Celebrate Independence and Freedom to MOVE and Balance

As Americans, we are truly blessed to have the independence and freedom to be, do, and say what we want. Being free to move around to enjoy all that this country and our world has to offer is a privilege. Being free to MOVE is a privilege in itself. We often take that privilege for granted until something happens to our body that takes away our ability to move around comfortably. Losing our independence and having to ask for help can be a major challenge. 

Imagine the frustration of not being able to bend down and put on your pants, socks, or shoes, or having to avoid stairs due to knee pain. Losing the freedom to reach up into the cabinets for ingredients, dishes, or pots/pans, or reach down into the dishwasher or lower drawers makes it challenging to perform kitchen tasks and prepare meals. Sitting and driving with chronic back, hip, or knee soreness can impede upon comfort during work or rest times, or when taking longer road trips.  A nagging, or sometimes sharp, painful sensation on the bottom of your foot makes standing or walking around uncomfortable. Sometimes these challenges can pop up seemingly overnight and really change the way you move about your day. 

As a Physical Therapist for over 25 years, it has been my privilege to help people regain their independence and restore their freedom of movement when pain and limitations have set in. Even though accidents happen, there are many things we can do to prevent injuries and stay OUT of pain. My book "MAGIC in Motion: Foundations for Functional Fitness" highlights 8 foundations for living a well-balanced life, including guidance on how to "Treat Yourself Well,” maintain your ability to independently perform your daily functional activities, and extend your “health span" throughout your lifespan. 

Have you ever stood sideways next to a mirror and noticed that the reflection of one side doesn't look exactly like you? Humans are relatively symmetrical, from side to side, but not exactly. We have one dominant, more developed side, and because of the asymmetrical sizes and placement of our internal organs, the deep hip flexor muscles (Psoas Major) and connective tissues (fascia) are slightly different from side to side. These asymmetries cause our pelvis to shift slightly forward on the left side, and we bear more weight onto our right side. Add in repetitive movements, stresses, traumas and resulting scar tissue, and bodies are certainly not perfectly balanced. Despite these subtle differences and imbalances, your body works best when you can achieve as symmetrical alignment and range of motion as possible from side to side. 

Having a regular self-care practice to assess your unique alignment, full body movements, and any asymmetries is valuable so you can maintain your pain free functions, or seek help to address any concerns as they arise. The MELT Method is a gentle, self-care system using soft rubber balls to treat your hands and feet, and rubberized foam rollers for larger body parts. These treatments help you reconnect with your internal body sense and awareness, calm and rebalance your nervous system, release stuck stress and tension in your body, and rehydrate your connective tissues. Having these gentle tools at home is helpful to independently address your unique imbalances. 

Balance and stability exercises are in important addition to your self-care and fitness routine. These can include moving through full, pain-free range of motion for each joint (head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist and hand, torso, pelvis, hips, knees, ankles and feet) to assess the mobility available, and to notice any difficulties moving into certain positions. Performing exercises for the foot, hip, and core will have a positive impact on balance reactions. Standing on one leg at a time is an important foundation for functional freedom, including walking, dressing, and certain hygiene activities. The whole body has to work together to make that happen efficiently.  Moving your head into various positions, as well as closing one or both of your eyes, will challenge your vestibular system involved with your balance. Building strength and stability through your spinal and scapular (shoulder blade) areas will help you achieve a more balanced posture and be able to stay upright against gravity to perform your daily functional activities. 

Contact me today for your copy of Basic Balance Challenges, whole body exercises to try at home. These activities will enhance your overall stability and reaction time, and maintain your functional freedom and independence. www.1212bodyworks.com Call/text 414-405-3956, Email 1212bodyworks@gmail.com

This blog was written for the Humble Warrior Wellness and Yoga organization's newsletter. This 501C-3 non-profit organization supports and benefits Women Veterans and First Responders. These servicewomen have done so much to help maintain our many freedoms, so the women of Humble Warrior are giving back with wellness offerings, workshops, and retreats. I had the pleasure of teaching a Balance & Stability class, working alongside and serving these fantastic women at the Lake Life Retreat (June 2025) in Valders, WI. To support them yourself or make a donation, click on the link above. Thank You! 

