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Las Vegas was the location for Pro Sport Chiropractic’s annual conference Oct. 3-5, 2024, and was a combination of rehabilitation, sport performance and a 21^st century application of chiropractic manipulative skills and research.

I had the opportunity and privilege of representing PRI with the topic of “The Asymmetrical Diaphragm and It’s Role in Sport Performance”.  Respiration is a hot topic in rehabilitation and human  performance and understanding asymmetrical airflow pressure sense in a chest wall as it relates to lateralization and variability in human gait and forward locomotor movement, on and off the playing field, is critical for the sports performance professional.

This conference had so many knowledgeable speakers including on day one Christine Foss, D.C., M.D. who presented on injury recovery of the hip and kinetic chain management.  Her topic and experience was inspiring and educational.  Deed Harrison D.C., who has extensive peer reviewed research on posture relating to the cervical spine from a Chiropractic Biophysics perspective presented some of the best chiropractic evidence for restoring normal lordotic curves with corresponding improvement of movement and function.

Bill Parisi, BBA, CSCS, founder of Parisi Speed Schools,  had a superb presentation on Fascia Training in Athletic Performance.  I have seen Bill at Perform Better Summits, and his presentations are always inspiring and a must attend especially for anyone working with youth sports development specializing in speed and agility.  Bill, with his associate and top Strongman competitor Chad Coy, and I,  had an extensive discussion after hours on the role of the diaphragm and sport performance.

Tim Brown, D.C. presented on SPRT Soft Tissue Therapy in breakout sessions and is always a pleasure to listen and learn from.  He works with world class surfers and volleyball players and has extensive knowledge in soft tissue sports management.  Seth Forman, M.Ed., LMT, CSCS presented Clinical Challenges with athletic movement and exercise solutions, and it was a pleasure meeting Trent Nessler, PT, DPT as well discussing his product lines and working with elite MMA fighters.

Dan McClure, D.C. and his team including his son had an amazing  demonstration and lab for extremity adjusting with practical application and practice.   Kelly Lange, D.C., CCSP, ICSC had a breakout presentation focusing on lower extremity manipulation which included demonstration and lab and was simply fantastic.

I haven’t seen Sue Falsone, PT, DPT in several years and it was great to see her again in this venue.  What a wealth of knowledge and competence Sue brings to the subtleties of dry needling and all of the physiological benefits and biochemical responses of dry needling.

I first met Spencer Baron, D.C.,DACBSP an American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians Summit in San Diego in 2009 where I first made my entrance into being a speaker at a large professional venue.   This weekend he was the Master of Ceremonies at Pro Sport Chiropractic and kept the weekend on time and inspiring all with our purpose as chiropractic sport physicians.  It was great to reconnect with him this past weekend and share stories of life and professional topics.

I want to give a big thank you to John Pecora, D.C who invited me to present what I consider to be a vital topic called the diaphragm and respiration.  Thanks John very much for considering this topic and I hope to return to provide demonstration and lab during breakout sessions next year!

And last but not least, thank you Brenda Ellis for having me speak this year and all the staff at Pro Sport Chiropractic that made this happen.  I believe this was the 31^st year of this event and the level of professionalism made this conference a must event for our profession.

– Skip George

I recently had the opportunity to teach Cranial Resolution in Virginia Beach. Only one person in attendance had previously taken the course, and that person was Julie Blandin, PRC. Julie graciously offered incredible insight and experience regarding the material and techniques, especially during the final four hours of the course, which were exclusively devoted to clinical application. I cannot thank Julie enough for both hosting the course and for all that she brought to it.   

The other attendees, who were all Cranial newbies, seemed to grasp the concepts remarkably well. It was gratifying to witness more than a few ah – hah moments . . . and to field questions that clearly illustrated that people were starting to understand the difference between ANS tension and CNS tone, what neutrality really means, why we need to insure (and help guide) clients to be able to functionally cycle sensory afferentation, and grasp the reasoning behind the unique thoracic cranial techniques for which this course is known.  Since I am first and foremost a clinician, I loved making this brilliant, yet sometimes seemingly esoteric material, more user friendly.   

