Huntington Beach was the location of the California Chiropractic Association’s (CalChiro) annual sports symposium on May 21-22. There were a wide range of topics including shoulder diagnosis to sports psychology to treating Marfan’s patients and then on to several approaches of functional movement specialties for rehabilitation and sport performance in a chiropractic practice.

I had the privilege of representing the Postural Restoration Institute and the topic presented was on the “The Two Roles of the Diaphragm in Chiropractic, Rehabilitation and Sport Performance”. This topic with lecture and lab had an enthusiastic response and many of the attendees that had taken a PRI course before were “fired up” to learn more. Those who had never heard of PRI or were unfamiliar with our approach were very curious to learn more especially regarding the thoracic diaphragm, breathing in sport performance and pelvic floor dysfunction.

This was the first time PRI was represented along with DNS and SFMA in the same venue at a chiropractic symposium. I got to know Michael Rintala, D.C. who teaches for DNS and Greg Rose, D.C. who developed the SFMA and it was a pleasure to get to know these two highly dedicated and competent practitioners on a personal and professional level.

 
I was more than thrilled to represent PRI to progressive chiropractors open to having an integrated practice approach. It was also a thrill to have Drs. Rintal and Rose in attendance to share more of what PRI can offer regardless of one’s practice approach. I enjoyed learning more about DNS and refreshing my knowledge of the SFMA. In addition, this weekend was a treat for me to see my colleagues and friends Drs. Richard Cheung and Jeff Tucker who were both, in part, responsible for my journey into PRI certification and ultimately into becoming a faculty member. I will always be grateful for their support.

And last, this past weekend was the 10th anniversary of taking my first PRI course, Postural Respiration, and what a meaningful journey it has been!       

I always like travelling back to the Northeast especially when I get a chance to teach in Boston. This trip was extra special as I was able to bring my girls and husband with me for the weekend and a little extended getaway for me! The girls have grown up with PRI and it is fun to watch them (not medical) be able to identify a pattern in the way someone walks!

I had the pleasure of mentoring one of our new faculty members Jason Miller. Jason and I taught the course together. Even though the Celtics did not win on Sunday night, I'd say his performance was a slam dunk. This class was not much different demographically speaking from most Myokinematic of the Hip and Pelvis that I have taught over the years. Most attendees were taking their first course and some had taken multiple. The cool part was everyone had some exposure to the science and were eager to learn the why behind what we were doing with the PRI methods. We explored patterns, how it changed position and could result in pain or decreased performance. Speaking of performance,  I was also fortunate to have Eric Menchi as a lab assist. Eric has been around PRI for awhile and was able to provide insight as to how he applies PRI science with his personal training clients. Jae from Northeatern also spoke to the application of the Northeastern Athletes in both the training room and how they integrate with the strength and conditioning staff.

Let me say this to those that are struggling. The struggle is real and PRI is not an easy science. It makes you think long and hard about what your patient is doing and how they are compensating whether that is good or bad. It is our mission to help our patients clients and athletes to better movement with less pain and of course better function! This course provides the new learner a gateway to apply and progress following algorithms that have stood the test of time. It was pleasure to mentor Jason and teach a room full of enthusiatic learners the science of PRI and yes, I did my best to stay on topic with the hip!