Gokhale Pain Free Chair Review, Full Body Posture Correction

I have been using the Gokhale Pain Free Chair by Esther Gockhale for over 3 months now and when combined with laptop stand the synergy effect is spectacular, say good bye to back pain, neck pain, true cure for lousy forward head posture & you might grow taller too?

The Gokhale chair isn’t cheap, at $560 price tag but for someone like myself that spends long hours in front of a computer (I run a  local marketing business full time), I knew it was going to be a worthwhile investment in terms of being more comfortable, productive & pain free. And I was not disappointed.

The chair is extremely comfortable, instead of you having to put effort into keeping your back straight, the chair almost molds you into the right posture. Esther says that the chair is more than just a comfortable chair, but a healing tool, & I believe I am starting to see what she meant by that.

First of all, Esther Gokhale is a researcher that has devoted to uncovering the reality of deteriorating posture of modern humans versus superior body structure & posture of our ancestors & those that still live in 3rd world countries.

Her research has led her to discover that the poor body posture of modern humans stem from poor sitting habits established by poorly designed modern chairs that encouraged the pelvis tucked in sitting posture.  Even our beloved sofas & couches encourages our pelvis to be tucked in.

If you imagine you have a tail, most people are sitting on their tail with pelvis tucked in which gives you the slumped shoulders and forward head posture. The proper way is to sit with the tail going behind you.

The problem with most computer chairs, is that they are often too soft and the back rest is positioned in a way that allows you to lean back, which is what most people consider the “comfortable / relaxing posture”

Gokhale chair is not too soft, but still very comfortable on the bottom. The back rest is firm (not wonky like most other chairs) and has rubber ribs on it that holds your spine up.

The first 2-3 weeks, I noticed my butt would get sore so I would unconsciously try to slide back to the lean back posture, which is sitting on the tale bone and this is how I’ve been sitting majority of the time since I can remember.

Around 2 weeks ago, I purchased a laptop stand that raised the screen to eye level and this really took it to the next level.

This is the one I got, it’s very sturdy, nice quality aluminum built and highly adjustable.

Pwr+® Portable Laptop-Table-Stand Aluminum Black Up to 17″ @ Amazon for $39.99

I’m completely happy with this purchase, only wish I would of got this sooner because working on the computer became 10x more comfortable, making significant headway in improving my body, neck & head posture when combined with the sturdy back support of the Gokhale chair.

Say goodbye to neck strains.

Also if you are going to get this, I recommend getting a small keyboard without a numpad so that your mouse can fit under the stand as well, if not you have to reach around the right stand every time you go to use the mouse which is really annoying and I had to return my first keyboard because of this.  The challenge with smaller keyboards are most of them are very bad to type long term because the key pads are too close together and very flimsy, fortunately I found a good one for me.

Logitech Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480 @ Amazon for $35.97

It fits perfectly under the aluminum stand with enough space for my mouse, and the keyboard is very comfortable to type, its tactile, not too soft, its firm and its spaced out far enough for my hands to type comfortably for long periods without getting sore.

Growing Taller & get better butts with the Gokhale Chair & Laptop Stand?

I mentioned that my butt would get crazy sore when first using the Gokhale chair, this could be because my butt & my body was not used to doing the stack sitting, where the spinal column are properly stacked on top of each other,  which would put much more weight / force on the underside of the Gluteus Maximus  and its very possible that part of my body was weak, and now I believe sitting correctly has forced that part to develop more to withstand the weight of the body.

Esther also claims gluteus maximus is the key muscle that needs to be developed for good body posture, proper walking, running, and also makes the butt stick out properly and look attractive like the Ubong tribe.

Her research found that in modern man these butt muscles are underdeveloped and contribute to the flat but appearance.

She has exercises to develop the butt muscles in her article here.

I haven’t done them yet but I can report that just by learning to sit properly seems to have been developing mine.

One day, I realized that my butt no longer got sore after long hours of sitting up straight, with proper rotation of my pelvis and my “tail” going behind me.

