student learning

Pop-up Courses ensure an excellent teacher:student ratio for lots of direct attention.

Our newly-crafted Pop-up Course fills a gap in our group class offerings. After many years of experimentation, we are excited about this format as it enables more people to benefit from the Gokhale Method.

Why a Pop-up Course?

• Our highly successful Foundations Course typically takes place over 2-3 days, or longer. Some students struggle to fit its 6 lessons into their schedule. The Pop-up Course takes just one day (plus a 30-minute online private follow-up appointment), thus reducing the time required and keeping scheduling simple.

• It’s easier to work in with travel plans, family demands, or taking time out from work.

• Corporations, universities, and other hosting organizations favor one-day offerings, because of their simplicity and because their workers are busy!

You cover a lot of material in your courses. How do you keep students from feeling overwhelmed in the Pop-up Course?

One of the reasons it took so long to craft this course is precisely the challenge of how to teach all the basics needed to make a big impact (imprint new posture habits, reduce / eliminate aches and pains, etc.) without exhausting and overwhelming our students. The solution includes the following:

• Layers: we vary the topic frequently, switching easily from sitting to standing to walking to sitting to walking and so on…. We don’t belabor any one technique to a point of mental or physical fatigue. Students revisit these everyday positions with ever-widening context and layers of experience.

• Variety: we frequently change the “channel” or teaching mode: we go back and forth using images, explanation, technology, and hands-on cues, while weaving in snippets of research, anthropology, and historical data to back up the practical endeavor. In this way we engage all types of learners and give students many ways to get inspired, enjoy themselves, and recall the principles.

• SpineTracker™: after lunch the class gets a fresh energy boost — all students use SpineTracker, our unique 5-sensor wearable with an iDevice. We first record baseline readings of the student’s sitting, standing, and bending postures. Later, we record their learned stacksitting, tallstanding, and hip-hinging postures. Students can then practice to match, master, and even surpass these improved targets. SpineTracker is really pretty cool. Students get inspired by seeing their spinal shapes improve as they implement their newly learned posture techniques. The technology also enables students to track future progress.

• Fun! We weave in active exercises to make the endeavor more fun and energizing. These Posture Pauses also serve as practical suggestions on how to break up a long work day.

Students enjoy seeing their progress with the help of SpineTracker, our proprietary wearable technology.

There’s only so much anyone can learn in a day. Is there student support after the Pop-up Course?

• Absolutely! We’ve discovered that the 30-minute, one-on-one online follow-up session — a private video call, using either a computer or a smartphone, between the student and one of our qualified Gokhale Method teachers — is an important part of the Pop-up Course. It encourages people to read or re-read 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back (included with the course), watch the DVD (also included), gather their questions, and generally keep the techniques on their radar. Having had hands-on guidance in class and experienced the techniques, the book and DVD are so much more meaningful than otherwise. Against this backdrop, it’s striking how much can be covered / refined / revisited in a 30-minute, one-on-one Zoom video consultation.

• For all students, no matter which Gokhale Method training they have had, we encourage a maintenance program. We offer a subscription-based Online University program for alumni of our Pop-up Courses and Foundations Courses that includes regular online group instruction and Q&As with me, as well as an extensive collection of videos on all sorts of topics including workouts, yoga, dance, daily activities, parts of the body, general posture education, and more — all with a Gokhale Method filter. I’m currently leading a live, daily Exercise Challenge for the New Year, which is included with Online University membership. Our local teachers also offer affordable classes for small groups of alumni as well as private follow-up sessions.

A glimpse into our well-developed Online University offerings.

• In addition to the book and DVD becoming especially good resources after the course, the Stretchsit® Cushion (provided to each registered participant of the Pop-up Course) enables stretchsitting while also serving as a reminder to do the technique. Some students buy our Gokhale™ Head Cushion and/or Gokhale Pain-Free™ Chair to serve the same dual role of reminding and enabling students to use good posture.

The Stretchsit cushion, included in the price of the Pop-up Course, serves the dual role of reminding and enabling healthy stretchsitting posture.

• Students often find Posture Buddies in the Pop-up Course to practice with after the course is over. Sometimes students bring a good friend / colleague / family member to the course with them. We encourage this because these students have shared experience and posture reminders built into their lives, which is a great help.

