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Welcome to the Postural Restoration Community! This is where you will read the latest industry news, hear about upcoming events, find helpful deadline reminders, and view a plethora of additional resources regarding our techniques and curriculum. The great part about it is--not only can you can view the entries we post, you can also post about the things that matter to you. Did you find an interesting article about a technique you learned in one of your courses? Do you have a patient case study you want to share with other professionals? Simply click "Submit an Entry" and follow the easy steps towards getting your information published in the PRI Community!

Postural Respiration was presented at the Postural Restoration Institute May 28-29 to a large zoom audience of students as well as live participants. It is always a pleasure to have students from around the world in different time zones staying up late or getting up early to participate in this flagship primary course. There were students from Australia, Europe and coast to coast from North America and a large percentage of students were first time attendees to a PRI course, and for the majority of students, first time to Postural Respiration.


Delivery of air pressure sense and its effect on pelvis, ribcage and diaphragm shape, form and function are central themes that are returned to over and over in this course as it relates to neurology and ultimately biomechanics.
I taught Postural Respiration two weeks before in Chandler, AZ and there were similarities in terms of lab and demo with one student in each course presenting with almost exactly the same exam findings and same treatment guidelines as defined in this course for Superior T-4.


Often this patho-mechanical compensation can seem daunting to identify and treat, however, in both courses with both attendees, following the course guidelines with a detailed and repetitive description of both non-compensatory respiration and contrasting with patho-mechanical respiration made this difference very clear. Both students remained positive in their PRI testing on day one even after non-manual and manual AIC treatment regimens.  Then, on day two following Page 50 guidelines to determine if these individuals were in fact presenting with Superior T-4, a subclavius release with infra-clavicular pump was performed and all tests became negative with both cases.  No pressure, but the instructor is always relived when this occurs!


The overuse of accessory muscles of respiration became very clear to all attendees in both classes knowing that scalenes, for instance, need to act more like initiators of the first rib to signal rostal to caudal sequential rib elevation and not become primary rib lifters attempting to direct and deliver air inappropriately  into a right chest wall. Superior T-4 became very clear as to just one more step in the treatment guidelines for effective and balanced delivery of airflow pressure sense. This allows then alternating and reciprocal function into the entire physiological, neurological and biomechanical systems.


All in all it was a wonderful course especially the time and attention all of the students provided and "spot-on" questions that were asked. Thanks to all of our students especially on zoom from  different continents and time zones.  And the course was facilitated so well by RJ Hruska as he makes the process go so easy for students and instructors!

Posted June 2, 2023 at 10:16AM
Categories: Courses Science

An enjoyable weekend was spent with a fantastic, energetic group at Thrive Proactive Health in Virgina Beach. Thrive has hosted numerous PRI courses, and its clinicians were ready to take their PRI knowledge up a notch with Cervical Revolution.

As in every PRI course, the concepts in Cervical Revolution are rooted in our neurological propensity to be oriented in right stance, a dilemma that manifests itself in the neck and cranium. Our right atlas, in particular, remains oriented over the right foot and under a right occiput, creating a highly influential “floor” for the cranium. A cervical pattern is established, resulting in tonicity of a chain of muscles known as the temporal mandibular cervical chain, or TMCC. Much like the left AIC and right BC chains, the right TMCC may become over-referenced during upright function. And just like the sacrum in the pelvis and the sternum in the thorax, our third “S” bone, the sphenoid, may become patterned in its position and movement.

The effects can be profound. Consider the vital openings associated with the neck: the foramen magnum and the pharynx. Malposition and narrowing of these openings effect nervous system and visual and vestibular function, cerebral spinal fluid flow, circulation to, and drainage of, the brain, and airway, swallow, speech, and chewing patterns.

We practiced objective tests, unique to this course, that assess loss of cervical and mandibular motion and the likely presence of two common cranial positions (called “lesions” by osteopaths): left sidebending and right torsion. We presented multiple photos of faces, with facial characteristics that reflect these two positions, and discussed the impact of these positions on symptoms that we commonly treat: neck pain, headaches, dizziness, and TMJ pain and dysfunction.

