Jammed Joints Create Weak Muscles

"Jammed joints create weak muscles and open joints create strength"~ Dr. Eric Cobb of Z-Health Performance.  This is the greatest thing I've heard in awhile.   Otherwise known as the "Arthrokinetic Response",  it's magical when you see the instant results in balance, strength and stability after "creating space" in a jammed joint.

What body parts have a high probability of getting jammed?  Yep, you guessed it:  Ankles and wrists. Toes and fingers.  Lots of joints => increase risk of jammed.

Your feet spend most of a lifetime jammed into shoes; shoes that probably don't fit correctly but hey, at least they look good!  How many women painfully jammed their feet into high heels to wear to the office?  Years and years of this unnatural demand takes a toll.    Your ankles have to bear the tremendous forces of walking and running plus any additional body weight you might be carrying.

The foot has over 26 bones and 33 articulations, each with six degrees of freedom.   Lots of tiny bones with billions of sensory receptors and neurons necessary for stable walking gait.  Moving the feet stimulates nerve endings and releases feel good juices.

Strategically moving the feet improves the brain's map of the area.  Because there are billions of nerve endings, the foot and ankle take up a lot brain real-estate.  In other words, a lot of space in the brain is dedicated to feeling and moving those parts.   One rule of neurology is the better the map, the better the movement.  Or balance.  Or strength.

It's so encouraging to hear more and more professionals talking about the benefits of barefoot training and practicing with the feet in contact with the bare surface.  Being barefoot activates sensory receptors and strengthens intrinsic foot muscles which immediately improves reflexive stability and reaction times.

Here's a great article about the benefits of going barefoot:  Barefoot Training 

You want strong legs in order to remain balanced.  Strong legs start with strong feet and ankles.  Neurons need to fire quickly between sensory receptors of the foot to the brain to the cerebellum and back.  Quickly.

Open  joints with lots of movement create strong muscle connections.  Stability.  It's called the arthrokinetic response.

Start with these lateral ankle tilts to open up the joints of the ankle and foot.

Legally blind still need to train eye muscles

Vision is so more than eye sight.  This US Veteran is legally blind and learned how to train his eye muscles for less pain, better posture and more confidence.

Neurology is so cool.

Legally blind student in Brains and Balance Training class in Ranch Cordova explains how the vision drills have helped him.

As his instructor, I watched his eye movement improve tremendously..  His left was exophoric the first day, meaning the eye ball would look out to the side.  Through targeted vision training drills to strengthen the weak eye muscles, his left eye is now more 'in line' and focused forward.  Not bad for a four-week class.

He has had multiple back surgeries and spinal fusions so in order to live completely free of pain will require a lot of practice of vision and targeted brain activation drills.   All things are possible when you believe.

"You gotta believe it to see it".

Do You Want Your Life Back???

I'm finishing up two amazing Brains and Balance classes at Sun River church in Rancho Cordova and my students are thrilled with the results.  This awesome lady explains how the class changed her life but is giving her life back!

"This class is not just LIFE CHANGING, 

it's giving me LIFE BACK!

She's been living with neuropathy for over 10 years.  She went to multiple neurologists and physical therapists who told her there was nothing they could do for her.  Discouraged,  she stopped doing the things she loved.

Through sensory activation, she's gained control of her body and is hopeful about her future.  She still has peripheral neuropathy but she feels stable and is more aware of her body and knows how to move it.

Do you want your life back?  Do you want to do the things you love again?  If so, join me in one of my Brains and Balance Training classes.  Lots of classes scheduled for spring and summer.
If you can't make classes, I can come to you for private sessions.   And thanks to technology, we can even do some training online!

Your brain controls everything, learn how to active different parts of your brain for better movement. After all, movement is life and it's time to start living.

Parkinson's Group in Lincoln Touched Their Toes Today!

I was the guest speaker at the Parkinson's Support Group in Lincoln today.  I love public speaking and am honored whenever I am invited to give presentations for various support groups.  Now that I have been studying the brain and how to activate the brain for better balance, movement, vision and less pain, I have so much to share that I have to customize each presentation with the audience in mind.

I had prepared a Parkinson's-specific presentation for the Carmichael Parkinson's Support group earlier this year however that was one of my worst presentations ever.  I did not read the audience's needs and should have stopped talking 30 minutes earlier!  I feel I did better this time however the amount of information I have to share can be 'overwhelming' which is why I encourage private training sessions (repetition is king).

I've attended several Parkinsons Association of Northern California's (PANC) one-day trainings and with my brain-based training, I feel confident presenting to people living with Parkinsons Disease.

Today's audience was blown away with the vision drills.  As always, I had everyone do an assessment.  In this case, reach down to touch their toes (while seated.  Needless to say, over half the room needed longer arms to touch their toes during the initial assessment.

