Behind the Bluff
Uncover best practices to participate in life on your terms. Every week, hosts Jeff Ford and Kendra Till guide listeners with short conversations on trending wellness topics and share interviews with passionate wellness professionals, our private club leaders, and additional subject matter experts offering valuable tips. Each episode conclusion includes Healthy Momentum, five minutes of inspiration to help you reflect and live differently. Subscribe now and discover the keys to living your greatest active lifestyle.
Behind the Bluff
Your Spine Doesn't Define Your Life | Meghan Teed
Megan Teed, physical therapist and co-founder of the Wellco, shares her journey from being diagnosed with scoliosis at age 11 to developing innovative treatment approaches that go beyond traditional physical therapy.
• Personal experience with inadequate scoliosis education in PT school, receiving only one hour of instruction on the condition
• Three fundamental components of effective scoliosis treatment: elongation, stacking body blocks, and stabilization
• Different types of scoliosis: congenital, idiopathic (90% of cases), functional, and degenerative
• Three-phase treatment protocol: Spine Restore (nervous system reset), Corrective (alignment), and Spine Strength (building opposing muscles)
• Why stretching without addressing fascial adhesions first can worsen scoliosis
• Recommendation to avoid barbell squats and deadlifts in favor of more adaptable exercises using dumbbells
• Simple daily maintenance techniques including foot rolling and elongation exercises
• Inspiration from Olympic athletes like Usain Bolt who compete at elite levels with scoliosis
Join Megan's free scoliosis-specific Pilates class at the Wellco at 10am Eastern Standard Time on June 28th in honor of National Scoliosis Awareness Month. Find Megan on Instagram as @thescoliotherapist, on YouTube, and on her podcast "Ahead of the Curve."
Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, Jeff Ford, and today I have the pleasure of sitting down with Megan Teed, physical therapist and co-founder of the Wellco. With a BA in psychology and a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Pittsburgh, Megan mixes clinical know-how with a deep passion for getting to the root of healing, not just treating symptoms, and she is someone who knows traditional rehab doesn't cut it. In this episode, we're going to explore her unique approach to healing, her deep work with scoliosis and spinal health, and how mindset, movement and modern therapy all come together in her practice. Megan, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me Happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks so much for taking the time. You just lit up the membership with an amazing seminar here at Palmetto Bluff, so thank you for doubling up today.
Speaker 2:Definitely definitely. It was a lot of fun. I'm happy to share some information. Skolius, this is so poorly understood and it was fun to be in person with some people, because I'm usually behind the screen.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, I understand you do a lot of remote work, just given your skill, set and expertise, and I just loved how, today, you kept things so simple and practical, so I'm excited to dive into that and share with the world through Behind the Bluff. So let's get right into it. When you were 11 years old, an x-ray confirmed that you had scoliosis. Megan, I read that you started wearing baggy sweatshirts as a result of this in school to hide your back, and you even tried to pretend that it didn't exist. I think there's a lot of people out there that can relate to this. Can you tell us more about your personal connection and how it drew you into this field?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I went to physical therapy school and was expecting to maybe learn a little bit more about my body in PT school and I went to University of Pittsburgh and it's ranked really well. It's ranked second in the nation for physical therapy. Great program, learned a ton, obviously. But when we got around to our scoliosis lecture, it was an hour long lecture and it gave us like basically no information about what to do about scoliosis. So it was basically like, if you have it, just treat it like any other back pain, back issue, back diagnosis, and that was really it.
Speaker 1:It was one hour of education for physical therapists on scoliosis. That was really it. It was one hour of education for physical therapists on scoliosis. It sounds not dissimilar to where I think we've been with traditional doctors getting one hour of nutrition education. Maybe it's more, maybe it's less, um, but it it. It sounds like you found very little in your education.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I was like, okay, well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it. So it just kind of went on my way and I graduated, I did travel PT and probably seven years later I ended up in Bluffton and when I was here I got connected into the Pilates community and there was a woman locally who was getting trained in Pilates for scoliosis. She knew I had scoliosis and she was like hey, do you want to be my case study for my training? And I was like, sure. So I learned a ton about my own body through that experience. And then I started applying what I learned about myself to my patients and I started getting really good results with them and I was like, okay, there's something to this. And then it took me down this whole path that I'm on now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, the path has certainly expanded for you Now. When you were first learning about the connection between Pilates and scoliosis, what were some of the exercises or methods that inspire your practice today?