To prepare for their Monday morning patient/client, participants experienced techniques designed to restore cervical neutrality, a sense of the left OA floor, lateral shifting of the mandible, alternating cranial expansion of the temporal bones, and sphenoid orientation.

Finally, we discussed patient examples in which “orthotics for the mouth” -- dental splints – were combined with a PRI program, resulting in beautiful therapeutic outcomes. I hope that those attendees who haven’t yet established a relationship with a dentist are now inspired to make that happen. Mark Ragusa, you have Howard Hindin, DDS, right in your neighborhood.

Laurie Johnson, see you on the next zoom course😊 Mark Pedersen, wishing you all the best as you begin your physical therapy studies. Takumi Sakabe, safe travels back to Japan. You have a wonderful PRI cohort that will take you in with open arms. Thank you to everyone in attendance for your questions and insights and to the clinicians of Thrive for hosting and keeping the discussion light and lively!

Posted May 26, 2023 at 8:57AM
Categories: Courses Science

For a number of years, the Postural Restoration Institute® offered an annual Interdisciplinary Integration Symposium. Each of these symposiums was designed around a theme that we felt best represented the present mindsets of those applying PRI course material as well as our own interest in exploring pathways of collaboration for advancing PRI concepts.

We are excited to announce that beginning in 2024, we will begin offering an annual PRI Interdisciplinary Studies Summit. The word ‘interdisciplinary’ reflects activity that analyzes, synthesizes, and harmonizes links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole. Or, simply put, it means “relating to more than one branch of knowledge.” This annual Summit will not be centered around one topic or theme, but rather will offer two days of presentations on multiple areas of study, for attendees interested in PRI who want to explore how multiple areas of study intersect with one another.

This Summit will allow those with common interest to come together from any field and converge on shared research, a common problem, or professional experience. It will provide opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, dialogue, and connection across the PRI community. Not only is this an opportunity for you to be involved in the learning and application of PRI supportive, evidence-based practice in novel settings, but this Summit will also provide you the opportunity to present on a specific topic for the PRI community. 

Opportunities for social interaction have been few and far between over the past few years, and to say that we have missed seeing you in Lincoln is an understatement. We look forward to bringing together the PRI community again for an annual in-person event, where PRI interest can be intersected at this PRI Interdisciplinary Studies Summit. A time to connect, learn, and socialize with one another. *Please note that this annual Summit will be in-person only and will not be available via live stream. Social events will be scheduled each evening. 

Are you interested in presenting on a topic that interests you?

We encourage you to submit an abstract!

Presentation topics should be relevant to the interest of the PRI community and must fall within one of the five summit sub-categories (see more the presentation guidelines).

Speakers do not need to be PRI Credentialed Providers, and PRI welcomes interdisciplinary professionals (i.e. dentists, optometrists, massage therapists, psychologists, etc.). A presentation may include up to two speakers, and interdisciplinary teams (i.e. PT and Dentist) are encouraged to submit an abstract.

Abstracts are due no later than July 15th. To learn more about submitting an abstract, please visit our website and review the presentation guidelines!

If you are interested and you have any questions, please reach out to Jennifer Platt at platt.jennifer@posturalrestoration.com or 402-467-4111.

Posted May 22, 2023 at 3:32PM
Categories: Courses Science

The Therapy team environment is fast paced and well organized in taking care of the needs of our orthopaedic community.

Our top priorities are focusing on patient safety as well as patient satisfaction.

Teamwork is paramount as we are dedicated to Always True in promoting trust, respect, understanding and engagement with all team members.

If this sounds like the type of team and environment you want to be a part of apply today!

