I really enjoyed presenting Postural Respiration at the very place that PRI began – Lincoln, NE – to a hybrid group of enthusiastic and inquisitive in-person and virtual attendees.
We spent the weekend learning about the influences of the left AIC, right BC, and bilateral PEC patterned overactivity on hemi-chest compression, air flow, and movement. Our most primal movement pattern, respiration, is directly reflected in how we move our bodies in space. The quality, efficiency, fluidity of our walking is directly impacted by where air is directed in the chambers of our thorax. The numerous videos and photos, presented throughout the weekend, provided stark examples of the deleterious effects of patterned respiratory mechanics on upright posture and movement.
Through lab breakouts, the in-person attendees helped me talk through and demonstrate how to determine if, and how much, a person is being driven by polyarticular muscle overactivity that prevents proper compression and decompression of our systems for healthy movement and physiology.
This being Lincoln, NE, and not Providence, RI, balloons were back in business, allowing attendees on both sides of the screen to experience eccentric and concentric abdominal contraction and air flow into previously compressed regions of the thorax.
We discussed how the ability of the right 1st rib to move reciprocally is key to enabling the remaining ribs to reciprocally move. Its ability to raise and lower for compression/decompression of the apical chest wall is compromised with overactive scalenes that encourages the subclavius to join the party. With this disruption in hemi-rib uniform movement at rest, we become stuck in a respiratory state of twist that an individual doesn’t know how to get out of. Hemi-rib uniform movement at rest is a prerequisite for calming the nervous system, so that we can truly rest at night.
Thank you for the many questions to clarify concepts for all attendees. I think I speak for everyone when I say the additional insights that many of you provided, especially in response to the non-manual techniques, were helpful and appreciated. Finally, a big thank you to RJ Hruska for deftly handling the A-V while answering questions and keeping this instructor hydrated and on schedule!
