We talk a lot about “habits” – good and bad, new and old, conscious and even unconscious. We have a myriad of them that propel us through our days and nights. Some habits we’d like to break, some we’d like to initiate. I was recently gifted the book “The Power of Habit” written by Charles Duhigg. My mind went immediately to you, my Egoscue clients. How can we utilize this powerful thing (habit) to help us get exactly what we want? Especially when we want an aligned and pain free body!
Well, if you’re reading this blog, you’re interested in Egoscue. You want to be vital and active and do everything you love to do. Your back pain, leg pain, shoulder pain, sciatica, or neck pain has gotten in the way. Perhaps you have an Egoscue program. Is your Egoscue program a habit or are you consciously struggling every day to map out a new plan to accomplish it but not always able to?
The most commonly asked question when clients are in the midst of aligning their body, feeling good and once again able to do their favorite activity is “will I have to do this for the rest of my life”? The answer is always “yes”! Maintenance, you know. Like brushing your teeth or bathing. You get great results from those habits and you understand the consequences if you stop doing them so you do them every day and in the process you have created a habit.
Duhigg says that there is a habit loop – there is something that prompts you to “do” something (time of day, day of week, frame of mind, alarm on our phone for example); then there is the thing you do – the habit – (have a cup of coffee, brush your teeth, take the dog for a walk, shower, do your Egoscue) and then the reward –caffeine stimulant, fresh teeth, happy dog, clean skin, painless body. See where I’m going with this?
He also says we should pay close attention to our reward because often the habit we attach to it is just a part of it – there might be more to the why of it than we are aware of. For example, back to our list above…
Coffee – gosh, actually I love the sensation of holding the warm cup as I plan my day
Brush my teeth – definitely fear driven – I hate the thought of a painful dental visit
Walk the dog – It is what it is – nothing like the unconditional love of a happy dog!
Shower – my husband thinks I smell amazing and always compliments me
Egoscue – I expect to continue to be active, do everything I want to do (and even some I haven’t done yet) and do it all pain free as I age and I’m getting up there!
Are you following me? What I want to impart to you, is that at Pain Free we are in it for the long haul. This is life. Literally, all of the above is life – you have your own list. From here forward let’s get back to experiencing all of it as fluidly and pain free as possible. My favorite Pete Egoscue quote is: “A pain free, active lifestyle is not only possible, but it is the way you should expect to feel and live, no matter your age, no matter your previous experience”. I believe this and YOU can believe it. I will set myself up to live it. It is my reward. It can be yours too.
Let me help you find the way to make your Egoscue program a habit so that it will work for you! Let’s define your prompts and tune into your rewards of doing your program for your life. Remember that age is not a factor of function, misalignment is the culprit. The Egoscue Habit makes the lifelong pain free function that you desire possible!
