Most of us take the acts of sitting, standing, and walking for granted, but for those suffering from back, muscle, and joint pain, even these seemingly simple actions can be extremely uncomfortable. Poor body alignment or habitual movement patterns that crop up when we compensate for a bad back or painful neck can only further exacerbate existing issues—and create new problems. In this accessible workbook, Craig Williamson demonstrates how by just doing these three basic actions with optimal body alignment and attention, you can help free yourself from existing pain and prevent further injury. The protocol is simple but extremely effective, and step-by-step photos guide you through every exercise. Williamson’s approach has been praised by physicians, physical therapists, coaches and sports trainers, yoga instructors, and patients.

Here's an innovative and practical approach to eliminating chronic muscle pain, written by a popular occupational therapist with thirty years of experience freeing people from the discomfort of tendonitis, lower back pain, and neck and shoulder tension. These types of chronic pain can be caused by a number of factors, including old injuries, habitual movement patterns, problems with body alignment, psychological causes, and inability to sense your own body movements accurately. Muscular Retraining for Pain-Free Living clearly and concisely explains the causes of persistent muscle pain and offers a therapeutic exercise program to address these problems and end pain. This book explains the basic principles behind Williamson Muscular Retraining, which helps people to use their bodies more efficiently and gracefully, in a way that is practical and easy to understand. The problems of poor posture, muscle tension, and stress-caused pain are corrected by seeing them through the lens of kinesthetic awareness. The importance of kinesthetic awareness is typically overlooked precisely because it is lacking in so much of our population, including health care practitioners. Retraining for Pain-Free Living presents case examples of how people have used body awareness to improve how they sit, stand, and move - to rid themselves of ongoing muscular pain.

Starting today, you don't have to live in pain. “This book is extraordinary, and I am thrilled to recommend it to anyone who’s interested in dramatically increasing the quality of their physical health.”—Tony Robbins That is the revolutionary message of this breakthrough system for eliminating chronic pain without drugs, surgery, or expensive physical therapy. Developed by Pete Egoscue, a nationally renowned physiologist and sports injury consultant to some of today’s top athletes, the Egoscue Method has an astounding 95 percent success rate. The key is a series of gentle exercises and carefully constructed stretches called E-cises. Inside you’ll find detailed photographs and step-by-step instructions for dozens of e-cizes specifically designed to provide quick and lasting relief of: • Lower back pain, hip problems, sciatica, and bad knees • Carpal tunnel syndrome and even some forms of arthritis • Migraines and other headaches, stiff neck, fatigue, sinus problems, vertigo, and TMJ • Shin splints, varicose veins, sprained or weak ankles, and many foot ailments • Bursitis, tendinitis, and rotator cuff problems Plus special preventive programs for maintaining health through the entire body. With this book in hand, you’re on your way to regaining the greatest gift of all: a pain-free body!

Restoring healthy posture from childhood for relief from chronic pain, easy flexibility, and enduring strength and vitality well into old age • Offers 12 physical exercises to become mindful of your posture and discover pain-free alignment of your pelvis, rib cage, shoulders, neck, and back • Provides simple yet detailed instructions on how to sit, stand, walk, bend, get up from a chair, sit to meditate, sleep, and practice yoga with proper alignment • Includes detailed diagrams and posture photographs from around the world Our bones are the framework of support for our bodies, much like the wall studs and beams of a house. Yet the alignment of the skeleton along the vertical axis of gravity is largely overlooked today, even by fitness experts and yoga teachers. In a culture of cocked hips, sauntering models, and slouching TV watchers, where “chin up, shoulders back, stomach in” is believed to be good posture, we have forgotten what healthy alignment looks and feels like--leading to chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain for millions. Sharing photographs from around the world of “gurus” of natural posture and authentic strength, such as women in their 80s who easily carry heavy loads on their heads and toddlers learning to walk, Kathleen Porter shows what natural skeletal alignment truly looks like. With insights based on the fundamental laws of physics and detailed diagrams, she guides you through an understanding of the body’s naturally pain-free design. She explains that when the body is aligned as nature intended, your weight is supported by your bones rather than your muscles, allowing a blissful release from chronic muscular tension--which you may not even be aware you had. She offers 12 physical exercises to become mindful of your posture and discover healthy alignment of your pelvis, rib cage, shoulders, neck, and your body as a whole. Providing easy-to-follow instructions for mindful alignment during the most ordinary daily activities, even sleeping, as well as a chapter on practicing yoga safely, Porter shows how returning to our forgotten alignment from childhood can offer relief from chronic pain and tension and can provide easy flexibility, enduring strength, and vitality well into old age.

This groundbreaking new medical work demonstrates how modern sedentary lifestyles contribute to poor health, obesity, and diabetes, and how health can be dramatically improved by continuous, low-intensity, movement that challenges the force of gravity. Citing her original NASA research on how weightlessness weakens astronauts' muscles, bones, and overall health, the author presents a simple and effective plan for maintaining good health throughout life by developing new lifestyle habits of frequent gravity-challenging movement. Written for everyone who spends most of their lives sitting in chairs, at desks, and in cars, this practical, easy-to-follow action plan outlines simple gravity-challenging activities such as standing up frequently, stretching, walking, and dancing that are more healthful and effective than conventional diet and exercise regimens.

A fully revised and updated edition of the program that’s sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide—plus a new chapter addressing shoulder pain Since the McKenzie Method was first developed in the 1960s, millions of people have successfully used it to free themselves from chronic back and neck pain. Now, Robin McKenzie has updated his innovative program and added a new chapter on relieving shoulder pain. In 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, you’ll learn: · Common causes of lower back, neck pain and shoulder pain · The vital role discs play in back and neck health · Easy exercises that alleviate pain immediately Considered the treatment of choice by health care professionals throughout the world, 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will help you find permanent relief from back, neck, and shoulder pain.

With a fresh approach to a common problem, this self-help guide to overcoming back pain advocates adopting the natural, healthy posture of athletes, young children, and people from traditional societies the world over. Arguing that most of what our culture has taught us about posture is misguided—even unhealthy—and exploring the current epidemic of back pain, many of the commonly cited reasons for the degeneration of spinal discs and the stress on muscles that leads to back pain are examined and debunked. The historical and anthropological roots of poor posture in Western cultures are studied as is the absence of back pain complaints in the cultures of Africa, Asia, South America, and rural Europe. Eight detailed chapters provide illustrated step-by-step instructions for making simple, powerful changes to seated, standing, and sleeping positions. No special equipment or exercise is required, and effects are often immediate.