What was I doing in a bank vault all weekend, admiring larger-than-life action shots of Steph Curry, Lindsey Vonn, Misty Copeland, and Michael Phelps? Presenting Postural Respiration to a fantastic group of clinicians, of course!   Baltimore’s iconic Bank of America building has been refurbished and now houses FX Studios and the Under Armour Performance Center.

Half the class were newcomers to the science of PRI. The science asks these newcomers to, for a moment, put down your beveled scrapers and dry needling filaments. Pause a moment before you mobilize a joint or release fascia. Put aside any preoccupation with extremity joints and focus your attention, instead, on where movement begins: the thorax.

Throughout the weekend, we cited research from luminaries, such as Kapandji, Hodges, Wallden, Chaitow, and DeTroyer, to support the concepts covered in this course:  
-    Diaphragm zone of apposition (thank you Nate Taylor for reminding us of its importance).
-    Respiratory state of twist that is the precursor to habitual, reflexive patterns of movement and the musculoskeletal pain syndromes that we treat.
-    Paradoxical, inefficient breathing that impacts and reflects chest wall and pleura restrictions.
-    How to restore pelvic and rib cage position, through techniques that reinforce abdominal oblique activity and chest wall expansion.
-    How to retrain previously inhibited, inaccessible muscles to promote new, healthy patterns of movement to better sense the environment they’re in and efficiently move through it.

Lab sessions provided application of the above concepts and allowed participants to discover how the “patient-client” in front of them displayed biased sense of air flow and biased orientation of their chest wall. They learned how to coach their partner to novel positions that retrain the nervous system and promote a new, desirable sense of compression and decompression. All participants sensed freedom from habitual movement patterns.

I can’t help but think that the athletes adorning the walls, all of whom reached the pinnacle of their respective careers and displayed remarkable longevity, mastered the art of air flow, pressure regulation, and chest wall movement variability during both performance and during rest and recovery. This is what we should strive for in all of our patients-clients.

A huge “thank you” to the professionals of FX Physical Therapy for hosting: Matt Bordeau, Sean Jones, Christine Spurlock, Morgan Taylor, Jennifer Tola, and Mary Williams.  

Thank you also to Miranda Stauffer, Danelle Warner, Amy Morris, Kenya Lewis, Dylan Irving, Jackie De Conti, and Kenneth Scott for your willingness to be the models for tests and techniques.  

I hope all attendees left the course feeling empowered to immediately apply the tests and techniques and begin to weave this new, powerful paradigm, one patient-client at a time, into your approach to care. And to the Newbies:  Welcome to PRI Nation!

"Balancing Breathing and Autonomic Nervous System Function through Music and Dance"

The AAPMD conference in Phoenix was one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve ever had. I met so many kind and caring professionals with intense passion for making airway health a priority in our medical system, as it truly should be.

I was asked to give a presentation about how to use music and dance to balance autonomic nervous system function. Luckily for me, one of the founders of the organization is my dentist and he knows all about my PRI endeavors. But it was when I talked about salsa, and how I can change range of motion tests through music and movement, that his interest was piqued.

I reflected a lot yesterday evening after most people had gone home. I ate dinner with an amazing SLP and she believes that the educational system failed me when I was young. Perhaps it did. I don’t know, but apparently I was never the “perfect idiot” that my 6th grade math teacher said I was. Although I never believed I was dumb, my school performance was usually just average (3rd Pic). My self confidence plummeted and never really recovered until my late 20s/early 30s. But it did recover and that has made all the difference.

When accomplished individuals like Ron Hruska and Dr. Howard Hindin believe in you, you start to think beyond your usual limited horizons.

You never know what you can achieve, who you can inspire, and how many people you can help. My path certainly wasn’t what I ever expected nor desired, but you take life as it comes and make the most of your opportunities when they arise.

I’m so grateful for the AAPMD, Postural Restoration and Jose at the Just 1 Dance Studio and my acting teacher Clara Rutt for allowing me to bring all my passions together for an unforgettable experience.

