Three decades ago, Esther Gokhale created the Gokhale Method to apply primal posture to modern pain. Gokhale emphasized small improvements in everyday movements to prevent and heal back pain and musculoskeletal damage. Now, more than 20,000 people have learned to walk, sit, bend and sleep more efficiently by adopting Gokhale’s primal posture approach.

Dr. D.J. Kennedy, professor and chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told us how he sees the Gokhale method work for his patients in this episode. “I think she paints a picture that makes a lot of sense intuitively. And she's also going about trying to get the data to prove it,” said Kennedy. The Gokhale method is about to be tested in a randomized clinical trial at Stanford University.

In this MBO episode, we learn how Esther Gokhale developed the method in part due to her own suffering. 

Pregnant with her second child, Gokhale was experiencing severe back pain even after a corrective surgery. Gokhale tried physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, yoga, stretching, strengthening, and “checking her head.” 

Nothing helped. Thanks to an upbringing in India studying classical dance and observing the posture of local laborers, Gokhale knew that “something was wrong with this picture.” 

In the quest for relief, Gokhale built on those childhood observations and her own scientific background to create a new theory of movement based on traditional practices. Soon after, she published Eight Steps to Pain Free Back, which has sold over 300,000 copies. 

Today, the Gokhale Method may be poised for even wider acceptance. In addition to online courses and a nationwide network of teachers, the Method now offers a Posture Tracker app to help students reinforce better posture. Meanwhile, Stanford University researchers are embarking on a long-term study of the system’s efficacy in healing and preventing back pain and other musculoskeletal issues. 

Listen and follow Gokhale’s journey from patient to inventor, teacher and modern day entrepreneur of the primal posture method.   

My Body Odyssey is a Fluent Knowledge production.

Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney.

Show Notes:

Our Expert Guests:

Esther Gokhale

Dr. DJ Kennedy

Gokhale's primal posture methods:

• Gokhale’s Substacking & “Just Right Chair” 


• Glidewalking


• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome


• Joint Hypermobility Syndrome


• Anteverted Pelvis


• Tucked Pelvis 


• Gokhale Method Teachers


• Gokhale Posture Tracker


• Gokhale Method Covered by Stanford STAP Funds


• “The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley” 


• 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back 

Other approaches to pain:

• Alexander Technique


• Noëlle Perez-Christiaens


• Aplomb Association, USA


• Cat-Cow