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires all healthcare workers, as well as individuals who interact with healthcare workers in a work setting, be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment unless a medical or religious exemption is approved. At this time, fully vaccinated means that an individual is at least two weeks past their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimen. Final candidates must be fully vaccinated as of their first day of employment. As a condition of employment, newly hired team members will be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination or apply for a medical or religious exemption.

Position             Full-Time           

Shift                  Days 

FTE / Hours      1.0 / 40

Schedule          Mon - Fri  8a - 5p 

Department/Position Details/Duties:

Deliver high quality clinical care and customer service

Establish goals and treatment plans in collaboration with the patient, family members and healthcare team.

Provide treatment services in order to restore, maintain or improve patient functions.

Promote and advance the hospital’s vision to be the BEST through department initiatives and community outreach.

Develop and enhance the vision of the department with an emphasis on growth and program development.

Promote collaboration with referring physicians.

Offer clinical instruction to physical therapy and physical therapy assistant students.

Must be able and willing to collaborate with others as demonstrated by good listening skills, honest and respectful communication, and engaging in the process of reaching consensus when making decisions.

Displays flexibility and adaptability in order to provide patient education regarding their specific physical therapy treatment needs.

Ability to problem solve with patients, team and other departments within OrthoNebraska.

Position Requirements:

 Education:

Graduate of an APTA approved program for physical therapy

Fully licensed to practice physical therapy in the state of Nebraska.

Basic Life Support (BLS) required within 60 days of hire.

Advanced clinical certification is a benefit

 Experience:

Experience in orthopaedics required.

 Physical:

This position is classified as Medium Work in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, requiring the exertion of 20 to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or 10 to 25 pounds of force frequently, and/or greater than negligible up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. Physical Demand requirements are in excess of those for Light Work. 

https://orthonebraska.com/careers/ 

Posted April 28, 2023 at 11:08AM

Postural Respiration was presented April 15-16, 2023 at Spooner Physical Therapy in Chandler, AZ to an enthusiastic mix of PT's, Chiropractors, OT's and fitness professionals. There were students from Alaska, California and Idaho that made the trip to AZ. Dr. Victor Elmurr, D.C. was the motivating force in contacting the staff at Spooner several months ago and facilitated the return of PRI to the Phoenix area.


Among the new attendees to PRI, most of the students were new to Postural Respiration and their purpose was to understand and integrate delivery of airflow into the thorax with their knowledge of pelvis, lumbar spine and femur myokinematics. The response from them, and understanding that this course is the flagship of PRI, was that this course completes a picture of diaphragmatic function and how it affects not only delivery of air pressure sense into the thorax but the position, posture and movement of the entire axial skeleton.  


Since posture is not a static concept often thought of in a normal sense, the dynamic, tri-planer function of air flow pressure and sense allowing alternation, reciprocation and variability were all defined and experienced by every student.


As with every Postural Respiration course, Superior T-4 is the patho-mechanical portion of the weekend that is explored in detail on day two.  Rhythmic airflow and it's physiologic effects are discussed on day one in terms of dynamic airflow considerations.  Next, the importance of the first rib, especially on the right, is discussed in this context of rhythmic airflow and the first rib being an "initiator" of rostal to caudal rib movement.  With overuse of accessory muscles like the scalenes, the first rib will be lifted out of "sync" with the ribs below leading to patho-mechanical respiration as described in this course.


One of the students was used as a "demo" on the first day of the course for PRI exam, NMT and then a left ZOA manual technique. The inability to adduct a femur along with positive BC testing after NMT and manual techniques on the first day lead into day two of the course to explore if this individual was a Superior T-4. With definitive testing and after following the treatment guidelines on page 50 in the course manual, his Superior T-4 was discovered, treated and resolved for everyone to experience the progression to resolve patho-mechanical respiration considerations.


This course was such a pleasure to teach and thank you to the staff at Spooner especially Jessica who got there early and stayed late to lock and clean up. Thank you also to Carly, Sarah and the rest of the Spooner crew and thank you Ben for allowing us to share PRI with your clinic and the community. 