Love the Sun, Protect Your Skin

 

Love the Sun, Protect Your Skin

Sunscreen and Whole Body Health Considerations

Summer is fast approaching and the sunshine will be consistently emitting its rays upon us very soon! According to the Skin Cancer Foundation website, “1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.” Since skin is the human body’s largest organ, we need to protect it and keep it healthy to allow us to keep moving comfortably and enjoying our everyday activities and daily functions. 

The skin interfaces with the connective tissue, or fascial system, which surrounds every cell, organ, muscle, and joint and holds us all together. As described in my book “MAGIC in Motion,” what we put on the outside of our body gets absorbed by the skin and becomes part of our internal environment. We need to be mindful of when and what we are putting on our skin so that we are protected from the elements when needed, while not adding unnecessary toxins to our body. The "C" in the MAGIC acronym refers to our muscles' ability to "Circulate" Lymphatic fluids. We want to ensure that our body works and moves efficiently from head to toe to pump those waste fluids out of our body.

In an article by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the constituents of a good sunscreen are highlighted. “A good sunscreen should provide equal broad-spectrum protection, against both ultraviolet, or UV, A and B rays. But the SPF value primarily reflects how well a product will protect from UVB rays, the main cause of sunburn and some skin cancers, such as squamous cell carcinoma. Sun protection products originally aimed to reduce sunburn. Today, it’s known that some UV rays, such as UVA, don’t cause sunburn but can lead to health harms. UVA rays, which penetrate the skin more deeply than UVB rays, are associated with skin aging and cancer, such as melanoma.”

To learn more about skin care and sunscreen, I consulted my favorite skin care professional, Nova Zynski, Aesthetician and Owner of “Skin Care by Nova Z” in Brookfield. One of the reasons I love to work with Nova is that part of her treatment process includes a wonderful head, face, neck, upper chest and shoulder lymphatic massage. She is able to really get stagnant fluids moving to de-puff and sculpt your face. Her techniques feel amazing and your skin truly glows! Nova has done a lot of research and is a master of her craft. I asked Nova to share her expertise to help us make sense of how we can best support our body’s health and safety this summer. Here is part of our conversation. 

E: Should we be using sunscreen every day? 

Nova: Not necessarily on a daily basis. If you're just in and out doing a few things, you need to be getting the sunshine on your skin.  Sunglasses are an issue too because people wear sunglasses too much, and to really get your vitamin D, sunlight needs to come through the eyes so the combo is important. Now, if you’re a truck driver and you have the sun on you all day every day that's different. Also, if you're sitting at your desk by a window in front of a computer all day every day, yes you should have sunscreen on, but you also want one that's going to protect you from the blue light. 

E: As an Aesthetician, what are the signs of sun damage that you see the most frequently with your clients? 

Nova: I see dark spots (hyperpigmentation) and light or white spots (hypopigmentation). Excess sun exposure accelerates the natural, gradual process of breaking down of the elastin bands in the skin. Skin becomes more lax faster, and overtime the skin becomes super thin. Also, some people’s skin will get really tough overtime because it's trying to compensate for what's been done to it. Their skin will have a lot more lines, and is sometimes really wrinkly looking, but really tough at the same time. It's not soft, supple skin anymore. 

E: What are some of the things we should be looking for in a good sunscreen?

Nova: Eminence, the Organic Skin Care line that I use with my clients, has a Radiance Protection SPF, which is also a moisturizer, and has botanicals that are good for the skin. This contains niacin-amide which has B complexes that help reduce pore size, help retain moisture levels, and build the moisture barrier. Zinc Oxide is another good ingredient to look for in sunscreen. There are many products available now that are not as thick and chalky as they used to be, and won’t leave the white film on your skin. 

