Injury Recovery
Try Mouth Taping at Night to Improve Health and Performance
I started taping my mouth shut when going to bed a few months ago after reading The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown. McKeown practices the Buteyko Method. As you can see by her wide-eyed gaze, my dog, Sasha, is very worried that she can’t give lots of slobbery...
Express Your Sincere Desire to Heal: A Client Success Story
Salil Wilson is the executive director of the Peace Run. He has dedicated the last 31 years of his life to this global torch relay, traveling around the world to spread this important message. For the last two years, however, Salil has not been able to run. Despite...
How to Stop Freaking Out When You Hurt
I hate being in pain! The other night, following a mountain bike ride, my left shin hurt so much I couldn’t even stand on it! I didn’t think I had done anything out of the ordinary. Yet, my leg was killing me. It’s funny how everything else I had to do that night...
Conquering Your Fear of Re-injury
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. As you resume sports, your primary fear is most likely re-injury. Because of your previous injury, you may have been through extensive rehabilitation, unable to play your sport, and...
The Role of Loads and Forces in Chronic Pain and Injury
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Katy Bowman, a well-renowned movement biomechanist, has a great discussion about loads in her book, Move Your DNA.1 If you are into this sort of thing, definitely check it out....
Healing is Possible!
Please enjoy the beginning of Chapter 1 from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Download the entire chapter. Your body is wonderfully resilient. It wants to serve you and make possible all the sports and activities you love. However, I know this is...
Your Brain Interprets Your Pain
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Neurosciences Professor Dr. Lorimer Moseley says, “Pain is a construct of the brain.”1 Now to be clear, I am not suggesting that the pain is all in your head or that you...
Find Non-Movement-Based Techniques to Manage Stress
Please enjoy an excerpt from my book, Winning the Injury Game, available on Amazon. Injuries raise your stress level. Looking back at the previous tips (for your healing journey), each of these could be a source of stress. Your stress may escalate because you...
Who’s in Charge of Your Health?
My mother's doctor told her that she had six months to live. She followed her doctor’s prediction and died within that time period. A client informed me it would take a year to recover from his plantar fasciitis. He didn’t make any progress until 12 months had passed....
Transforming Your Limiting Beliefs
My last blog, Overcome Fear to Reduce Stress and Heal, was all about fear. I discussed how fear underlies much of our stress. I then explained how stress sabotages good health. Also, I remarked on how the fear we experience often stems from false, negative beliefs. We...
Overcome Fear to Reduce Stress and Heal
Fear is a risk factor for disease and pain. Fear raises your stress. Stress reduces your ability to heal. Recall my January blog, Stress Prevents Self-Healing, where I reviewed the book Mind Over Medicine by Dr. Lissa Rankin, M.D. In her book, Dr. Rankin details how...
Foot Orthotics and Joint Pain
Should I be wearing foot orthotics? Will they help my joint pain? You may have asked yourself these questions. And to be honest, I did. After my third knee surgery, I pursued orthotics with my orthopedic surgeon. Although he didn’t seem convinced they would help, he...
Hamstring Pain with Running, Hiking and XC Skiing
What movements do running, hiking and classic cross-country skiing have in common? Very simply, the legs move from in front of the body to behind the body in the sagittal plane. The sagittal plane divides the body into left and right sides. You can see this in...
Stress Prevents Self-Healing
Within your body, you have a powerful source of self-healing. To illustrate, think of the many bruises, cuts and blisters you’ve had that your body has repaired. Additionally, think about the colds, injuries and infections that you’ve overcome. This self-repairing...
Why You Need Body Awareness
Body awareness is the first step towards a pain free body. One of the initial things a client often experiences while working with me is enhanced postural awareness. Prior to our session, they rarely thought about how they held their body. After our time together, my...
Meet Jessica!
I believe we are designed to move and play throughout our entire lives. I don’t buy into the idea that we should slow down with age, or that pain, injury and physical restrictions are unavoidable aspects of growing older. So, here’s my philosophy. Our mental mindset, combined with the physical position and condition of the body that we bring into any activity (from walking to skiing to everything in between), determines our chance of hurting when we move. If we have a positive mindset, and if we have proper positioning and move with correct body biomechanics, all activities should be possible.
This is the goal I have for everyone: to overcome pain and limitations so you can Stay in the Game for Life!
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