Neural ReV and Flow

One of the most important concepts to emerge out of modern pain neuroscience is that the pain experience is incredibly INDIVIDUAL.
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This quote from the book, The Body in Pain, beautifully summarizes this idea. When movement and healthcare professionals work with clients it is always tempting to be somewhat skeptical or dismissive of pain - particularly when it does not appear to match what we see in assessments.
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However, the key takeaway from today's though is that movement professionals need to always keep in mind that the client's experience is real for them in the moment. They are certain about what they are feeling, and in order to establish a relationship of trust with them, we need to truly listen to and validate their story.

Yes, you read that correctly - when we are looking at a screen our blink rates reduce from 14-16/minute down to 4-6/minute. Additionally, research has shown that in addition to decreased blink rates we are also more frequently prone to INCOMPLETE blinks as well.
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All of this adds up to dry, irritated, fatigued eyes, blurred vision, plus head/neck tension and pain.
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Thankfully, this is one of the EASIEST of all vision drills - you just have to remember to do it. So, for today, set an alarm to go off every 20 minutes. When it goes off, look away from the screen and blink as fast as you can for 10-20 seconds. Then, close your eyes for another 10-20 seconds and relax. That's it!
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Give it a try and let us know how it works for you. Many people report less eye, head and neck stress when they remember to incorporate this into their day.
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If you'd like to learn more about our fundamental approach to brain-based vision training, check out The Vision Gym via the link below.
https://zhealtheducation.com/product/the-vision-gym/

GERD/Acid reflux occurs at least once/week in 20% of the US population based on statistics from the NIH. It's an incredibly frustrating and, sometimes debilitating, condition.
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One fantastic tool to include in your work with clients who suffer from GERD is resisted breathing work. As we strengthen the diaphragm, there is often an increase in tone and pressure in the lower esophageal sphincter which can enhance its function and help prevent reflux. Such a simple idea and exercise that can produce profound results for some clients.
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Check out the article below for a 2020 meta-analysis focused on the use of breathing exercises as an important tool for use in this condition. https://europepmc.org/article/med/32233626
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If you'd like to learn more about our brain-based approach to breathing, check out The Breathing Gym via the link below. https://zhealtheducation.com/product/the-breathing-gym/

One of the greatest lessons that we can learn as movement professionals is that pain belongs to the individual. Pain is a unique, personal experience and it rarely helps professionals OR clients to try to "judge" someone else's pain in an effort to convince them that "it can't be that bad."
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Research has made very clear that pain is a behavior change tool. As a result, it can disrupt our lives in both simple and complex ways. Because of this, we believe that pain control and rehabilitation are critical in every field and should be a cornerstone of professional education.
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If you'd like to learn more about our brain-based approach to pain and performance please check out our free, 8-hour online Neurofundamentals course via the link below. https://zhealtheducation.com/join-neurofundamentals/

One key tool to consider in postural correction is inspiratory muscle strength training. There are quite a number of studies that show that the addition of respiratory muscle training to motor control exercises and other forms of postural therapy often improves the results.
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If you have clients that need to work on posture, make sure that you keep this in mind. It's an easy tool to incorporate into training and it may make a huge difference in helping them stabilize improvements made through other forms of training/therapy. http://ijhs.shmu.ac.ir/index.php/ijhs/article/view/739
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Breathing is an amazing tool for so many issues. If you'd like to learn more about our brain-based approach check out The Breathing Gym: https://zhealtheducation.com/product/the-breathing-gym/

We are going to increase the complexity of today’s visual challenge. In previous posts we worked on convergence and divergence. Today, we're going to work on maintaining perfect visual coordination as the eyes are moving vertically up and down. Here’s how to do it.
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Hold your screen at a normal reading distance, look at the diamonds beginning at the middle of the screen and try to converge (cross) your eyes. If you do this you should be able to create a third diamone in the middle that is three-dimensional and gray. Now move up the screen sequentially creating perfect diamonds and then move back down.
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This exercise is significantly more challenging for many people than what we have posted over the last couple of weeks because of the fine control of the eyes that is required to maintain the stable diamond. You can also try this drill in divergence as well. The end goal is to be comfortable quickly switching back-and-forth between converged and diverged eyes while still creating the three-dimensional diamond in the middle as your eyes are tracking vertically. Enjoy!
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If you’d like to learn more about vision training please take a look at our downloadable course: The Vision Gym. https://zhealtheducation.com/product/the-vision-gym/

What a great team at ! Thank you for having me tonight.

Would you like to know how to have stronger muscles? How about how to improve your flexibility? Do you have pain?

Come out and visit this Sunday from 4-5pm for a free workshop . I will be teaching you tips and tricks you can use to improve these things so you can perform the way you desire.

Such a cool concept. Thank you for all the knowledge you share with us all.

So grateful!

Yes I know, no points for presentation. That’s ok. I’m no chef. What a delicious meal. Thanks to .

🥩 3oz grass fed steak
🌶 1/2 of a yellow bell pepper
🍅 1/2 cup sliced beets
🐐 1oz goat cheese
🌰 2 macadamia nuts crushed
🥤 1 cup oj with 1tbsp gelatin/collagen

382 kcals, 32g protein, 41g carbs, 11g fat

The development of pain neuroscience research continues to grow and this wonderful quote is from an journal article in the September 2020 edition of Pain titled: Thorn, Beverly E. Ronald Melzack Award Lecture: Putting the brain to work in cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain. (Link Below - Pain Neuroscience September 2020)

https://journals.lww.com/pain/Fulltext/2020/09001/Ronald_Melzack_Award_Lecture__Putting_the_brain_to.4.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0FUM80EL2h7Xc-QKY2pyyKM2SBlKBYWiGCfgm8glFy5hPA1uaE9FVn6zI
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The article is an excellent reminder of the need to embrace modern pain neuroscience and couple it with a true biopsychosocial approach to helping people overcome pain issues that disrupt their lives. It's well worth the read!

Let us know what you think in the comments.