Get To Your Core! » posture correction

How To Walk With Confidence (Case Study)

drsteve — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:51:42 +0000

Last week a private client came in because her shoulder was hurting from dragging her books and computer around campus (she's a professor) as you would pull a suitcase through an airport.

Well, she had a revelation when I gave her one very small piece of advice about "pulling vs. pushing".

Immediately she "got it" and sent me two enthusiastic emails telling me what a big difference it made in your shoulder pain and overall posture.

I thought I would share it with you, too.

Please forward, share, or tweet if it's helpful to you!

And, as always, I want to hear your questions and comments so leave them below!

Thanks!

Dr. Steve

P.S. Yes, you can still get the current exercise series to reverse Crossed Posture Syndrome at www.gettoyourcore.com/cps. But soon it will be coming down and be replaced with a brand new free program. So make sure you grab it if you haven't already!

The Longevity Secret Shared From The Top of Camelback Mountain

drsteve — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:06:59 +0000

The secret I share at the summit of Camelback Mountain in part 4 of the Phoenix posture training series also brings this series to an end.

I enjoyed making these videos for you all so let me know in the comments if you got any good out of them, OK?

So climb the mountain with me (it really is like a virtual climbing experience) and experience the view of the "valley of the sun" and discover the

"one thing" you can do that covers just about everything.

Dr. Steve

P.S. My fellow climber, Fabian, shares another key ingredient to health as he comes down the mountain in an unusual way.

Core Training Secrets From Prague – Part 2 “The Core of the Core”

drsteve — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:37:06 +0000

The key concept from the new paradigm of posture and core training from Prague unfortunately kind of kicks Pilates in the teeth…YIKES!

Now don't get me wrong, I love Pilates for it's emphasis on "lengthening out" into good posture. But in this video you'll learn the critical difference in the way you should switch on the "core of your core".

And it has nothing to do with "pulling your belly button to your spine"!

"Abdominal hollowing" as it's called, has actually been proven to take you OUT of good stability.

So try the self test in this short video (it's only about 2 and a half minutes) to see if YOU can properly activate the core of your core"!

See you at Piestawa Peak!

P.S. I'm getting excited to re-open the Core Wellness Institute coaching course to the public in the new year.

The trial group is on module 6 of 12 this week (I post a new module each week) and so far I've been getting awesome feedback from the participants who are using the unique posture and lifestyle action steps to enjoy less pain, more energy, and the ability to finally get back on track with their health.

I'll be making an announcement soon about how to get on the early notification list for when the course re-opens.

Core Training Secrets From Prague – Part One

drsteve — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:26:44 +0000

After an amazing 3 day course in Phoenix learning from a core stability genius in Dr. Pavel Kolar from Prague, I can now definitely say that most classic exercises you do in gyms and fitness classes have it all wrong and are actually creating a lot of damage.

Over the next week I'll be releasing a series of videos that reveal the amazing new breakthrough concepts from Prague that are emerging to create a whole new paradigm of pain relief, fitness, rehabilitation, performance training, and of course, posture correction.

This series of videos comes from Piestewa Peak (formally Squaw Peak) in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Enjoy the scenery and the information and leave me any questions or comments!

What I reveal in this video is hard to believe unless you see and/or experience it first hand. The idea seems mysterious but really it's very fundamental infant development!

How To Release The 3 Key Blockages To Organic Posture

drsteve — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:17:53 +0000

There was such a great response to the first video we did in West Virginia on "organic posture", that I thought I would give you some more insight on how to feel the "lightness" and "spring" that it creates!

Enjoy the video and let me know how you feel about this new concept in the comments below!

If you haven't seen the full introduction to the new course you can check it out by CLICKING HERE

Heel Pain Disease “Cured” – Lessons On Labeling and Keeping a Clean Environment

drsteve — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:04:41 +0000

2 Lessons: Labeling and Fish Bowls

I had this thought process hit me while sitting with Mom last night after a long but rewarding day at work. (day 18 in the ICU…slow progress gives a lesson in patience)!

btw…I've got all 30 Myobalance Method exercises uploaded online and am getting closer and closer to starting enrollment in the "Do This First" Posture Transformation and Functional Fitness Course!

