“Stand up straight!” — one of the more common phrases heard during childhood. But what exactly does it mean to “stand up straight”? And is it causing more harm than good? Esther Gokhale thinks so and has dedicated her life’s work to researching indigenous postures and helping people incorporate an aligned, primal posture into their daily lives. In this episode, she goes over some common postural pathologies and gives us actionable tips to correct these and find our own primal posture. Esther walks me, step-by-step, through correctly aligning my spine — follow along with us!

We talk a great deal about natural movement on this show (see episodes with Erwan Le Corre, Ido Portal and Scott Sonnon), and posture is the foundational piece of the movement puzzle, folks!

Episode Breakdown:

Esther’s story
Postures across different cultures
Common postural pathologies: the tucked pelvis & the J-shaped spine
Esther walks Daniel through postural corrections - follow along!
"Think hunter-gatherer" with your gaze
What is the correct way to lift heavy objects?
Gokhale Method teacher training
The future of natural movement and ancestral health

click here to subscribe to the show on itunes

I would really appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review on iTunes. It helps the podcast and will also help us improve quality and continue to bring on amazing guests! Let me know who you'd like to see on the podcast! Click here to rate and review.

Episode Resources:

Scandinavia's Sami Reindeer Herders

Lost Posture: Why Some Indigenous Cultures May Not Have Back Pain

From GokhaleMethod.com: Illustrations of the human spine from anatomy books published in I) 1990 and II) 1911 — *From GokhaleMethod.com: Illustrations of the human spine from anatomy books published in I) 1990 and II) 1911*

Connect with Esther:

8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee, and Foot

By Esther Gokhale

Buy on Amazon

Meet Esther

Esther Gokhale is the creator and founder of The Gokhale Method, an ecosystem of posture education, products, and community to help people recover a pain-free life. After experiencing crippling back pain during her first pregnancy and unsuccessful back surgery, Gokhale began her lifelong crusade to vanquish back pain. Her studies at the Aplomb Institute in Paris and years of research in non-industrial cultures led her to develop the Gokhale Method®. Her method has been featured in many publications including The New York Times where she was given the title, “The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley” and recently, NPR.