Speaker 2:So the main three components that I learned were elongation. So elongation basically means trying to create as much space in your body as you can. So if you're sitting or if you're standing, trying to lift your rib cage away from your pelvis as much as possible and taking up as much space in your life and your room as you can. And then the other two elements are stacking your body blocks. So, um, as you know or may or may not know, a scoliosis you have different body blocks, so your pelvis is a body block, your rib cage is a body block, your shoulders are a body block and they're shifted and rotated, usually opposite directions from each other.
Speaker 2:So it's like a big jenga set or rubik's cube that's a great visual yeah, so, um, that uh was super helpful for me to just be able to visualize in my own body that like, yeah, not only are my ribs shifted over to the right, but they're also rotated back on the right and and then my hips go the opposite way of that. So it's not as simple as just. You know, sitting up straight, you have some more things that you need to think about on top of that. And then the third thing is just stabilizing. Once you're in that aligned body block position. So if you don't have any awareness of what your body blocks are doing or what your body's doing, you're going about your business, doing strength training, doing Pilates, willy nilly. You're just reinforcing your curve and strengthening the asymmetries in your body.
Speaker 1:That makes complete sense to me as a fitness trainer and having a knowledge base there where it's like we, we can't load poor positions. So what we're saying with scoliosis is first step is elongating the body, sticking the chest out a little more versus necessarily getting small in a room. Secondly, stacking the building blocks of the body I've never heard that phrasing and then creating stability in that position yep, nice, exactly, well, exactly. Well, let's, let's go ahead and get listeners even more familiar with scoliosis. Are there different types and what are the causes?
Speaker 2:Um, so there are different types. Um, there's congenital, where if somebody that has spina bifida, uh, that's born with it. Congenital means you were born with it and it's obvious at birth that you have a curve in your spine. There's idiopathic, which 90% of the people that have scoliosis have idiopathic scoliosis. Idiopathic means Idiopathic means the reason is unknown why people develop it. And then there's functional scoliosis. That happens so if you have one leg that's longer than the other, if you had an injury like a disc herniation sometimes you can get this scoliosis that develops as a result of those injuries or an accident.
Speaker 1:Like an acute type accident could create the change in the spine.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, but with a functional scoliosis. That means the actual structure of the spine hasn't changed, but something outside of it has.
Speaker 1:Caused the curve oh wow, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then there is degenerative scoliosis Cause the curve, a compression fracture, and that causes one side of the vertebrae to collapse and maybe the other side is fairly normal, so that wedging that happens, it creates that vicious cycle of asymmetrical loading of the spine and then it creates further and further asymmetries in the body understood.
Speaker 1:so there's a lot of different ways that our backs can change and I would imagine, as someone assessing the spine of someone, what's your approach in the very beginning? Do you try to identify how it was caused and then that aids in how you think about your treatment program, or is it treated very similarly depending on where it originated from?
Speaker 2:It's treated very similarly. In my professional training that I've gotten for scoliosis, I've been taught that there isn't much to be done with congenital scoliosis.
Speaker 1:When you're born with it. Yes, yeah, thank you, you're good, yeah, no, I'm just making sure I understand as well.
Speaker 2:No, it's important to not like talk in all this lingo that people may not understand, but what I found is, as I've been working with people over the course of the past seven years doing this, that it is possible to treat them all very similarly because the root of what's going on in those asymmetries is very similar. So if your curve is primarily on that right-hand side, it doesn't matter if it developed at birth or if it developed later in life. You're going to work with those asymmetries very similarly.
Speaker 1:Understood, and is it fair to say that there are a lot of the same symptoms that people experience regardless of when their curve developed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what does differentiate is where their main curve is. So people who have a larger lumbar curve in their low back they tend to have more pain, they tend to progress more than a main middle back curve, and that's primarily because of the rib cage.