There were also periods of laying in bed at night and I could feel bit strange, but pleasant stretching sensation in my spine, didn’t think much of it really, but 3 months later I am noticing noticeable improvements in my natural head posture as I am standing.

Coincidentally I was at my friends place watching UFC 196 yesterday and my friend whom I haven’t seen in like 6 months, made the comment “wow did you grow taller?”, I laughed and paid no mind to it then.

But now in hindsight as I write this article, it’s very possible that this has been the effect of the Gokhlale chair stretching my spine out and my body posture improving.

The modern man has the curbed spine, and it is considered normal but according to Esther, texts book over a century ago shows a much more straight spine compared to what is on the texts books today, which shows that the “modern norm” is skewed.

Her studies have found that our ancestors had even straighter spines that she calls the J Spine.

The J because the whole spine is straight except for the but regions which stick out in the back.

Here’s an inspirational picture of a baby sitting like a boss.

Great back & shoulders for that little guy, don’t ya think?

Esther thinks the damage is happening right from birth, in the way we carry the baby and putting them in damaging chairs like the baby carriage chairs that is literally molding the baby’s body to a tucked in pelvis & forward slumped shoulder posture.

As the curb straightens out, its logical to expect some height gains. I have a wall at my parents house where we marked my height with pencil so next time I head home I will have to compare.

This also makes me realize that people that grow shorter as they age, I believe might be largely due to their poor sitting habits. And their lower columns getting crushed over time.

With the upright posture I have noticed that my shoulders are able to rotate backwards to a more broader position, which will also contribute to opening up the diaphragm for deeper breathing.

Mike Mew is aware of Esther’s work, and has commented on the importance of integrating orthodontic & oral myology work with correcting body posture.

It was during a video skype session with Mike a year ago that he commented that I should raise my laptop to eye level by stacking books.

It took me a year, but I have finally made the change and I am so glad I did.

The comfort level of working on the computer increasing 10 fold alone has been worth it so far.

Conclusion

Body posture is integral to facial development and having straight teeth. Mike & John Mew has stated repeatedly that they can pretty much tell if someone has malocclusion just by looking at their body posture. Mike has commented on the African gentleman above and said that just by looking at the man’s excellent body posture, he can tell that man has excellent teeth alignment with space for all of his wisdom teeth.

This all has to do with the posterior tongue, and the role it plays in not only holding the maxilla up but providing that support for upright head posture. And the tongue posture is what shapes the beautiful dental arches.

I have noticed that the inverse is also true, that poor body posture can lead to worse tongue posture just as much as bad oral posture can lead to poor body posture.

When you get your head upright and chin tuck you will notice that the posterior tongue can make more contact, so I believe being able to adopt good body and head posture for long period is another key to successful oral myology or getting facial changes with tongue posture.

this Claimingpower blog is all about exploring the correlation between posture & function to health & beauty, and how one can begin to change for the better.

First step is to look at your current environment and see where you spend most of your time and look at what kind of posture you are spending that time in.

In modern age of computers & internet, I feel a good computer chair & a laptop stand can go a long ways. Some people demonize sitting as the culprit to back & neck pain, but I have found this to be untrue.

The problem is not sitting, its the way you are sitting.

Remember our ancestors would also spend extended periods of time sitting each day without any problems.

Sitting is natural to humans as is walking, and it can also be healing for the body if you sit properly with the spine stretched & stacked on top of each other. Think of yogis that meditate in full lotus, by positioning their legs in that way, that all has to do with allowing the pelvis to rotate forwards which allows the the spine to stack up straight. Which means the weight will distribute evenly and allows for the shoulders to come back, opening up the front of the body for more full diaphragmatic breathing.  Its easy to understand why those guys sit like that.

Even after understanding all of these concepts, I still struggled to sit properly for long periods, finally with the Gockhale chair, sitting has become more pain free & enjoyable. & as far as the chair’s healing properties in altering your spine over time to a J spine, I do believe after 3 months use, there is strong merit to that claim as well.

Most of us have to sit for long periods each day, and we’re mostly deteriorating in health in the process.

(Esther Gokhale’s husband pictured above)

What if you had the option to heal each time you sit instead?

-CP