8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back

Praise for 8 Steps

 

"You are never too old to benefit from Esther Gokhale's artful, sound guide to better posture and freedom from pain."

Victor R. Fuchs

Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor Emeritus

Stanford University

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"The most lucid account I have read of how the human spine works, with handy lessons in how to stand, sit, walk, and sleep free of back pain."

J. M. Coetzee, Nobel Prize Winner

Nobel Laureate in Literature, 2003

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"8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back is a pleasure to read and a godsend to use. The lessons are easily accessible to anyone with an hour to spare. The account of why people in modern industrial society experience chronic lower-back pain is fascinating in its own right. The photographs of people sitting, standing, and lifting in a pre-industrial world are marvelously instructive and a joy to behold. While the principles of good posture are disarmingly simple, Esther Gokhale includes a wealth of pertinent detail to guide users through the eight lessons. As the pain goes away, you will not only experience relief; you will also come to understand why you feel so much better!"

David Riggs

Mark Pigott OBE Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences

Department of English

Stanford CA

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“Every year tens of thousands of patients undergo major back surgery without any benefits. By using Esther Gokhale’s novel techniques, many of these patients can avoid such needless and expensive medical procedures, and quickly return to a pain free life."

John R. Adler, M.D., Neurosurgery

Stanford University Medical Clinic, CA

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"The power of pills is not absolute. You can go much further using the power of knowledge. This clearly written and richly illustrated book introduces a number of unique ideas that can help you regain your freedom of motion."

Andrei Linde

Professor of Physics Stanford University,

Stanford, CA

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"The fresh and thoughtful approach to preventing and treating back pain presented by Esther Gokhale in this book deserves the attention of the medical profession. We have not served our patients with back pain well, and the techniques so well-described in this book hold the promise of significant relief to a very common and distressing problem."

Harvey J. Cohen, MD,

PhD Professor of Pediatrics Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford, CA

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"Esther Gokhale's 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back is that rare instructional work that conveys information in a way the reader can readily understand. Among the many manuscripts I have read in the last two decades, this book stands out for its clarity of writing and selection of illustrations."

DeWitt Durham

VP of Product Development

Klutz Press, Palo Alto, CA

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"Esther Gokhale explores intelligently the ancient wisdom accumulated in earlier times and forgotten in the modern world that can help us to improve on our number one way to happiness: health."

Luca Cavalli-Sforza

Professor Emeritus (Active), Department of Genetics,

School of Medicine,

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

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"While I have made a lot of progress with Esther's instruction, I wish I had started decades sooner, before I had adopted poor habits and poor posture. I see tons of "slouching and tucking" in my Pediatric office and a surprising amount of children and teens with back pain. Consequently, I have been referring many of my patients to Esther and will be recommending this book routinely."

Tina McAdoo, M.D.

Pediatrics, Palo Alto Medical Clinic,

Palo Alto

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"This is not only a stimulating self-help guide for relief of back pain through healthy posture, but also a work of art that celebrates the grace and poetry of the human body."

David Werner

Author of "Where There Is No Doctor"

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"Back pain is one of the most common problems seen in primary care. Unfortunately, many patients and clinicians are frustrated by the limitations of medical or surgical therapy in providing sustained relief for what is often a recurrent or chronic problem. Esther Gokhale has produced a clearly written, beautifully illustrated book which presents an extensively researched, carefully refined, natural approach to treating and preventing back pain, In this book, patients will find an integrated set of exercises and posture techniques designed to provide long term relief for their pain. Clinicians will find information on exercises and posture training they can use to help their patients who suffer from back pain."

David Thom, M.D.,

Ph.D. Professor of Family and Community Medicine University of California,

San Francisco

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"Esther Gokhale's book reflects her extensive research, experience and sensitivity to healthy posture, and her dedication to helping others find long-term relief from back pain -- or prevent back pain in the first place by establishing an early awareness of whole-body posture. It is the latter that I have been especially appreciative of as Esther has worked with my son to develop a sense of his own posture and habits that will be an asset for life. Esther's book is full of effective images and transparent instructions that give the reader a clear understanding of the motivation for and execution of each lesson. Esther's caring attitude and expertise comes through clearly in each page."

Pat Burchat,

Professor of Physics Stanford University,

Stanford, CA

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"The Gokhale MethodSM opens up a new level of health even to those of us who spend most of our time behind a desk. Once you have learnt this system, it takes no time or equipment to implement, yet it works for you 24/7. I recommend this book to everyone in the corporate world."

Susan Wojcicki,

VP of Product Management,

Google

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"Esther Gokhale's vision of what makes a healthy back will be startling to most Americans, because it is so different from what we have always learned. But if we just give it a chance, her vision will become ours, with the clarity of something that seems obvious once it is pointed out. With the adoption of even a few of Esther's precepts, a life of bad habits can change to a life of healthy sitting and moving, and therefore a life of less pain and more freedom. Esther traces the origins of her vision and the history of our going astray with our backs, illustrating each aspect with beautiful photographs of people in America and across the world. She includes hundreds of pictures of models demonstrating her techniques for easy understanding, and many examples of ordinary people doing ordinary things, either the right way or not--and after reading the book, it's easy to tell which is which. The Gokhale Method is for most of us a new way of looking at and taking care of our backs, but for most of us who have read this book or learned about it in person, it will become the only way."

Jessica Davidson, M.D.

Internal Medicine, Palo Alto Medical Foundation,

Palo Alto, CA

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