Speaker 1:So rib cage acts as a natural brace to your scoliosis and when you have your main curve in your low back it's a much more mobile segment of your spine so it creates more pain with movement, with life and it tends to progress more quickly yeah, I'm definitely tracking there, because when you think of a hip hinge, the lumbar is a section of the spine where we really need to ensure we're stabilizing and we're stacking before we move in a position like that.
Speaker 1:So if we have an existing curve and you know we're not paying attention to those patterns like just see obviously the repetitive motion of that being problematic over time, definitely. Yeah, um, so you, you alluded to it just for it, and I I stumble apart across this concept a lot, where when we're faced with pain or we have something going on, even just at a very surface level, a lot of the advice is to just stretch or to do yoga. And I connected with that when I was just doing research on your approach and as a physical therapist, first of all, like, how do you feel about that? And then, secondly, can scoliosis be corrected, or is the goal more about pain management and support?
Speaker 2:So my all right, let me start with the stretching and the yoga. Okay, okay. So, um, if you think of a rubber band and you tie a knot on that rubber band and you just go and you keep stretching and pulling and pulling on that rubber band, over time is that not going to get looser?
Speaker 2:gonna get tighter it's gonna get tighter. And what's going to happen to the actual integrity and quality of that band if you just keep stretching it over and over again and you're not getting rid of that knot? That's there. It's going to maybe start fraying, it's going to get a little bit thinner, and that happens with our ligaments, that happens with our muscles over time.
Speaker 2:If we're just purely always going at it from a mobility and a stretching lens, then I think that we're not really getting to the root of the issue. And so that's why I've started shifting gears from stretching to doing myofascial release first, so that you're breaking up any sort of stickiness or adhesions that you get in your fascia and your muscles and then your mobility actually just improves pretty organically without having to stretch. And then, if you add in that extra layer of having a curvy spine in addition to that, do you even know what you're stretching? At that point you know you have these areas of restriction that are probably there for a reason. And if you just go in and you're purely trying to stretch, you know what you see is the collapse side. You know what you see is the collapse side. You may not see that below that or above it is an open space, so you're not taking into consideration the whole picture of that person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I feel like for so long we've had this concept of stretching is good for us. Concept of stretching is good for us, and what I find is it's often done incorrectly and, to your point, it's not triaged appropriately. We're not looking at you know why is this part of the body restricted in the first place? And I'm such a huge fan of fascial release, have been since learning further about it and it's great to get now a visual of making sure we take care of the knot and the rubber band before we apply stretching, because I'm sure, as a physical therapist, you're constantly putting corrective stretches into people's routines, but you're doing that with a foundation of knowledge of of who they are and what's kind of going on with them. Definitely Well, good job.
Speaker 1:I think you stayed off the soapbox as best as you could there. Um, let, let's get into this whole pieces of correction. I think it. It gets a little um whenever we start talking about the spine. You hear all sorts of things, so I'd love to hear from you Is this a pain management thing? Are we changing the spine? What are we doing?
Speaker 2:here. Yeah, this has also changed over time. For me, where I was taught in the Schroth method Pilates for scoliosis Our main priority is to stabilize the curve and prevent it from getting worse, and pain management. What I've found and what I've just learned over time is I need to remember this stat correctly and it may be wrong, but because our bones are continuously regenerating over and over again, not only can things get worse with our skeletal system, but they can also get better. Uh, every seven years we have a completely new skeleton a completely new. That's the one. I'm not sure on seven years, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, roughly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that we have a completely new skeleton than you did seven years ago. So are you doing things to improve that skeletal structure? Are you doing things to just keep it the same or maybe let it get worse?
Speaker 1:It sounds not dissimilar to other things that happen in our body over the years. Yeah, yeah, cool. So let's go ahead and talk a little bit more about your specific programming. I see one of your most popular programs out. There is what's called a scoliosis strength collective and it's it seems to be sold out. Six months virtual program. Walk us through it. How do you assess and create a personalized approach over a six-month period of time with someone?
Speaker 2:so, um, I have kind of a repertoire of things that I take people through over that six months. There's three different phases to it. There's a spine restore phase. That's the beginning phase, basically resetting the nervous system, getting permission to get some changes to happen from the brain, from the body, because if we just go in immediately and we're trying to make all this correction, our brain and our nervous system are going to basically fight against us. And that has been probably the biggest game changer in my treatment and my approach?
