My path to becoming a musculoskeletal specialist started when I was a young runner. I developed a 33-degree curvature of the spine or scoliosis, which produced constant pain. Through the work I now do, I was able to end the pain, correct the problem, and continue my running career, later going on to run a 2:23 marathon.
The objective of the Wharton Process is to take the mystery and confusion out of attaining optimal health, and provide simple solutions to complicated problems by balancing flexibility and strength. A key component of our process is education – providing people with the tools necessary to harness and achieve optimal health. Health, fitness, and athletics are a metaphor for the human spirit, a spirit that is indomitable and expansive.
Do you remember your lowest moment? What urged you forward? How did you pick yourself up, dust yourself off—and return to your path? Did you long for a roadmap, guide, or mentor? How did you pivot and continue your journey? In this show we discover the deeper drives and strategies our guests employed to rise in their chosen endeavor. We learn the key decisions, and defining moments forging their lives on the anvil. We learn how they commit to the process through a life of embracing their craft. Many have achieved excellence, even mastery. They impart gems of wisdom. During these episodes we may be able to take away valuable concepts, adopt new mindsets, and ways of being-Impacting our lives, and the lives of those around us.
During this podcast, we ask our guest ten essential questions. We discover their genesis, rise, and fall. We learn how they pivoted back on course, resuming their journey. Confiding what they would redo or do differently. We learn crucial decisions forging them on the anvil. During these interviews, stories, and conversations we reveal their Intrinsic Drive™
As a young athlete, a thirty-three-degree scoliosis of the spine left me in constant pain, unable to continue the sport I loved. Opting against spinal fusion and Herrington rod surgery, with no guarantee of pain relief---and a certain end to my athletic career. I restored my range of motion, gained structural strength, and muscular balance. During the two years of hard work, discipline and focus, spinal compression, neuromotor disconnect, and fascial adhesions began to let go. My scoliosis reduced to less than one degree, then zero. Now, free from chronic pain, I began to run, then compete again. I trained and worked with the world’s best athletes. I ran two hours and twenty -three minutes for the 26.2-mile marathon in Florence, Rotterdam, and Austin. Over more than three decades, I’ve assisted athletes to break world records, Olympians and World Championship Medalists, to university team and individual champions, and professional team world titles, co-authored four books to share this self-care process—empowering those suffering from difficult conditions and chronic pain.
This show was born of a desire to explore and share individual and collective experiences of pursuit, dedication, and growth. Transforming discipline into habit, enjoying the process, and actualizing dreams.
Intrinsic Drive™ is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton. Special thanks to Andrew Hollingworth, our sound engineer and technical editor. For more information on this and other episodes visit us at www.whartonhealth.com/intrinsicdrive. Follow us on socials including, Instagram @intrinsicdrivelive