Lifestyle and Environmental Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis

By |October 12th, 2023|rheumatoid arthritis, specific conditions|

Lifestyle and Environmental Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the synovial lining of the joints. The synovial lining is a layer of connective tissue that lines the joints, and is responsible for secreting synovial fluid into the joint cavity to help joints [...]

How to Resolve Upper Crossed Syndrome with Clinical Somatics Exercises

By |September 14th, 2023|forward head posture, neck pain, posture, specific conditions, upper crossed syndrome|

How to Resolve Upper Crossed Syndrome with Clinical Somatics Exercises In this article I'll explain what upper crossed syndrome is and the muscular patterns involved. At the end of the article, I describe which Clinical Somatics exercises are most effective at fixing the postural misalignment. What is upper crossed syndrome? The term “upper crossed [...]

How to Fix Pelvic Torsion (Twisted Pelvis) With Clinical Somatics Exercises

By |May 11th, 2023|leg length discrepancy, pelvic torsion, specific conditions|

How to Fix Pelvic Torsion (Twisted Pelvis) With Clinical Somatics Exercises In this article I explain what pelvic torsion is and the muscular patterns involved. At the end of the article, I list which Clinical Somatics exercises are most effective at fixing the misalignment. What is pelvic torsion (twisted pelvis)? The skeleton [...]

How to Fix Lateral Pelvic Rotation (Rotated Pelvis) With Clinical Somatics Exercises

By |March 15th, 2023|pelvic rotation, specific conditions|

How to Fix Lateral Pelvic Rotation (Rotated Pelvis) With Clinical Somatics ExercisesIn this article I explain what lateral pelvic rotation is, why we develop it, and the muscular patterns involved. At the end of the article, I list which Clinical Somatics exercises are most effective for fixing the misalignment.What is lateral pelvic rotation?Lateral pelvic rotation, [...]

How to Use Clinical Somatics Exercises to Heal Achilles Tendinitis

By |November 30th, 2021|Achilles tendinitis, athletic training, specific conditions|

How to Use Clinical Somatics Exercises to Heal Achilles Tendinitis What is Achilles tendinitis? The Achilles (calcaneal) tendon is located at the back of the ankle, where it attaches the calf muscles to the heel bone. Overuse injuries to the Achilles tendon—whether they be inflammatory tendinitis or degenerative tendinosis—can be very painful and limit [...]

The Myth of Unequal Leg Length

By |August 10th, 2021|Clinical Somatic Education, leg length discrepancy, specific conditions|

You can listen to Sarah's podcast on this topic here: The Myth of Unequal Leg Length Your doctor or chiropractor may have told you that you have one leg longer than the other, and that your leg length discrepancy is the cause of your back, hip, or knee pain. The truth is that while [...]

The Cause of Idiopathic Scoliosis: Involuntary Muscle Contraction

By |August 4th, 2021|back pain, Clinical Somatic Education, posture, scoliosis, specific conditions|

The Cause of Idiopathic Scoliosis: Involuntary Muscle Contraction Scoliosis is regarded as mysterious and incurable by many people in the medical community. While some scoliosis cases are caused by congenital structural abnormalities or neurological or muscular diseases, the vast majority—around 85%—are of unknown cause. The fact is, the bones in our body do not [...]

Understanding the Pelvic Floor Muscles and Pelvic Pain

By |July 6th, 2021|pain & pain relief, pelvic floor, specific conditions|

Understanding the Pelvic Floor Muscles and Pelvic Pain What is the pelvic floor? The pelvic floor is a large sheet of skeletal muscle that forms the base of the abdomen. It is made up of the levator ani (subdivided into the puborectalis, pubococcygeus, and iliococcygeus muscles) and the coccygeus muscles, and associated connective tissue. [...]

What Really Causes Muscle Cramps?

By |May 25th, 2021|athletic training, gamma loop, muscle cramps, muscle tension, pandiculation, specific conditions, stretching|

What really causes muscle cramps? Muscle cramps have long been attributed to electrolyte depletion and dehydration, especially when they occur in athletes. However, research does not support these theories, and instead points to altered neuromuscular control and muscle fatigue as the culprits. In this post, I'll summarize the research and explain why muscle cramps [...]

