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 Deb Preachuk
Hello from beautiful Lakeville Minnesota Egoscue University! My name is Deb Preachuk. I am a PAS-II Certified Affiliate, and the owner and primary instructor of a Pain Free Posture MN and Pilates Integration Mind. Body. Spirit.
My journey to the Egoscue Method of Posture Alignment work came from a chance encounter in the paradise town of Kailua, Oahu in May 2007.
After almost twenty years of teaching movement in the health and fitness field I had carved out a specialty niche for myself working with clients in chronic pain and postural dysfunction. I had great success in helping them overcome these issues all without knowing The Egoscue Method of Posture Alignment Therapy existed!. My education and teaching experience was quite eclectic ranging from a Bachelor's in Physical Education, Group Fitness instruction, certifications in injuries and special populations and cumulated in the restorative work of STOTT Pilates.
All of these modalities emphasized postural alignment and analysis, athletic therapy, anatomy, motor learning and biomechanics. I was very fortunate to be taught and mentored by some of the greatest minds in Athletic Therapy, Pilates and Physiotherapy along the way.
My methods were varied, but I thankfully had learned at the start of my career that bones will go where muscles allow them to. What I had going for me was that I was willing to put conventional and current movement teaching practices aside and truly look at a client's posture in relationship to the plumb-line. And it was from this basic understanding that I approached dealing with chronic pain, postural dysfunction and teaching movement to others.
In May of 2007 I had the privilege of travelling to the beautiful Island of Maui to teach Pilates for two weeks. My husband and I both thought that the purpose of my trip was to prepare us as a family for a move to the island. Little did I know it was much more than that!
On one free day, I flew to Oahu to visit a colleague in Kailua. It was there that I saw a fellow Pilates instructor teaching a semi-private group Pilates class with a distinct and definitely functional flair that really looked like my own. I was stunned! In my years of teaching Pilates and movement based classes I had never seen another instructor teach the same way.
It was a de-constructed version of Pilates, based on modifying the work to promote a neutral postural alignment and functional design. In all my years of teaching, I had never seen another instructor make the same kind of modifications to help a student succeed at establishing proper function and posture.
I was absolutely focused on watching another person help a student experience the true freedom of functional movement. I said to my colleague "I just love this girl! I can't believe how she teaches - it's extraordinary!" To which my friend said to me "Oh yeah. No one teaches quite like her. She's definitely got her own thing going on".
I said "No, no, no, no, you don't understand. No one teaches like me, and she teaches just like me!"
My friend laughed, and said sweetly, "Oh, well then you must be an Egoscue person too."
Egoscue? I thought Egoscue was another Hawaiian word! "Eg-U what? What's Egoscue" I said! Lo and behold, the instructor had left her copy of Pete Egoscue's "Pain Free" at the receptionist desk. My friend picked up the book and handed it to me. "Here's her textbook. See for yourself".
As I flipped through the pages, my eyes literally felt like they were jumping out of my head. There on paper were pictures and descriptions of restorative movements I thought I had made up on my own. But there was so much more that I didn't know, and it intrigued me and made sense all at the same time!
There were other people like me! I just didn't know we had a name and it was Egoscue! I had been doing my own intuitive variation of the work for years by myself, but could never describe or promote what I did. All I could ever say to prospective clients was that I was a terrific Pilates instructor who specialized in chronic pain and postural dysfunctions and mercifully had great success at it. I couldn't guarantee that I could get rid of all their pain, but I was willing to try and if they were willing to allow me to modify or make up movements to allow proper function to occur there was hope for success.
Often clients were coming to me thinking they were doing Pilates, when in fact as I now look back on it, they were doing a very rudimentary form of Posture Alignment Therapy. As I read the pages of "Pain Free", I realized that I truly was an uncertified Posture Alignment specialist without a certifying body to stand behind or place to call home!
I was elated! That night I flew back to Maui and got onto the Egoscue University website right away. By October of 2007 I was certified as a PAS-I, and finished my PAS-II in May 2009. I haven't looked back since.
To be sure, I had much to learn - and even more to unlearn as Casey, Paul and Ashley gently taught me. While I had figured a lot out on my own based on my educational background, it was submersing myself in the Egoscue Method of Posture Alignment Therapy and getting my certification that took all the trial and error out of the equation. The Method just works!
I am now so much more efficient at helping my clients restore function in body, mind and ultimately spirit by applying the 8 Laws of Physical Health and a five step approach in treating the body as a whole. I can confidently say to a prospective new client "yes, I can help you get out of pain" and then with great assurance clearly explain why.
My mission at Pain Free Posture MN and Pilates Integration M.B.S. is simple - to help clients eliminate pain, restore their blue-print design and function and obtain optimal performance in activities of daily living and recreational/competitive athletic pursuits! I offer one-to-one private and group instruction in my fully equipped and insured home studio.
Today, my body of work is primarily Posture Alignment Therapy. That's what brings clients in the door. The joy of helping another human being become functional and pain free is so gratifying! What I enjoy just as much is that I am able to aid students bridge the gap from maintenance with their new found functional bodies into exploring other movement modalities such as Pilates, Yoga and/or personal fitness training such as Patch Fitness and Kettlebells. Working with a pain-free and functional body just makes every other form of movement so much easier to teach and learn!
I work daily with a wide spectrum of individuals in chronic pain. Clients range all the way from chronic pain due to postural dysfunction to repetitive stress injuries, idiopathic scoliosis, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis to clients who have gone through non productive joint replacement surgeries and physical therapy to recreational/competitive athletes looking for improved performance just to name a few.
I've had the privilege of instructing hundreds (if not thousands) of private and group training classes over the last 20 years. It is my true love to help guide people out of chronic pain and physical limitations and help them achieve complete restoration in mind, body and spirit.
In addition to work at Pain Free Posture MN, another passion of mine is to teach and mentor others. Currently I am pursuing my Affiliate Instructor certification with the Egoscue University, and just completed my first semester teaching in the Exercise Science Department at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. Not only do I love to teach, but I love to teach those who want to become teachers. It's my heart's desire to be an anchor in the Egoscue University chain, and reach out to other local and world-wide PAS affiliates and new students working towards their certification. I would love the opportunity to connect via the message boards, or directly through my contact information listed below. Please reach out, email or call at your convenience. It's my pleasure to get to know you and help guide you into a Pain Free lifestyle.
Mahalo!
Deb Preachuk
www.pilatesintegration.com
www.painfreeposturemn.com |
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