Also, the looks of the site will likely change as well so just keep rolling with me through the process, OK? You won't be sorry.

If you're not on the early notification list to get in on the extra bonus material for fast movers when enrollment opens be sure to put your name and email in the form below the intro video at www.corewellnessinstitute.com/introduction

Enjoy!

———————————-

One of the things you have to watch out for when you go to the

doctor is the label that gets slapped on your forehead.

Recently, I had a 14 year old freshman boy come in because he started having pain in his Achilles after starting intense soccer practice.

His diagnosis…"Sever's Disease".

This poor kid and his parents were told that he had a "disease". The cure…heel cups, ice, and ibuprofen.

What about "getting to the core" of the problem? Or at least a referral to a physical medicine practitioner!

Luckily, his Mom is one of my private clients and she knew better.

It was obvious when I assessed him that he had poor biomechanics of his hip, knee, and foot that caused him to have extra load on his Achilles tendon and heel.

One training session to get his hips moving properly and to teach him how to bear weight on his feet correctly plus some soft tissue work to break up the tightness in his hip and calf muscles and…

…he was pain free within 2 days without ibuprofen or ice.

His "disease" was HEALED!

The reason I'm sharing this is not so you think I have some kind of magic healing powers. I share it in hopes that you will never just buy the "disease" diagnosis. (That's lesson #1)

You have to always just keep asking "WHY" until you get an answer that makes sense!

And not just something like "Well he's a young boy who just started playing soccer. That's why."

Or "You have degenerative disc disease because your getting old, Mrs. Jones!"

Chronological age has NOTHING to do with disease.

It's all about the stress you're body is under and the environment in which your bodymind has been wired!

Lesson #2 begins with the fact that we would all be better served if we looked at the fish tank analogy.

What do you do if the fish gets sick? YOU CHANGE THE WATER!

You create a healthier environment. You clean the tank and you get the pH and bacteria levels right. (There's probably other stuff, but I've never really dealt with fish, just rabbits right now!)

Mental stress, physical stress, toxic environmental stress, and the stress of nutritional deficiency all make up your "water" in this analogy.

You must totally IMMERSE yourself in a healing environment!

So this is just you're friendly reminder to always keep asking WHY!

I love what Dr. Bernie Siegel says, "Get the words 'difficult patient'in your file and you're guaranteed to live longer!"

Until next time…

Stand up straight, keep pushing away from your support points and stand guard at the door of your mind…

especially if you find yourself at the doctor's office!

Dr. Steve

Balance Test – Is Your Nervous System Still Coordinated?

drsteve — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:39:40 +0000

You might be surprised at the results when you take this simple balance test. If you don't have good balance, you start avoiding movements that require it. And you know what that means!

If you don't use it….YOU LOSE IT!

That's a major reason for unhealthy aging. You quit moving how you used to move "when you were younger".

Plus you definitely run a much higher risk of getting injured or having a traumatic fall where you break a bone or a near fall where you "catch yourself" and pull a muscle which can put you on the sidelines of life for a long time.

I pulled this test out of the new Posture Transformation and Functional Fitness Online Course so you can get an idea of what to expect when we open enrollment.

If you haven't seen the full introduction to the course yet, you can check it at www.CoreWellnessInstitute.com and be sure to let me know how you do on the test by leaving a comment!

In-depth Interview with Dr. Steve About Stress Relief and Crossed Posture Syndrome

drsteve — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:07:34 +0000

The following interview was posted on the popular stress relief resource site, www.stress-relief-workshop.com on July 26^th, 2010.