Then I showed everyone how to do pencil push-ups.  After the group did about 5 pencil push-ups, I had them reach down and touch their toes again.  All I heard was, "what in the world just happened", "how did she do that", "oh my gosh".... this is because almost everyone could reach their toes this time!

I laughed and said, "it's not magic, it's neuroscience"!  I kept talking about the power of vision and that it is the #1 input to the brain and if you train the four components of vision, your vision will get better.  Then I had them do another vision drill that targeted eye movement.

After doing a drill, I had them reach down and try to touch their toes again and once again, exclamations, laughter and smiles as the entire front row touched their toes.  These are people who haven't touched their toes in over 20 years and today, after two vision drills, they were able to touch their toes.

We did some exercises that activated basal ganglia and the frontal lobe and I had everyone stand up.  No stuttering, no hesitation, people stood up easier and without thought.  Big smiles.

If you are living with Parkinson's Disease and you know there's more than Rock Steady boxing, contact me!  I will come to your home for private sessions to discover what your brain needs for healthy movement.  I can't cure the disease but I can make living with it more tolerable.   I will give you tips and holistic options to make your life better.

info@thefallpreventionlady.com

Osteoarthritis Knee Pain Diminished after One Private Session

This year, I'm six years cancer-free.   It seems like a lifetime ago but thanks to the best oral cancer team in the country at UCDavis Cancer Center, I truly appreciate each day of my life without cancer.  Of my team members, the radiation nutritionist always made me laugh by keeping everything in perspective.  She was a beam of sunshine among rays of radiation.

Even though we're facebook friends, I was surprised when she contacted me about some balance training services.  In her early sixties,  she's active and looking forward to her upcoming retirement except for one problem:  she's been falling down.


The last fall was totally unexpected and her inability to react quickly enough due to severe knee pain scared her.  She's lost her confidence and feels like she's crawling through life guarded and scared.

She's an educated healthcare professional who knows there's more to life than living in fear (of falling) and in constant pain so she opened her mind and reached out to me.

After an extensive health history, we started some movement drills because movement makes her feel better!  Her number one complaint was knee pain.

We did some brain-based pain relief drills and she immediately felt 'lighter'.  Due to several falls from horseback riding, the nerves in her legs were entrapped.  Nerves that can't move can't transmit signals very well and shooting pain or muscle weakness results.  We did some neuromechanics to get those nerves moving.

Ninety-minutes later, she was walking better and was no longer focused on the knee pain but was thinking more about her walking gait.  She left with a list of exercises to do at home.

The next morning I received and email from her saying she was doing the drills as recommended and her knee pain was almost entirely gone!  She is hopeful about regaining control over her body and living her life without fear of falling.

If you're approaching retirement or are already enjoying your golden years and are living with chronic body pain, you need to contact me.  Pain is an output of the brain and with precise drills, we can send better signals TO the brain for better output (aka, no pain).

Holistic management of chronic pain.  No pills, just simple, subtle strategies to give your brain what it needs for pain-free movement.  I know this sounds "out there" but trust me, your doctor isn't going to give you these drills because they want to give you a knee replacement.

Stop the madness. Stop the pain.  Contact me today.  info@thefallpreventionlady.com

Legally blind student drops chronic pain with vision drills

One of my students in my Brains and Balance Training classes at Sun River Church is legally blind.  His macular degeneration is advanced and he can only see in the peripheral field.

On the first day of class, his pain level was a 10 which he attributed to chronic spinal stenosis.  As a Brain Practitioner, I was thinking otherwise.  His posture was stooped forward with a slight bend to the right.  His sense of equilibrium was off center which was evident in his posture.

I had him do specific eye drills to activate PAIN INHIBITION CENTERS in the brain.  His challenge was that he could not  actually see the pencil that I was asking him to follow with his eyes.  This is where brain science gets AWESOME.....

By ENVISIONING the pencil moving (eyes following pencil while in his hand), this gentleman who is illegally blind, activated the same neurons and neural pathways as if he could actually see the pencil.  Envisioning the target has the same powerful effect on brain activation as actually seeing it.

After two weeks, four sessions of brain-based training and lots of homework drills, this legally blind class participant's perceived level of pain is a 4 out of 10.  His eyes are moving 100% better and he's standing up straighter;  shoulders are level and his scoliosis is less pronounced.

You want to know what the best thing I've noticed?  His mood change!  Although he's not 100% pain-free, his mood is lighter, he's more engaged and exudes more confidence.  In fact, he got up and did the walking drills with the rest of the group!

WOW.  Just think about that....legally blind and living in a world of darkness and pain.  Through specific vision training drills and envisioning the target during precise vision training drills, this guy's pain has decreased significantly, his posture has improved dramatically and his mood is happy and hopeful.