Speaker 1:How do you go about it? So, I imagine with this nervous system sort of reset, lots of breath work, fascial release stuff, long periods of time with each technique fascial release stuff long periods of time with each technique, exactly, yep.
Speaker 2:And we're also doing a little bit of functional neurology, where we're using eye exercises, assessing cranial nerves, because there's asymmetries all over the body with scoliosis and by working with the brain it helps to open up a whole avenue of mobility, of pain relief that you know, usually people are in a really good place at the end of that first eight weeks, which is the first phase, and they're like holy moly, like do I need to do anything?
Speaker 1:I can just keep doing this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, yeah, that's. Um, that's been really cool to see that shift, because I used to go with the approach of like let's get this correction right away, and especially if you've had that scoliosis for 30, 40, 50 years, it's not going to go so well. You get a lot of pain when you approach it that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sounds like there's some preliminary work. It's almost like I don't know why this analogy is coming to me, but putting the primer on the walls before you paint them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 1:So what's the next phase?
Speaker 2:So then the next phase is corrective. So that's where we start propping you out of your curve. We use breath work and we start doing some isometric contractions, positions like planking in different, various ways, static holds, using the wall for feedback, because proprioception is pretty poor, and scoliosis, using mirrors for feedback as well, if you don't have my eyes on you. And then in that third phase, that's spine, spine strength. So, uh, that's where you feeling really solid with your corrections, and then we can start correcting you and, I'm sorry, strengthening you out of your curve. So we're strengthening that opposite spiral that you have in your body. So you have a weak spiral and then you have a really strong spiral that's pulling you into your curve. So we're trying to strengthen that opposite one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, makes complete sense, and you mentioned in the workshop that there's a pretty common spinal angle. Could could you share more on that of like what most people are dealing with?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so primarily people have a right middle back curve, so that means it's side bent to the right and it's rotated back on the right, and then they have a lumbar curve as well. So there's various degrees of those two things. Probably 70 to 80% of people have followed that curve pattern where it's right, thoracic, left, lumbar, or they just have one or the other. If you have two curves and they're similar sizes, you're usually actually better off than if you have just like one really large curve, because it just is pulling you off balance and emphasizing those asymmetries a bit more. Yeah, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, the approach. You did a great job describing it because for me it just triggered. We're starting with mobility, breath, we're getting into stability to get the body blocks aligned, and then you're adding the strength which has just always been an epiphany approach for me over the years of like, let's make sure we only apply strength once folks are in the proper position. So that's just a call to everyone listening today, You've got to create the spatial awareness with your body, the proprioception, before you load things. So let's go ahead. Let's get a little more tactical here. What common movements or workouts should people with scoliosis avoid? That's a strong word or or modify and be mindful of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's two main ones that come to mind for me. Main ones that come to mind for me, um, and this is, let me preface it with if you are not like a pro, uh, bodybuilder or something, and you're really already into this, if you are just starting to exercise or you're maybe like more of like a amateur exerciser, I would recommend staying away from barbell squats.
Speaker 1:Backloaded, specifically Backloaded even front loaded. Okay.
Speaker 2:Only because it is restricting you from getting into a corrected position because of that long bar.
Speaker 1:And because of your unique spine, I mean, the bar is not going to change easily or at all according to your body Makes sense.
Speaker 2:So I recommend, if you're going to do squats, use dumbbells uh, in a suitcase carry. You can put them up on your shoulders if you really feel like it. But that can be risky, especially if your main curve is that lumbar curve and you're not really aware of where you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, either way you skin the cat. Whether they're front-loaded or back-loaded, you're still loading the spine and good news is, I think the majority of people have pretty poor shoulder mobility. So getting into even a dumbbell front rack position, it's not something we do a lot in the programming. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2:And then I would say the same for a deadlift. Using that barbell for deadlifts is not great. Just because your center of gravity again, it's even really not very functional. If you think about it. Uh, you're better off doing you know the dumbbells again. Or uh, lifting something kind of awkward from the ground like a medicine ball and maybe picking that up and carrying it, because it's more like what you're going to do in everyday life, like if you're going to lift something.