Posted April 20, 2023 at 3:21PM
Categories: Courses

I had such an amazing weekend teaching Myokinematics of the Hip and Pelvis to an engaged group of clinicians at the Finish Line. This was my 4th time returning to this facility and it really now if feeling like my NY home away from home. The clinicians at the Finish Line were great hosts and do a great job making us all feel welcome at their clinic. This group were all taking their first Myokinematics course and some had more experience than others, but for the most part the group was new to the science of PRI.  


I personally had the pleasure of bringing my husband Chris and daughter Devon with me this weekend. Sorry Madison couldn't join us this time, she's busy "adulting" now!  


On Saturday night, we enjoyed the Musical MJ on Broadway. This made for a new musical reference for me as I was able to reference Michael as the star of the musical, but the back up performers and supporting characters brought his talent to life. This is true for PRI non-Manual techniques. Depending on the level of strength and integrated control, there was typically one muscle that was "the star" of the technique. Whether it was the left hamstring, left adductor or right glut max, we all learned how to integrate these all important muscles to inhibit the left AIC pattern. For those of you who know my teaching style, you know of my Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Dua Lipa references!  Now I can add Michael Jackson to my repertoire of teaching analogies. At one point a course attendee asked me "who is the MJ of this exercise?"

 
We got through alot of material in our non manual technique section including upright integreation, the importance of alternating and reciprocal activities and of course inhibition!
The energy was high and I was not sure if it was NYC, or PRI! Either way, a good learning time was had by all!  
I appreciate my lab assistant Neal Hallinan for taking the early train into the city to help me and offer his insights during break-outs and lab. 

Posted April 20, 2023 at 3:09PM
Categories: Courses Science

Any time I get to teach in Lincoln, it always feels like a homecoming. It’s an honor to be able to teach at PRI and get to spend time with the PRI family. The group of attendees in person really embraced the idea of family. We had pelvic floor PTs, PT students from Regis University in Denver, strength and conditioning specialists from University of Nebraska, a chiropractor and a plethora of other PTs all uniting for the two days over Myokinematic Restoration. By the end of it, a sign up sheet had been passed around so they could all stay in touch. As an instructor, this was such a special thing to see.


We discussed the importance of determining position before facilitation; what a left anterior chain objectively presents as; the ability to determine a hip with some soft tissue pathology vs non pathology; and a host of treatment techniques to help these findings.


The online attendees had excellent questions and the lab times were fulfilled to the max because of the eagerness among the attendees. It was a great course and I look forward to my next time in Lincoln.

Posted April 20, 2023 at 9:38AM

It was a chilly and windy weekend in Fort Collins last weekend for my first solo offering of the Human Evoluation course at Pro Active Physical Therapy. The crew was more than welcoming, and the altitude is no joke! We had some fun discussions about how human beings evolve, are challenged, learn, and balance… their bodies, their sensory systems, their upright abilities against gravity, and how they express joy through movement of their mandibles, arms, femurs and their floors. Attention was made to offering opportunities to experience a LEFT ATNR (see photo below). We had enriched conversations about the importance of crawling on hands and knees, self-actualization through lowering oneself with control, walking behind a push toy (to name a few) and how to achieve the ultimate goal of walking down the stairs backwards with the realization of our most posterior group of muscles, our glutes!  Concepts of motor control were reviewed and support for the use of the cross-referencing clinical tool was supported by 9 foundational PRI principles.

In attendance were 15 clinicians including a personal trainer, a pediartic OT, a doctor of Chiropractic, a dentist and, of course, physical therapists. Although the air up there was thin, and it favorably challenged my patterns, it did not stop us from learning from more than 100 patient video examples of course concepts and treatment techniques. I will say, I appreciate the ground more after lowering myself with control back down to sea level where my sensory systems and cognitive pocesses are familar, though so grateful for the novel experience.

