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Each generation brings fresh perspectives to the way they live their lives. 

Each generation finds its own way of looking at things…Image from Pixabay

One trend to emerge from the Millennials (born 1981–96) and early Gen Zs (born 1997–2012) is self-optimization. 

Personal optimizers are aiming to optimize their productivity, happiness, intelligence, and health. If personal growth is about doing the right things, then personal optimization is about doing things right.

Healthy posture and a pain-free body enable you to optimize your work, rest, and play! Image from Pickpik

So what do self-optimizers work on?

Optimizing can be about doing what you are doing better, faster, with fewer resources, to higher quality, and with better results. The optimizers’ mindset needs self-awareness: awareness of your preferences, and what choices you are making every day—look at all the options and pick the best one. 

Some examples of self-optimization include exercising regularly, taking care of your diet, managing time and stress, and getting enough sleep, all with the aim of making your body and mind more resilient against fatigue, negative mood, and illness.

Broadly speaking, optimization is the act of changing an existing process in order to increase the occurrence of favorable outcomes and decrease the occurrence of undesirable outcomes. And this is exactly what the Gokhale Method® does—it enables people to exchange unhealthy, damaging, painful posture, for healthy, healing, pain-free posture. This allows you to meet your potential for musculoskeletal health.

Gokhale Method students can use the latest biofeedback tech with the Gokhale PostureTracker™ to assist in optimizing their posture.

Healthy posture helps you walk your talk

Healthy posture gives you a body that is upright but relaxed, and super-comfortable to live in, with an athletic bearing that says you are ready for life. People instinctively perceive this in others, and it makes a positive impression. 

Wealth coach, life coach, and entrepreneur Ramit Sethi saw himself in a photo taken from the side, and didn’t like what he saw. Presenting himself well is a priority for Ramit, so he went looking for help—he had no idea if such a thing as a posture coach existed. Back last December, he spoke generously on his YouTube channel about his sessions with Gokhale Method teacher Cynthia Rose, which he described as “life-changing.” 

Ramit explains how he optimized his Gokhale Method sessions to a busy schedule in NYC. For Ramit, healthy, good-looking posture is one of life’s riches.

Rahul shares his posture optimization on Google

Rahul Reddy runs his own business doing analytics for internet startups. Before his Gokhale Method course he wrote, “As a result of many hours at my desk I’ve lost strength, flexibility, and most certainly good posture. My goals are: 

1) Better posture and physical activity habits on work days. I have picked up bad movement and posture habits as I spent more time building my business. 

2) Rebuild my strength in other activities—I maintain a small vineyard, and work with clay… and I did enjoy doing more with my hands during the pandemic. 

3) Continuous improvement and future-proofing. 

Rahul took our in-person Foundations course, and later our online Elements course. Among the many techniques he has learned in becoming pain-free, he knows to externally rotate his legs, roll open his shoulders, open his chest, lengthen his neck, and engage his inner corset. Rahul now enjoys a more stable, athletic, and symmetrical stance.

Rahul was delighted to get out of pain and enjoy his activities more than ever by learning the Gokhale Method. Thank you for your Google review, Rahul!

Don’t be a posture pessimizer

Ok, that’s not a real word, but if you are a posture pessimist then you might find yourself saying things like, “I think I inherited my bunions,” or “Everyone in my family has a rounded upper back,” or “Nobody in my family has a butt,” or “I’m learning to live with my back pain.”

These statements are usually premised on misinformation, or are wanting in alternative points of view and experiences. For example, a posture optimizer will know:

• Bunions happen due to poor stance and undue pressure on the first metatarsophalangeal joint.
• A rounded upper back is often a result of tucking the pelvis.
• A flat butt simply points to the fact that you haven’t yet learned to use your buttock muscles in walking.
• Just because back pain is common does not make it normal! We should expect to not have it.

You don’t have to be a Millennial to be an optimizer! Every generation stands to gain from being inspired by healthy, pain-free posture. We are passionate about helping all people discover their best, pain-free selves.

Best next action steps

If you would like to optimize your posture, get started by booking a consultation, online or in person, with one of our teachers.

