The Share Guide
Interview with Pete Egoscue

The Share Guide: You wrote in your book Pain Free that chronic pain is sending us a message that's different than the one we think were getting. What do you mean by this?

Pete Egoscue: We think were getting the message of limitation, or that something is broken, and I don't believe that's true. I think the message we're getting is the body's only voice saying, "I can no longer compensate with what you've given me, and you need to address the situation." It's not that you're diseased, not that you're broken, but you have to pay attention to the body's voice because you've ignored all the other signposts that it threw up for you along the way-you went right through them, or you didn't recognize them. So now it's using pain, the loudest voice it has, and you will pay attention to this. Before pain comes limitation, what we often think is just aging. You know, we used to be able to get up on a step ladder, but now we can't. And we think, "Well, I'm getting old; I'm not supposed to be able to do that." We used to run, now we walk, or we used to walk, and now we ride a bike. But we think that's normal as long as there isn't any pain. Well it's not! The limitations are what we should pay attention to first.

The Share Guide: You've written that you chose to be a physical therapist as a direct result of going through a long rehab program yourself. What was your personal challenge?

Pete Egoscue: I got wounded in Vietnam, and not to make a big deal out of it, but it resulted in pain and limitation and so my quest started because I did not want to accept that as a way of life.

The Share Guide: You've written that muscles that are not regularly stimulated are put on hold. It seems the biggest factor causing so much chronic pain is that we don't move enough, we're very sedentary. Is that right?

Pete Egoscue: That's half right. Never have humans been busier than we are now. We are running from pillar to post so, yes, we do have compensations that have occurred because of our lifestyle. But we are still using the same body and we're still participating like never before in activity. The problem is that the body has a system of adaptation, and the adaptation is to the stimulus that we provide it--so even though we're very active, and we're trying to be fit and healthy, what's happened to us is that the posture muscles that were designed to hold us upright have grown increasingly dysfunctional. And this is escalating decade by decade, generation by generation. So that's where all this chronic pain is coming from. We are moving, but it's the body that we're bringing to the movement that's causing the problem.

To read the complete article go to The Share Guide Interview with Pete Egoscue

Posted 4/15/2012 in Share Guide Holistic Health Magazine & Directory, Northern California's free holistic health magazine and directory focusing on health and wellness, education, self-help, and spirituality. visit website

Pete Ecoscue's, Exercise Therapy Program is acclaimed worldwide, and he has been consulted by some of the biggest names in sports. His books include Pain Free, The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion, Pain Free for Women, and Pain Free at Your PC. For more information about Pete Egoscue, visit website.

Uddhava (David) Ramsden is a graduate of Egoscue University