Why You Can’t Release Your Tight Psoas Muscle With Stretching

By |February 23rd, 2021|Clinical Somatic Education, psoas muscle, specific conditions|

Why You Can't Release Your Tight Psoas Muscle With Stretching Your physical therapist, chiropractor, or yoga teacher might have told you that you have a tight psoas muscle, and they may have taught you stretching exercises to release it. While they're probably right—having a tight psoas is a very common problem—static stretching has little [...]

How to Prevent and Alleviate Spinal Degeneration

By |August 12th, 2020|aging, back pain, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, posture, sciatica, scoliosis, specific conditions, spinal degeneration|

How to Prevent and Alleviate Spinal Degeneration Spinal degeneration refers to any breakdown or structural change in our spinal discs and vertebrae. The degeneration is virtually always the result of our chronic muscle tension, posture, and how we move and use our body on a regular basis. Spinal degeneration can occur at any age, [...]

Anaya’s Recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

By |May 14th, 2020|chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), immune system, self-healing, specific conditions|

Anaya's Recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome When I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) two and a half years ago, the doctor told me surely the most famous of all CFS one-liners: “95% of people do not recover, so don’t get your hopes up.” My response internally was “Fuck that!” and [...]

Forced Exercise and Stress Reduction Reverse Parkinson’s Symptoms

By |May 7th, 2020|aging, dopamine, neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, neuroscience, neurotransmitters, Parkinson's disease, self-healing, specific conditions, stress & stress relief|

Forced Exercise and Stress Reduction Reverse Parkinson's Symptoms If you read last week's post Doctors Call for an End to the Parkinson's Pandemic, you learned that Parkinson's disease is most often the result of a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors, which include exposure to neurotoxic chemicals, head trauma, lack of exercise, diet, [...]

Doctors Call for an End to the Parkinson’s Pandemic

By |April 30th, 2020|aging, books & movies, dopamine, neuroscience, neurotransmitters, Parkinson's disease, specific conditions, stress & stress relief|

Doctors Call for an End to the Parkinson's Pandemic Parkinson's disease is not new—descriptions of the condition can be found in ancient Chinese medical texts from 425 BC and Indian medical texts from 600 BC. There have been references to Parkinson's symptoms in documents from Greek, Roman, and other civilizations over the past two thousand [...]

The Medical Mystery of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

By |April 9th, 2020|chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), immune system, specific conditions|

The Medical Mystery of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has long been dismissed as being a psychological condition. Due to a lack of understanding in the medical community, in the past it has taken people years to get an official diagnosis, if they get a diagnosis at all. A 2015 report [...]

How to Take Care of Your Knees for the Long Haul

By |February 5th, 2020|aging, athletic training, knee pain, osteoarthritis, pain & pain relief, specific conditions|

How to Take Care of Your Knees for the Long Haul Knee pain is one of the most common types of chronic pain that people experience, and it's no wonder why—our knees support the weight of our body throughout our entire lives! And while the U.S. population is getting older and more overweight, rates [...]

What causes Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), and how can you reduce or eliminate your symptoms?

By |January 22nd, 2020|restless legs syndrome, specific conditions|

What causes Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), and how can you reduce or eliminate your symptoms? Restless legs syndrome (RLS; also called Willis-Ekbom Disease) is a condition that causes uncomfortable or unpleasant sensations in the legs, often described as creeping, crawling, itching, tingling, pulling, throbbing, or painful. People with RLS feel an irresistible urge to [...]

Do you have joint hypermobility, and can Clinical Somatics help?

By |January 16th, 2020|Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, joint hypermobility, specific conditions|

Do you have joint hypermobility, and can Clinical Somatics help? Generalized joint laxity (loose joints throughout the body) is fairly common, present in between 20% and 30% of the population. This hypermobility can occur in the absence of a systemic disease that affects connective tissues, like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or Marfan syndrome. While joint hypermobility [...]

Figuring out the Cause of Your Chronic Neck Pain

By |December 11th, 2019|forward head posture, muscle tension, neck pain, pain & pain relief, specific conditions, whiplash|

Figuring out the Cause of Your Chronic Neck Pain Why is neck pain such a pain in the neck to get rid of? First, the muscles in your neck adapt to any postural imbalances you have in the core of your body. If your lumbar or thoracic spine is out of alignment in any [...]

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