Thrive Integrative Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab LLC

I am sharing my favorite, easy and healthier holiday treat recipe. It's called Coconut Bark Candy.
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut butter
4 Tb coconut oil
4Tb raw honey or sweetener of choice
Toppings: 1/2 cup nuts, dried fruit, or chocholate chips
Warm the coconut butter up in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in coconut oil and remove from heat. Mix in the honey and extracts. Spread the coconut mixture over parchment paper lined cookie sheet or baking dish. Top with your favorite toppings and gently press them into bark. Refrigerate the coconut bark for at least 30 min or until hardened. Break the bark into pieces and store in air-tight container. Enjoy!

This wellness Wednesday tip is in honor of Thanksgiving. First of all, I want to say all of us at Thrive are thankful for our patients and supporters of our business. Secondly, I think the art of gratitude is so important for our overall well-being. If our expression are of gratitude, appreciation, and happiness, then our lives begin to reflect those feelings in our interactions each day. Our feelings are magnetic; they draw experiences to use that mirror our expressions. Try this exercise: write down 5 things you feel grateful for daily. Even blessings you may overlook like birds, trees, light and colors, loved ones and daily comforts. I would bet the more you do this, the more relaxed and joyful you'll become. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

DIY Myofascial Release

This is a great article on stretching specific to fascia and self mobilization! Fascia is the inner webbing of connective tissue in your body that protects and surrounds every system. It hold bones, organs, muscles and blood vessels in place and gives your body structure and support. Check it out and see how you feel.

DIY Myofascial Release Here are four exercises to keep your fascia tissue healthy.

Another healthy fall recipe:
Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole

Ingredients
1-1.5 lbs chicken breasts, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 median sized spaghetti squash
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 can pumpkin puree
½ canned coconut milk
3 garlic cloves
½ yellow onion
2 TB olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop your cauliflower and put it in a baking dish with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. Then, cut your spaghetti squash in half and use spoon to scoop out seeds and extra threads. Place face down on a baking pan. Add the cauliflower and spaghetti squash to the oven, side by side if possible, and roast for about 25 minutes. You know the spaghetti squash is done cooking when you can poke a hole outside the skin and it gives a bit.
2. While the squash and cauliflower are cooking, its time to cook your chicken. Pull out a large saucepan or large pot and put over medium heat.
3. Add olive oil to it along with minced garlic. Once garlic starts to smell, add your chopped onions and cook until translucent.
4. Add your chopped chicken to cooking onions and cover and let steam for about 5 min
5. Once the chicken is about 2/3 cooked, add your can of pumpkin, half can of coconut milk, and spices directly to your pan. Mix thoroughly. Taste to see if you need any more spices or salt
6. Once the squash and cauliflower are done cooking, and chicken saucy mixture is heated up, de-thread spaghetti squash with a fork, running the fork opposite of the threads.
7. Add your spaghetti squash threads, roasted cauliflower, and chicken saucy mixture to a 9x11 glass baking dish and add to the oven under the broiler. Cook about 5 min on high
8. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 10 min to help the sauce thicken.

Happy Halloween from all of us at Thrive Integrative PT! 👻🎃🍭

Exercise is beneficial for more than just your muscles and heart. Physical activity also keeps your brain healthy. Aerobic exercise can change your brain's anatomy, physiology and function and have a positive affect on all these aspects listed below:
-Alertness and Perception
-Movement and Coordination
-Attention and Concentration
-Learning and Memory
-Creativity and Imagination
-Improving your mental health
-Keeping your brain young

It's suggested the best exercise for the brain would be movement to tax both your cardiovascular system and brain, such as tennis, yoga, Pilates, karate, etc.

October is National PT Month! Here are some great reasons to choose physical therapy:
-Maximize movement and keep you active and healthy
-Manage your pain and avoid opioids and surgery
-Meet your needs and goals related to functional mobility
-Improve your mental health
-Guidance with exercise or rehab for an injury and teach you how to participate in your recovery

Thank you to our patient, Kraig, who trusted Thrive Integrative PT and his physical therapist, Dave to "make his knee great again." Kraig is working super hard every treatment to get his strength back after surgery. Keep up the good work, gentlemen!

