Why We Hurt: Understanding How To Be Comfortable In Your Own Body

by Brent Stevenson

Why We Hurt is full of information you wish you knew about yourself at a younger age. It is written from the perspective of an experienced physiotherapist explaining the layers of knowledge required to understand how your body actually works. The author empathetically weaves real-life stories with discussions on healthcare, consciousness, human nature, stress, trauma, injury, and healing. The book details the physical toll of being an emotional human being in an imperfect world. It explains how the emotions of stress, anxiety, fear, and loneliness are more physical experiences than they are cognitive. You will come away with an empowering understanding of how your body holds onto tension in relation to everything that you have experienced up to the present moment, and how that tension impacts the experience of being you.

Brent Stevenson is a physiotherapist in Vancouver, Canada with a non-traditional approach to helping his clients. He starts by teaching them about how their bodies work and approaches the process of feeling better with the mantra of education before intervention. His first book Why Things Life Lessons From An Injury-Prone Physical Therapist was his cathartic means of helping people makes sense of their situations while he continued to process his own challenges. Clinically, he integrates education with IMS dry needling, visceral manipulation, and movement training. Personally, he is married, has three teenage children, plays hockey and part time chauffeur.

Gabor Mate, MD, Author, The Myth of Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture"People experience the world through their bodies," Brent Stevenson writes in this remarkable book, but as an innovative physiotherapist he has witnessed all too often just how out of touch humans can be with their bodies, as with the emotions that tense up and limit the movements of those bodies, causing pain, fear and even disability. In plain English Why We Hurt explains how our minds, memories, brains, muscles, ligaments, viscera, and connective tissue interact in subtle ways to foster suffering, origins and healing of which transcend the narrowly mechanical views of conventional medicine. Stevenson's understanding of these dynamics is keenly insightful, his many case histories are fascinating, and his explanations are clear and illuminating.

Dr. Pamela Kryskow, MD, Medical Lead Roots to Thrive Program"Brent's book skillfully integrates a holistic approach to restoring human health, seamlessly weaving together physical and emotional well-being. By demonstrating through case studies how clinicians can effectively attend to all aspects of a person's health, the book emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing all clues to facilitate patients' journey back to wellness. Additionally, the book explores the evolving role of psychedelic medicine in this holistic approach, acknowledging its potential as evidence continues to accumulate."

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Health

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 10, 2024

About the author

Brent Stevenson is a physiotherapist in Vancouver, Canada, the co-owner of two multidisciplinary health clinics, the author of two books, the father of three teenage children, and a happily married husband. He has a Bachelor of Human Kinetics from the University of British Columbia, a Masters of Physiotherapy from McMaster University, and a long list of post-graduate training including IMS Dry Needling and visceral manipulation.

His first book titled Why Things Hurt: Life Lessons From An Injury-prone Physical Therapist is a collection of meaningful stories and explanations about how our bodies actually work. His current book titled Why We Hurt: Understanding How To Be Comfortable In Your Own Body, takes a deeper look at the physical manifestations of stress and anxiety in people’s bodies, and how your interpretation of your story effects the care you receive when you reach out for help.

Reviews

[Amanda M. Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Why We Hurt Brent Stevenson sets out to help people better understand their bodies, their pain, and the way that their emotional and physical lives are intertwined so thoroughly that caring for one and not the other will inevitably leave us in a loop with pain, injury, and a lack of overall wellbeing. For the most part he does manage to get these things across, focusing on a few of his cases, his own battle with partial vision loss, and some discussion of physiology (Stevenson is a licensed physiologist) and mental health as mediums of overall health and recovery, however, there are large areas of the mental health and recovery field that he seems to have limited knowledge of in spite of some efforts to engage with the mind/body connection and discussion of trauma. Stevenson is aware that trauma and mental health play a very large and important role in the health of the person and that seeking therapy that assists the person in finding an overall balance is a vital part of treating chronic pain, injury, and rehabilitation but he doesn't seem to understand that handling anxiety and other mental health issues are not things that can simply be handled by "taking accountability' or 'learning a certain amount of stoicism' and repeatedly underlines that such clients should not overwhelm the physicians and other health care professionals involved in their care. He references and demonstrates an understanding of what his clients are going through as they manage their own health journeys and his own path reading such popular psychology authors are Dr. Bruce D. Perry, Gabor Maté, and others but doesn't seem to be aware of deeper work done by authors who are well established in the discussion of the mind/ body connection like Bessel Van Der Kolk who might offer a better understanding of why this connection can be much harder to manage and regulate without a long period of work and recovery between client and health professionals who are trained in the understanding and treatment of these things and the role of generational trauma. Instead Stevenson seems to enforce the idea that anxiety and other trauma related mental health issues should be dealt with in a way that feel like he is saying that the person needs to stop dwelling and pull up their bootstraps when many such clients simply don't have tools like healthy executive function, managed mood regulation, or conscious awareness of their processes to do so. Stevenson's approach is strongly grounded when it comes to things like exercise, dry needle treatment, posture and exercise regulation, and some discussion of the use of psilocybin and marijuana that are tied to physical and athletic elements of health but doesn't fully ground much of the mental health he is validly pointing out needs to be a part of care and maintenance. I do think Why We Hurt could be a starting point for engaging with the mind/body connection and understanding the elements of physiology but it could be a bit rough on readers who have more needs in regard to mental health, trauma, and chronic illness and might have been more helpful if it didn't rely on quite as much repetition and shame/responsibility narratives related to managing mental health.