Speaker 1:it's not going to be the symmetrical long bar that you're picking up and you're not going to do it like 10 or 15 times straight back to back. Yeah, that makes sense to me. Uh, one of the big things that I just like to add to the deadlift, too, is if, if you are deadlifting, most people don't have the mobility or the capacity to take something from the floor. Like, pretty much 99% of people do not have the capacity, myself included. So, if you are going to lift in that hinge type pattern with a barbell just slightly below the knees, not much further. So that's why, like, a Romanian deadlift is going to be a better variation than um, full barbell deadlifts from the floor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so those are two movements to avoid. I I want to flip that actually for a second. What? What two strength movements like do you like you've, you've gotten people through the phases, you've taught them to have that awareness with their? I just like saying body blocks, with those stacked appropriately. Where do you begin with a couple of movements that folks are familiar with?
Speaker 2:Well familiar with. Let's go with this. Yeah, so I try and get everybody back to standing, walking and running, and those are, you know, the main three, or even throwing four movement patterns. So something that people will be familiar with is a push and pull pattern using a cable machine, or I love Ankor system. Have you ever used that?
Speaker 1:It's like what's Ancor.
Speaker 2:Ancor is this. It's basically like a portable cable machine.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:You can wrap it around a tree and do your workouts outside. You have the option of fastening it to a wall.
Speaker 1:There's like a track system you can get for it. It's a little fancier than the ones we have over in the studio. I've got one in my home gym too. That just only hangs from the pull bar and you're adding in that body block rotation with it.
Speaker 2:Oh okay, so with your pull pattern for most curve types you would be pulling with the left hand, you would be rotating your rib cage along with that and then keeping the pelvis either stationary and stable and not allowing it to rotate with you, or actually rotating it the opposite way, because that's coming out of your curve.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then it would be the opposite if you are facing away from the cable machine and you're doing a press pattern, so you'd be pressing with your right hand and then rotating again out of that curve. So you'll be pushing with the right hand, rotating the rib cage again to the right. I'm sorry, again to the left and keeping that pelvis stationary.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no great. I wish we had video live here in the booth, but it makes complete sense. You're just loading it in a very intelligent way, based off their curve, cool yeah, um, all right. Well, let's go ahead and go into practical daily habits. The exercises that I had the opportunity to do with the group this morning were exercises that I'm actually familiar with, but you taught them in very specific ways and you spent time in each of these positions, so I know we can't get super visual here. What are some recommendations for people to do daily to maybe help with some of the pain prevention, like with any symptoms that do show up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there's a few go-tos, and one that's so simple is literally just rolling the bottom of your feet with a lacrosse ball, a yoga tune-up ball. I saw that you guys actually already had these.
Speaker 1:We had. Yeah, I was like oh my gosh, you brought in some fresh ones, so I was loving the density.
Speaker 2:They do wear out a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they do.
Speaker 2:All from the same company, like the gorgeous balls same anyway. So that's something that's super simple that has an effect the whole way up the chain, up the back line of the body, and if you know a little bit about the different fascial lines, you have a back line, you have a front line, you have a lateral line, which is the side of the body, and then you have a spiral line as well as well. I learned a lot about that from Tom Myers from Anatomy. Trains is a book and it's wonderful. You can, I mean, even if you don't have scoliosis. It's very valuable information to check out.
Speaker 1:And you described it as like a zipper from the bottom of your feet all the way to your back. I thought that was just. It made so much sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it lines the spine like a zipper and then it wraps the whole way around to your forehead. So if you're getting a headache, you can actually help yourself out just by pulling the bottom of your feet, which sounds crazy, but, um, so that that's one thing, and then, uh, elongations would be another thing where, if you are near a playground, if you have a pool of bar, I recommend, if you're just starting out with them, keeping your feet on the ground to just keep yourself a little bit more supported, but holding on to that and allowing that spine to just get some length. So you're sinking your hips towards the floor and then not completely dead hanging, because you can get a little bit of a rebound effect from that where things tighten up in reaction and response to that big stretch the wall and allow your shoulders to shrug up towards your ears.