Thank you to the stellar team (Dave, Josh, Mark and Mark) for representing Thrive Integrative PT at the Our Health golf fundraiser on Friday. We were happy to be a sponsor for such a worthy cause.

This guy just passed his exam to earn his Orthopedic Clincial Specialist (OCS) certification. Please help us congratulating Dave! He worked hard and we are proud of his dedication to becoming an excellent physical therapist!

Karen and Caroline’s favorite spine stretches that ensure mobility into flexion, extension, and rotation. We recommend holding each for 30-60 seconds. Do both sides for the rotation stretch.

60% of the body is made of water. When you are hydrated your body’s cells, tissues and organs have proper balance to function well. Dehydration can cause lethargy, brain fog, headaches, digestive issues and difficulty in recovery from exercise and injuries. It is estimated that 75% of Americans are dehydrated. The amount of water you need depends on age, body size, medical issues, activity level, and environmental issues (temperature outside, humidity, and altitude). The National Academy of Medicine recommends an average of 125 oz for men and 90 oz for women in a day. Other recommendations are to sip water intermittently rather than chugging, slow down consumption at the end of the day, don’t drink during a meal so your digestive enzyme won’t be diluted, and your urine should be a light yellow color. So, as we prepare for warmer weather this spring and summer, make sure to stay hydrated.

We know exercise is linked to amazing physical, cognitive, and mental health benefits but cycling specifically may be a great choice for cardio for all ages and functional abilities for a variety of reasons. The bike bears most of the weight as you move which is lower impact and easier on your hips, knees and ankles. It’s less lateral stress on your lower extremities, causes less muscle damage and soreness, and a great adjunct to rehab due to its mostly concentric muscle contraction (muscle shortening) which is less damaging to muscles than eccentric. There isn’t much carryover for bone health so make sure you supplement with strength training and other weight bearing exercise. Lastly, it’s better for the environment that driving your car as a form of transportation.

Why the Vagus Nerve Matters to Your Health

The vagus nerve (a cranial nerve in the body) plays a vital role in stress regulation and overall health. The vagus nerve regulates hunger, manages stress and the immune response due to its innervation to the heart, lungs and gut, among other organs. The vagus nerve determines how well we’re able to shift between “fight or flight” and “rest and digest”. To increase your vagal tone and improve your body’s ability to engage the parasympathetic nervous system and build more resilience to stress, try out these suggestions:
-Breathe deeply
-Gargle with water
-Hum or chant
-Take a cold shower
Check out the full article below and the book by Stanley Rosenburg called “Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve” for more vagus exercises. https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/why-the-vagus-nerve-matters-to-your-health/

Why the Vagus Nerve Matters to Your Health The vagus nerve, also known as the gut–brain axis, plays a critical role in stress regulation and overall health. Learn how you can take care of yours.

Thrive Integrative Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab, LLC is looking for a motivated physical therapist who wants to focus on manual therapy and join our team in an outpatient orthopedic private practice within Onelife Fitness gym. This is a physical therapist owned and operated clinic with 14+ years’ experience working together. We’ve built a successful business and client following in the Wi******er area emphasizing a holistic, integrative approach to treatment. Specifically, we are looking for an PT who wants to learn a method we practice called Integrative Manual Therapy, which is a non-invasive hands-on technique to correct dysfunctional movement patterns. We will guide and mentor you in learning this amazing tool for your orthopedic PT toolbox. We want your diversity, ideas, and skills to assist us in growing our practice and providing the best quality care possible to our patients. Our focus includes melding manual therapy, rehabilitation, fitness, and wellness approaches to foster our patients in meeting their goals and THRIVING on this journey we call life. Please email me at [email protected] if you or someone you know is interested.

We finally got to have our first ever staff holiday party! It’s been a crazy but amazing 2 years! Thankful for each of these dedicated individuals.