• Our Institute sends our Positive Stance newsletter every 2 weeks to teach or remind all subscribers, including our alumni, of different aspects of posture. Each newsletter includes a new blog post on a posture topic, as well as a special promotion. Subscribers are also invited to free online teleseminars, as well as special video discussions I have from time to time with other thought leaders. Until the day when we are all surrounded by healthy posture and implements, as is the case for the model populations we derive inspiration from, we do our best to remind our subscribers and students to improve the way they move in the world.

The group format of the Pop-up Course builds camaraderie and is perfect for bringing a Posture Buddy to learn with.

What is the cost of the Pop-up Course?

The Pop-up Course costs $495 per person and includes 6 hours of group instruction, a lunch hour with posture discussion, a 30-minute online 1:1 Zoom video follow-up session, a PDF of 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, our DVD program Back Pain: The Primal Posture Solution (streaming), and a Stretchsit Cushion.

How can I bring the Pop-up Course to my city?

It takes a largish room and some eager students for a Pop-up Course to be successful. The course is delivered by two expert teachers; at present I am the lead teacher for all Pop-up Courses. If you already have 10 or more committed people, or can spread the word effectively, that makes it easier for us to schedule a course. If you would like a Pop-up Course in your company or city, please let us know here.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Learning and internalizing techniques doesn’t always happen immediately — or without assistance from a teacher.

I spent many years developing and perfecting the Gokhale Method Foundations Course. After years of crafting the language, honing the metaphors, and rearranging the order in which techniques are taught, I considered the course well-constructed and comprehensive. I was proud to empower students to be independent in taking their posture journey forward. I was proud to not be peddling products gratuitously, nor to insist students keep coming back for additional lessons. 

The results of this approach were not always stellar. Though some students functioned just fine after one go-round of a full 6-lesson Foundations Course, most students, not surprisingly, needed ongoing repetition to “get it” in their minds, their bodies, and their memory.

The example that brought this point home vividly involved a student who is a physician. She had undergone one back surgery and was scheduled for another. She had extreme sciatic pain that made her want to lie down as much as possible. Driving herself anywhere was impossible, so she hired someone to drive her to her private clinic, where she worked the few 2-3 hours her pain levels would allow, and then was driven home again.

Physicians are among the many groups whose work environments can predispose them to posture issues, especially when they tuck their pelvises or stoop over patients or computers. This doctor in Angola, likely because of healthy cultural modeling, demonstrates the lovely upright bearing that’s possible (and desirable) in this context. Image courtesy Francisco Venâncio on Unsplash.

After working on the basic techniques in a few private lessons, she was able to reduce her pain level to 0 and cancel her scheduled surgery. She followed up with some recommended maintenance lessons and then let the lessons come to a halt. 

A year later she made an appointment during which I was shocked to find her in approximately the same condition she first came in with. I probed gently to discover what had happened. It emerged that one of her patients, a fitness instructor, had invited her to a weekly fitness class. Over time, she had conformed to tucking her pelvis as instructed. In the process of relating the story to me, a realization dawned on her: “Oh yeah, that’s what caused my troubles last time…” Wow. In listening to her a parallel realization dawned on me. Here was a highly-trained medical professional who had gone from being in a dire situation to being completely pain-free, and still the teaching had not held.

Fitness instruction advocating a tucked pelvis ended up making things worse for my physician student who suffered from sciatica. Image courtesy Anupam Mahapatra on Unsplash.

That was when I realized we needed a maintenance program. It’s obvious in hindsight, of course. Adults especially can feel that new information doesn’t “stick” because it gets harder to learn as you get older. I suspect that we actually overlook just how much repetition we did to learn most things when we were younger! That’s why we took over a thousand lessons in school in Math and English! If you have learned to play golf or do certain dances, how many times have you practised that swing, or rehearsed those steps? Learning takes exposure and repetition. It works.

Like perfecting a golf swing or learning a new dance step, posture techniques need regular practice in order to “stick.” Image courtesy Andrew Lomas on Unsplash.

We see some students returning to our classes after gaps of many years, and, like the physician, in that time they have often been culturally “reprogrammed” to tuck the pelvis, to slump, or to sway. We also see clearly that the forgetting curve is very real, and how easy it is to backslide into old habits. When we teach these alumni alongside more recent graduates whom we advised better about the need for revision and follow-up classes, the difference is very obvious. Humans simply learn better with repetition, and the Gokhale Method is no exception to this rule.

