeps his shoulders rolled back when playing on the beach with some spare children

5. If your day does not include enough movement, supplement with a few, well-chosen stretches. It’s extremely efficient to do several stretches simultaneously. It’s even more efficient if you combine this with strengthening several muscles simultaneously.

Stretching the psoas (enables a healthy stride) and pecs, while strengthening the quads

6. Yoga and dance are two approaches to exercise that are especially efficient and effective for satisfying stretch (and strengthening) needs. Most approaches to yoga and dance could use some tweaking to “do no harm” and do more good, but it’s hard to match the possibilities with these traditional, multi-faceted, tried and true practices.

Dance is excellent for increasing flexibility - and strength

7. Distinguish between flexibility of your muscles and laxity in your ligaments. This is a big one, folks! Flexibility in appropriate muscles is terrific; laxity in your ligaments is not! Ligaments are a type of connective tissue that connect bones and cartilage in your joints and provide stability to the skeleton. Overstretched ligaments become too loose to hold your joints together under pressure or tension. People with lax shoulder ligaments, for example, can sometimes dislocate and “pop” their shoulders back in too easily. People with lax ligaments in their spinal column are able to round their spines excessively.
   
   
   This common approach to stretching the hamstrings, done poorly, causes laxity in spinal ligaments

This person would be better off lying on his back and raising one leg at a time to stretch out his very tight hamstrings

Do you have any favorite stretches? Please share them with us! We can then talk about pro's and con's for the stretches you share.

Esther Gokhale, 1996

A Deep Pool of Knowledge

We have an amazing pool of teachers, and I’m extremely proud of every one of them. They have diverse backgrounds and bring all kinds of knowledge, experience, and sensitivity to the Gokhale Method, which benefits teachers and students alike. We are constantly tweaking and improving our offerings. Every month we get together via regularly scheduled continuing-education teleseminars, where I or another expert in a specific area makes a presentation, followed by a lively discussion. In addition, we stay in regular communication via what we have dubbed the “Teacher Water Cooler.” This is a private collaboration, a place where one teacher might write, “I just reviewed the intake form for ‘Student Y,’ who has this unusual syndrome, plus this and this and this. Any ideas how I might adjust my approach?” Another teacher might offer, “I ran into a cool educational tool the other day,” or, “Check out this interesting video on YouTube, and tell me what you think about its point of view.” So we teachers benefit from an ongoing and very dynamic interaction and, once a year, we gather together for a weekend of hands-on work.

A Gokhale Method teacher who played a very helpful role in the early days of our organization, when we most needed help, is Roberta Cooks, MD. She helped create a support group for teachers, as well as a teacher peer-review form that established standards to measure and improve teacher skills. She also tackled various writing and editorial projects, contributing to the ever-evolving teacher training manual, which is now huge, because it covers all aspects of the training in great detail.

A physician who trained as a psychiatrist, Roberta spent much of her medical career in the museum industry, creating health-related exhibitions. Currently she is one of our most active teachers, regularly offering Gokhale Method Foundations courses and one-on-one sessions in and around Philadelphia, where she lives, as well as in New York City; Boulder, Colorado; and in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, South Florida.

Recently, I checked in with Roberta. Here’s some of what she had to share….

Roberta Cooks and Gokhale Method–the early days

Roberta Cooks, Gokhale Method teacher

"Esther was teaching and fine-tuning the Gokhale Method on her own for a long time. Somewhere around 2008, she knew it was important to have more people learning and teaching the Method, and she began to bring on teachers, a few of us at a time. I was one of the first, one of a group of seven or eight. Some of us stayed at Esther’s house, where we worked late into the night, doing our homework and brainstorming ways to boost our own training. Another teacher, Kathleen Marie, and I were especially interested in pursuing this, and—under Esther’s tutelage—we took next steps. Esther had begun to develop a teacher training manual and we built on this with the goal of standardizing excellence. Esther was chock full of ideas and we were happy to be able to execute some of them.

Illustrations of the human
spine from anatomy books
published in I) 1990 and II) 1911

As a physician, what particularly struck me when I first read Esther’s 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back was the side-by-side comparison of the spine—the anatomical drawing from a 1911 anatomy book contrasted with a 1990 illustration.

Seeing these images, both from American anatomy books, prompted the thought: ‘This is the ‘black hole.’ No one knows what to do about the huge problem of back pain, so why aren’t we looking back into our own medical textbooks and reflecting on the early photographic record? Why aren’t we acknowledging this pertinent information? And I felt I needed to convince other physicians of the common-sense truth of this core element of the Gokhale Method, which of course is only one piece of the evidence that supports Esther’s work.