February can feel like a long month. Here are some tips for beating the winter blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder.
1. Get more light- spend time outside in the sun or 20 minutes a day of bright light therapy
2. Avoid simple carbs and sugary foods which can create blood sugar spikes and lead to energy crashes
3. Supplement with omega 3, Vit D3, Vit B complex to help ward off stress response and improve mood
4. Get some movement and exercise (30 min a day), preferable outdoors in the sunshine
5. Get sleep- going to bed and getting up the same time each day
6. Practicing yoga and mindfulness can be a powerful anti-depression tool

Exercise can significantly improve our mental health. Exercise elevates neurotransmitters in our brain, including serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine which are important in regulating anxiety and depression. Glutamate and GABA are other neurotransmitters that are elevated during exercise and may aid in reducing depression. Exercise helps our brain balance hormones and regulates mood. It's time to get moving!

It’s resolution season again . . . but, truthfully, I’m not much for resolutions these days. In my past, they were a staple when the calendar flipped to January: Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. Avoid junk food. Fit into my old pair of jeans. I usually stuck with them for a week or two, and then, like clockwork, the rigidity left me discarding them, one all-or-nothing goal at a time.
Statistics show that resolution abandonment is relatively common. Most people — around 80 percent, according to some estimates — give up on them by the start of February. And it can be hard to recommit and channel motivation once those ambitions fall to the wayside.
But during the winter season that’s more introspective, when you might be thinking about what you enjoy, it’s a good time to think about why you’re pursuing a certain activity.
Instead of doing certain pursuits because you think you should, or because of the potential outcome, use changes in motivation as a chance to try and assess new options. Dance, yoga, martial arts, skiing, pickleball, weightlifting, group fitness — there’s a broad range of opportunities for you to be a beginner again. You don’t need to plant your flag and declare that this is your new activity from now on. The goal is to play.
When you find your thing, the one that makes you excited, you won’t need much motivation. Try a lot of things, keep exploring, and if you don’t like something, move on to the next thing.

Happy New Year!

Santa came for a visit today. He strained his back getting his sleigh ready for tomorrow. We were happy to help save Christmas! 🎁🎅🏻❤️💚🎄

To prevent injury, don't forget to do a warm up before activity and stretches to cool down after. Some examples of warm up are 5 minute walk or jog, jumping jacks or jump rope, bodyweight squats, butt kickers, walking lunges, or high knees. Stretching right after a workout when your muscles are warm will improve flexibility and lower your heart rate back to resting state. Some examples of static stretches (hold 30 seconds each) are quad and hamstring stretch, child's pose, hip openers (rotators), lower back twist, chest and shoulder stretch. What's your favorite warm up or stretch?

With exercising, just being consistent can reign over intensity. To change your routine, decide how many days a week you are going to exercise and then do it. Even if it's a 15 minute walk, you have to start somewhere and something is better than nothing. We are creatures of habit so if you can get yourself in a routine first, then you can build on intensity. Bonus- do something you love like hike, yoga, dance, run, swim, bike, play soccer.

Trying to get back to a fitness routine? Dive into your purpose, your "why," and what your overall goals are. Whether it's to throw a ball with your grandson, hiking the Grand Canyon, running a 5K, or walk around the grocery store to shop for yourself. Writing down your specific goal, even sharing it with someone, will allow you to discover a deeper connection to what you are trying to achieve and thus more likely to stick with your workout plan.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful for each and every one of our patients and we hope you enjoy your time today in whichever way you celebrate! 🍁🦃🙏🏻

It finally felt like fall today and I wanted to share some of my favorite healthy treats. Here is a recipe for Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies:
1 cup almond butter
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin spices
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine and pour into 8x8 pan, bake 375 deg for 25 minutes. Cut into squares after it cools.
What are your favorite fall flavors?

6 Morning Routines for Better Sleep

Having trouble sleeping? Check out these morning routine suggestions and the article below.
-Wake up on time and the same time each day
-Make your bed
-Get outside (or near a window) for some sunlight
-Eat breakfast
-Exercise early
-Focus on your breath

6 Morning Routines for Better Sleep Did you know that making your bed in the morning ups your chances of sleeping well at night?

