Postural Respiration was presented at the Postural Restoration Institute May 28-29 to a large zoom audience of students as well as live participants. It is always a pleasure to have students from around the world in different time zones staying up late or getting up early to participate in this flagship primary course. There were students from Australia, Europe and coast to coast from North America and a large percentage of students were first time attendees to a PRI course, and for the majority of students, first time to Postural Respiration.

Delivery of air pressure sense and its effect on pelvis, ribcage and diaphragm shape, form and function are central themes that are returned to over and over in this course as it relates to neurology and ultimately biomechanics.
I taught Postural Respiration two weeks before in Chandler, AZ and there were similarities in terms of lab and demo with one student in each course presenting with almost exactly the same exam findings and same treatment guidelines as defined in this course for Superior T-4.

Often this patho-mechanical compensation can seem daunting to identify and treat, however, in both courses with both attendees, following the course guidelines with a detailed and repetitive description of both non-compensatory respiration and contrasting with patho-mechanical respiration made this difference very clear. Both students remained positive in their PRI testing on day one even after non-manual and manual AIC treatment regimens.  Then, on day two following Page 50 guidelines to determine if these individuals were in fact presenting with Superior T-4, a subclavius release with infra-clavicular pump was performed and all tests became negative with both cases.  No pressure, but the instructor is always relived when this occurs!

The overuse of accessory muscles of respiration became very clear to all attendees in both classes knowing that scalenes, for instance, need to act more like initiators of the first rib to signal rostal to caudal sequential rib elevation and not become primary rib lifters attempting to direct and deliver air inappropriately  into a right chest wall. Superior T-4 became very clear as to just one more step in the treatment guidelines for effective and balanced delivery of airflow pressure sense. This allows then alternating and reciprocal function into the entire physiological, neurological and biomechanical systems.

All in all it was a wonderful course especially the time and attention all of the students provided and "spot-on" questions that were asked. Thanks to all of our students especially on zoom from  different continents and time zones.  And the course was facilitated so well by RJ Hruska as he makes the process go so easy for students and instructors!

For a number of years, the Postural Restoration Institute® offered an annual Interdisciplinary Integration Symposium. Each of these symposiums was designed around a theme that we felt best represented the present mindsets of those applying PRI course material as well as our own interest in exploring pathways of collaboration for advancing PRI concepts.

We are excited to announce that beginning in 2024, we will begin offering an annual PRI Interdisciplinary Studies Summit. The word ‘interdisciplinary’ reflects activity that analyzes, synthesizes, and harmonizes links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole. Or, simply put, it means “relating to more than one branch of knowledge.” This annual Summit will not be centered around one topic or theme, but rather will offer two days of presentations on multiple areas of study, for attendees interested in PRI who want to explore how multiple areas of study intersect with one another.

This Summit will allow those with common interest to come together from any field and converge on shared research, a common problem, or professional experience. It will provide opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, dialogue, and connection across the PRI community. Not only is this an opportunity for you to be involved in the learning and application of PRI supportive, evidence-based practice in novel settings, but this Summit will also provide you the opportunity to present on a specific topic for the PRI community. 

Opportunities for social interaction have been few and far between over the past few years, and to say that we have missed seeing you in Lincoln is an understatement. We look forward to bringing together the PRI community again for an annual in-person event, where PRI interest can be intersected at this PRI Interdisciplinary Studies Summit. A time to connect, learn, and socialize with one another. *Please note that this annual Summit will be in-person only and will not be available via live stream. Social events will be scheduled each evening. 

Are you interested in presenting on a topic that interests you?

We encourage you to submit an abstract!

Presentation topics should be relevant to the interest of the PRI community and must fall within one of the five summit sub-categories (see more the presentation guidelines).

Speakers do not need to be PRI Credentialed Providers, and PRI welcomes interdisciplinary professionals (i.e. dentists, optometrists, massage therapists, psychologists, etc.). A presentation may include up to two speakers, and interdisciplinary teams (i.e. PT and Dentist) are encouraged to submit an abstract.

Abstracts are due no later than July 15th. To learn more about submitting an abstract, please visit our website and review the presentation guidelines!

If you are interested and you have any questions, please reach out to Jennifer Platt at platt.jennifer@posturalrestoration.com or 402-467-4111.

Any time I get to teach in Lincoln, it always feels like a homecoming. It’s an honor to be able to teach at PRI and get to spend time with the PRI family. The group of attendees in person really embraced the idea of family. We had pelvic floor PTs, PT students from Regis University in Denver, strength and conditioning specialists from University of Nebraska, a chiropractor and a plethora of other PTs all uniting for the two days over Myokinematic Restoration. By the end of it, a sign up sheet had been passed around so they could all stay in touch. As an instructor, this was such a special thing to see.

We discussed the importance of determining position before facilitation; what a left anterior chain objectively presents as; the ability to determine a hip with some soft tissue pathology vs non pathology; and a host of treatment techniques to help these findings.

The online attendees had excellent questions and the lab times were fulfilled to the max because of the eagerness among the attendees. It was a great course and I look forward to my next time in Lincoln.

It was so appropriate to have my first attempt to be the lead instructor for the entire, two-day Cranial Resolution Course to occur on St Patrick’s Day, since I was feeling quite green regarding how to teach this tertiary material. Fortunately, people were very kind and appeared to appreciate my simplifications, analogies and/or clinical examples of the frequently complex didactic concepts that are introduced in this course (like how the ANS and CNS interact with each other). Ron, who was sitting in the front row, was remarkably restrained, even though it must have been hard for him since these are the concepts that have been behind PRI, and so dear to his heart, right from the very start.  

What I found so exciting was that out of the 46 people in attendance from all over the globe, half of them were attending Cranial Resolution for the first time! That indicates to me that more people are recognizing the need, and are now ready to start, to integrate neurological concepts into their PRI practice. From my own personal experience, I accept that learning when and how to consciously introduce such things as lateralized neural rhythms into your practice may take a while to grasp. What I truly wanted to get across, especially to those first-time attendees, was that the techniques taught in this cranial course were never meant to replace the foundational material from the primary and secondary courses, they were meant to augment it. And that appropriately using the concepts introduced in Cranial Resolution may be able to help your patients make changes faster, more effectively and in a way that is perceived differently. Learning how and when to utilize them may not be quite as algorithmic as techniques learned in the primary courses, but I hope that I was able to share enough specific examples to progress practitioners from ‘just trying’ seemingly random, sensory-modifying techniques to better understanding WHY and WHEN they might appropriately recruit them to each of their client’s unique situations.

I was thrilled to have 6 PRI faculty in attendance at my inaugural session of teaching this course. Their supportive presence constantly reminded me of the strong foundation this course stands upon. Because even though I personally have found that the concepts taught in Cranial Resolution have been a game changer for my practice, there is no way anything can ‘change the game’ if there isn’t already a game being played by a strong set of recognized and accepted premises and principles.  

I know I was nervous, I read from the slides more than I wanted to, and I spoke too fast. These are all issues that I will actively work on for future renditions of this course. But like I said earlier, even though I may be comfortable with the material presented, I am still green at presenting it, especially to all the bright and inquisitive individuals who have pursued PRI to this tertiary level. What I hope came across, however, is how much I love this material – and want to get others to feel the same way. It’s not hard, it’s just different. And ‘different’ is cyclically needed, otherwise we have nothing to which we can compare or reference normal.  

Thanks to all who attended – and plan to attend in the future!