Community Appreciation

Pete Egoscue’s Address: The Challenge of Modern Conveniences to Our Well-Being

The Egoscue Community Appreciation Celebration was a huge success! Pete Egoscue opened his address to hundreds of attendees, both virtual and in-person, by reminiscing about his gratifying journey of 50 years and his appreciation for the Egoscue Community.

Pete marveled at the Community’s courage and self-reliance to:

• Trust in themselves
• Learn how the body works
• Understand that pain is not to be feared but understood
• Counter society’s evolution to minimize movement for the sake of convenience

A Motion-Free World

In an era defined by convenience and technology, Pete pointed out that we now live in a world where we are not asked to move. In fact, today’s modern society has evolved into the most motion-free, convenience-oriented time in history. There is little we can’t do with the click of our fingers. Food is available on-demand via app delivery, social interactions are routinely performed without moving from our desk or home, and we are rapidly heading to a world of self-driving cars.

Many would call these advancements “progress” and stop there, but Egoscue considers them a “progress towards convenience.” And, that progress poses an interesting dilemma for us. We are designed to routinely move about the world on two feet. That movement is essential to the proper functioning of not only our musculoskeletal system, but virtually all the other key systems our body relies on for life.

Starved of movement, our body begins to function at sub-optimal levels. “Use-it-or-lose-it” is very much applicable to our bodies. Unfortunately, when we do try to move, many of us experience pain. In addition to more chronic and acute pain issues, we are also seeing life expectancy decrease for the first time ever. In effect, our “progress” to a modern society has become a major detriment to our overall health and wellness.

Pete praised the Egoscue community for understanding that we do need to move and recognizing that in today’s increasingly convenient society, it requires a conscious decision to overcome the sedentary behavior of today’s motion-free world.

Egoscue explained, “it’s one of the best investments you will ever make,” providing kudos to the attendees for their commitment to giving their body the motion it needs to stay happy and healthy.

Pass Along the Secret

Egoscue challenged everyone to pass along to the broader community this simple “secret” that we all know: get yourself balanced. “We are designed to move, and we need to move to stay happy and healthy. When we move according to our balanced design, movement becomes joyful. It starts with getting balanced. Doing so will help you feel and move better, and moving more invariably follows close behind.”