This is an in-depth interview and will give you the core philosophy of the Core Wellness Institute. Now, on with the interview…

stress relief technique

Core Wellness Stress Relief Technique

An Interview with Dr. Steve Hoffman, director of natural medicine at The Core Wellness Institute in Jeffersonville, IN

I wanted to include this stress relief technique because stress can be responsible for changing our posture over time. It does this by creating a damaging patterns of thinking, moving, and eating that creates “Stress Physiology” which goes on to cause degeneration and breakdown.

Dr Hoffman provides a very different approach to helping us to prevent this degeneration and as he puts it "that old age bent forward posture" that prevents us from living full and active lives.

I hope you enjoy the interview and that you take a look at Dr Hoffman’s website and discover more about how you too can use this core wellness stress relief technique to your benefit.

Q. Can I begin by asking you to briefly explain what chiropractic is and how it differs from osteopathy?

A. My favorite "official" definition comes from Dorland's Medical Dictionary which defines chiropractic like this:

"Chiropractic: The science of applied neurophysiologic diagnosis based on the theory that health and disease are life processes related to the function of the nervous system. Irritation of the nervous system by mechanical, chemical, or psychic factors is the cause of disease. Restoration and maintenance of health depend on normal function of the nervous system. Diagnosis is the identification of these noxious irritants and treatment is removal by the most conservative method."

The main difference, as far as historical training, is that osteopaths focus on the musculoskeletal system whereas chiropractors focus on balancing and optimizing the nervous system. I personally think it's kind of silly because you can't affect one without affecting the other. You are ALWAYS affecting the nervous system with any kind of manipulation.

So, in my opinion, a lot of it is simply semantics.

If you are restoring proper motion to a joint then you are calming the noise in the nervous system (the "noise" is called the central excitatory state which sends the "stress message" of breakdown to your body).

So in the end, as long as your dysfunction is diagnosed and treated correctly, it doesn't matter whether an osteopath or a chiropractor does the work. There's a lot of overlap.

The other difference of which I'm aware is that osteopathic manipulation traditionally uses more "generalized, long lever moves" verses chiropractic's more specific adjustments for fine tuning of the nervous system.

The last thing is that the actually "hands on" care from D.O.'s has dwindled greatly since they also have the ability to prescribe drugs and do surgery. The minority of D.O.'s still use manipulation as their primary treatment modality and my hat is definitely off to them!

Just as an observation, I rarely meet any osteopaths at my continuing education seminars related to the new methods of rehabilitation of the musculoskeletal system. It seems that, as a group, they have more of an "internist" or "family practitioner" type of practice instead of a musculoskeletal practice. That's just my observation.

Q. Can Chiropractic be used for all sorts of ailments or is it mainly used for treating muscle and joint problems?

A. Chiropractic, as I stated earlier, is designed to remove noxious irritants to the nervous system. So, for instance, when I help someone get rid of a blocked or stuck joint that was sending a "stress message" to the brain and central nervous system (that's what stuck joints do), not only does the pain resolve because of the big burst of good functional input I introduced back into the system, it also decreases overall stress on the system.

And think about it for a second. What are the top stress related diseases? Cardiovascular disease and cancer are the two big dogs, but in the end, ALL conditions are related back to stress in some way or another, especially digestive complaints.

So my belief is that absolutely, chiropractic helps with all kinds of stress induced conditions.

Q. I notice that you say that your business carries out chiropractic rehabilitation. Can you explain how this differs from normal chiropractic?

A. I'd love to! This is my favorite part of the profession.

Probably the #1 difference is "Active Care" vs "Passive Care".

Passive care is what most people think about when they hear or talk about chiropractic. In the passive care model of chiropractic, you come in, get adjusted, maybe get some ultrasound and an ice pack. You really had no "active" participation in that experience. You had something done TO you instead of you doing something for yourself.

It's the same model as the current conventional medical system. If you hurt your back, you get a pain reliever and a muscle relaxer. That's passive. (Of course the natural methods of adjusting and therapies are leaps and bounds better than putting toxic drugs into your system!)

BUT…with ACTIVE care, you are taught what you can do for yourself so you don't become dependent on passive care! It's interesting that not everybody wants this responsibility. Some would rather just get the adjustment and go on their way without learning a thing. And that's fine. That's their choice. We usually refer them out if that's the case.

