Posts Tagged ‘ergopresence’

Rehab Professionals and the Wellness Industry: Where Do We Belong?

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

When it comes to fitness and wellness, I'm afraid most rehab professionals too easily step into the ruts of the industry rather than consider "What might be?".

I was fortunate enough to be thrust into the wellness arena the first year of my professional rehab career. The US Army was big into the new buzz word of 1982: Corporate Fitness.   OUCH…some one is getting old and hopefully for those of you new to wellness you get some perspective on how "Un-new" wellness in the workplace really is!

What disappoints me is that almost every article on rehab and wellness gravitates to the same old models of flexibility assessment, posture screens, standard ergonomic assessment….YAWN! Is that the best we can do?

So what should we be doing? CREATING SOMETHING NEW & BETTER!

At the AZAPTA Fall Conference in 2009 the theme was wellness and fitness. Here is the short one page position paper I distributed articulating a call for us to step forward to LEAD a true biopsychosocial revolution in fitness. Click here to read. 

Here a couple of things I am creating:

 

 

 

What are you doing to bring forward new programming in fitness and wellness that we weren't doing 10, 15 or 20 years ago? 

Let me know…we can and MUST do better than what is out there now!

The importance of being Present at Work

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

In the past rehabilitation professionals have focused on the "parts" of workplace safety and comfort. We made equipment changes, ergonomic assessments and prescribed compensatory exercises. 

Our job was to winnow down to the finest "parts" and then apply fixes to those parts. We did this even as we knew the most important predictor to recovery from work-related injury or pain was job satisfaction and a feeling as though one was making a useful contribution at work.

We now realize that was short sighted and simplistic. If we are going to be more than "band-aid" therapists, then it is incumbent that our lens broaden and we address the "whole" person…not just the body, but mind, heart and soul! 

This is where ErgoPresence enters the picture.

Quite simply how the person relates to their "work" generates postural habits and dominant breathing patterns.

If those individuals find work stressful or spiritless, the systems collapse through an absence of presence and awareness at the worksite.

No amount of stretching or strengthening or even taping will sustain such a powerful systems effect. Remember at 12 breaths/min that is 720/hr or 5760 dysfunctional movements per 8 hours.

If this person sits dis-spirited and dis-interested at her clerical position for 8-9 hrs/day, can you see the collapse toward the mouse and phone in her structure? If she never breathes from her diaphragm because she's bored/frustrated or chatting online, when will her pelvis return to a more functional balance so the tape for the knee pains can be discontinued?

We need to help our clients see how the soul connection provides heart to power the seat…it is all connected and only the competent therapist of the 21st century will broaden their skill set to generate ErgoPresence.

 

For more on ErgoPresence visit this page.

 

What do you do to generate ErgoPresence for yourself and for your clients?