Egoscue commentary: Pain Free: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Chronic Pain: the modern danger of ignoring an ancient message.

The chapter begins with Egoscue's 'war story'. It is very short, we are not told more than that he was wounded in the Vietnam war when serving as a marine. The focus is centered on what is told by a doctor to a dying patient next to him in a US. hospital ship where he lay recovering: 'You either get well or you die'. Pete made a choice.

It is interesting how Egoscue's story, life, and purpose are very similar to that of Joseph Pilates. I will explore the two men and their methods more completely in a future post.

Pete goes on to state that the simple power of the body's own healing powers are routinely ignored in chronic pain management. Drugs, braces, and surgery. This point is emphasized again and again. Pete reminds us that we are designed PERFECTLY. Putting aside the religious connotations here, this message tells us that we are not so debilitated as the medical profession makes us out to be. A quote (p. 3): "Being truly pain free depends on rediscovery, not reengineering". Amen.

Pain is talked about as a form of communication. Pete presents that the message pain sends is this: inadequate motion. Physical movement is a really, really big deal. Our bodies do not want to stop moving. Adequate motion is the cure, not rest. I will add that the medical profession considers us incapable of realizing adequate motion, and thus they prescribe bed rest.

Again and again: we were designed to move: hunt, migrate, endure all weather conditions. The law of inertia applies here: The more we move, the more we are capable of moving. Conversely, the less we move, the less we are capable of moving (p. 5). Go Newton!

Dysfunction, in Pete's definition, is due to 'acute motion starvation'. Pain signals lack of proper motion, and lack of proper motion causes a downward cascade of maladies. Pain killers, surgery, etc. ignore the message, at great peril to our health.

The beauty of the spine. The S-shaped curve of the spine is the goldmine of our health. Yoga, pilates, Egoscue: all regard the shape and space of the spine as critical to our health. From this spine, the rest of our joints are positioned accordingly. It is so awesome because it is a scaffold that is designed to move and be moved. Moved by what? Muscles. That's right, muscles move the bones into place. Muscles are moved by environmental stimuli and nerve activity. It does all start in our head. The less muscular activity, the less movement, the more dysfunction. Muscles maintain proper functional health. What happens with loss of proper muscular activity? Bones follow the dysfunction

Another 'radical' thought: "All the body's organs, its bones and muscles, are already governed by a coherent, comprehensive canon of rules. We can only understand and follow them" (P. 15). Wow, that's got quite a lot of implications in there. But I'll put my twist: these 'rules' are the awesome evolved structure of the human body. Following the rules is about as close as you can get to discovering the elixir of life. How do you start to follow the rules? Learn to stand tall and listen. It is that simple, and that complicated. Stand tall, balanced, proportioned. If you cannot, just listen. Your body will very clearly guide you as to what you can do to get back into balance. Egoscue helps us to decipher the language, but he only helps. That language is coming from you and needs to be acted upon by you.