Esther Gokhale

Esther Gokhale ("GO-clay"}) is the founder of the Gokhale Method Institute in Palo Alto, California and the author of a book called, “8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.”

Early life and education

Gokhale grew up in India. She trained as a biochemist at Princeton University and studied at Stanford University's Medical School, and she attained a degree in Chinese medicine from the San Francisco College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Experiences of back pain

Esther Gokhale experienced low back pain while practicing yoga as a college student, but the pain became debilitating later while she was carrying her first child. Gokhale tried chiropractic, acupuncture, and physical therapy to alleviate the pain. Eventually, Gokhale underwent surgery for a herniated disc, but the surgery did not relieve her pain. Gokhale was told by doctors that she should try surgery a second time, but instead she decided to look for other solutions to her back pain.

Postural studies and research

In efforts to resolve her own back pain, Gokhale went to study postural techniques at the Aplomb Institute in Paris.

Gokhale then conducted research on posture and back pain in other countries, including India and Burkina Faso. Gokhale discovered that individuals in the cultures she studied reported significantly lower incidence of back pain than did individuals in the US and that individuals in these cultures had certain postural tendencies which they held in common with one another.

Gokhale Method

Based on her observations of posture in pain-free individuals from other cultures, Esther Gokhale created a set of postural alignment principles which she called the Gokhale Method.

A fundamental concept of the Gokhale Method is maintaining the pelvis in an anteverted (forward-titled) position, instead of retroverting, or tilting the pelvis backwards. Another core tenet of the Gokhale Method is to lengthen the spine. The concepts of anteverting the pelvis and lengthening the spine are summed up by Gokhale as maintaining a "J-shaped" spine, where the sacrum and pelvis represent the bottom of the J. The J-shaped spine posture is presented by Gokhale in contrast to a slumped C-shaped spine or a tensed, chin-up, chest-out S-shaped spine.

Some techniques taught by the Gokhale Method are "stretchsitting," "stretchlying" and "glidewalking."

No scientific studies have been completed yet to evaluate the effectiveness of the Gokhale Method.

Criticisms of the Gokhale Method

In a 2011 article in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Barbara Swan, the director of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Allegheny General Hospital, was quoted as saying of the Gokhale Method, "I am always skeptical of something that claims to cure back pain. If there were something that is as effective as they say, we'd all be doing it. I think there is value to [the Gokhale Method], but the value is overstated." Remarking on Gokhale's website, Swan said, "I see no information about scientific studies which support their claims." Swan said also, "I don't see any studies that compares her program to other programs."