What is going on?  Why are these changes happening?  Vision drills activate different parts of the brain; parts of the brain that are directly responsible for posture and pain.  Each eye has six muscles and those muscles are innervated by nerves that go directly into the brainstem.

The processing of all visual information (assigning meaning to visual data) activates all the lobes of the brain.  Vision is a brain-wide event.

And an activated brain is a happy brain because as you know, a healthy brain needs two things:
1.  Fuel  2.  Activation.

Is your vision getting worse each day?  Are you in chronic pain?  Do you feel unsteady and live in fear of falling?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are the perfect candidate for brain-based Balance Training with Coach Kelly.

My Neurologist and Physical Therapist Couldn't Help My Balance

Have you been to your neurologist for nerve pain and he ran every test and still couldn't help you?  Did your neurologist send you to a physical therapist who said, 'there's nothing we can do', leaving you with numb, tingling feet and a fear of falling?   If so, you're not alone.

Educate.  Demonstrate.  Facilitate. 

I just started two Brains and Balance Training classes at Sun River Church and I am blessed to work with some amazing people.  There are people from age 63-87 and every ability level you can imagine.  The two classes are small enough that I can offer (limited) individual attention to those who are struggling or have additional needs.

One lady came up to me after our fourth class (halfway through program) and told me I was an 'absolute lifesaver'.  She proceeded to tell me that she had been to several neurologists and physical therapist for the peripheral neuropathy in her feet and after running every test imaginable, they told her there was nothing they could do for her.

In four sessions, she's learned how to activate the receptors in her feet and is learning when and how to react if she's losing her balance.  She said, "I'm learning so much in this class and it's helping me so much....I can't tell you how happy I am".

That's my goal!  As an independent contractor, I strive to help people improve their balance and brain function. I teach them what's going on with their balance and then give them tools to improve instability and weakness.  It's up to each person to do the drills that work for them: no one's going to do it for you but you!

I'm not saying that my class cures peripheral neuropathy but it can help you live with the condition.  Can damaged nerves be regenerated?  With sufficient sensory stimulation, anything is possible.   Nerves need to move and nerves need stimulation.   Lots of sensory stimulation.

If you have peripheral neuropathy or can't feel your feet as well as you used to, you're a perfect candidate for my 4-week Brains and Balance Training Classes.   Learn how to control your body.  Re-introduce your brain to numb body parts because if you can't feel it, your brain can't move it!

Brains and Balance Class with Coach Kelly.  4-weeks.  8 sessions.  Greatest retirement investment for your money, your body and your brain.

Elements of Efficient Movement to Prevent Falls

Professional athletes make movement look graceful, flawless, effortless.  We're not professional athlete's but your brain's ultimate goal of movement is efficiency.  Efficient movement requires less energy and your brain likes to conserve energy.

So how does your movement become efficient?  Practice, practice, practice!!!  Practice solidifies neural pathways with myelin and your brain (and body) get good at that movement.

But here's the kicker;

your body gets good at whatever it does

exactly how it does it.  

What that means is that if you're practicing sloppy, compensated movements, your body will get good at bad, inefficient form.

This is why you need to practice movements in perfect form. Dr. Cobb, creator of Z-Health, has identified four elements of efficiency that must be present in the "PERFECT REP".  And they are:

1. Perfect Form
2. Dynamic Postural Alignment
3. Synchronized Respiration
4. Balanced Tension and Relaxation 

What does that look like?  Well, perfect form begins in Lengthened Spine.  Dynamic Postural Alignment means that all joints are relaxed and properly aligned.  You're sitting, or standing, tall and relaxed.  Feet, knees, hips and shoulders all facing forward.

Synchronized Respiration is relaxed nasal inhale into your belly and nasal or mouth exhalation.  This breathing pattern continues throughout the movements.  It will change as energy requirements increase but you SHOULD NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH AT ANY TIME!

The final element of efficiency is the ability to maintain balanced Tension and Relaxation in your body.  This means no contraction, flexion, forward bending, locking of arms when doing movements, no tension.  This is a challenge when a person is asked to move a joint in directions and speeds they haven't done in....forever!

IT's very common to see people tighten up when trying to move a body part in isolation that has never been moved before.  It takes concentration!  Concentration can rob your body of efficiency because all your brain wants is to do the movement and not look stupid.  This should be easy.  But it's not.

One perfect rep means doing whatever drill with all the forms of efficiency present.  Breathing.  Relaxed.  Postural aligned and perfect form.  In my Brains and Balance Training classes, we practice drills that should be easy. You would think three circles clockwise and three circles counterclockwise would be easy.  But it's not always the case!

Learn how to control your body with the elements of efficiency.  Get good at good movement.  Quit living your life in bad form!  Say goodbye to poor posture and instability.   Learn how to move each joint in isolation so you can move them all together efficiently.

Brain-based training: The future of Fitness.
If you're not training your senses, half your brain is dying.  Use it or lose it.