We are excited to announce and congratulate the Postural Restoration Certified (PRC) Class of 2020! PRC credentialing is the result of completing multiple advanced PRI courses, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the science through completion of the PRC application, and successfully participating in practical and analytical testing. This week, 11 clinicians earned the designation of Postural Restoration Certified (PRC) under the direction of Ron Hruska, Lori Thomsen, Dan Houglum, and Jennifer Platt earlier this week.

The Postural Restoration Institute established this certification process in 2004 as a way to recognize and identify those individuals with advanced training, extraordinary interest and devotion to the science of postural adaptations, asymmetrical patterns and the influence of polyarticular chains of muscles on the human body as defined by the Postural Restoration Institute. The PRC credentialing program is available to physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, occupational therapists, and chiropractors who have attended PRI courses, demonstrated a thorough understanding of the science through completion of the PRC application, and successfully participate in both clinical and analytical testing. To date, 226 professionals have earned the designation of Postural Restoration Certified (PRC).

To view/download the photos click here.

Back Row (L to R): Ron Hruska, Tracey Blain, Molly Miller, Brad Gilden, Amy Brown, Yohei Takada, Dan Houglum;
Front Row (L to R): Jennifer Platt, Corina Carlson, Danielle Cardinale, Deanna Elliott, Danielle Juckett, Nicole Davison Moore, Paige McNerthney, Lori Thomsen

We all have patients that have a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior that was more than likely built around lateralized pattern strength and movement, that affected both horizontal and vertical cycles of compression and decompression at the pelvis, abdomen, thorax, paranasal sinuses and third and fourth ventricles of the cranium. Focusing on reformatting new methods on how to integrate adductors with abductors, internal rotators with external rotators, or flexors with extensors is a challenge in itself, but when someone’s cycles of rhythm are not in synchrony with that effort, the end result of recidivism is more than likely not the result of erroneous effort or program design. It more likely is a representation, to some degree, of the autonomic nervous system’s role in neuromodulation of the patient’s familiar central nervous system’s past effort. Body motor function, in general, has strong somatic nervous system bias, built by positive reinforcement from past voluntary motor patterning. Successful resolvement (self-regulation, self-healing or self-regulation) of this ANS, CNS and SoNS imbalance requires our vagal nuclei and basal ganglia to respond to cyclical oscillatory rhythm, without a response of threat (ergotropic response) from the ANS.

On-going repatterning occurs with every nuance in life. Our asymmetrical design allows us to remain rhythmical because all three of our nervous systems are dealing with input that is received from two sides of the body, that are purposefully designed for different functional cycling; not bicycling but biologic-cycling. Having the opportunity to relate our clinical relapse dilemmas to research that support effort to program activities that harness patterned laterality and cycling threat through cranial freedom from body dependency on the neck, is something I always look forward to.

The 33 virtual attendee’s interaction, through comments and questions forwarded to Jen Platt and directly to me, during this two day course, enhanced the discussion on how the tone of our body is tuned by ANS tension, and how clinical regulation of cyclical flow of air and frequency of sound, can enhance midrange physiologic outcomes for acceptance of novel physical construct. Cathleen deSmet PT, PRC thank you for your inquisitive and thoughtful questioning and verbal reasoning and verbal repeat of the desirable answer we were trying to achieve. It absolutely benefitted every participant. Alice Lam DDS, you have no idea how much I appreciate your attendance and input. It simply helps everyone when you ask a question from a dental perspective. Greer Mackie PT, DPT, your enthusiasm and smile warmed me and reinforced my passion. Jill Maida PT, DPT, MDT, PRC, your title as “oscillatory” queen will remain with you through my eyes for a long time, simply because your presence invokes oscillation. Rachel Smith DPT,PRC your Sunday dialogue on the ‘centric’ elements of patterned autonomic features  was so appreciated and kept us all engaged. And finally, Jessica Tidswell PT, ATC,PRT, what can I say about someone who I believe has integrated, is integrating, and will continue to integrate the “laterality” of all three neurologic systems, simply because you were born to do so. I really enjoyed seeing and interacting with this entire class of dedicated autonomic, asymmetric, autonomous minded people and look forward to teaching it again in May of next year.  

The greatest directional influence on our body’s tensegrity and tempo is forward movement. All of our integration of planar function and neurosensory function is correlated with our environment moving backward; as we cough, speak, walk, reach, chew, listen, sit, watch, etc. The slightest forward movement of the head, arm or leg, is cortically recognized and managed through vestibular related memory and reflex, and cerebellar coordination of the somatic motor sphere. Our ground and space around us are “ours” when we move forward. No one else possesses this personalized biopsychosocial and psychophysiological event. The benefits associated with forward movement, far out weigh those of moving in any other direction. And that would include the wonderful gift of “falling” backward, only to “catch” ourselves, by reaching forward, with a head, arm or leg.