E: Do you have any specific cautions regarding sunscreen? 

Nova: You want to use a “clean” product that doesn’t contain toxic ingredients. We want to steer clear of hormone disrupting chemicals. We also need to be careful of “nano-technologies” where the molecular sizes of certain ingredients are extremely small, and they can pass through the blood brain barrier. Sometimes certain chemicals in sunscreens can actually cause dark spots and do the opposite of protecting your skin. Also, even if a product is labeled “organic,” it could still have a few ingredients that you really don't want in there. It’s a misconception people have that if it says organic, that everything in there is good, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it is.  

I did a little extra research on some of the specific toxic chemicals to avoid in sunscreens. According to an article by Thais Alibadi, MD, “here are 6 questionable common chemical sunscreen ingredients:

• Oxybenzone, known as benzophenone-3, a hormone disruptor

• Avobenzone, also a benzophenone

• Homosalate, another hormone disruptor

• Octinoxate, known as octyl methoxycinnamate, a hormone and endocrine disruptor

• Octocrylene

• Octisalate, which stabilizes avobenzone”

Be sure to read your labels and avoid any of the above ingredients and lean toward using the products that are hydrating and safe for your skin, while protecting your body from excessive sun exposure. Enjoy your summer, but protect your skin and body from harmful rays and unnecessary chemicals. 

To learn more about Nova Zynski and her Skin Care Services, check out her website: 

Skin Care by Nova Z

To purchase your copy of “MAGIC in Motion: Foundations for Functional Fitness,” or purchase a copy for a friend or family member, learn more ways to keep your body healthy, and “treat yourself well” from the outside in and inside out, click HERE. 

To uncover your unique, bio-mechanical blockages that zap your energy and keep you from moving how you used to, or to enhance your whole body's communication and immune boosting circulation, schedule a session today: click HERE, call/text 414-405-3956, or email 1212bodyworks@gmail.com.

Reflections

As the Summer season gently transforms into Fall, we see beauty in the changes. As we move from one season of our life into another as we age, the beauty is harder to find. Pain, stiffness, tightness, joint noises, and limited movements feel far from beautiful. It's like standing uncomfortably at the edge of a pond, looking down at your reflection and seeing your younger self, happy, free, mobile, capable, knowing that version of you is still who you are at your core, but you come back into your body on the shore and feel your current reality. You are longing to get back to the day when life was so much easier and freer, when your body moved without discomfort and without having to strategize how do perform once simple activities.

The Supreme's 1967 classic song  "Reflections"  represents the change of seasons in our lives. Upon further research, this article shared that this song was "inspired by Diana Ross’s realization that she was no longer a teenybopper but a mature woman, reflecting on her life and the changes she had experienced. The lyrics reflect a deep and universal truth about our journey through life, the choices we make, and the consequences that follow. As we continue to face uncertain times, it is natural to look back on our lives and reflect on the choices that led us to where we are today. “Reflections” is a reminder that we are not alone in this journey and that by embracing our past, we can find the strength and hope to move forward."

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I'm here for you and WITH you on your journey. Whether your body's issues crept up on you over time, were the result of inefficient habits stacked over the years, or came on suddenly from an accident or a trauma that you endured, these issues are not YOU. They are just part of your experience. You may feel uncertain about if you'll ever feel better or like "yourself" again. I can see who you are at your core, underneath your pain and limited movements. This is what drives me to take the time to analyze your movement patterns, search for, continuously read about, and learn new techniques to get to the root of your body's issues, and find solutions to help you feel better and discover the beauty in your current season. Thank you for trusting me to help you find the strength and hope to move forward. 

