Pain Free Performance — Posture Alignment Therapy

Posture Alignment Therapists, Graduates of Egoscue University

Studio News

The Best of Both Worlds

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We humans are social creatures, so we love doing things in groups.  We learn better in groups so any kind of class is a wonderful idea to most of us!  That is especially true for exercise classes. Having people around is stimulating, encouraging and helps us go beyond what we think our limitations are.  This is also true for our classes using the Egoscue Method for postural alignment.

Some of you know about Egoscue from coming to Pain Free Performance because you were in pain and could not find a way out.  Back pain, neck pain, ankle pain, shoulder pain, knee pain – we’ve seen it all!  That is the essence of Egoscue – total body alignment that restores function and relieves pain! 

Egoscue class is a great way to connect with other folks who are enjoying the benefits of a pain free aligned body.  Keep in mind class cannot be specific to each participant’s particular issues.  Most classes meet a couple of times a week and your body needs more training to re-adapt to proper muscular balance for posture.  You guys that have your Egoscue exercise menus know that a body needs the daily reminder of what those muscles are designed to do!

For those of you who haven’t visited us, this postural alignment work is individualized and specific to you, your body, your pain and dysfunction.  Exercises are prescribed (called menus) that have a sequence of muscular activation and/or deactivation best suited to your body.  There are no two bodies alike and there are rarely identical menus.  Class should not be viewed as a “one size fits all” approach to body alignment and pain relief – it should be another fun activity that you participate in because you’re feeling great after doing your menu!

Doing your individual menu gives you a wonderful opportunity to tune into your own body and inner self.  Listening to your body while performing your Egoscue menu is a perfect meditation time or just simply quiet alone time.   If you’re going to class but you don’t have a menu…let me encourage you to get one.  It will change your life and it will make all of the other stuff possible.  

Going to class is great!!!!  Keep at it!  Class, hiking, biking, running, swimming, tennis – move and enjoy what you love to do — your body will like the extra movement and extra attention.  And, do your menu also.  You can have the best of both worlds!  

 

HELPING LOCAL FOSTER TEENS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

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HELPING LOCAL FOSTER TEENS AT THE HOLIDAYS!

 As a business, we were looking for a way to make our holiday more meaningful by being involved in charitable giving right here in our own community. We wanted to find a group in true need that may not be under the umbrella of another holiday drive, and one of our favorite clients suggested we call her friend at Albemarle County Social Services. 

The answer we got from them was that teenage foster children from Albemarle County are often overlooked because of their age when it comes to holiday giving.  The social workers know these teens, their circumstances and these guys need our help!  We have a list of kids (initials, gender, and age) including their holiday wish lists.  We are not talking big ticket items…these are simple things that will help make a wonderful holiday for them.

Our goal is to mark all of these things off every list for every child.  This is how we plan to do it and we’d love, love, love for you to join in on this wonderful holiday experience!

1.        HELP US UN-DECORATE OUR TREE!!

RIGHT NOW, if you stop by the office, you will see our version of an angel tree – a teenangel tree to be exact!  It is beautiful, if we do say so ourselves – a small scraggly tree with sparkly ornaments – each one holding a short Christmas list of a foster teen.

 Please come by when you are in the neighborhood or if you’re in for your appointment, take an ornament or two and cross off the items on the list by doing a little shopping for a teen!  Drop off the gifts here and Social Services will pick them up from us on Friday, December 14th to make sure the children in need receive them by Christmas!    

 2.        DAY OF GIVING

WHAT:     Day of Giving Gift Exchange for Foster Teens!! 

WHEN:     SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8TH

WHERE:   Pain Free Performance ,  3054 Berkmar Drive, Charlottesville, VA  22901

TIME:       10:00 am to 4:00 pm

HOW IT WORKS:

WE GIVE YOU:  We have ten practitioners who represent many kinds of body work who are giving their time on this day to provide abbreviated treatments at no charge to participants (you!).  Treatments are:  chiropractic, pilates, massage therapy, structural integration, Byron Katie work, Egoscue, personal training, acupuncture, network spinal analysis and more!

 YOU GIVE THE TEENS:  You may choose as many therapies as you’d like to experience  in exchange for bringing one $50.00 gift card for a foster teen!  One $50.00 gift card gets you all the treatments you want!  You will sign up for treatments when you come in that day.

Please call or email Pain Free to let us know you can attend!  But if you forget, come on over anyway!

We feel so fortunate for this connection with the amazing people who work with these great kids through Albemarle County Social Services!  It’s so special to have a charitable focus for holiday giving in our own community. Please help us and the other generous therapists make holiday wishes come true for these teens. 

 Peace,

Cindy, Lisa, Mackie and Kat 

WELLNESS RETREAT …A GREAT SUCCESS !

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A huge THANK YOU to all of the participants and practitioners that joined us at Montfair Resort Farm for a day of WELLNESS!

It never ceases to amaze us  how many gifted practitioners we have working in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas.

Our day started with an Egoscue class to bring our bodies into proper alignment.  This was followed by a Restorative Yoga session.   After we were aligned and stretched,  various gifted practitioners shared information about their specific treatment techniques.  These  included Acupuncture, Chiropractic Care, Craniosacral Therapy,  Tai Massage,  Structural Integration, Acupressure and  MELT (myofascial elongation).

We enjoyed a healthy lunch followed by some time to visit and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.
The picture above is from our  experience  of Tai Chi in the great outdoors.  We followed this with a session on self hypnosis.  After everyone was aligned, stretched, fed and filled  with the peace of meditation,  we had the opportunity to experience a variety of hands on work.

An incredible day!

CINDY GETS MELT CERTIFIED

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What is M.E.L.T ??
Six years ago everyone was asking……

“What is Egoscue”??   Well…. Here I go again….

In my quest for understanding all that I can to empower my clients with tools that will offer them the best care possible, I discovered a method called MELT. This stands for Myofascial Energetic Length Technique. This technique involves the connective tissue in our body.

What exactly is connective tissue?

If you ever pulled the skin off of a piece of chicken before you cooked it, you will see a thin, white sheath…that is connective tissue. And as our manager so kindly pointed out… vegetarians can think of peeling an orange and seeing the protective coating over the fruit as the connective tissue. Connective tissue covers every cell, nerve, muscle, bone and organ in our bodies.

When the connective tissue becomes dehydrated, it loses its buoyancy and can no longer do its job to support and protect our muscles and joints. In addition, the nervous system becomes over-stressed and the tissues cannot act as a communication network. That leaves you with tissue that is now bound down to the muscles and a nervous system that stays in a state of “dis-ease” (meaning the body can’t rest). When you go to move, the muscles still move but the connective tissue is pulled causing that stiff/painful feeling.

When you MELT you push fluid back into the tissue and your proprioception (how your body senses its enviornment) improves. At PAIN FREE PEFORMANCE, we are combining MELT with Egoscue to enhance the body’s ability to RESTORE POSTURE…. CREATE BALANCE….LIVE PAIN FREE!

We are offering a MELT class on Wednesdays at noon… come try it out. If you want to learn more feel free to call me at 434-296-0600