The healthy stacksitting posture modeled
by this Maryland Governor and
Congressman is typical of our
19th-century forebears

Museumgoers have been known
to try to console sculptor Duane
Hanson’s 1977 ‘Man on A
Bench,’ his slouching vinyl and
polychromed body is so hyper-real

 The dance connection

Tango is a “glidewalking” dance

I dance Tango. In fact, it’s through dance that I first found Esther. My Tango teacher was handing out copies of Esther’s 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back to anyone in the class who had back pain. Pain wasn’t an issue for me, but at the time my sister was experiencing problems with her shoulders, her hip, and her feet. Nothing she was doing was working, so I read Esther’s book and was sufficiently intrigued to seek Esther out. I  took a Gokhale Method Foundations course with Esther and was very impressed by her work and teaching style. I saw how her Method helped students with a variety of health issues and backgrounds. At the end of the course I spoke with Esther and we really hit it off. So I decided to become a Gokhale teacher by going through the teacher training course.

Argentine Tango is a walking dance that has a lot in common with the glidewalking we do in the Gokhale Method. Just as practitioners of the glidewalking technique engage the gluteus medius muscles by sending the back heel into the floor to propel themselves forward, so dancers of the Argentine Tango take the same basic actions. Perhaps you can see in the video just below that in propelling myself forward with the heel of my back foot and my back leg and my engaged gluteus medius muscles, I’m communicating a strong message to my partner to move backwards. My shoulders are rolled back, my rib anchor is engaged, and my partner, who is following, receives most of my ‘information’ from my chest.

Argentine Tango, San Telmo Plaza Dorrego, Buenos Aires

 My writing, medical, and museum background

In addition to Tango, I’ve always been interested in self-education and preventive medicine. And I’m a writer; I’ve written a children’s book. These interests, together with my psychiatric medical training and my background designing health-related museum exhibits, are relevant to teaching the Gokhale Method. What’s wonderful about the posture work is not only what we teach, but how we teach it! The Method is so clear and practical. And it’s multisensory, which is essential because we want what we teach to become part of peoples’ bodies. The multifaceted approach is very similar to what I do when designing medical exhibits, where the challenge is to take difficult-to-understand information and make it visual, aural, and very hands-on. People learn in different ways. That’s why the rich, multimedia training we offer is so effective. Not only is it common-sense practical and intellectually clear, it’s visual and tactile.

One of the projects I directed and developed was the Maryland Science Center’s
permanent and traveling exhibit ‘Cells: The Universe Inside Us’

I’ve been designing museum exhibits for a number of years—for example, the first big traveling exhibit on HIV/AIDS, as well as an exhibit on the brain, the heart, and—as shown in these photos–’the universe inside us’—the cells. What I’ve observed about health education in museums is that people come to theses places, which are much more neutral settings than a medical office or a hospital, absolutely hungry for information. This seemed particularly true with the brain and AIDS exhibits, and I think this is because many people feel frightened or intimidated by medical settings, which makes it difficult for them to process what they’re being told.

Hands-on, highly visual, and interactive
exhibits like the one shown here offer
a multisensory learning experience–this
is what the Gokhale Method
offers too

Healthy posture can positively
impact the universe inside us 

The mind-body connection–wellbeing and healthy posture

I have seen some very positive psychological changes in people I’ve taught, and the improvement in the outlook of many of my posture students is one of the reasons that I find teaching the Gokhale Method to be so satisfying and joyful. Research has shown that there are biochemical advantages to being physically open, with shoulders rolled back and chest open–as opposed to standing with arms crossed and shoulders hunched–and my own experience confirms that posture can be a complementary wellness approach to psychological conditions. And what surprised me initially–and what I still find delightful, today–is how quickly these positive effects so often happen!

It’s not unusual when I’m teaching the Foundations course for one student to say to another as early as the second day, ‘You look like a completely different person.’ In a class I just taught in Florida, a massage-therapist student who had participated in the free class and returned to the Foundations course, told me: ‘After I learned the shoulder roll and then worked with my clients, I felt so much more open to the world.’

Might stretchlying, with shoulders rolled back and chest open,
alter this fellow’s sense of wellbeing?