 

UN-DO the Stuck Stress & Tension in your Body

 

As the Midwest summer quickly passes by, we are busy DO-ing all sorts of fun things outside to soak up all of the nice weather activities while we can. Walking around farmer's markets, festivals, enjoying lake life, and summer parties are all so much fun, but can lead to tension and stress getting stuck in our tissues. Instead of being focused on all the we are DO-ing, I've been teaching people how to UN-DO the stress and tension that gets stuck in the body due to connective tissue dehydration with the MELT Method. If you haven't already heard me gush about this amazing method, MELT is a simple, self-care treatment that enhances mobility, stability, and performance and is clinically proven to reduce chronic pain while restoring overall well-being. Using specially designed soft balls and rubberized foam Body Rollers, you can rebalance your body's nervous system and rehydrate the connective tissue system. 
 

It has been amazing to witness the changes in the clients who have adopted this method as part of their home wellness program. It was also fun to hear some of the feedback at the workshops held in July when people noticed immediate changes in their bodies. 

"My whole upper body feels relaxed, yet I feel energized at the same time." -- Carol S

"I can put my shoes back on without any hip pain after the workshop!" --Lynn M
 
"I can't wait to see what my co-workers say when they see me MELTing at my desk!" -- Heather B

I'd love to share more about this method or have you attend a workshop to learn how you too can take matters into your own hands to MELT your issues away! 

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Join me for another  MELT Method Hand and Foot Intro Workshop on
Saturday August 12,  from 10-11:30am at 1212 Bodyworks, Brookfield.
($45. Product discounts for attendees)

You'll learn a gentle, self-treatment for your hands and feet, using the MELT soft ball system, and your whole body will benefit!  

Space is limited, so be sure to click this link to register soon.

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Have you been feeling limited with your daily activities because of pain or uncomfortable movement? Want more information about the upcoming workshop? Curious about a custom MELT Method treatment session?  Or, just need a reboot to get your body back into balance?

Simply call, text [(414) 405-3956] or email [1212bodyworks@gmail.com] to schedule your next session.

I'd love to help you feel your best and enjoy the rest of the summer! 

 

Keep Moving Well! 

-Emily-

PS: If you were forwarded this message, email me to receive a free copy of my article

                                                    "How Mary Ditched Her Cane and Her Pain"  

Gratitude is the Best Medicine

"BOOM!" The sound of the collision between my SUV and the Minivan that crossed over into my lane haunts me to this day. 12 years ago this month, a roll-over car accident changed my life. For the first time in my career, the Physical Therapist became the patient. The same muscle techniques we now use to help YOU move and feel better were successfully employed by MY Physical Therapist to help rehabilitate my neck and shoulder injuries. This experience validated that venturing outside of the traditional physical therapy box was the best decision for me as the patient, and for all of my future patients, and for that I am truly grateful! This experience also helped me appreciate the little things in life that I had once taken for granted. I was lucky and grateful to be alive!! 

My client just came in this morning and said "I'm not doing well today." I assumed she meant because our session last time was too much for her, but instead she said, "I just found out that my friend's husband died as a result of injuries from the Waukesha Christmas parade event yesterday." My heart broke for her and the many people and families affected both physically and emotionally by the horrific incident so close to home for many of us! Life is such a precious gift that can be taken from us at any time without warning. She expressed gratitude that her friend's injuries were less severe and that she has a strong support network to lean on during this difficult time. 

Last week, a client who has been severely sleep-deprived due to the pain of his dislocated shoulder, was grateful that he was starting to improve. Even though it was his non-dominant side, he realized just how much he really needed it to function better to get through life! And sleep deprivation is no joke!! Those of us affected by that because of pain or other issues in our life can surely relate.  His gratitude for even a little better sleep, and a little better function gave him a new perspective and he was starting to feel more hopeful. 

No matter what is going on in our lives, having gratitude always helps. This time of year always brings gratitude to mind, as we are about to celebrate Thanksgiving this week. We all have so much to be grateful for, but sometimes our gratitude can be lost amongst our pain and life's stressors.  

