Blog Posts

Key To Health: Community

11/20/2017

As humans, there are certain things we need for survival (food, water, shelter) and there are other things we need to thrive and be healthy. One very important thing we all need if we are to maintain good health and be happy is community.

Community is a unified group of individuals, brought together by common location, history, characteristics, circumstance, interests, or goals.

Humans are social beings and we need to feel love and connection to other human beings. A community give us support, encouragement, love, and a sense of belonging. This gives us the very important messages that:

you are not alone
you belong
things will get better

Community is the antidote to isolation, loneliness, and low social status, all of which have been shown to lower a person's sense of well-bring, intellectual achievement, immune function, and overall health.

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E-cise of the Month: Supine Foot Circles and Point Flexes

11/20/2017

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Our feet are our connection to the earth and when they are not functioning well it has a negative impact throughout our body. I am going to explain how Supine Foot Circles and Point Flexes helps to restore normal foot function and links that together with normal knee and hip function.

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Things To Be Thankful For When You're In Chronic Pain

11/16/2017

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Yes, you read the title of this blog article correctly. As miserable as chronic pain can be physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and in every other way, I believe there are some very important things you can be thankful for when you're in chronic pain.

Be thankful for the pain. Pain is a good thing. No, I'm not crazy, hear me out. Pain is a signal from the body, one of the many ways our bodies talk to us. Pain is the body's loudest voice saying "Stop what you're doing right now and start listening to me! Stop ignoring all the other messages I've sent you and start paying attention." The body only talks to us when it has something important to say. Ignoring pain (the no pain no gain mentality) or doing something to cover it up or block it (pain medication, nerve blocks, injections) is like smashing the smoke alarm when it wakes you up at night and going back to sleep rather than jumping up out of bed and getting out of your house as fast as you can and calling the fire department to come put the fire out.
Be thankful for your body's ability to heal itself. No drug, surgery, massage, manipulation, supplement, or treatment can heal your injuries. Only you can - your body. And your body always has the ability to heal itself, if you allow it to, by restoring proper joint alignment and function.
Be thankful for personal responsibility. Without it you can never get better. Nothing and no-one outside yourself can heal your body as stated above. Personal responsibility is a wonderful thing, because once you commit 100% to restoring your posture and function you are guaranteed results! Egoscue has a 94% success rate when people commit 100% and take full responsibility for their health.

When you stop fighting chronic pain and make peace with it, listen to it, and use it for the reason it's there, everything gets better. If you are in chronic pain, as painful as it can be, stop for a minute and be thankful that your body is talking to you, your body has the ability to heal itself, and you are in charge of that process.

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Fit But Unhealthy

11/16/2017

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What does it mean to be fit? Healthy? Well? Can you be one without the other?

The fitness industry and our culture teach us that fitness is having six-pack-abs, defined triceps, and a good tan.

Fitness by this definition in no way means that being "fit" also means you are healthy. A person can be a very fit marathon runner (Jim Fixx, Alberto Salazar, Micah True), cyclist (Scott Ellis, Leonard Zinn), or fitness pro (Bob Harper) and still be unhealthy and suffer a heart attack.

Alberto Salazar NYC Marathon 1981 #albertosalazar #oregonproject #nike #nikerunning #nyc #nycmarathon #nike #run #runner #running #marathon #runners

A post shared by aglet (@aglet.es) on Nov 2, 2015 at 2:04pm PST

On the road to recovery. I'm required to wear these monitors to see what my heart is doing throughout the day. I feel like a robot from WESTWORLD thank you all for your kindness. You have no idea how much it helps. ❤❤

A post shared by Bob Harper (@bobharper) on Feb 28, 2017 at 6:51am PST

Health is defined as the absence of disease or being free of injury and illness. Being healthy again doesn't mean one is "well". Plenty of healthy people are not well.

Wellness is:

"...a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." - The World Health Organization
"a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential." - The National Wellness Institute

I would further define wellness as being free from limitations, thriving, and enjoying peace of mind.

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Pete Egoscue's Simple Solution to Chronic Pain

11/6/2017

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Listen to Pete Egoscue, founder of the Egoscue Method and Posture Alignment Therapy, and Paul Tudor Jones, billionaire investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist, discuss Egoscue's simple solution to chronic pain at the J.P. Morgan Robin Hood Investors Conference.

If you suffer from chronic pain or injuries and would like to restore your posture as Pete Egoscue describes and live a pain free life contact me for a free posture evaluation. Your free posture evaluation can be done in my Portland, Oregon clinic or via Skype or FaceTime from anywhere in the world.

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How upper back and shoulder posture influence each other and cause pain

10/27/2017

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Continuing my series of blog posts about how the body works as a unit and how posture deviations in one area cause reactions throughout the body, today I'm going to focus on the relationship between the upper back and shoulders.

Here are the first three blog posts in this series:
Part 1: Introduction to how the body works as a unit
Part 2: Foot and leg posture
Part 3: Hip and spine posture

The upper back or thoracic spine is intimately related with the shoulder complex including the scapula, clavicle, and humerus and any injury or pain symptom in this area can only be effectively treated by looking at the entire upper body as a unit.

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E-cise of the Month: Downward Dog

10/24/2017

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The Downward Dog is one of the oldest, most known, and most practiced yoga poses and for good reason. The Downward Dog when done correctly has many positive effects on posture and function.

The Downward Dog addresses two of the most common imbalances people have: hip disparities and sitting induced chronic flexion.

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Key to Health: Daily Menu

10/24/2017

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Restoring and maintaining good postural alignment is vital if you want to live a pain free and active life. Doing a menu daily is the best way correct posture imbalances and eliminate pain and physical limitations. Once you're pain free, doing a daily menu will make sure you stay that way by maintaining your improved postural alignment.

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How hip and spine posture influence each other and cause pain

10/19/2017

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If you haven't read the other three blog posts related to this (how the body works as a unit and how foot and leg posture influence each other, how spine and shoulder posture influence each other), you can read them here and here and here.

In this blog post, I am going to continue the discussion of how the body works as a unit and specifically how the hip, pelvis, and spine influence each other. You will be able to understand and feel this relationship with 3 simple experiments...

trunk and pelvis skeletal system

trunk and pelvis with ligaments

trunk and pelvis with deep muscles

trunk and pelvis with all muscles

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How foot and leg posture influence each other and cause pain.

10/17/2017

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Dem Bones is a well-known spiritual song in which the first verse says:

Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the heel bone
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone
Ankle bone connected to the shin bone
Shin bone connected to the knee bone
Knee bone connected to the thigh bone
Thigh bone connected to the hip bone...

This wisdom that the human body is a unit where each piece is connected to the next is often lost in current treatments for musculoskeletal pain. Let's help restore that wisdom...

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<<Previous

Forward>>

Key To Health: Community

E-cise of the Month: Supine Foot Circles and Point Flexes

Things To Be Thankful For When You're In Chronic Pain

Fit But Unhealthy

What does it mean to be fit? Healthy? Well? Can you be one without the other?

Pete Egoscue's Simple Solution to Chronic Pain

How upper back and shoulder posture influence each other and cause pain

E-cise of the Month: Downward Dog

Key to Health: Daily Menu

How hip and spine posture influence each other and cause pain

How foot and leg posture influence each other and cause pain.

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