If you're readers would like some more information about the benefits of active vs. passive care, I have a short article about it at www.gettoyourcore.com/active-care

Q. As this site is about stress I would like to first ask you about a statement on your site that says “damaging patterns of thinking, moving, and eating can create a stress physiology. Can I ask if you could explain this in a little more detail?

A. Sure. Let's start by describing what I mean by "stress physiology". Stress physiology is the

physiology of breakdown. It's when your brain senses danger (or any type of potentially damaging situation) and, as a result, it "flips the switch" and changes your metabolism over to a state where energy is diverted to making bullets for the war instead of attending to repair and rejuvenation.

The stress response is great for saving your life is survival situations but when you experience chronic stress and live in "protection mode" all the time. You get sick. You get tired. And life is no longer any fun.

So your main goalhas to be to reduce stress from all angles. With our coaching programs we empower you to adopt a new thought system that create the belief that you're "breaking down" and "getting old", like you're often told by your doctors. "It's just your age, Mrs. Jones!".

Instead, you areconstantly reminded that your body is renewing every moment and your cells are paying very close attention to what you're saying to yourself!

Thoughts of stress and replaying painful experiencesof the past put you breakdown mode, remember! We offer self talk affirmations to help you "write over" some of the stressful self talk. It makes a HUGE difference when you become aware of the power of belief and how self talk influences it.

As far as your movement goes…damaging movement occurs whenyou use your body inefficiently and cause unnecessary stress and strain on your musculoskeletal system.

Simply reaching to get a glass out of a cabinet incorrectly eventually causes overload inyour neck and shoulder muscles that lead to pain, headaches, and more. Pain is stress and the stress message equals body breakdown. The stress response related to pain is well documented and even affects your ability to think clearly.

But interestingly,you don't have to have pain to have physical stress. A blocked or stuck joint can do the same thing, as well as any joint that is not in good alignment with it's neighbor.

The central nervous system (CNS) likes it when your joints are in their most balanced and congruent positions. And as a bonus when you have good alignment, you experience much less damage if an unexpected load hits your system (like a fender bender or a trip and fall).

With good alignment and muscle balance, you canmore easily dissipate that force so you don't get injured, or at least not as severely.

When it comes to the nutritional stress piece,probably the biggest source is too much sugar and refined carbs. These "fast carbs" cause your blood sugar to spike and fall. And when it falls hard and fast, your adrenal glands kick into action to release the stress hormone cortisol to get your sugar levels back up.

And if the sugar falls after you've gone to bed and your adrenals fire up at 3am, there you sit…wide awake and wondering why.

As a side note, if you find yourself heading to the kitchen a bowl of cereal when this happens, you're in carbohydrate hell and you must break the cycle.

The other 800 pound gorilla for nutritional stress is too much omega 6 fatty acid intake, usually from grains.

These get easily converted into arachidonic acid (AA) in your body and too much AA tells your brain to tell your adrenals to release more cortisol. That's another example of nutrition induced stress.

Q. One area I am particularly interested in is something you call cross posture syndrome and how it is triggered by both emotional and the physical effects of stress. Can you briefly explain what this is and why it is important that we try to prevent it in the first place?

A. Here's the facts, any kind of stress creates a very predictable pattern of muscle imbalance. Dr. Vladimir Janda, of the Czech Republic, who I had the unique experience of working with before he died, was the first person to recognize these patterns in people with neurological lesions like cerebral palsy and stroke. He also had polio as a child so these neurological issues where near and dear to him.

If you look at a child with cerebral palsy, you'll notice classic spasticity patterns in the muscular system. The thing is, these muscles are the exact same muscles that become tight and tense when your brain and central nervous system perceives any kind of stress!

Dr. Janda identified the "upper crossed posture" and the "lower crossed posture" as classic conditions that occur as a result of these patterns. I simply combined the two together and called it "Crossed Posture Syndrome" or CPS for short.

