On April 18th and 19th our Institute hosted its first live stream course on the importance of maintaining and facilitating the tone and tension needed for 30 degrees of cervical symbiotic movement. Two cortical hemispheres, two communities of inter-neuronal highways, two lateralized sets of appendages and two autonomic systems of drive, that are all associated with one “neck” of their being.  Regardless of the side of the relationship that is more dominant, or more sensed, or more patterned around a vertical axis, or more associated with emotion, fear, decision making, or physiology, both sides have to communicate with biased biologic messages going up and down through their one and only neck.

A few minutes ago I finished a face time conversation with Maureen Henderson PT, PRC regarding our 20th year anniversary as an Institute. She also told me she would be sending me a book written by Robin Wall Kimmer, entitled ‘Braiding Sweet Grass’.  She said the book reminded her of our relationship and the role the Postural Restoration Institute serves for masting. Mast seeding, also called "masting", is the production of many seeds by a plant every two or more years in regional synchrony with other plants of the same species. Mast seeding is an effective defense because the seed predators become satiated before all the seeds have been consumed.

On November 3rd, 2001 Maureen attended her first PRI course, Postural Restoration (the name of this course was changed to Postural Respiration in 2004) on the campus of the University of Minnesota. She reminded me that she was tired and had jet lag but wanted to go to this course because of the inter-connectedness associated with the material in a course she received from a recent course she attended on ‘Protonics’ that was taught by Karen Swanson PT, through the Postural Restoration Institute. “The core of my being is that everything is connected and meeting you and hearing you for the first time satisfied my core”, was a statement that resonated with me, because we truly have similar DNA, similar thoughts about purpose, similar respect for nature and trees… Both Maureen, and my son, RJ, know that we are all truly connected, just as all trees are.

Trees and plants talk to each other using an internet of fungus. Hidden under our feet is an information superhighway that allows plants to communicate and help each other out. Mycelial networks of fungus allows individuals (trees) who may be widely separated, to communicate and help each other learn new ways to survive, commit new mistakes, and to boost their host plants’ immune systems.  Fungi have been called ‘Earths’ natural internet (Paul Stamets 2008 TED talk on “Earth’s Natural Internet”). Both the tree trunks and our human necks need biologic tone, social tension and regional connected support that is enhanced through “masting”, so that a few of us who breathe and respect the science of PRI can further nurture the evidence behind the need for 30 degrees of cervical rest. Our “masting” effort, our inter-neuronal highways, and our interconnected hemispheres just got a huge boost from live streaming on April 18th and 19th , through the use of the internet; just like the trees we walk under that are getting a huge boost from the Mycelia fungi that never stop networking.

Full Cervical Revolution Live Stream Photo Album

Kind Regards,
Ron

“Innovations in Spinal Deformities and Postural Disorders” was just released on September 27th. We are so proud of Susan Henning, Jean Massé and Lisa Mangino from Advance Physical Therapy in Chapel Hill, NC, who spent countless hours summarizing their clinical experience utilizing Postural Restoration® with scoliosis and other spinal dysfunctions! Chapter 7 titled “Postural Restoration: A Tri-Planar Asymmetrical Framework for Understanding, Assessing, and Treating Scoliosis and Other Spinal Dysfunctions” is sure to be a popular reference for all PRI professionals who work with patients or clients with curvature of the spine.

I had a chance to get a little more information on Susan’s path of learning and teaching about scoliosis. She began her dive into and interest in scoliosis after attending the Advanced Integration course over 10 years ago, and shortly after she attended a Schroth Method course which expanded her focus and insight into working with that population. In 2014, Susan presented at our Annual Interdisciplinary Integration, where her presentation focused on the similarities of the Schroth and Postural Restoration® methodologies.  While attending the International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) meeting in 2016, Susan was introduced to Josette Bettany-Saltikov, PT, PhD, and she had the opportunity to introduce her to some of the PRI concepts. Josette began writing “Innovations in Spinal Deformities and Postural Disorders” with Dr. Sanja Schreiber and they asked Susan to contribute a chapter on Postural Restoration®. After the abstract for the book was accepted, Susan brought her colleagues Jean and Lisa on board to help write the chapter. They ended up finishing it in only 6 months! We are so thankful for all of the hard work they all put into making this chapter a reality.

We are also excited to have Susan, Jean and Lisa teaching the scoliosis section (day 4) of the Advanced Integration course this year, and in future years. If you are working with patients who have scoliosis, be sure to check out this chapter, and register for the Advanced Integration course! Their expertise of curvatures of the spine will provide course attendees with new material on treatment for non-pathological and pathological scoliosis curves, juvenile kyphosis and torticollis.

I just recently finished reading "It's a Jungle In There" by David Rosenbaum. This cognitive psychology overview, with a Darwinian perspective, touched on 'perceiving more than is really there'. Phenomena often reflect "top-down" processing. The term refers to high-level interpretation biasing perception, so perception is not just dictated by immediate sensory data or "bottom-up" processing, but is also shaped by expectations. Over-competition and under-cooperation among relevant neural representatives can bias perception.

The last course I taught in Richmond, VA was Cervical-Cranio-Mandibular Restoration, and it was attended by a number of 'neural representatives' that were once "bottom-up" processors and are now "top-down" perceivers. I really enjoyed their cooperation and non-competitive communication!

In May of 2006, I taught a Postural Respiration course in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I met Julie Hereford for the first time at that course and was in awe of her knowledge on the subject of sleep.  She was asked to be a presenter at the 2010 PRI Interdisciplinary Integration Symposium and along with Dr. J. Paul Rutledge, they introduced sleep to us like no one had before.  Dr. Julie Hereford, PT, DPT has now published a book that will provide rehabilitation professionals with a source of information that will help them gain a better understanding of sleep and its impact on the rehabilitation process.  If you want to know how sleep can increase cortisol levels or reduce glucose tolerance or increase sympathetic nervous system activity, you will enjoy this read.  Dr. Hereford has always been an advocate of sleep being tied to consolidation of motor learning.  “It follows that dysfunctional sleep may interfere with the ability to incorporate particular restorative movement patterns that are learned and practiced during a rehabilitation session unless the appropriate stage of sleep is achieved within a specific time frame.”  I believe the reader and clinician will not be disappointed with any of the four sections of this book and will be introduced to disordered sleep as it relates to systemic challenging disease and dysfunctional patterns.  Therefore, Sleep and Rehabilitation: A Guide for Health Professionals is a must for book shelves of those who appreciate the need for sleep and its intricate effects on performance.