To me this course serves as a bridge, a bridge that connects neuro and physiological adaptations to predictable orthopedic compensatory patterning. It was therefore very appropriate to be able to look out from where I was staying on the shore just north of Virginia Beach and see the 17.6-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It was an awesome sight, especially at night when it was all lit up . . . just like those bridges in our brains.  

When you have a client or patient in your care, are you thinking about where they’ve been? How they may have developed? What experiences they may have or have not had? Do they understand what it feels like to push and to pull at the same time? Do they have competence with LE extension? Did they drop off previous patterns to attain new ones? Are they grounded and how did they attain that sense? Does their posture or their gait demonstrate that they have interferences with one or more of their senses? Is their sense of cortical, functional, hemispheric activity balanced?

These are some of the questions we discussed last weekend in the latest live stream offering of the PRI Human Evolution course. Understanding the 10 critical components in a sensory motor developmental sequence (SMDS) and how they cross reference with 7 particular sensory systems can help the clinician, personal trainer, or movement specialist deliver developmentally informed care for optimal outcomes. Because, let’s face it… we’ve all gotten to the place we are today by overcoming challenges, by compensating, by adapting, and by evolving over time. The remedy for improvement of our patterning depends on this history of experiences for patients and clients at any current age.

-Lisa Mangino

Central Massachusetts Physical Therapy, host of the most recent Postural Respiration course, has a wonderful clinic culture.  Its clinicians provided an enthusiastic learning environment, where half of the attendees experienced a PRI course for the first time, and plenty of Dunkin Donuts coffee and bagels.  Thank you to Mark Howard, Morgan Bronk, Brian Crowe, Micheal Curnen, Margret DiPlato, Connor Dougherty, Amanda Guavin-Valenta, Robyn Hillard, Tarandeep “TJ” Jaidka, Katherine Jones, Chloe Lal, Donna Layman, Megan McGuiness, Connor McLaughlin, Matthew McLeod, and David Urella for your efforts in set-up, take down, tech support, food, and interest in the science of PRI.

Attendees of various backgrounds (PT, OT, DC, PTA, massage, strength and conditioning) hailed from clinics with varied patient populations.  That provided us an opportunity to touch upon the challenges inherent in patients with scoliosis, history of open heart surgery and stroke, and the movement maladies associated with advancing age.

I am very appreciative of all of the questions, comments, requests for review of concepts, and several “this is what I heard you say” moments.   Thank you to those who elevated the learning experience for all by willing to be models for assessments and treatments: Morgan Bronk, Keith Donato, Gail Fennell, Jeanne Halloran, Jennifer Harris, Robyn Hillard, Rachel Medvedev, Alex Papanastassiou, Ruth Sunshine Wagner, Donna Waldrop, and Nathan Wright.

Thank you also to Tyler Tanaka, fellow PRC, for your help in explaining and demonstrating tests and techniques throughout the weekend.  You and Michal Neidzielski, PRC, were so gracious to share your perspectives on certain concepts and patient application.

Postural Respiration takes a comprehensive look at the thoracic diaphragm anatomy and function, most-notably its role in providing compression and decompression, the origin of all movement. This course  is lab-intensive, enabling attendees to achieve competence in performing objective tests and manual techniques and in coaching of non-manual techniques to prepare the attendee for Monday’s real-world patients.

Day one is devoted to understanding how our natural, normal human asymmetries drive us into patterned activity by overactive chains of muscles:  namely the left AIC, right BC, and, in some individuals, the bilateral PEC.  We learn first how to inhibit these chains of muscle, to disengage our patterned postures, and follow this with facilitation of under-sensed muscles that oppose and subdue the overactive chains.  The result: a sense of the ground and compression through the left side of the body, a right rib cage that is free to expand, and a thorax that can flex to enable rotation to either side.  Sounds like efficient walking, doesn’t it?

Day 2 is devoted to how to implement the treatment algorithm so that attendees can confidently apply the material.  This includes significant lab time performing and interpreting tests and practicing non-manual and manual techniques. We also thoroughly define Superior T4 Syndrome, how it develops, its impact on movement, and how to treat it.  Comments following non-manual technique practice included: “My neck tension is gone.” “I feel lighter.”  “I don’t feel the impingement in my hip anymore.”

