Brains and Balance with Peripheral Neuropathy

The nervous system is divided into two parts: 1. Autonomic 2. Central.  The autonomic NS runs vital organs at set speed; an easy speed determined by your brain.  The central nervous system is movement and action oriented; a physical expression of the health of your brain.

Neurology 101  

1. Receives input  2. Interprets input 3. Sends output

The better the input, the better the output

You can't read fuzzy writing.  Your brain doesn't know what to do with messages from a bad ankle. The brain sees a fuzzy message it can't understand.  Not sure how to respond, movement is jerky.

Your barefoot can feel every crevice in the smooth tile.  Your brain is connected at the level floor.  You feel your foot wrap around the cool tile.  Messages are clear and crisp as you squat down to press your palms on the floor.  You're strong.  Your brain knows what's next.  All cylinders are firing.   Message to brain: Safe. I got this.

You can't see anything.  You don't know where to reach as you stumble toward what you think is the hotel bathroom.  Where's the light switch?  Shuffle.  Stumble.  You know the story, you can't feel the floor.  It's dark.  You can't see.  Where is the floor under my feet?  Message:  NOT SAFE.

People who cannot feel their feet, hands, fingers and/or toes have a nerve problem.  The nerves in these 'far' extremities are not sending messages to the brain.  If messages are sent, they're slow and inconsistent.  Message?  NOT SAFE.

Precise training gets your precise results.  Your brain needs activation.  The more precise the method, the more profound results.  Performance is enhanced tenfold.  Bam.  All cylinders firing.

But I can't feel my feet.  Yeah but your brain remembers your feet.  Your brain knows feet are present but doesn't know how to make them work.  Rather than rely on messages sent upward, Brains and Balance sends a safe message from the brain to the ankles and feet.

The plasticity of the brain is remarkable.  And promising.  If your brain knows the foot is there and Increased prediction results in more efficient and reflexive reactions.

Reflexes trump any voluntary response.  In Brains and Balance Z-Training with Coach Kelly, she will train your reflexive neural tract as you voluntarily practice precise drills to improve balance.  Kelly implements the best of the best balance training methods in order to meet your specific needs.
Movement is LIFE.  It's your choice.

The Fall Prevention Lady

Younger faces and more men in balance classes

Over the past decade, I've been teaching FallProof™ balance and mobility classes to older adults in communities throughout the Sacramento California region.  As a certified movement re-educator and balance expert, I've seen the positive impact of multi-sensory training upon hundreds of lives and I'm proud to continue to teach 4- and 6-week sessions to adults who live at home and want to stay there through improved balance & quicker reaction speeds necessary to prevent a fall.

I've recently noticed a change in the 'average' FallProof™ class participant; 81year old females are now early to mid-70s with equal mixture of males and females.   As an established fall prevention coalition member, this demographic shift is exciting proof that "FREE" hospital outreach programs are successfully offering evidence-based programs to our "older" more frail adults.  

Most baby boomers, society's "younger" older adults, want to get a head start on retirement plans.  Due to the overwhelming number of research studies that demonstrate exercise as the number one way to remain independent and THRIVE in later years, these boomers are ready to invest time and effort into research-based programs led by qualified instructors.  As such, more people in their sixth and seventh decade, including MEN, are proactively enrolling in community-based "balance" training classes offered by qualified health and fitness independent contractors!  

I'm psyched because I've taken my "multi-sensory" masters degree to the next level with brain science.  As a certified Z-Health Practitioner, I train the nervous system and the engine running it; your brain.  Founded on research and science, Z-Health principles train the input, the interpretation and output of the nervous system.  The better the input, the better the output and the results are immediate.  No guessing if you're doing the best drill for your brain; your movement shows it!

As we age, there are two things we don't want to lose: 

1.  Your balance

2.  Your brains

My brain-based balance training class is perfect for anyone who is concerned about losing either #1 or #2, or both!  Your brain is a "use it or lose it" muscle and needs proper activation and proper fueling in order to run efficiently.  Want to learn more about how to train your brain so you can move well, balance well and see well?  

Visit my website (The Fall Prevention Lady) and enroll in one of my classes:

"Brains and Balance Z-Training with Coach Kelly"

Save your spot.  Be proactive.  Re-write the next chapter of your life.

Kelly

Brains and Balance Z-Training with Coach Kelly

Brains and balance; the two things you don't want to lose as you age.  Neuroscience proves the plasticity, or changeability of the brain.  Science and research demonstrate that staying active is the best way to remain independent.  I want to take this a step further and state that when properly activated, the brain can change how you move, how you see, and how stable you are on a daily basis.

In order to function, the brain needs two things: fuel and activation. There are two types of fuel that your brain requires: glucose and oxygen.  Everything you eat breaks down to glucose.  There's no good or bad glucose, at the cellular level, it's just glucose.  Your brain consumes 70% of your daily caloric intake. Think about that.  What type of food are you feeding your brain???

Oxygen.  Just breathe.  On average, a person takes 22,000 breaths each day.  That wouldn't be a problem if we knew HOW to breathe correctly.  Unfortunately, Americans are a bunch of shallow breathers.  On average, we use less than one-quarter of our lung capacity.  Instead, we breathe in, maybe feel a rise in our chest and exhale.  This breathing pattern is not only bad for your neck, shoulders and back musculature but also horrible for your brain.    How do you breathe???

Activation.  How you move through life is a reflection of the efficiency of your nervous system and brain mapping of your body (how well your brain knows your body).  Part of your brain is concerned about one thing and one thing only, "IS THIS SAFE"?   If your brain doesn't feel safe, your movement is poor.  Conversely, if your brain feels safe (with clear, predictable sensory input messages from nerves),your movement is fluid, graceful, all cylinders are firing.  

