8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back - 2nd Edition by Esther Gokhale (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Esther Gokhale's global bestseller turns back pain treatment on its head.

Many of us are told it's normal to have back pain. That disc degeneration is inevitable after 50. That arthritic changes are par for the course. However, what if back pain isn't inevitable? What if it's simply a result of being disconnected from how we are meant to use our bodies?
Dedicated to the millions of people who suffer unnecessarily from back pain, this updated edition of Esther Gokhale's classic bestseller reveals a surprising truth: our bodies are designed to function pain-free for close to a century--we're just not using them correctly.

8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back shows you how we got off track and the steps to fix it. You won't find gimmicks, gadgets, or time-consuming exercises--just tweaks to everyday movement habits. A blend of modern medical insight and ancient body wisdom, the Gokhale Method(R) isn't a temporary fix--it's a return to the way your body is designed to move.

This updated second edition includes:

• 600 new and updated images
• New and refined techniques, including a fully revamped walking chapter
• QR codes linking to videos of key techniques
• Guidance on using tech without compromising your spine

Esther Gokhale trained in science at Harvard and Princeton. The New York Times has dubbed Gokhale "The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley". She has taught the Gokhale Method at Google, Facebook, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, UCSF, TEDx(Stanford), and consulted for major sports teams. The Gokhale Method is currently the subject of a Stanford clinical trial for back pain treatment.

Review Quotes

"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...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."
- Jessica Davidson, M.D., Internal Medicine, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, CA

"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, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA

"Esther Gokhale's unique expertise and the keen clinical acumen that fuel her work, displayed in
her amazing, comprehensive and user-friendly book, will eventually be recognized by the medical community as the greatest-ever contribution to nonsurgical back treatment in this country."
- Helen Barkan, M.D., Ph.D., Neurology, Mayo Clinic, MN

"[Esther Gokhale] advocates exercises that are easily practiced during one's normal daily activities (e.g. stretches that can be done while walking, sitting in a chair, driving or while lying in bed). All of the exercises are gentle and are appropriate for patients of all ages and strengths."
- Teresa Nauenberg, M.D., Palo Alto Medical Foundation, CA

"The most lucid account I have read of how the human spine works."
- J.M. Coetzee, Nobel Prize Winner in Literature

"The patients I have referred to Esther have, without exception, found her work to be life changing."
- Salwan AbiEzzi, M.D., Palo Alto Medical Foundation

"Esther Gokhale's technique is totally unique and her research really backs it up. This is a great tool for all of us."
- Billie Jean King, Winner of 20 Wimbledon titles

"The Gokhale Method opens up a new level of health even to those of us who spend most of our week at a desk."
- Susan Wojcicki, Former CEO of YouTube

"The Gokhale Method turns much of conventional wisdom about pain and posture on its head.
I now look forward to many years of a healthy neck and back."
- Joan Baez, Singer and Activist

"Esther Gokhale helped me resolve a five-year injury after nothing else had worked."
- Patti Sue Plumer, Olympian

"Gokhale's theory...seems almost too simple, but there is logic (and science) behind the fact that if the musculature is at rest, instead of being in a constant state of tension, discomfort can be avoided. Her book serves as a self-help manual that provides us a means to reclaim an active lifestyle without pain."
- Mary Martin, Fitness Coordinator, NC

"As a scientist, I find Esther's approach to be very well thought out, based in extensive experience, integrated with the rest of one's life, and extremely effective."
- Gretchen Daily, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Stanford University, CA

"You are never too old to benefit from Esther Gokhale's artful, sound guide to better posture and
freedom from pain."
- Victor R. Fuchs, Ph.D., Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor Emeritus of Economics and
of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University, CA

About the Author

Esther Gokhale (GO-clay) has been involved in integrative therapies all her life. As a young girl growing up in India, she helped her mother, a nurse, treat abandoned babies waiting to be adopted. This early interest in healing led her to study biochemistry at Harvard and Princeton Universities and, later, acupuncture at the San Francisco School of Oriental Medicine. After crippling back pain during her first pregnancy and unsuccessful back surgery, her studies at the Aplomb(R) Institute in Paris and years of research in Brazil, India, Portugal, and elsewhere led her to develop the Gokhale Method. Her lifelong mission is to make back pain rare again. Visit Esther at www.gokhalemethod.com