Recently I had the pleasure of travelling to Charlotte NC to teach my last PRI course of 2022, Pelvis Restoration! I was so happy to be joined by no other than my biggest supporter, my husband, Chris Poulin. Chris joined me to help with the lab and answer questions regarding the material presented. It is always great to have him with me, of course, but also to provide insight on application to Athletic Trainers and Strength and Conditioning Specialists. This course is one of my favorite PRI courses not only to teach but to use clinically. It is truly an integrated course when it comes to the discussions of respiration as it relates to the pelvic inlet and outlets. I had several new clinicians and almost half of the class considered themselves Pelvic therapists. I love to have conversations with new clinicians familar with the Pelvic Diaphragm, especially those that do internal work. Their contributions to a challenging patient population, do not go unnoticed. Clinicians familar with the work of Paul Hodges appreciate the integration of respiration, abdominal control and frontal plane pelvic control. PRI sheds a new and exciting missing link to some patients that are not responding to treatment! Personally, I was able to spend some time with my family in Charlotte, enjoy a nice meal at Supperland and cheer on the App State Mountaineers that upset Texas A&M on Saturday night. Teaching PRI is one of my proudest professional achievements I have accomplished in my career. I am thankful for a short fall teaching season. I can now enjoy the next several weekends cheering on my first love the NC STATE Wolfpack Go Pack!! Thank-you to all that have learned from me this year. I am truly honored to be your teacher

After a three year Covid 19 hiatus, PRI was back at Lindebergs Academy in Munich, Germany to present Postural Respiration and Cervical Revolution in July of this year.  I had the privilege to teach both courses in Munich and it was the highlight of my career filled with many highlights as a faculty member for PRI. 

Students representing diverse disciplines and professions from all over Europe were in attendance.  Germany was well represented as well as Austria, Norway, Ireland, Britain, Australia and even a student who rode a bus for 10 hours from Slovenia!  Shout out to Naja for making that long trip on a bus.  There was even a physical therapist, Paula, who came in from Australia.  Francesca came all the way from Norway and Maria and Julia came in from Vienna and another small town in Austria!  I can’t forget Rob, and no one else will either, from Dublin!  And Beth made it from America on the F1 circuit in Europe!

The interdisciplinary approach of PRI principles spans many specialties and professions and in these courses we had physical therapists, athletic trainers, pilates instructors, personal trainers, kinesiologists, a speech therapist and two M.D.’s that integrate PRI into their practice models.

As a faculty member I was so impressed with the curiosity, energy, warmth and enthusiasm not only from the students but the staff at Lindebergs Academy as well.  Regina was so gracious and helpful with facilitating these two courses providing set up of tables in the course room and great food.  Also, Regina lent me her bicycle so I could ride all over Munich to really get a sense of this magnificent city.  Lindebergs is a state-of-the-art facility and to have the support of Regina and the entire Lindebergs crew is a faculty member’s dream.

Daniel Muller is a PRI veteran and has been vital in our presence at the Academy, Germany and Europe at large.  He was instrumental in making sure these courses were successful and that student and instructor needs were fulfilled beyond expectation.  Daniel also took me around Munich and provided friendship for a stranger in a foreign land for which I am eternally grateful. 

Our lab assistant was the incomparable Kazu Nishimura.  Anyone who can speak two languages impresses me but Japanese, German and English?  The quality of Kazu’s help was another layer of support and enhancement that added to the most positive experience of these two courses and helped enrich the learning experience for everyone in attendance.  He rode a bus for six hours from Berlin!

Munich has been the PRI hub of Europe and once again interest, energy and enthusiasm is growing for more courses.  As a result Pelvis Restoration with Lori Thomsen will be taught next May and then in July  Dan Houglum will teach both Myokinematic Restoration and Impingement and Instability.   The Interest in those three courses was a resounding “we can hardly wait” for PRI to come back.  And as an Institute, we can hardly wait to go back to Munich and continue to build PRI Nation internationally.   Thanks to Ron, Jen, RJ and Hannah for your hard work to help make this trip professionally and  personally satisfying for me.  At the end of teaching I took 10 days to explore and hike the Austrian Alps and the Dolomites of the Italian Alps.  Every moment was quintessential and an irreplaceable lifetime experience to explore and discover a new land, different cultures and spending time in beautiful cities, small towns and hiking in achingly beautiful mountains alone and with friends that live in Europe.