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

It’s early January. New Year’s resolutions have swung into action, and many of them involve improving our health. With the impetus of a fresh start, we throw ourselves into ditching poor habits and cultivating better ones. It’s no surprise that January sees the highest gym sign-ups and enrollments for dietary regimens! Other resolutions include getting more sleep, meditating, or learning a new skill—self-care for the mind as well as the body. 

 
Most of us will have made a New Year’s resolution in at least one of these areas. 

Posture—a missing pillar of health

One little-recognized yet equally important pillar of health is posture. At age 27, I had thought I was active, fit, and robust, yet found myself in excruciating back pain with a newborn baby to care for. Long story short, by changing my posture—the way I sat, stood, bent, walked, and even slept—I lost the pronounced sway in my back, recovered my natural J-spine, and have been pain free, active, and thriving ever since. There is more about what I learned from my teachers and developed into the Gokhale Method® in this recent blog. 

An MRI scan revealed the cause of my sciatica and severe back pain—a large herniation at L5-S1.

Picture an active, pain-free future 

Imagine a future with virtually no back pain, no need for joint replacement, an absence of repetitive strain injuries, and comfortable feet, neck, and shoulders. This was a reality for our ancestors. . .and there is nothing they had that we can’t regain! Our bodies are malleable, and we can learn to move naturally—in fact, healthy posture is written into our DNA. Sometimes the required changes feel strange, but there’s a sweet spot sensation to them, and they often feel strangely familiar. Gokhale Method teachers have a lot of experience in guiding students to make these changes efficiently and effectively. We’ve already guided tens of thousands of people out of back pain and musculoskeletal problems. No doubt some of them started that journey with a New Year’s resolution! 

Gokhale Elements alumna Anne Murtagh from Ireland joined our two Alumni Days in Germany this fall. Here I am helping Anne to refine her glidewalking.

The key to manifesting good intentions 

Life is busy, and self-care resolutions can be hard to keep. A posture resolution is different in an important regard. Yes, it does take some investment of time to learn, but following that it will save you time—you will be walking faster, sleeping more effectively, and saving time spent seeking care for aches and pains. Rather than being an additional undertaking or needing hours of sessions per week, changing your posture is more a matter of living daily life differently. And you are rewarded with all sorts of benefits, like improved appearance, a more positive outlook, and improved digestion, breathing, sexual function, and elimination. Out with the old posture that caused you tension, compression, and pain, and in with a new, more relaxed, efficient and effective way of being in your body. 

Our students trust the Gokhale Method for valuable information and insights taught in logical steps. They also appreciate quality backup from whatever props, coaching, technology, alumni programs, and online community they need to succeed. Here is a what Gokhale alumnus Sachin Deshpande has to say:

It is not an overstatement that the Gokhale Method changed my life and reduced 99% of my body pains—back, foot, knee, elbow, and more. It takes a month or two to grok the concepts, and then real benefits begin. I would suggest both reading the book and taking the classes (which are quite affordable).

Sachin (pictured above) found the Gokhale Method through my self-help book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back. This doubled as a textbook when he took the Foundations course. You can read Sachin's story here. 

The past, the present, and looking to the future

Students sometimes remark on the historical data that is an essential ingredient of the Gokhale Method. We draw extensively on ancient and ancestral roots, referring to both science and cultural artifacts to learn posture wisdom from the past. We are also very much in the present, offering in-person courses around the world and embracing today’s online and wearable technology to deliver remote learning. As we travel forward into 2024, we very much hope you will be with us for a healthy, pain-free future.

 
The Roman god Janus gave his name to the month of January. He was the god of beginnings, transitions, time, doorways, gates, passages, and endings. He was often depicted facing both ways, to the past and to the future. Note his healthy head and neck posture! Image from Wikimedia

Best next action steps

If you are new to the Gokhale Method, get started by booking a consultation, online, or in person with one of our teachers. Or you can sign up here
for our special New Year Free Online Workshop Start 2024 Pain-Free with the Gokhale Method, Tuesday, January 9, 12 a.m.–1 p.m. (PST), to find out how the Gokhale Method can help you.

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