In this post and a follow-up, I will review some basic concepts from DST, and how you can use them with clients. After reading this, you might conclude that DST helps explain some of the practices and intuitions of some great movement coaches.
Read MoreA couple weekends ago I attended a new workshop by Greg Lehman on Reconciling Pain Science with Biomechanics. Long story short, this is one of the best workshops I have attended and I think every movement therapist should go.
Read MoreI am very pleased to offer an interview with Israel Halperin, an athlete, trainer, and researcher with extensive knowledge about how to improve human performance. I have interacted with Israel over Facebook for quite a while, and really appreciate his expertise, open-mindedness, curiosity, and willingness to share information.
Read MoreI just attended the San Diego Pain Summit, which was a three-day conference featuring many excellent speakers, including Lorimer Moseley as the headliner. I had a fantastic time. The speakers provided a ton of interesting info, and Rajam Roose did an amazing job organizing the event. The best part was meeting many interesting, compassionate and fun people
Read MoreCould a robot walk without motors to power the movement or computers to control it? Apparently so. Watch this eight-second video for proof.
Read MoreWho wants to attend a fun movement class?
I am teaching a series of six classes that focus on developmental movements like breathing, rolling, squatting, and crawling.
Read MoreWhat does chronic pain have to do with learning? Here's a quick post with links and quotes from three new papers that help explain the role of associative learning in chronic pain. Because many of the quotes contain a bunch of fancy language, here's a quick bit of background on the key concept - learning through pavlovian association
Read MoreThanks for reading the blog this year everyone! Here is a brief review of highlights from 2014, followed by a preview of coming events in 2015.
Read MoreWhat does the word placebo mean? Does the placebo effect involve actual health benefits or just imagined benefits? Is placebo “mind over body” or “all in your head”? Is it unethical to provide a client with placebo treatments? And what about nocebos? In this article I’ll answer these questions and discuss some fascinating research by Fabrizio Benedetti and colleagues.
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We can better understand the complexity of chronic pain, and its relationship to other multi-symptom disorders, by learning something about systems theory. The basic idea is that chronic pain is often driven by dysregulation of a “supersystem” that coordinates defensive responses to injury. The supersystem results from dynamic interaction between different subsystems, most notably the nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system.
Read MoreCould you break the word record for the marathon after just four years of serious training? Dennis Kimetto recently ran the marathon in 2:02:57, 26 seconds faster than anyone else in history. Here is some footage from his incredible run.
Read MoreI recently returned from a two-week trip to Spain with family and friends. Before I went, I was telling people about it, and they all said “Wow, Spain, awesome!!”
And then their expression would shift a little, and they would ask whether I was taking my two young kids
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The idea that posture causes pain has intuitive appeal, and is advocated by numerous experts. But is it supported by evidence? And should you spend time trying to analyze your own posture and correct deviations from what is considered optimal?
Read MoreDo you experience tension, discomfort, and a pervasive feeling of overall yuckiness while sitting in your chair staring at the computer hour after hour? Let's face it. You probably do.
Read MoreI have a favor to ask my readers.* I am working on a new set of posts that I think will really drive some traffic to the site. Market research shows people just love to read about certain subjects, and I have put together some great new blog post titles addressing those subjects. But I am having some real problems filling out the content.
Read MoreThis blog is focused on the central nervous system - how it affects the way we move and feel, and what we can do to change its function in that regard. But that doesn't imply that the structure of the body is unimportant, or that good movement is “all in your head.” The structure and health of the musculoskeletal system are essential for quality movement, just as a mechanically sound car is required for safe driving.
Read MoreI just listened to an excellent interview of physical therapist and back pain researcher Kieran O'Sullivan at the PhysioEdge blog. Kieran is part of the group at Pain.Ed, which also includes Peter O'Sullivan, who is, by the way, featured in a very cool video I discussed here.
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