Movement isn’t just something we should do, it’s something we were built to do. Yet modern life has quietly rewritten the way our bodies behave. Most of us now spend the majority of our day sitting: at desks, in cars, on sofas, hunched over laptops and phones. Hour after hour, day after day, our bodies adapt to this stillness. Hips tighten, backs weaken, posture collapses, and the brain begins to treat these limited patterns as “normal.” The result? A generation of people who are more sedentary than any humans in history - and increasingly unhappy, uncomfortable, and in pain.
In this episode of The Happier Life Project host Gabby explores this crisis with someone who has dedicated his career to solving it. Dr Cuan Wayne Coetzee is a family and sports chiropractor and the best‑selling author of Why Movement Is Medicine. After earning his Master’s in Chiropractic from Durban University of Technology in 2013, he practised in South Africa before relocating to London in 2019. He is the founder of MoveMed and creator of the Neural Re‑Education (NRE) Protocol, a neuroplasticity‑based system designed to help people move safely, confidently, and pain‑free. A former national triathlete and award‑winning researcher, he has lectured doctors in sports medicine and served as Team Chiropractor for England at the 2014 Indoor Cricket World Cup. He continues to help patients move pain-free through neuroscience-driven rehabilitation.
In this episode, Dr Coetzee explains how our bodies; once shaped by walking, bending, lifting, squatting, reaching and running, are now shaped by chairs, screens, and stillness. He breaks down why back pain and neck pain have become universal, how repetitive sitting rewires the brain’s movement “safe zones,” and why so many people feel stiff, fragile, or fearful of moving.
Dr Cuan introduces neural re‑education, the process of teaching the body to move the way it was designed to, and explains how chronic pain becomes a learned neurological loop that can be unlearned through safe, intentional movement. He explains his seesaw analogy, illustrating how stress, inflammation, recovery and daily habits constantly tilt the body toward healing or overuse, and he shares the LENDS pillars - love, exercise, newness, diet and sleep - the foundations he believes everyone should address before getting lost in wellness trends.
From the four pillars of movement (strength, endurance, mobility, balance) to the neuroscience of prediction error, Dr Coetzee offers a clear, compassionate roadmap for anyone wanting to feel better in their body. His message is simple and urgent: modern life may be making us unhappy and in pain, but movement, done well and done consistently, is one of the most powerful ways to reclaim our wellbeing.
To download the My Possible Self App: https://mypossibleself.app.link/podcast
To follow My Possible Self on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mypossibleself
Movemed website: https://www.movemed.co.uk/
To follow Dr Cuan on Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/movemeduk
https://www.youtube.com/@movemeduk
https://www.facebook.com/drcuanwaynecoetzee