Throughout the weekend, we dissected numerous photos and videos of typical humans with typical jobs and hobbies, to answer these questions:  How does hyperinflation restrict our movement from side to side?  Why do we emphasize arm reaching in our techniques?  How does arm reaching influence diaphragm position, thoracic flexion, and shifting of our COM when we walk, move?  How does right arm reach differ from left arm reach in its effect on position and movement?  How do the normal, natural asymmetries of the human species – i.e. a powerful thoracic diaphragm that has greater leverage on the right and a brain that has differing functions on the left and right – impact an individual who sits for a majority of the day, walks over hard, level surfaces, and rarely reaches with their arms?  The answer: a high susceptibility to the head-to-toe syndromes that we treat.

Remember, the Institute is here to support you as you continue your PRI journeys.  Please reach out with questions that arise.  I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at future courses!

-Louise Kelley

The Cantrell Center in Warner Robins, GA, has long been a PRI facility under the long-time leadership of Tassie Cantrell. For me, it was a full-circle moment. In 2006, after taking a few years to study PRI concepts, and my first course to get back into PRI was at the Cantrell Center. The course was Postural Respiration with Ron as the instructor. And from that point forward, PRI has been an exceptionally rewarding professional and personal journey. So it was not lost on me that nearly 20 years later, I was teaching the same course in the same facility that jump-started my professional relationship with PRI.

This course was a wonderful mix of PRI veterans and those new to the science of PRI. The labs were wonderful, with the help of Samantha Anderson, PRC. There is so much lab on the second day of this course, and with Samantha’s help, everyone had the opportunity to experience the manual and non-manual techniques. This course has been tweaked and massaged several times since the first time I took this course in 2004, most recently in 2022. If you haven’t taken this flagship course of PRI, I would encourage you to do so as this course is the gateway to Cervical Revolution, Cranial Resolution, Impingement and Instability, Human Evolution, Voice Box Resonance, and Forward Locomotion Movement.

Day One of this iteration of Postural Restoration is designed to provide hard evidence and rationale for how and why the rib cage needs to move backwards and in alternation. The thorax and rib cage movement necessary for acquisition and maintenance of a Zone of Apposition is the recurring theme of Day One. We present exhaustive peer-reviewed literature evidence of why the ZOA is the body’s best opportunity for proper use of the diaphragm for inhalation.

Day Two is primarily lab so the attendees have the opportunity to experience the manual and non-manual techniques recommended by the science of PRI to achieve and maintain a ZOA. For many years, Superior T4 Syndrome was a mystery to me. So I do my best to flush out how this course has evolved to hopefully remove the mystery of what Superior T4 Syndrome is, how to identify it, why it occurs, why it is problematic, and how to manage it. There are a few “deal breakers” in PRI, and Right Superior T4 Syndrome is one of them.

My thanks to the Cantrell Center and specifically the staff that were in attendance: Johnathan, Maria Christina, Samanatha, Erin, Linda, Braxton, Dina, Elizabeth, Keeley, and Cindy. And Sunshine was the perfect host as she attended to all of our needs during the course. It was also so great to reconnect with PRI veterans Karen Warren, PT, Mary Beth Verlander, PT, Melissa Baudo PT, and Angela Nelson, LMT. Hope to see you at the new and improved Postural Restoration!

Cervical Revolution is a highly integrative secondary course that blends physical therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, dentistry and a whole lot of neurology with arthrokinematics to provide a detailed understanding of how critical the cervical spine is especially at the atlas and occipital articulation.

An international group, as well as attendees from the US and Canada, experienced Cervical Revolution in Lincoln, NE Sep. 13-14, 2024. There were 14 live participants including two dentists and even a DVM who performs chiropractic manipulation and acupuncture to small and large animals and sees similar patterns in animals and humans!