[TayTay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strap on your metaphysical seatbelts and prepare for a tour de force through the fascinating landscape of your own body with Brent Stevenson's "Why We Hurt." This isn't just a book; it's a full-body workout for your brain, minus the sweat and overpriced gym membership.

Stevenson, a physiotherapist who could easily double as a philosopher, takes us on a journey that's part anatomy class, part therapy session. He delves into the complex relationship between our physical selves and our emotional baggage, revealing that the two are more intertwined than earphones left in your pocket for too long.

Think of this book as a GPS for navigating the intricate highways and byways of your body. Stevenson's real-life stories and discussions on healthcare and human nature are like rest stops along the way, offering insightful and often eye-opening perspectives on our physical and emotional landscapes.

Appreciate the author diving and sharing their personal story. The author had an eye injury that left him visually impaired with only seeing out of one eye. The impacts of surgery, on his family life and work life have led to the experience that helped lay the pavement to create this book. You can tell that the author cares deeply for his clients through the stories he shares to tie in bigger concepts that the book delivers. This helped me be more mindful of my own body which we could all benefit from. The only portion that threw me off was the formatting and word spacing which could be related to the ARC I have.

In a world where we often treat our bodies like they're separate from our minds, "Why We Hurt" is a much-needed reminder of the intricate dance they perform together.

Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[PJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. As a Canadian approaching midlife, I was looking forward to learning how to be comfortable in my own body from a Canadian author.
Sadly, I felt like I was being repeatedly shamed for not knowing the 'proper' way to use my body, and that the only way to find out how to use it was to find out from this author. It felt like an advertisement for physiotherapy. While I'm sure we could all benefit from physiotherapy, not all of us can afford it.
Having the human body explained like teaching a five-year-old was actually fascinating and informative though. I enjoyed that part.
Otherwise, it was a disappointing book.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to the eARC!

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the information in this book was very useful. However, I felt like I was listening to an informercial. The author kept repeating the same information over and over. I think this would have been better written as an essay or chapter in a collected work or even a small book. I am really tired of non-fiction books that are padded, I have written enough papers that have to be a certain length to know padding when I see it. I am sure the author and publisher think it will sell as a 275 page book but that doesnt make it a better book. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

[Kade Gulluscio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

As someone who suffers from depression, anxiety, AND physical conditions that cause chronic pain - this book caught my attention.
I can tell you firsthand that when my depression and / or anxiety is really bad, my pain levels are higher than usual. And It is quite... interesting how the body can react to emotional trauma/pain in that regard.

I do agree with some other reviews here on NG that the book / information was a tad repetitive. Most of us who live with chronic pain already know and experience a lot of what was metioned.

All in all, it was an okay book. I'm not sure that i would read it again, but it wasn't a bad read.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC opportunity!

I appreciated the author sharing his personal experience, and I can tell he really cared about his audience and presenting his message.

I found the information to be a bit repetitive, and I think, especially for those with chronic pain, it would be better to cut down on the repetitive information and make it more streamlined so others can maintain the energy to keep reading.

[Audrey Stars in Her Eye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why We Hurt starts with the fundamentals. Brent Stevenson goes through how your body physically works. I was surprised that he said most people didn't know. (I personally remember being taught in elementary school.) Regardless, he breaks it down where it is easy to understand. He also goes over case studies with people he worked with.
The best part of the book (the part that was the most helpful), is the third section entitled "Taking Control." This is where I learned things that could help me with my own pain. It's not exercise and the like, but the change in thinking about your body and medicine in general.
I received an ARC through NetGalley; all opinions are my own.

[Tracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows how us humans are out of sync with our bodies and tries to show how fear and anxiety play a huge role in why we hurt. The author makes some good valid points and I am happy I read this book to gain a different perspective on my chronic pain. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.