One of the main objectives of this inaugural course was to help the participant gain an understanding on how the development of the human vocal tract resonance and articulation of speech is influenced by air pressure, and controlled through entrained exhalatory patterned function. Patterned exhalatory function, or voice, is most influenced by the position of the larynx, the trachea, and the esophagus, and through the available freedom the hypopharyngeal region of the neck offers.

Over adduction of the vocal cords severely impedes normal modes of vocal cord vibration and accentuates cervical tension from the accessory muscles of respiration, from the “lifting” muscles of the larynx and neck, and smooth muscles of the airway. Two of the most visible outward signs of over adduction of the vocal cords, is a prominent right sternocleidomastoid (extended, posteriorly rotated, and internally rotated right temporal bone) and a protruding left ear (flexed, anteriorly rotated, and externally rotated left temporal bone).

These two outward signs reflect the ongoing entrainment of deteriorative phonatory pitch effort (more than likely from the left temporal orientation) and disturbing auditory high pitch continuum (more than likely from the right temporal bone orientation). This intrinsic stricture, influencing both how we speak and hear ourselves speak, is the reflection of air pressure production, that is incapable of unrestricting temporal resonance entrained patterned function, that we have become accustomed to and rely on for identification of who we are as a physiologic, psychologic, and physical machine.

I feel honored to have had the emphatic opportunity to present to so many PRTs and PRCs. Thank you for showing interest and for your attendance.

Out of all the courses that I have written, out of all of the objectives in those courses that have been written and out of all the corollaries made, I feel so grateful to have had this opportunity to share this written work, for the first time. One of the most important attributes, that reflect most my course and objective effort, is that ‘brainwave entrainment revolves around patterned exhalatory function’, and this course allowed me to emphasis this concept through a review of research and literature from the world of “voice”, through a reflection of this Institute’s respect for pressure management, and through a strong case presentation.

I especially want to thank Ruth Hennessy, Hennessy Breath and BodyWork, and Ann Marie Pollard, Voice Realized, for sharing their insights and thoughts on subject matter that is dear to their heart and soul. They helped me discuss the role of the hypopharynx, that is not often associated with the inhibition effort of a right femoral adductor magnus, right internal and external obliques, left gluteus maximus, left psoas major, left pectoralis major, left anterior temporalis, and most important a right sternocleidomastoid muscle.

So much of my clinical and academic life has been centered around our need to express, explain, and explode alternation, through the regulation of intrinsic, biased patterned pressure, for the improvement of outward, unbiased positional performance. Our exploration in and of life depends on the re-reference and re-interference, offered through this plosive vocal ‘sounding’ and explosive plantar ‘pounding’.

Malta, New York’s colorful foliage and Capital Area Physical Therapy and Wellness welcomed Postural Respiration into its PT-owned clinic. Course attendees had expertise across multiple disciplines -- physical therapy, strength and conditioning, internal medicine -- and patient populations, from pediatrics, geriatrics, basal ganglia and other movement disorders, and high school through professional athletics. Most expressed gratitude and satisfaction with getting back to a live course following the covid sequester. With so much of the weekend devoted to hands-on lab time, Postural Respiration is better experienced live.

Abundant research exists that describes the role of the diaphragm in facilitating physiologic processes and homeostasis. Less understood and studied is its role in regulating pressure within the chambers of the body to produce integrated and coordinated movement. When the diaphragm’s shape is altered from patterned postural positions, movements, and behavior, the result is asymmetrical air flow patterns that become ever more patterned. Practitioners encounter this phenomenon every day in our patients/clients and witness its influence on autonomic variability, a concept fundamental to the Postural Restoration Institute.  

Throughout the weekend, we considered questions such as:  
-    How do the left and right diaphragm position and function influence rest, recovery, and performance?  
-     Why are the right triceps, left internal obliques and transverse abdominus, and bilateral low traps and serratus anterior so crucial in establishing and maintaining effective length-tension properties of the thoracic diaphragm? And how do they influence new, unfamiliar, yet optimal, patterns of movement in our patients’/clients’ day-to-day lives?
-      When and why do the scalenes, notably on the right, conspire with the subclavius and pec minor, to produce unrelenting activity and the pathological respiratory syndrome known as superior T4?
-     How does the PRI paradigm fit within a clinician’s current approach to evaluation and treatment?  
-      If you have only thirty minutes with a patient, how do you prioritize?  
-     Why/how do patients/clients benefit from reaching activities? Balloon blowing?