Even though it may feel like a nuisance to change your schedule to get to and from therapy appointments, at least there are answers to your pain problems to be found.  Even though doing your home exercise program takes time away from other daily activities, it may be helping to support those daily activities. It's annoying to have to make changes with how we do things when pain and other limitations don't allow us to do things the normal way, but at least our bodies were designed to compensate so we can still keep going.  Having gratitude that our bodies have a warning signal system in place when we feel pain or that something isn't "right" with our bodies is actually a huge blessing!! It allows us to take notice and find better ways to move, whether on our own or with the help of a professional. Being able to FEEL our body means that we are alive. Sometimes it is hard to find the blessings and have gratitude when we don't like what we feel, but the alternative (not being alive...) is worse! 

I am so grateful to have each of you in my life! It is such a HUGE blessing to enjoy coming to work each day. The opportunity to help each and every one of you move and feel better is so important to me, and I thank you for committing to this process, allowing us to work together to solve your unique issues, even if it takes some time to get to the root of them. I know what it is like to be limited by pain, problems moving how we want to be moving, sleep disturbances, and having to keep working at home exercises to feel better. I'm grateful for every session where we can help your body shine your light on the world a little brighter! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your healing journey! 

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that you can focus on all that you are grateful for in your life, no matter what is going on around us. God Bless You!! 

I cried today...

"I've been told by so many practitioners what is wrong with me." 

"Nothing else has worked and I'm not sure that this will either."

"I'm feeling worse, not better."

"I don't feel like doctors or therapists understand my problem."

"I'm depressed because nothing I'm doing is helping me feel better."

What a day it was! 4 clients in one day, and ALL of them are discouraged. I can't blame them at all. They have all been on a healing journey to try to find answers to their various health challenges. They have worked with multiple practitioners, have invested in supplements, cleanses and special tests, had surgeries and other treatments to try to "fix" their structural problems, only to create more pain and movement dysfunctions to overcome. It must be so frustrating!! These quotes are familiar to me, as a PT for the past 20+ years now. Usually I try not to take things personally, am strong and try to stay positive and encouraging with my clients, but today I cried. Not in front of my clients (although I did that once last week...) but at the end of my day. 

Working with the human body is no joke! As owners of our human bodies, it is enough to make any one of our heads spin trying to keep up with all of the messages our bodies share with us each day on what we feel, what we need, what we want, and what is best for taking care of ourselves and moving and feeling our best. And then actually following through on it is a whole other ballgame! Recognizing these messages, doing what we can to make changes ourselves, and then discerning when it is time to ask a professional for help can be additional challenges.  Each individual comes with a unique history, concerns and goals, and even though our bodies "mostly" look like the medical charts we study as bodyworkers, no two humans are exactly alike. This makes the healing process a challenge, to say the least.  

It is a huge blessing to me to be invited in to someone's healing journey to try to facilitate positive change. I have made it my mission to help clients in a unique way to figure out their movement imbalances, reawaken muscle contractions, and educate them on how to keep these areas active and firing. As a Physical Therapist, I know the physical anatomy and how to enhance its function very well. Some of my clients call what we do here "magic" as we help the nervous system improve its stability almost instantaneously, which can have a positive impact on reducing pain sensations. However, many of the clients here also have layers of emotional pain tied in with their physical pain. Whether this emotional pain comes from abuse or trauma from childhood, physical trauma due to injuries, medical treatments or surgeries, mental exhaustion from dealing with chronic pain, family stressors, workplace demands, or life transitions, this emotional pain needs to be addressed before full resolution of body pain can be achieved. I WISH I could wave a magic wand to make THAT kind of pain disappear, but that is not possible. 