The upper cross syndrome is associated with tightness in the short muscles at the base of your skull (the ones you use to poke your head at the computer screen) and tightness in the pectoral or chest muscles in the front.

When those muscles tighten, their opposite muscles (the shoulder blade depressors and the deep neck flexors) have no choice but to weaken.

This creates the unattractive, slouched forward, head forward posture that lies at the root of most headaches, neck pain, back pain, and even carpal tunnel (along with other arm and hand problems).

The lower crossed syndrome creates a forward tilted pelvis and jams the low back joints together because the hip flexors (the muscles in front of your hip) shorten along with the big muscles in your low back called the erector spinae. This massive compression and tightness pattern then causes a weakness in your abdominals and the gluteals.

This syndrome is classic for back pain, knee pain, hip pain, and even plantar fascitis.

So why prevent it?

You prevent it to keep from curling up into a little old shriveled heap when your 70 or 80 years old! The longer you have your youthful, efficient, pain free posture, the more you can evolve mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to serve your greatest purpose to humankind!

Why prevent it? So you can have more FUN in you life! To PLAY with more enthusiasm and share joy! That's why we're here. At least that's what I believe.

Q. I know I suffer from the syndrome myself, years of sitting stressed over a desk and general stress at work has done this to me. I am currently working my way through your free video help series for cross posture syndrome. Can I ask how quickly the can syndrome be reversed if your advice is followed correctly?

A. The great thing about the free "Reverse CPS Now!" series is that you can have immediate changes in the way you feel. You should immediately feel taller, more centered, and less stressed.

Actually, the "reprogramming" of your nervous system can take place fairly quickly. It can take as little as 3 weeks to "rewire" a posture program in your brain but it usually takes longer because inevitably, you tend to slip into old patterns as life "triggers" you here and there. The getting "on and off track" means it may take a few months to actually change the neural circuits between your ears.

But as far as actually "remodeling" your tissues to make permanent changes in the architecture of your fascia, muscle, ligaments, tendons, and bones it can take up to a year or more. And the thing is, it's not like you can ever just quit paying attention to your posture.

You ALWAYS have to keep the intention of growth, renewal, and expansion or else "the matrix" of the world will suck you back in to it's stress and protection agenda!

My last two questions are about you personally rather than your work.

Q. In your online videos you always come across as someone who really enjoys their work, I was wondering what aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?

A. Great question! What I enjoy most is LEARNING the latest and most effective techniques and then empowering people to transform their lives with the information.

This field of human performance is advancing at the speed of light and I love being on the front edge. I'm especially enthralled with the whole "dynamic neuromuscular stabilization" model that's finally making it's way from Prague to the states. The concept I created called "Organic Posture" has sprung out this model and forms the foundation for my new coaching course.

Q. I once met an osteopath who was always complaining of a bad back caused by the physical demands placed on him by his work. I was wondering if your work put a similar physical strain on your own body and if so how do you counteract it?

A. I counteract it by practicing what I preach with keeping my joints in their best possible alignment when I do chiropractic bodywork. I also have the benefit of demonstrating exercises so I get to pay my tissue debt that way as well.

I also sit on a ball for most of my work which places me in the best possible ergonomic position.

The worst strain I have is the computer, and I find myself doing more and more of it as I continue to move towards online coaching. My next project is a standing active office desk station where I stand on a balance board while I work. The "makeshift" standing station I've used in the past worked well, but I want to take it to the next level. I'll keep you posted on that.

How To Get Instant Motivation To Stay Young, Fit, and Healthy

drsteve — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:37:08 +0000

"80% Why, 20% How"

I remember Tony Robbins saying on a tape one time that the real driving force behind making a change or getting something accomplished is 80% "WHY" and only 20% "how"

And over my last 12 years in practice, I have to say that

avoiding the look and feel of "the hump" of old age

is one of the top reasons people give me when I ask them

why they want to do a program with me.