Build a Better Brain

Want better memory, cognition, and focus? Check out these suggestions for better brain function.
-Take your brain to the gym. Increasing your heart rate will improve blood flow to your brain. 1 hour, 3 times a week
-Limit saturated fat, eliminate trans fat, and prioritize omega 3
-Increase antioxidants to fight free radicals through eating fruits and vegetables, black and green tea
-Keep inflammation at bay
-Manage stress with yoga, tai chi, mediation, and bodywork
-Limit refined sugar and stick with natural sugars in fruits and vegetables to stabilize glucose needed for brain function.

See article below for more information on brain health.

Build a Better Brain Fitness is more than just losing weight and toning up — it's a whole-body pursuit, one that includes tending to the health of one of your most important organs: the brain.

Regular Physical Activity Lowers Risk for Severe COVID-19 and Death

This article shows some new data that getting 150 minutes of exercise a week lowers your risk of death and severe symptoms related to COVID-19. The study showed even getting some exercise (11-140 min) lowered your risk in comparison to no exercise. Just another way to stay healthy and boost your immunity.

Regular Physical Activity Lowers Risk for Severe COVID-19 and Death A new study confirms the importance of regular physical activity. And the findings are big. People who exercised 150 minutes per week or more and contracted COVID-19 had a much lower risk of death and

How Exercise Improves Your Immune Health

Need some motivation for sticking with your workout routine? How about data showing regular physical activity can help us recover more quickly, heal more easily, and get an edge on all kinds of disease and injury. In fact, exercise may just be nature’s best medicine. “There is no medication or nutritional supplement that even comes close to having all of the effects exercise does,” says David C. Nieman, PhD, author of The Exercise–Health Connection: How to Reduce Your Risk of Disease and Other Illnesses by Making Exercise Your Medicine. “It’s truly the best medicine we know of.”
We usually think of exercise as a preventive measure — something that helps us maintain our general fitness. But in truth, it offers a vast range of healing influences — helping to reverse negative biochemical trends while improving our resiliency and immunity at virtually every physiological level.

Check out the full article here https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/how-exercise-improves-your-immune-health/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email+&utm_id=pause&et_cid=21945881&et_rid=41089902&et_attr1=

How Exercise Improves Your Immune Health Regular movement is one of the best ways to tamp down inflammation — and up your immunity.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot, including our exercise habits. Between stay at home orders, gym closures and working from home, activity levels dropped. If you want to get moving this summer but had a long break from activity, your body won't be ready to jump right back in. Here are a few tips to help you get more active without getting hurt:
Start slow
● If you're a runner, think about a walk to run program
● If you're a weight lifter, start with lighter weights and less reps.
● Whatever your activity of choice is, start with short periods of activity and gradually work your way back up.
Warm up and cool down
A good warm up gets your heart and lungs ramped up and prepares your muscles and tendons for the increase in activity about to come. Include some light cardio like jogging, calisthenics, or cycling, followed by active stretching like butt kicks, high knees, or yoga.
Cooling down transitions your body back to a lower state of stress - it brings your heart rate and breathing down, decreases blood flow to your muscles and back to places like your digestive system, and helps you relax. It's also a great place for static stretches if you need some work on your flexibility.
Take a day off
Rest days let your body recover and keep you from getting burned out. Not enough exercise isn't good for you, but too much of a good thing can cause problems too.
Watch for early signs of injury
Some soreness for a few days after activity is normal, especially if you've had a long break. But there are a few common issues to watch out for as you return to activity:
● Swelling or bruising
● Joint pain, especially in the knees or shoulders
● Foot pain- which could be a sign of plantar fasciitis. Reminder to wear proper supportive shoewear
● Muscle strains - these are particularly common in the hamstrings. Use heat and stretch
● Sprains - most common in the ankle, use ice if swollen
Any of these issues justifies a call to your physical therapist. Getting checked out early can prevent an injury that derails your attempt to return to activity. PTs see all of the issues above on a regular basis and can help safely guide you back into a more active lifestyle. Stop by Thrive Integrative PT in Onelife for a free screening or to schedule an appointment.
(Source: APTA.org)