Speaker 1:That's another way that I teach people to elongate and just get some length and when you say elongate, like the, the upper back all the way to the, to the bottom lumbar there, and just in this case, like sticking the chest out a little bit as you drop down, or just really trying to create length, really trying to create length like a reach okay, you know you could get a little bit as you drop down or just really trying to create length, really trying to create length, so reach okay you know you could get a little bit more specific if you are somebody that's a little bit more forward with the shoulders, thinking about, you know, sticking the chest a little bit more open.
Speaker 2:But, believe it or not, a lot of people have the tendency to just arch the back if you tell them to stick the chest out. So, um, I like to think about and have people visualize that whole rib cage, like the whole circle of the rib cage, lifting away from the pelvis, even the back of the rib cage, because that's where a lot of the compression happens.
Speaker 1:Outstanding. So lifting the back of the rib cage Got it. Let's um, give some people some confidence out there. I mean, I've I've worked with a few members who have scoliosis and we we've taken similar approaches. We've shared today Even, um, some asymmetrical loading type carries I find very valuable, kind of in the way you described the push and pull earlier. What should folks who do have scoliosis keep in mind? Like from staying active and then being confident when they are active, what's some things they can do? And then also to this, like I think there can be a fear around doing things. So how can you give folks out there a bit of confidence with their activities?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, there are a lot of Olympic athletes out there that have scoliosis. There's Kyra Condie, who is a climber. She has scoliosis the fastest man in the world.
Speaker 1:Usain Bolt.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Usain Bolt has scoliosis, actually like a pretty moderate curve so there are very fit, very active athletes who are achieving amazing things out there that have scoliosis, so it's not something where you should be afraid of moving. In fact, not moving is probably the worst thing that you could do for your curve, because you're just increasing those asymmetries, you're getting weaker or you're already weak. So just getting out and moving, walking and being staying as active as possible, getting as strong as possible, is also important to help with bone density. Uh, the likelihood of having osteoporosis is a bit higher with scoliosis, so, um, strength training will combat that degeneration.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Um, also like impact. So you know, doing a little jumping plyometric work is super you would encourage that. Yes, stomping around your house. Yeah, those things, uh they, they are very helpful.
Speaker 1:I'm glad we stumbled onto plyometric training because I think it is one of those things that folks are worried about, especially with bone density issues and and with scoliosis. So I've always known and learned further that a little bit. We don't want to overdo it by any means, but having that within a weekly schedule of training does make a ton of sense, because it's one of those big things that we just stop doing as we get older, and that's why we become less athletic over time.
Speaker 2:It's because we stopped doing it. We stopped squatting, we stopped stopped crouching, getting down on the floor, and then you can't do it anymore. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah Gosh, I heard this wild stat the other day that, uh, there's only like 5% of people who ever sprint after the age of 30. Wow, and so like, sprinting is like kind of hand in hand with plyometric stuff. We don't want you to go out and run depending on who you are, but there are ways of elevating the heart rate really intensely for brief periods of time that aren't as impactful on the body. We can have a whole other conversation on that.
Speaker 1:So I think we're getting close to the end of our time. I'd love to just give you the opportunity to share more with listeners. How can they find more about you? Where can they find your resources out in the world?
Speaker 2:If you're local to Bluffton, you can come see me at the Wellco. I also will be here maybe once a week at Palmetto Bluff doing some sessions, and you can find me online. I'm the scoliotherapist on Instagram. I have a YouTube channel I think that's also called the scoliotherapist and then I have a podcast. You can find me on any of the podcasts catchers. Um, it is called ahead of the curve, and I also want to mention that June is national scoliosis awareness month and national scoliosis awareness day. I'm hosting a free scoliosis uh specific Pilates class at the Wellco at 10 am Eastern Standard Time on June 28th.
Speaker 1:That sounds like a great class, plenty of ways to get connected with you after our time together here today. And let's go ahead, put a bow on this main conversation. For those out there who don't have scoliosis or do just generalized, one key tip of advice for maintaining a healthy spine.
Speaker 2:I would say staying active is really the best thing that you can do for your spinal health. When we stop moving in all the different directions rotating, side bending, flexing, extending our spine becomes less mobile and older. So to keep your spine young, you want to move it in every direction possible.