The greatest benefit of having lateralized cortices for integrated visuo-spatial, hemispheric chest, upper limb and lower limb alternation is bipedal, upright forward locomotor movement. Between five million and seven million years ago, some apelike creatures in Africa began to walk habitually on two legs, through savannas, using visuo-spatial propulsion, inter and intra arm pull, and hemi-chest compression.  They never could have walked from Africa into Asia and Europe, two million years ago, if they did not first make and flake crude stone tools with their upper limbs, a half million years prior to that time.   Their arm function was necessary for their respiratory chest endurance to travel and for their peripheral view as a safe voyager.

The modern form of a human, as we know of today, depended on this earlier pre-existent, hemi-cortical dominance, approximately 200,000 years ago, for refinement of existential forward movement that revolved around the establishment of culture and community.  How we shape, grow, pattern and build our behavior and our body, depends on how we move objects that are in front of us and to the side of us, toward us and to the back of us, with inter and intra-limb pull, chest compression, and visuo-spatial propulsion; all allowing us to move forward, like our 200,000 year old ancestors.

(Sarah Petrich, @drsarahpetrich, Instagram)

Our industrial commercialism, capitalism, and careerism, in the present time, has contributed to our heads moving forward, objects in front of us moving forward with us, and objects or environments on the side of us, all moving forward together at some, or all of the time during “walking”. We are on an ecological and evolutionary timeline where the human, in his and her civilization, are doing everything they can to move themselves forward efficiently, in an existential sense. Unfortunately, because of the un-natural commodities around them, they are also moving the entire environment and world around them, with them. Our cortices developed in size because of the need for cortical interplay, as we became dependent on each other, through our sense of movement, space, communication and balance from our eyes and ears, chest walls and cavities and upper and lower limbs. Concrete pavements, straight walls and fast-moving transport systems did not develop today’s unhealthy and unnatural imbalanced forward locomotion. It did however, help bring out the biological rivalry we so often see in our patients, between their two eyes, ears, arms, chests, and legs; and furthermore, contributed to the more recent world of over lateralization for survival of the fittest, fastest and flattest (spine) humans.

(Sarah Petrich, @drsarahpetrich, Instagram)

Homo Sapiens, and the way they move themselves forward, are still evolving and the four components of corollary cortical function are outlined in this course, simply because these four components and the degree to which they are used with and by each other, will reflect on the future’s researcher and anthropologist studies of Holocene human climate of forward movement patterns. Our social climate, our environmental climate and our health climate reflects the demands and challenges we place on our own bodies and thus the environment that encompasses these human patterns of addicted adduction of four of the most precious resources are bodies possess.

I personally, want to thank Jen Platt who consistently and constantly puts up with me and my insane requests to put material together that has never been put together, to my knowledge, in the manner that we have, with outlined research that supports the forward movement, that we should respect. I have been looking forward to teaching a course like this for many years. Therefore, it is hard to summarize my feelings about this topic and the opportunity that this year and the staff around me, presented me. Such a gift. Personal gratification is extended to all you who are observant, and watchful of this journey, of broadening the environment and evolution that is responsible for the patterned world we live with and in, today.

(Nancy Hammond, @integrate360, Instagram)

We are excited to announce that registration for our newest secondary course "Forward Locomotor Movement" is now open! Make sure to visit the course page, to read more information about this new course! The first opprotunity to move forward with this material is schedule for October 3-4th, dont miss out!

Course Description

This course offers the attendee an opportunity to re-examine ‘gait’, ‘ambulate’, ‘walking’, ‘bipedalism’, and ‘locomotion’ by addressing the cortical coordination of the human limbs that are responsible for individual forward locomotor movement patterns. Neurological and physiological dominance is designed around introspective habituation and compensation, that reflects physical predominant hemispheric loading and cortical hemi-spatial flow. A comprehensive, and up to date, review of literature and research on cortical dominance and associated pre-existing dominance factors that define interlimb and intralimb interaction during forward movement of the body, is offered. Arm and leg control, and overall associated motor function of human swing, support and propulsion will be addressed through asymmetrical gravitational balance effort and anti-gravitational eccentric considerations. Both, arm and leg control, and function in human locomotion, will be dissected and described, as a novel introduction to integrated upper and lower extremity movement, and hemi-spatial awareness and hemi-chest activity will be outlined, for all phases of forward locomotor movement. Clinical recommendations for individual introspection of forward locomotor movement will be provided throughout the course. Eccentric control of functional cortical predominant patterned limitations on locomotor movement, along with multisystem guidelines for reweighting balance through limb use, will be provided through the use of PRI non-manual technique application.