This international group included PT’s, DC’s, strength and conditioning personal and an LCSW who is integrating PRI with her holistic practice. The students attending from Taiwan, Japan, Australia, China and South Korea were staying up all night their time to attend and the students from the Netherlands, Poland , Germany, Norway, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and even Iran were up into the late night participating with tons of energy and great questions with all helping to teach this course with discussion and dialog that provided clarity and understanding of this information dense and detailed course.

Every course in PRI has more detail in the course manual than can be covered in one weekend and the material presented is often experienced as being “fed by a firehose” of information! This is especially true for this secondary course called Cervical Revolution where defining and exploring the cervical, cranial and occlusal system in two days.

The big picture of this course is that it is a right stance course that primarily relates to and starts at the atlas and occipital bone with the right atlas being in a position of flexion in relationship to the occipital bone. Inside the cranium, where the occipital bone connects to the sphenoid, right cranial extension occurs. This cranial position drives right temporal bone internal rotation that results in a protruded jaw on the right and a retruded jaw on the left with a mandible positioning more left! (If the mandible positions right this could indicate a compensation or pathology) The opposite occurs on the left side and this course is designed to identify this pattern and position, inhibit it, shift to the other side and then alternate back and forth. This variability of alternation is essential for upright human beings and whatever the feet, pelvis and ribcage are doing (Refer to the three primary courses), the neck knows it! Simply put, the goal is to achieve right A/O extension, left A/O flexion and go back and forth as if you are walking! (Because you are!)

This big picture description succinctly describes the basics of this course and then add the five cervical revolution tests with repositioning and then alternation techniques and the basics are covered! As with any course in PRI, day two adds a dimension that is considered pathological from the basic dominant pattern and position and for this course it is called right torsion. Right torsion is essentially torsion and stress located in the cranium that may result in neurologic symptoms including headache, ataxia, vision disturbances, dizziness and TMJ disorders to mention a few.

With the basic big picture reinforced and repeated a complex subject with the basics provided as a foundation helps to provide application on Monday morning and beyond. This weekend all of the students maintained an energetic focus throughout and now have not only more tools for patient care but a pathway to tertiary courses that include occlusion, cranium and the new vision course!

– Skip George

This was my 2nd time teaching in Valencia at the Henry Mayo Fitness and Health Center. Just like before, the staff and facilities are top notch and very welcoming to myself and the attendees as well. There was a mix of PRI experience among the attendees with half being their first PRI course and others that have multiple courses under the belt including Yoshi Fujii PT with 17 courses in his history. The local Californian, Locatelli Rao DPT, PRC, was my trusted lab assistant and he knew half the room. His insights clinically helped throughout the weekend and I’m grateful for his presence. This goes to show that reviewing primary course material is always still beneficial even after years of practicing PRI. We had a handful of chiropractors, PTs, PTAs, personal trainers, a chiropractor student, yoga and Pilates instructors, and overall an eager room of attendees. We began the morning with the didactic material and discussing the common pattern, the left anterior interior chain, and how it becomes dominant as we as humans center our body over our right half more often due to neuro respiratory demands and asymmetry of multiple systems beginning with the brain. After a morning of sitting, we hopped into lab and found some “money muscles” to help reposition the pelvis to close the day out. The second day was majority of lab and mastering the Hruska Adduction lift test, which we dove into being a gait assessment test. A humbling test for most but I saw all the wheels turning and improvements in test scores after we completed our treatment lab. Overall, a fantastic weekend and a good one to be inside as that part of California was in a heat wave. Being from Texas, I know heat, and it was HOT! Thanks to all who traveled and made it a memorable weekend of learning for me.

– Kasey Ratliff

About Us

We are a team of healthcare providers who specialize in soft tissue therapy, chiropractic adjustments, postural restoration, personalized fitness training, reformer Pilates and nutrition in Lomita, California (5 miles from Redondo Beach). We take care of athletic-minded people in the south bay area that want elite-level care to help them feel, recover and perform better. Our clients include youth & professional athletes, business professionals and busy mothers from Palos Verdes Peninsula, Torrance and all the beach cities. For more information, please visit www.backtofunction.com.