Speaker 1:Well said, yeah, don't get complacent with the same up. And down training program. Make sure it's going in all the planes of motion. Okay Well, megan, I've enjoyed our time together. Um, I still feel incredible from the workshop. Um, I, I'm a pretty mobile guy, so when I get to do like fascial work, stuff changes, it's cool, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's obviously like I have the honor of like being able to be in fitness and not stuck at a desk and moving in different positions, and so I just think it's a testament to my work from a personal perspective. But even though we've been sitting down chatting, still feeling great from the chair and I I'd imagine you tell folks who have, uh, scoliosis like limit sit time as as a factor, like sit on the floor at those different positions. So, anyways, let's get to the final question what does wellness mean to you?
Speaker 2:Wellness. It means staying connected to nature, your community, your people and moving um all throughout your lifespan. I think that that's what wellness means to me. Pretty simple, yeah well.
Speaker 1:Thank you, megan. Um, we will have you out here soon for another workshop and listeners. You can hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. Are you the type of person that when one thing goes wrong, you quit?
Speaker 1:We all face hardships in life, whether it's physical injuries that occur, emotional burdens put on us from our childhood, financial struggles like large unexpected bills, social situations where we just don't feel comfortable with responses from interpersonal relationships, or maybe even spiritual. We have a hardship connecting with that greater being. Hardship connecting with that greater being. Whatever it is for you. The question becomes when, faced with adversity, do you bow out, do you give up? And I feel like nowadays we're given so much leeway on not pushing through our struggles, not accepting that our hardships make us better. It's almost like opting out of anything that becomes difficult and in the simplest sense.
Speaker 1:I think about this. When my daughter was learning to ride a two-wheeled bike, you could tell how frustrated she would get when she tried to push off and get on the bike and start pedaling herself, but was unable to. But what I found so inspiring about this small example is she kept pushing, she kept trying and even though she got frustrated and would slam her bike from time to time and scream to us, mommy and daddy, that I just can't do it, she kept going and she kept trying. And that's what we need more of in this world today we need to continue to try. We need to push through when challenges arise, no matter what area of our life we're facing. The challenge in my mom when I was a teenager was pushing me from my booty to get me to stand up from a sandbar in the lake that I had the opportunity to grow up on. What was so supportive from her was just her positivity about helping and her encouragement that, jeff, you're going to get it. That, jeff, you're going to get it. I was a strong kid growing up not probably as strong as I am today because I had a different approach to fitness and all of that but I remember that it took her support to help me have adversity in the water skiing world and now, even though I don't jump on the skis often, I know that I can do it. I know that through that experience I learned how to do it, and that's what's the beauty of adversity.
Speaker 1:We should love it, we should welcome it, because we know that three things can come from adversity, and the first being it forces you to look inward. Do you ever struggle in life and blame other people? Do you ever play victim Like it was so-and-so's fault? When you're faced with adversity, the perfect thing to do is to look inward and to try to create some self-awareness with why you're maybe facing that adversity in the first place. And a great question here is asking yourself what are you capable of? And go back to experiences where you proved yourself wrong, where, even though it took you some time to realize what was happening internally, you probably still prevailed.
Speaker 1:Secondly, I love that adversity clarifies what matters.
Speaker 1:When we have a loss of a loved one or a very terrible situation that comes out of nowhere, it primes us to look at our priorities, to go back to the things that are most important in life, and I think that's what we have to keep in mind when we face struggles, when we have adversity staring us down, what are your priorities?
Speaker 1:And then, finally, here's what I absolutely love about adversity you can probably feel it in my voice today Adversity ignites purpose. It's one of those things that, when you are pushing through and you're weaving and zigzagging through your challenges. It wakes you up in a way, and it helps you get more motivated, get excited about what's next. What's next, what can I do now? And I think, as we go throughout this week, let's keep that in mind. The more we face challenges, the more we stare down adversity and don't quit when one thing goes the way we don't want it to, the stronger we're gonna be for anything that we approach in the future. That is a wrap on this week's episode. We want to thank you for taking the time to join the conversation and remember to actively participate in life on your terms.