Thanks so much to my fellow PRI faculty member and host Craig Depperschmidt, ProActive Physical Therapy clinic owners Brian Benjamin and Andy Collingwood, course attendees Tracy Benjamin, Rachel Kroncke, Sara Truelsen, and Ruth Waller-Liddle. Feeling so grateful and honored to have met such a wonderful group of clinicians. Thank you!

It was so appropriate to have my first attempt to be the lead instructor for the entire, two-day Cranial Resolution Course to occur on St Patrick’s Day, since I was feeling quite green regarding how to teach this tertiary material. Fortunately, people were very kind and appeared to appreciate my simplifications, analogies and/or clinical examples of the frequently complex didactic concepts that are introduced in this course (like how the ANS and CNS interact with each other). Ron, who was sitting in the front row, was remarkably restrained, even though it must have been hard for him since these are the concepts that have been behind PRI, and so dear to his heart, right from the very start.  

What I found so exciting was that out of the 46 people in attendance from all over the globe, half of them were attending Cranial Resolution for the first time! That indicates to me that more people are recognizing the need, and are now ready to start, to integrate neurological concepts into their PRI practice. From my own personal experience, I accept that learning when and how to consciously introduce such things as lateralized neural rhythms into your practice may take a while to grasp. What I truly wanted to get across, especially to those first-time attendees, was that the techniques taught in this cranial course were never meant to replace the foundational material from the primary and secondary courses, they were meant to augment it. And that appropriately using the concepts introduced in Cranial Resolution may be able to help your patients make changes faster, more effectively and in a way that is perceived differently. Learning how and when to utilize them may not be quite as algorithmic as techniques learned in the primary courses, but I hope that I was able to share enough specific examples to progress practitioners from ‘just trying’ seemingly random, sensory-modifying techniques to better understanding WHY and WHEN they might appropriately recruit them to each of their client’s unique situations.

 

I was thrilled to have 6 PRI faculty in attendance at my inaugural session of teaching this course. Their supportive presence constantly reminded me of the strong foundation this course stands upon. Because even though I personally have found that the concepts taught in Cranial Resolution have been a game changer for my practice, there is no way anything can ‘change the game’ if there isn’t already a game being played by a strong set of recognized and accepted premises and principles.  

I know I was nervous, I read from the slides more than I wanted to, and I spoke too fast. These are all issues that I will actively work on for future renditions of this course. But like I said earlier, even though I may be comfortable with the material presented, I am still green at presenting it, especially to all the bright and inquisitive individuals who have pursued PRI to this tertiary level. What I hope came across, however, is how much I love this material – and want to get others to feel the same way. It’s not hard, it’s just different. And ‘different’ is cyclically needed, otherwise we have nothing to which we can compare or reference normal.  

Thanks to all who attended – and plan to attend in the future!

Posted April 4, 2023 at 11:15AM
Categories: Courses Science

Last weekend I had to pleasure of travelling to Mizzou country and teaching Pelvis Restoration at Missouri Orthopaedic Institute. I was assisted by Hayley Kava our newest faculty trainee. Hayley used to work for me back in Southern Pines, NC. We had a great weekend together catching up and planning for the future of her teaching Pelvis Restoration.  

This class was a nice mix of clinicians new to the science of PRI and those who were refining their PRI skills. Pelvis Restoration is a great first course for clinicians to help gain a better understanding of the influences of pelvic and thorax internal pressure management, frontal plane control and how patients develop compensatory movements.  

Patient management, testing and algorithms of treatment for the left AIC, PEC and patho PEC were explored and explained. Questions were asked and theoretical concepts were discussed for a variety of patients experiencing not only pelvic floor disorders, but also lower back pain, SIJ dysfunction, pubalgia and stress incontinence.

Hayley provided great insight for clinicians working with internal pelvic floor therapy. I look forward to learning more about her insights as she begins teaching Pelvis Restoration!

Posted March 29, 2023 at 1:51PM
Categories: Courses Science
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