Think about how you move:

1. Do you move slowly and almost shuffle?  
2. Does everything hurt?  
3. Is your vision getting worse?  
4. Are you stooping forward more each day?  
5. Do you feel unsteady?  
6. Are you constantly fearful of what's going to happen next?  
7. Have you tried everything and been told 'to live with it'?

If you answered yes to ANY of those questions, you want to work with me!  As a certified Z-Health Practitioner, I am trained to improve your neural GPS (better input=> better output), I am trained to increase the speed of brain's interpretation of messages and efficiency of motor output. 

In other words, using research and scientific-based neurophysiology techniques, I train your nervous system in order to make your brain feel safe so you can move confidently through this world.  Time is valuable.  Don't waste your time going to the gym or money on a private trainer if you're NOT getting results.  

With brain-based training, you get instant results

because you have given YOUR brain 

what YOUR brain needs.  

Precise training of the nervous system gives you precise results

Sign up for  

BRAINS AND BALANCE Z-TRAINING WITH COACH KELLY 

for immediate results!

Baby boom changing the face of fitness....

The face of balance and mobility training is getting younger.  As the baby boomer population explodes, so does the interest in different types of training classes; classes that:

• Focus on total body wellness
• Prepare the body for the next chapter of life
• Enhance performance so a person can live longer better
• Train the brain and utilize the scientific principle of "NEUROPLASTICITY"

I no longer hear, 'I wish I knew you fifteen years ago' but rather "I don't want to turn out like my mother.  She fell and that was the end of it", "My father fell, had all sorts of problems and had to move into assisted living; that is not the quality of life that I worked for".  "My wife and I have lots of traveling to do and we want to live our lives while we still can".

Baby boomers are more educated about the importance of fitness and truly understand that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".  Most boomers are more educated about the different types of exercise needed in a well-balanced fitness routine and they understand that personal training is an investment in their life.  They realize that their health and well-being are THEIR responsibility and a person must get active if you want to stay active.

What everyone needs to understand is that exercise isn't so easy that you can't mess it!  If exercise were easy, everyone would be doing it.  Sitting, staring at a computer and driving for hours are what I call "occupational hazards" that take a tremendous toll on the body over the years.  The demand for corrective exercise practitioners has tripled and specialty areas are increasingly popular.
                 
Unfortunately, a staggering 80% of adults quit an exercise program in the first six weeks due to injury.  Enter your movement re-educator; me, the person who has studied fitness all her life and knows how to get you safely to your goals.  Enter the balance and mobility expert; me, the person who has the skills to improve balance and stability using brain-based balance techniques.  Enter the Z-health practitioner who has invested in a neurology-based education to teach you how to rewire your nervous system; upgrade your software.        

Baby boomers want brain-training.  As a Movement Integration Specialist, I offer the best brain training program available; 3 Pillars Strong; Move well.  Balance well.  See well.  I will be hosting two mixers in September to kick-off my new braining-training program with classes starting in October.

www.thefallpreventionlady.com

Drill to improve visual resolution, aka, see clearer

Vision is a skill and like all skills, it can improve with practice.  We train movement, we train balance but we do not train the muscles in our eyes!  We have six muscles in each eye that follow the rule of all muscle; use it or lose it!  Vision is the most powerful sensory input to the brain and takes up the largest amount of brain real-estate.  The optics rule.  Posture, movement, pain; all influenced by vision.  Directly.  As in Immediately.  The brain is the king of kings of our function.

There are four components to healthy vision:
1.  Eye movements
2.  Depth Perception
3.  Visual Resolution
4.  Peripheral Vision

Training these skills has an immediate impact on your nervous system; the benefits are instantaneous. As a Z-Health Movement Re-Educator and Movement Integration Specialist, I have been practicing vision drills on myself, my clients and my group classes and the results are astonishing.
It's not magic; it's neuroscience.

While sitting at my desk studying neurophysiology notes,  Dr. Cobb's YouTube message was talking about 'visual resolution', or the ability to see clearly.  Which happens to be one of the first signs of tired eyes.  Great, mine is horrible.  My eyes are tired.
😫

Dr. Cobb went on to demonstrate a drill that trains your 'visual resolution, aka, see more clearly.   I want to improve mine, so I grabbed the letter ball I had from a previous Z-Health certification weekend and started to follow along.

This drill was highly threatening to me.  I was nervous because I could not throw the ball consistently.  My throws are spastic; all over the place!  "Just toss the ball up in the air and watch one letter up and then back down"  "see it land". ,... yeah, on my face!  LOL.

I'm a basketball player so I instinctively spin the ball.  Fast.  LOL  I couldn't see anything but a blur until I slowed it down!  I was better with my left hand, just like in basketball.  I've learned that there  are drills that will equal out the consistency of my throws.

Laughing when it hit me in the chest, I followed Doc's advice and toned the drill down a bit by holding the ball and moving in toward my nose then out to arm's length.  5 times each hand.  Turn to see different letters.

I know this drill works with me because I immediately did a Z-Health assessment and compared pre-post assessments.  Results, bam!

Train your eyes.  Improve your vision.  

I invite  you to join me for my 12-week program, 

"3 Pillars Strong; Move well.  Balance well.  See well".  

I will be hosting two mixers in September to present the program, answer any questions and take registrants for the two classes I will be offering in October in Fair Oaks, CA.

Stay tuned for days and times.
"On the Z-Train"