Full-Time Chiropractor/Physical Therapist

Job Description & Responsibilities

A well-established practice in Lomita, CA (10 mins from Redondo Beach) seeking an Associate Doctor of Chiropractic or Physical Therapist to see an active and affluent patient population. This position provides a salary of $85,000-$120,000 per year based on training/experience and ability to integrate into the current practice model. The schedule consists of M-F with 1 Saturday/month and your responsibilities include patient consults/exams, soft tissue and chiropractic treatment, exercise rehab & fitness training. Having taken 2 primary PRI courses is a necessity and being a PRC is a huge plus. The expected individual patient volume is 30-50 patients/week. We have a shared patient model, therefore training will be provided to ensure a similar patient care approach to the other members of the team. All team members are required to maintain cleanliness and organization of the gym/clinic and workstation.

Excellent relationship-building skills are a must along with the ability to provide consistent high-quality care. This opportunity allows you to be part of an innovative health & wellness practice for motivated and active patients including elite-level athletes. The position includes bonus incentives, paid time off, retirement contribution, employed paid health & malpractice insurance and CEs.

Requirements

• Doctor of Chiropractic or Physical therapy degree from an accredited program.
• Doctor of Chiropractic or Physical therapy license in CA.
• Excellent communication with other healthcare providers and office staff.
• Ability to diagnose musculoskeletal disorders and apply treatment strategies effectively.

To Apply

• Please submit your resume and cover letter to Chad Moreau at drchad@backtofunction.com.

“This has been a season of change for me, personally and professionally. My wife and I dropped our oldest child off at college, which is a transition as any parent will tell you. And I have had been challenged professionally as the neurology of PRI has started to become more clear and one of the gateway courses that PRI offers in that endeavor is Impingement and Instability.

If you have not taken this course since 2021, I would encourage you to do so. This course is allows the attendee a pathway to use the information from Cervical Revolution, Cranial Resolution, Forward Locomotor Movement, and Voice Box with increased proficiency. Given how important it is for the human system to demonstrate cervical freedom, many of our patients of clients benefit from improved alternating pressure management.

Impingement and Instability address the necessity for using reference centers for pressure management. We discussed the necessity of being able to cue PRI Non-manual techniques for improved neurological advantage and the necessity of asking your patient or client to verbalize their interpretation of their new and novel sensory experience. This new experience allows their brain to redefine and recover what it means to alternate through their entire system.

If you have any interest in pursuing future PRI courses, Impingement and Instability facilitates that route. Even if you are not looking to pursue further coursework in PRI, this course provides so many “ah-ha” moments for attendees in the application of advanced concepts of PRI application. Once the attendee is able to use the concepts from the three PRI primary courses and expand their clinical experience with I&I, their clients and patients will progress through their desired goals much faster. I hope to see you in future iterations of Impingement and Instability!”

– Dan Houglum

“On a beautiful August weekend I had the distinct pleasure of traveling down the street (I-90, 460 miles) from my home base in Missoula, MT to Sammamish, WA, just outside Seattle. Heading to the Seattle area is a second PRI home for me as I have attended many courses hosted by the good folks in the area, the big difference this weekend was I was the one doing the teaching!

G2 Sports and Physical Therapy hosted Myokinematic Restoration and we had a nice mix of mostly new to PRI attendees with a handful of more seasoned folks. Mike Ball, PT, PRC hopped on the ferry from Vashon Island to join us and lend his expertise as our lab assistant.

We delved into human asymmetry and the L AIC pattern with an emphasis on the positions that the pattern creates. Position preceding facilitation and driving appropriate pattern inhibition was the focal point for day one. We concluded with a demonstration addressing Miguel Punsalan’s L AIC pattern and a great representation of how our tests of position changed once the pattern was inhibited and the pelvis re-positioned.

Day two opened with more beautiful Seattle sunshine and we hammered down on using the Hruska Adduction Lift Test to identify what ingredients need to be focused on in treatment to hold onto our new pattern inhibition and ultimately get the body to alternate. I had a great discussion with Sumita Rao, PT, DPT, OCS in regards to the role muscle strength plays in our ability to be supported and stable in L stance. We discussed how strength work in a biased L AIC pattern will often result in just strengthening the pattern. We need to account for the pelvic and hip position necessary to achieve pattern inhibition and correct muscle facilitation as “weak” muscles are unable to demonstrate their true “strength” unless they are in a position to do so.

