The Egoscue Book I Own

This is the book that I follow. A new copy is under ten dollars at Barnes & Noble. I highly recommend it if you want your body to feel better.

When you read it you'll understand how we've gotten into the mess that is our bodily alignment. One of the illustrations depicts figures sitting side by side. One is sitting upright, posturally aligned, and therefore 'functionally', while the other is slumped forward in her chair, a sad and dispirited lady (p. 177).

The book will make it clear, for example, how we could very easily be causing wrist pain if we sit all day with a head that's forward from the shoulders, which are forward from the hips. The tricky part  is actually doing the ecises that make your body feel much better. Here I am touting a book that has helped me so much and I still don't consistently do my half hour menu. Although I will happily say that I do manage about 4 ecises in a row right out of bed each day. It makes leaning over the sink to wash my face in the morning a delight.

Egoscue and Walking

Doesn't this invite you to a walk on the beach?

My Egsocue therapist advised me to do my ecises first, and then go out for a walk. Or play soccer. Or jump on the trampoline...with my body better aligned. I've been mixing and matching my menus along with the ones in Pain Free and whichever ones I do, the better my body feels. I don't have the patience to do all 10 of them in a row, so I do four here and three there and two over there most days.

This a.m. I did Wall Clock (yes my hips can still move forward in this one - a novel idea) for 1 minute in each of the three positions, Arm Circles (quick and easy), and the Tower for 20 minutes total, which I guess used to be called Supine Groin Stretch. But now look at me: bum near edge of chair, back of shoulders leaning on the back of the chair, hips woefully tipped backwards. If only I didn't have a day job and I could do Egoscue and movement all day long...I bet I would be feeling pretty good! Thankfully I have these ecises to do, every day, for my body to feel right again. The Tower occupies a very prominent position in my living room.

My Thoughts on Egoscue of Late

One of my Egoscue Menus

Here are my many thoughts on Egoscue:

1. I need to do it every day.

2. I woke up this morning, stiff. Did 3 Egsocue ecises and all stiffness left.

3. I love Egoscue.

4. I need to do it every day.

5. I wish my menu didn't take so long to do.

6. I don't understand how it works but it does.

For the past few months I'd been doing the neck exercises and more recently the ecises for the hips. I got these menus right out of the book, Pain Free. They work great. But I was sporadic in doing them and only did the ecises when I was feeling stiff and creaky (I sit all day for my job).

The hip menu includes the one that you can do on the Tower, which I love. Although I wish you could read a book when you're in Tower. I have been doing five minutes with the left leg on the top rung, five minutes with the left leg on a middle rung, then repeating with the right leg. I get up and I can walk around without feeling 80 years old. How does something so simple do that?!!?

This morning I dug up my old menus that Paul had written for me last year. There are three which he said to rotate. They take from 30-40 minutes. In my book, that's too long to be expected to do every day. Which is why I moved to the ecises menu in Pain Free - they're shorter. But I am going to return to doing Paul's, because they're personalized. I may leave out a couple though.

Have I said that I love the Tower?