Instructors
Esther Gokhale, C.A.
Cheri Boeckmann, P.T.
Colleen Burke, L.Ac.
Rita Czamanske
Maya White
Tom Chow
Esther Gokhale founded her Palo Alto, California-based center 20 years ago and has helped thousands of people get free of pain through her application of the Gokhale Method – a systematic process of restoring pain-free posture and movement. Esther has been involved in integrative therapies all her life. As a young girl growing up in India, she helped her mother, a registered nurse, treat abandoned babies awaiting adoption. She went on to study biochemistry at Harvard and Princeton and acupuncture at the San Francisco School of Oriental Medicine. After crippling back pain during her first pregnancy and unsuccessful back surgery, she began her lifelong crusade to find a solution to back pain. Her studies at the Aplomb Institute in Paris and years of research in Burkina Faso, India, Portugal, and elsewhere led to her development of the Gokhale Method. She and other trained Gokhale Method instructors routinely offer courses throughout the United States, Europe, the U.K. and Israel.
Colleen received her degree in Psychology from UCSB and her degree in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine from Yo San University in Santa Monica, CA. She is a Nationally Certified Diplomat in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. Before moving to Northern California, Colleen practiced for over 10 years in Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Santa Fe. Colleen’s varied experiences include stints as staff acupuncturist at the Arcona Studio and Day Spa in Los Angeles, at a private country club spa in Santa Fe, and for the Santa Monica Drug Court Detox Program. In addition, she has extensive training in the medical use of essential oils, which she incorporates into her treatments.
Rita began her training with Esther in 1995. After three years of study, she earned her certification in Aplomb®, and since then has been training and refining her skills in the Gokhale Method. An avid runner, Rita began competing in 5 and 10 km road races and later in National Masters and Senior Championship Track meets. When she hung up her track shoes after 10 years of age-graded competition, she had earned national and world-class ranking in the 800 meters, and had helped set a world age-group record in the 4 x 400 m relay.
Maya White has been exposed to multiple cultures since her birth and informal posture training since age two. Her parents, Esther Gokhale and Brian White, took her along on research trips to Thailand, India, Mexico, England, France, The Netherlands and Italy. She has traveled independently to Oaxaca (Mexico), the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. Maya earned a Biomechanical Engineering degree at Stanford University and starts medical school in 2010. Her formal training in the Gokhale Method began in 2004.
