While many clinicians were spending their final weekend of summer luxuriating in pools and lakes, a curious group hailing from Washington, Pennsylvania, and Texas converged in the little town of Abilene, TX, to learn how patterned necks influence posture and movement. I loved spending time with this group and appreciated your desire to expand your PRI knowledge. If you’ve applied PRI’s primary course material, yet find that your patient-client has plateaued, it’s likely time to “go upstairs” to the neck.
At the onset, this course emphasizes the new “floor” that the human body relies on for upright negotiation of the environment: the occipital-atlanto articulation on the left and right sides. The upright bipedalism of humans is unique in the world of mammals and is directly tied to:
Transverse movement of the temporal bones
Hole control of the foramen magnum
Brainstem centric position
Sphenoid orientation
Occlusion and mastication
These areas may be under the influence of dominant chains of muscle – the L/B AIC, R/B BC, and R TMCC – that literally connect the ground to the head and can limit movement strategies and drive the cranium into positions well-described in the osteopathic literature.
Thank you to models Adam Babb, Brian Butz, Sarika Gaikhe, Sarah Latham, and Heather McWilliams for your willingness to receive cervical tests and demonstrate techniques. The entire class experienced non-manual techniques (with a manual technique thrown into the mix) unique to this course, that incorporate the familiar and ever-important concepts of the left ground, left diaphragm ZOA, left posterior mediastinum expansion, and right low trap and triceps, with a new reference from the left molars. They enable freedom of the neck and alternation of the temporal bones for a more grounded and efficient means of negotiating the world around us. Reflecting on the PRI’s techniques, attendee Thomas Kramer stated: “PRI has changed how I want to practice: less with my hands and more towards self-empowering my patients.”
Thank you SO much Kerry Aslin, Bryan Lange, and Brooke and Jesse Rawlings for your hospitality and inviting us into your home – Abilene Sports Medicine and Orthopedics/Elite Physical Therapy. You are clearly pros at hosting!
I hope to see all of you again in a future course as you continue your PRI journey!
– Louise Kelley
