Well, it's goodbye to sweet summertime and a warm welcome to fall. With autumn upon us, most are running from place to place as the pace of life quickens amidst school, work, events and days get shorter. This makes September a great month to focus on being present in the moment, especially when you're constantly running from one place to another. Amongst all of the hustle and bustle, it's important to take time out of the day to stop worrying about everything and just be. It's easy to lose connection with one's self and others during busy times. We strongly encourage you to take time out of every day whether it be 5, 10, 15 minutes or even an hour for yourself to be in the present. Whether's it silent time, being in nature, cooking or something else you enjoy that helps you feel alive in thenow...enjoy a gift to yourself!

Think of pain as the body's own built-in car alarm.  Tamper with the knee, shoulder, wrist, whatever, and the howling starts.  It's an effective method, really, for protecting these joints and their associated muscles and nerves from further damage. The pain is not only a grabber, it is a stopper. It tells us to knock it off and fix what's wrong-now!

#1-Sitting with Extension can help test if your hips are stabilizing and spine and shoulders are mobile.

So, how do we find out where the pain is coming from versus treating the symptom only? When you're in pain, and we've all been there, the focus is on feeling better (and FAST). One take-away here is to remember that if your pain is gone, but you never really figured out how it came on or why it went away, that you may be in for a roller coaster ride. And the ups and downs may not only speak in the area of the original pain symptom. Instead of a knee, it could be the hip or low back... take your pick as the body is very good at spreading the work throughout the body.

#2-Sitting in Flexion

Finding the underlying dysfunction is one major differentiator with Egoscue. When Jack Nicklaus came to Pete many years ago, his symptom was low back pain (so severe that he was going to pull out of a tournament). Pete saw that it was not a "back problem" but rather a hip issue that was causing the back trouble. Correcting the hip issue allowed Jack back in the tournament to finish it, along with several more in his career.

Here are a few tests you can use to sense how well you are moving. And if you have kids, have them do them too because all of that sitting and sedentary lifestyle for their generation is wreaking havoc on their musculoskeletal function as well.

1. Sit-and-reach / Overhead Extension: Sit forward on a chair, roll your hips forward to put an arch in your back. Interlace your fingers, pushing the palms away, then reach your arms overhead so that the palms face the ceiling. This tests your hip stability and mobility in the spine and shoulders. Come up short of vertical with the arms and low back, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists are all susceptible to symptoms.

#3-Standing Forward Bend

2. Sitting in Flexion: Sit forward on a chair and start by sitting up tall. Then allow your hips to roll back and spine to round forward, including the neck. If you feel stuck, as if the body does not want to bend, then your spine is not moving as it should leaving open the possibility of digestive and elimination issues, low back, shoulder, hip and knee issues.

3. Hip Hinge / Standing Forward Bend: Stand with your feet straight. Place your hands on the back of your upper hips and pull the elbows back behind you. Lock your knees, extend your back, and hinge forward from your hips. Where you lose back extension, stop there and this gives you an idea of how well your hips can hinge -- necessary for not only daily activities but in all sports. If the hips don't hinge well and you lose extension in your back quickly (see picture for good example of range), your body is susceptible to hip, low back, knee, ankle/foot, and shoulder issues (and possibly shortness of breath).

The point here is not to pick on anyone... but rather to point out a starting place for things to work on. Instead of waiting for the pain or wondering where it's coming from, try some of these simple tests to get an idea that more may be going on than JUST the symptom of the day (or week, or month). Try out some of the e-cises in Pain Free, The Egoscue Method of Health through Motion, Pain Free Living or get into a clinic for a free consultation to get a better idea of where your body is or isn't working the way it's designed.