In fact, I received an email just a few days ago from a lovely soul in California who put it very eloquently:

—————–

Hi Steve,

I am 50 and looking at my 70 year old Mother I see a posture that makes her look much older than she is. In particular that hump that has formed with her rounded shoulders and head pitched forward.

Are there things I can do now to ensure I will not look like that in 20 years? I see that a poor posture adds years to the body and I suspect it literally influences how the body feels physiologically.

I am interested in improving posture now to look better AND feel better for a long time to come! Looking forward to more from you. I very much enjoy your video training which is thorough and oh so convenient.

I shared your office series with my office and everyone made major improvements to their workstations as a result. Thank you!

JM, California

—————-

I'm really interested in YOUR motivating factor as well.

Sharing your "why" with others does something very powerful to your mind. It automatically puts you in "action mode" toward your goal!

Besides…it's an excellent mental exercise to make you actually do some "future thinking" to get you inspired and excited about taking care of your body.

So…what's your #1 reason WHY you have to get (and keep) your body in shape with good posture, balance, strength, and flexibility? (leave it in the comments below!)

I'm really interested in hearing about it!

Plus, just sharing your reason with someone else will kick the "law of attraction" into effect and things will start coming your way to help you achieve your goal!

Clarity of WHY you want to stay fit and active is much more powerful than the HOW!

The "how" will reveal itself to you and you'll feel an intuitive nudge to act.

Please share your #1 reason why by leaving a comment below (public sharing is more powerful) or email me here to just share it with me.

Just share. OK? You'll feel motivation instantly. I promise.

Thanks so much.

Live your passion and purpose and forget about what other people think and you'll be on the right track!

Many blessings to you.

Dr. Steve

Posture Transformation – The Posture of Spirit

drsteve — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:20:12 +0000

(See if you can pick out the "magic phrase" in the video that our new "Posture 2.0" coaching program is based on and put it in the comments below! And let me know what you think about it…I'm curious.)

So many people make posture correction so complicated when it's really very simple.

All you have to do is be 100% at peace and constantly feeling the feeling of growth, renewal, and expansion!

Simple Right???

Yes, except for the fact that the many stresses of the modern world keeps you from ever feeling that feeling of bliss!

So what actually happens to your body when you perceive mental, physical, or chemical stress?

Your body responds by jaw clenching, chin poking, shoulder shrugging, chest breathing, hip closing, and on and on.

When you do this, you create joints that are way out of balance and alignment. And guess what signal this gives to your brain and central nervous system (CNS)? MORE STRESS!!

And what happens when the CNS perceives stress? The stress hormone, cortisol, is released that:

- Tears down muscle and turns it into fat (nice, huh)

-Undercuts your immune system (colds, flu, or allergies, anyone?)

-Demineralizes your bones (ever wonder why they say never to get more than 3 cortisone (synthetic highly concentrated cortisol) injections? Because it eats away your bones!

-Signals your body to use SUGAR instead of FAT for fuel (that means the next size up on your jeans and more INSANE CRAVINGS!)

-Causes decreased amounts of sex hormones to be produced (anybody got any Viagra? or something for these hot flashes?????

-Theres' LOTS more, but that should be enough to get your attention!

I was just talking to a client this afternoon about how amazing it was that just by changing your posture so your joints and muscles are in their most perfectly aligned state, you can make HUGE metabolic changes in your body so you start burning more fat, having less cravings, having better sex, and lots of other wonderful things that make life MORE FUN!

But my point in the video above is that

It ALL starts with your INTENTION.

Are you holding an intention of peace or an intention of stress?

Your body knows. Just look in the mirror.

Remember, it's all just programs in your brain that are just waiting to be "released and rewired"

It's your choice, you can reprogram your mind, remodel your posture, and completely change your life!

(If you want more information about the new paradigm of posture transformation and how to "release and rewire" the damaging patterns of stress that are dragging you down, CLICK HERE to get on our mailing list and receive our FREE "Reverse CPS Now!" video series to reverse the Crossed Posture Syndrome associated with unhealthy aging!)