Physical Therapy is a wonderful modality that can be added to enhance one's healing journey. It is never the "end all be all" as there are many other factors in life that need to be addressed in addition to your balanced posture and movements. PT can be a wonderful adjunct to eating a healthy diet and staying hydrated, taking supplements, getting Vitamin D from the sun, exercising, seeing a Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, Massage Therapist, or other Holistic Practitioners. I understand that some people will move and feel better with my help, and others may not. Some may even feel worse! That is the risk we both take when entering into a working relationship. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that the process I use and the individualized plan that I devise, based on each client's assessment findings, will actually take all of their pain away. My heart breaks for the number of clients who have seen multiple practitioners and are still left wanting more relief. My heart breaks again when the work we do here isn't enough for them to see positive change and they have to move on to yet another practitioner for help. I'm grateful to know that there are still a lot of other wonderful, healing avenues for clients to pursue if this process is not the end of their journey. 

As much as it was a tough day for me emotionally to hear all of my clients discouragement, I am still more encouraged by the wonder and resiliency of the human body and its ability to heal, to move, and feel better.  I am still grateful for the opportunity to try to help as many people as possible and teach them what they can be doing for themselves to facilitate healing. I'm choosing to bless and release those that are not a good fit for my services and embrace those of you who are still willing to take the chance to move forward together along your healing journey. Thanks for your trust in this process and for understanding that what we do here is just one piece of a HUGE healing puzzle. 

8 Key Elements to a Well Balanced Life: "D" is for...

I've been naughty this year. I've been teaching my clients to perform exercises specifically for their unique muscle imbalances, but I haven't done my exercises faithfully. I have all sorts of exercise equipment at home and at my office, but do you think I use them often? No. I haven't been practicing what I preach as much as I should have been this year. However, a good friend of mine once said, "Don't ever "should" on yourself" and I have always appreciated that comment. I have realized that it is important to focus on all of the good things I have done this year instead focusing on what I "should" have done.  

In August, I finally broke down and hired a personal trainer to help keep me accountable for taking care of myself, as I had been focusing on taking care of others and let myself go. I am also making great strides in overcoming leaky gut syndrome and the resultant autoimmune conditions that have created challenges with my health and energy levels by educating myself on  how to use food as medicine. I am helping my family to also improve their health and energy levels so we can keep up with our 5 year old! Prioritizing time with my family and friends has also brought a lot of joy into my life in 2016. I also just formed a "Meet Up" group called "Get Moving Mil-WALK-esha" to get people together for walks around Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. These good things in 2016 have helped to move me closer to living a well balanced life. 

Over the past 8 months, you have discovered how to live a well-balanced life also through Breathing, being mindful of your body's Alignment, moving around or being "Locomotive", bringing Awareness to your body's sensations and movement limits, eating a Nutritious diet, Circulating your body's important life giving and cleansing fluids, and enhancing your Environment to maximize health and minimize toxins. Finally, as the year draws to a close, you will discover the final key element to a well balanced life. 

The journey toward health and wellness is not an easy one. Pain, tightness, limited movements and mental blocks can all get in the way of our ability to enjoy life. Many of us seem to be wearing many hats and burning the candle at both ends, as they say, and time seems to fly by before our eyes. The final key element in BALANCED is one of the most important elements but can also be one of the most difficult: Dedication to taking care of ourselves and living a healthy life. 

Dedication means taking the time out of your day to breathe. Dedication means taking a moment to look within and be aware of how you are feeling, and then take action to improve upon that feeling if necessary. Dedication means taking the time to plan out, prepare and enjoy nutritious meals, snacks and drinks. Dedication means doing the best you can on any given day, or at any given moment, to commit to your well-being and make the best decisions you possibly can to care for yourself.  

Dedication is NOT perfection. (I have to keep reminding myself of that one.) Dedication means cutting yourself some slack for missing a workout, and getting back on the horse as soon as possible. Dedication means having the right network of family, friends, coaches and helpers to keep you moving toward your goals and truly living a well balanced life. Dedication means taking care of yourself so you can continue to care for others. (I have to remind myself of that one, too!)

Congratulations on your dedication so far along the journey toward your well-balanced life. The journey keeps on going until our time is up on this planet. I'm dedicated to being here for you to support you on your journey as I continue along mine. 

Keep moving well!