Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain

by Pete Egoscue with Roger Gittines

This month we will be reading Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain by Pete Egoscue. Although this book was published a while ago, I still consider it to be one of the best resources in understanding and working with structural issues.  In this book physiologist and sports injury consultant Pete Egoscue lays out a very comprehensive picture of what happens to our bodies when our joints get misaligned and our movement becomes limited. He writes: “Just as a person with a fever may have a flushed complexion, the body openly displays symptoms of ill health and disfunction. Once we see the problem on display, we may then correct it ourselves.”

The main premise of the book is that our bodies are similar to scaffolding structures with the spine’s S-curve serving as “the centerpiece of a geometric construction based on parallel vertical and horizontal lines and ninety-degree angles.” These lines intersect at eight load-bearing joints (four on each side of the body) – shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles, from which the rest of the structure is suspended. The structure is held together by ligaments and is moved by muscles. When the load-bearing joints are all stacked on top of each other, the body is fully supported and functions at its full capacity without pain. When we loose proper structural alignment, we develop pain, compensatory mechanisms and overall structural instability. This book explores all load-bearing joints one by one, covering potential problems that can arise and ways to fix them.

I picked this book because I believe that it can give yoga teachers and students alike a good primer on the importance of structural alignment. Although we know that there is more to dealing with chronic pain than simply re-staking the joints on top of each other, at the same time, restoring structural integrity of the body can become an important step on the road to healing. I cannot vouch for the effectiveness of e-cises sprinkled throughout the book, but I do know that isometric movements can be very effective in strengthening the muscles that support your joints. Hope you enjoy the book!