A great benefit of the Gokhale Method is the sheer variety of mediums available to reinforce and diversify the learning process.

To meet this need, consider refreshing the material or switching up the format. For example, all of our qualified teachers offer private lessons to alumni. It's surprising how much can be learned in a single lesson once the basics have been covered. If you've taken a Pop-up Course, consider taking a 6-lesson Gokhale Method Foundations Course — or vice versa; if you've taken a group course, consider taking a private lesson. Retreat programs at locations like Esalen Institute, Omega Institute, Kripalu, and 1440 Multiversity are helpful for newcomers and alumni alike and offer the opportunity to learn in a restorative, memorable setting. And some of our teachers offer small-group continuing education classes. All of these are rewarding pathways for relearning and refining the basic techniques, and coming away with different takeaways.

Working with students and actively helping them learn is a great joy for me and our many other Gokhale Method teachers.

Regardless of which specific new tack you choose, we recommend taking your first refresher class within 1-2 months of graduating from the Gokhale Method Foundations Course or the Pop-up Course. The next refresher happens best within 3 months of the first one. From then on we recommend doing an in-person session —  private or group — at least every six months, and sooner if there are still significant challenges. Working in-person with a teacher is always best, but if that’s not possible, a session can be scheduled online, which is surprisingly helpful for troubleshooting and keeping your own known posture challenges on your radar. So if you are one of our Foundations Course or Pop-up Course alumni, schedule that session! Our experienced teachers are ready to help.

Hands-on learning with a Gokhale Method teacher helps students refine and refresh the techniques, whether they’re just beginning their posture journey or whether it’s been years since their first lesson.

We have also created an Online University which includes 2 Live Chats with me every month and unlimited access to our on-demand library of over 60 instructional videos. Each lesson focuses on a specific posture topic, such as Beyond Stacksitting, Cooking with Healthy Posture, Foot Health, Yoga with Healthy Posture, dance, exercise routines, and so on. You are then able to revise and extend your posture expertise at any time for an entire year.  Now wouldn’t that be a great idea for 2020?

If you are one of our Foundations Course or Pop-up Course alumni, you can sample a free session of Online University content here. And from now through December 20, 2019, all of our alumni can save $100 on a year-long Online University membership! You must call our support team at 1-888-557-6788 to receive this special rate.

We wish you a peaceful holiday season filled with good posture!

Note the forward head and neck placement of both these High Street pedestrians. This usually results from tucking the pelvis (see the man (right)), but can also become a habit independent of pelvic position (see woman (left)).

Here our Bristol teacher Clare Chapman has digitally edited the photo to demonstrate how different healthier posture can look. Compare these subjects’ edited neck placement and spinal curvature with that in the original picture.

Metaphors can be powerful tools for learning new kinesthetic pathways. A metaphor packages a picture (which, we all know, can be worth 1000 words!) as well as some helpful verbiage. The Gokhale Method uses metaphors liberally, and it often takes a metaphor to help a student understand, execute, and remember a desired action.

A new metaphor for cueing the neck
Our Bristol teacher Clare Chapman recently introduced a useful metaphor to direct students in improving their neck architecture. Visualize the head as a car that is parked in the driveway (protruded forward) or even out on the street (very protruded forward). Now, while keeping the neck long, back your “car” into its “garage.” That is, you want to glide your head gently and smoothly back into its place. 

This seated Bamana male figure from Mali shows an ideal neck alignment.

I've begun using this metaphor in my teaching and see students smiling — perhaps because it's funny to think of the head as a car parked out in the driveway or on the street, or because backing a car into a garage is a comfortingly familiar process, or perhaps because it's pleasant to understand what's being taught! Whatever the reason, I see my students learning faster and better.

My husband, Brian, with an elephant in Thailand. This particular elephant’s primary job was transporting logs as well as people in the forest. There are not enough tourists in this area to have tourism be the elephants' main activity. The Karen tribal people have a very intimate (and seemingly joyous) relationship with their elephants, riding them bare-backed, swimming with them, and also using them in a similar way to how draft horses might be used.

Brian enjoying a moment with the family cats (not pictured).

It's very striking how an apt metaphor can change the learning curve dramatically. Does this metaphor work for you? Are there other metaphors that help you align your neck?