It was a treat to be reunited with Kathy Metzger, PT, PRC, a fellow member of the PRC squad of 2011. Kathy applied her experienced hands on many rib cages to teach the nuances of objective tests and treatment techniques.  Thank you for all your help!  

We greatly appreciate our models:  Christopher Denio, DPT, Mike DeMille, DPT, PRC, Andrew Gaetano, DPT, Ken Jin, DPT, and Trisha Livermore, DPT.  Your willingness to participate allowed all of us to gain a deeper understanding of the tests, interpretations, and techniques.

A special thank you to Evan Marsh, DPT, and Andrew Gaetano, of Capital Area Physical Therapy and Wellness, for opening your doors and welcoming this wonderful group of clinicians! 

As we first announced a couple months ago, we are excited to now offer a PRI Mini Residency Program, a 6-week formal program of post-professional education and mentorship for PRI-minded healthcare and movement professionals that is designed to enhance one’s understanding and application of PRI concepts, objective testing, and patient/client management. The foundational science from the Postural Restoration Institute’s three primary courses will be strongly emphasized by all PRI Mini Residency Centers, however each PRI Mini Residency Center offers a unique environment and experience, and many residency centers will also include exposure to interdisciplinary integration with other healthcare or movement professionals.  

This PRI Mini Residency Program is designed for healthcare or movement professionals who are self-directed learners, have completed the required PRI coursework, and would like to enhance their clinical reasoning, interpersonal communication and dialogue using PRI terminology with other professionals as well as patients or clients, and application skills of the science of Postural Restoration® through one-on-one clinical education and mentorship with a PRC or PRT professional at a PRI Mini Residency Center.

The PRI Mini Residency Program website page is now up and running, and applications are being accepted! CLICK HERE to learn more about the PRI Mini Residency Centers that are currently accepting residents, application details, along with answers to questions that you might have. If after visiting this page, you still have questions about this program, please don't hesitate to contact me! Or, if you have questions for a PRI Mini Residency Center that you are interested in, you will find the contact information for each residency center on the "Residency Centers" tab of this page.

The greatest part of being a part of the Postural Restoration community is the people. It always has been and always will be. The people within this community are open minded, passionate, eager to learn and not afraid to push the envelope. They care for their patients and client’s well-being sometimes greater than their own. And, what amazes me daily is the global reach this community has. On a daily basis I find myself in contact with like minded individuals in places like Egypt, Iran, Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and so many others. Attending this years AAPMD Collaboration Cures conference in Atlanta, our 4th meeting to date, seemed to me as wide reaching as our expanding global community. Especially after 2 years of diminished in person contact. Meeting people and reuniting with past collaborators and friends in person is more important now than ever, and it was sorely missed.

This community of integrated minded professionals allows us to present an introduction of PRI concepts to Dentists, Dental Hygienists, Myofunctional Therapists, Myologists, Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Medical Doctors, Neuro Optometrists, and others. To many the introduction of neck neutrality, body position, grounding (whether through the floor of your mouth or the floor under your feet), or arm wing among other common concepts we strive to teach and grow, are often welcomed and already being looked at and discussed but in different ways through different models. And sometimes individuals have never considered these things at all, and often times prefer to not go there. This dichotomy of professions coming together to agree and disagree from numerous perspectives on numerous subjects, is truly fun to be a part of.

Thanks to Brad Gilden, who has been instrumental in our involvement over the years, Ron Hruska was given the opportunity to teach twice over the course of the three-day PT Track and meeting. His talks included “Malposition of Airway Axial Alignment and Stomatognathic Common Compensatory Conflict” and “Peripheral Visual Cortical Influence on Central Ventilation”. And for the first time we were joined by faculty member Louise Kelley who has become involved in the AAPMD through her recent webinar and presentation of “Connecting Ground Sense and the Airway Through Arm Swing”. It was such an honor to have her presence, alongside ours, to not only present things through her own light but to strengthen our mission of collaboration as an institute with many of the individuals and organizations in attendance. If you have the chance to join Louise for a PRI course, her didactic yet easily understood ability to present material will not go unappreciated.