Our journeys’ through this process of life long learning at times meet with challenging information that may conflict with how we were taught and understand the human body. PRI is not here to knock down anyone’s foundation, that is where we come from, but it is no where near our ceiling. We are all incomplete and evolution requires openness, humility, and drive. Thank you to this group for helping me on my own path, my greatest hope is that our time together can serve as another rung onward.”

– Jason Miller

Sometimes going small has a big impact. That is indeed what happened in Chicago this past weekend. The in-person Cranial Resolution course that was hosted, so graciously, by Pilates Central may have only had 11 attendees but the learning that occurred was phenomenal. About a third had never taken Cranial before, about a third had taken it once and the remainder had taken it multiple times. As an instructor this blend initially intimidated me since I didn’t know to whom or how to target the material. I ultimately decided to start out with a clean slate, laying down a solid foundation to make sure everyone understood and was on equal footing with regards to the basic anatomy of the predominantly paired structures that are involved in Cranial Resolution (including their position, their functions, their movement, their linkages, and the flow of air, fluid and/or brain waves through or around them) and by introducing the model of tensegrity that is involved with the cyclical integration of our autonomic and central nervous systems.  

Once this foundation was laid, the dynamics of the group worked in such a magical manner. I felt more like of a facilitator at times, allowing the knowledge and experience of those present to be exchanged in a way that was beneficial for all of us. Dan (Houglum) occasionally stood to give his concise explanations of biomechanical realities, Neal (Hallinan) offered and even demonstrated his insights into auditory influences, Loc allowed us to all witness how much further addressing the autonomics can take someone on their (already extensive) PRI journey, and everyone got to experience how fast the modulation of airflow can make someone feel unstable, dizzy, and/or lost in space.  

Because of the way the material unfolded, the didactic meat and potatoes of the course was completed by lunchtime on Day 2 so we had a full 4 hours to focus exclusively on clinical application; getting a chance to progress through the algorithms, use and discuss the ‘whens and whys’ of all the props that this course is known for (cotton balls, hemi-billed caps and hyperboloids) – and we even had time to go through the cranial manual techniques! 

By having the eye of tropical storm Debby pass directly over the scheduled time and path of my flights out of eastern NC, nature made my getting to Chicago more than a tad difficult. Foreseeing this, I left a day earlier than planned. However, the pre-storm rain bands and tornado threats still ended up delaying or cancelling nearly 5000 flights through Charlotte during my time of transit. Suffice to say I spent an extended amount of time dozing in airports and/or in planes that were under “ground stops.”  Luckily though, once I got there, the course attendees made it worth my while. It turned out to be one of the best PRI learning/teaching experiences I’ve ever had. Thanks to everyone involved, especially Donna Parise Byrne, who I know had to pull strings to get this small of a course to happen and who provided a great space, incredible good snacks and a great tour of Evanston in her Mini convertible.  I also must thank those attendees who were new to Cranial Resolution (Shelley, Heather, and Jess), for helping to keep us all grounded. And although Alex, David, Kasia and Jill may have taken this course before, they all continually inspired me with their questions, enthusiasm and visible ‘ah hah’ moments. The live stream courses are convenient and offer recordings, but in my opinion, nothing could have beat this in-person experience! 

-Jennifer Smart

Seeking a full time Licensed Physical Therapist in Omaha, NE. 

Restore Physical Therapy is currently looking for a full time Licensed Physical Therapist in a Postural Restoration Certified Clinic in Omaha, NE.  The clinic’s patient’s base is extremely diverse. We currently have two PT’s and a PTA on staff and are looking to add to this cohesive group.  This candidate must be driven and willing to pursue a rewarding career treating patients through PRI principles while working with a great group of professionals.  A graduate degree is required,  the clinic will provide PRI training for the chosen candidate.

Contact Restore Physical Therapy for more information!

402-933-7272