Again, even though I’m not working directly on the psychological state of my posture students, I see positive results that are in the psychological realm. People with healthy posture tend to have a more positive body image. Practicing healthy posture, which requires us to be present in the moment, can also be an effective way of quieting the mind.

Yet another thing I know from my teaching of the Gokhale Method, as well as from my own experience as an individual with rheumatoid arthritis, is that by having a better understanding of my body and by knowing how to protect my muscles, joints, and skeletal system to prevent pain–all these things give me actual greater control over my health. This is such a rich topic, because I also know, both professionally and personally, that feelings of helplessness–a loss of control over one’s life–represent one of life’s biggest stressors!

Small groups

My sister was my first student! Here, while we were
pre-teens, it looks like I was already encouraging her to
roll back her shoulders.

Another strength of the Gokhale Method is that classes are taught in small groups, which to my way of thinking is a wonderful way to teach people, many of whom are not comfortable with their bodies, or are feeling frightened or are in pain. Not only does the small-group approach enable teachers to do hands-on work with each individual, it encourages students to learn from one another, and to form a kind of community. The Method is a practical, step-by-step educational model, not a medical model, and in a small group this becomes a very powerful way to learn.

The rewards of teaching the Gokhale Method

When, as a prospective teacher, I signed on for Gokhale Method teacher training, I first needed to take the Foundations course, and then I needed to find someone willing to work with me.  I chose my cooperative sister!  At the time, she was having difficulties with hip, shoulder and foot pain. She had been going to health professionals for several years with no relief. ‘I was at my wit’s end,' she said, when we just lately reminisced about this. ‘It was so amazing to me that, after years of getting no relief through the usual channels, learning this method from you–my sister–could make such a positive difference.’ With most of her hip, shoulder, and foot problems resolved over the course of my teacher training, she was able to go back to biweekly Jazzercise classes that she still enjoys today. After working with my sister, I taught two people at once, then four people, then six–until I graduated my way up to teaching eight-person classes.

A teacher-centric organization

While the fundamentals of teaching the Gokhale Method have remained essentially the same, Esther has ensured that teachers’ skills, energy, and time are leveraged by technology, and that the company stays cutting-edge. For example, teachers now use an iPhone app that makes it possible for us to take before-and-after pictures of each student and upload them in real-time to the private, secure portion of the Gokhale Method website dedicated to that student. Uploading these images with a click (during class) triggers an email to the student, so that as they leave class, an email alert is waiting in their inbox.

Instant access to these before-and-after photos is a powerful tool for students, in part because so many enter the classes wondering, ‘How am I ever going to change in such short period of time?’ With the before-and-after photos, they can see what a difference the training has made, even if they’ve taken an intensive course over a single weekend. The before-and-after photos also remain a valuable tool for students long after they have completed the coursework.

Here, I help a Gokhale Method
student anchor his ribs

Also hugely helpful is the student intake form. When students sign up online or call the Palo Alto office, they complete a form that provides teachers with need-to-know information. This creates a link between individual students and teachers prior to their meeting. Gokhale Method teachers have access to only their students’ intake form, although, via the Teachers’ Water Cooler, we can reach out to our colleagues for additional expert input on unusual or particular cases while leaving the student anonymous.

An advantage to both students and teachers is the ease with which student histories are privately, securely, and  instantly shared via the Method’s electronic educational records. This allows for uniformity across Gokhale Method training and continuity for students. Just now, for example, I taught a student in Florida who had been taught by my fellow-teacher Kathleen, which meant that prior to my meeting with her I could access private information about her case and be prepared.

In these ways–and more–technology makes us stronger. We have the support of the entire teacher community, including Esther. And of course there are advantages to teaching–and learning–in a franchise where there is uniformity of high standards.

To sum up, I love being a teacher of the Gokhale Method, because it gives me back so much. To help people get to the root of their pain and posture problems, without imposing risks—to make such a difference in peoples’ lives by putting the practical power to heal into their own hands and teaching them to problem-solve significant challenges in their lives—well, it’s just incredibly rewarding.

If you are interested in learning more about what’s involved in teacher training, please check in with us at [email protected]. The Gokhale Method Institute is not able to satisfy student demand in a number of places in the US, Canada, and abroad and would love to have more qualified teachers join us." 

Teaching the Gokhale Method is incredibly rewarding–it gives so much back.

Join us in an upcoming Free Workshop (online or in person).  

Find a Foundations Course in your area to get the full training on the Gokhale Method!  

We also offer in person or online Initial Consultations with any of our qualified Gokhale Method teachers.