The Postural Respiration course holds a special place for me. It was the course that frustrated me the most, to the point that I nearly didn’t continue with my PRI journey. But it was also the course that has helped me the most in my foundational understanding of PRI concepts and how to apply those concepts above and below the rib cage. It has been revamped several times since I first took the course in 2004, to the point that it is now a heavily research-based course with immense reliance on neurobiology. I learn something every time I prepare to teach this course, and I find the concepts incredibly valuable to my clinical practice.
As a result, I continue to ask to Institute to let me teach this course once per year. It keeps me honest as I teach other PRI courses, and it helps me in my clinical practice. This was my one time per year, and it was such an honor to be invited to the great state of Georgia. We had a very engaged and wonderful group of movement professionals. The questions and dialogue during the course were wonderful and the lab sessions proved to be very helpful to many of the attendees.
We cover so much territory during this course. The science and research provided in the first 19 pages of this course is second to none. It lays the neurological foundation as to why every human is born with the same functional cortical dominance, and why that can generate asymmetrical polyarticular chain behavior of the musculoskeletal system. We go through 9 different tests in this course, so we can assess the extent of patterned behavior and detect soft tissue pathology. Following the tests, we then discuss manual and non-manual techniques to help the individuals we are working with to change their behavior when upright against gravity.
The most recent re-write of this course allowed us to focus on how to determine respiratory function and how to improve it. We have the time to go into greater detail of R Superior T4 Syndrome, why TS is valuable on the left side and ST is valuable on the right side. If you haven’t taken this course in the last 3 years, I would humbly suggest to take this course again as this course lays the foundation for the Pelvis, I&I, Cervical, Cranial, Voice Box, FLM, Visual Vestibular Refinement, Non-manual Technique workshop, and Occlusal courses. If you are looking to enhance your clinical skills, this is the course for you.
My thanks to the great team at Pinnacle Orthopaedics in Marietta. Charles, William, Katie, Ervin, and Darlene were awesome, and the facility was perfect to host a course. My thanks to Robbie, Joy, Allison, Henley, and Andrew for all of your help, questions, and participation during the lab sessions. My special thanks to Kristen for allowing us all to learn from her during lab. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did, and I look forward to seeing you at your next PRI course!
– Dan Houglum
