Radiant Balance: A Comprehensive 90 Day Program to Improve Balance & Prevent Falls

By Geo Cesare DPT, Kamyar M. Hedayat M.D. and Carol M. Davis DPT EdD MS FAPTA

This is about a ninety-day program on improving balance and preventing falls using physical therapy, yoga therapy, and essential strategies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781524689292

Book preview

© 2019 Geo Cesare, DPT. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/14/2019

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8928-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-8929-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017906268

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book contains advice and information relating to health care. It is not intended to replace medical advice and should be used to supplement rather than replace regular care by your doctor. This book provides insights and information about health and balance but it is not intended as a substitute for professional medical diagnosis and care. It is highly recommended that you seek your physician’s advice before participating in the exercise contained or mentioned in this book. This book should in no way be construed as offering medical advice, nor should anything in this book be construed as a substitution for or recommendation of medical treatment. Only your doctor can recommend medical treatment and you should never disregard medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read in this book. All efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained in this book as of the date of publication. The author makes no promises, guarantees or representations of the effectiveness of any of the exercises described herein. The author disclaims liability for any medical outcomes that may occur as a result of applying the content and methods suggested in this book.

Any physical practice carries inherent risks. And not all exercises are suitable for everyone. If you experience pain or discomfort or increased falls in connection with any of these exercises, please stop immediately and seek medical advice as to the cause. To reduce the risk of injury, never force or strain while practicing any of the exercises in this book.

Always consult with a doctor before commencing this or any exercise program. You are encouraged to seek the guidance of a licensed Physical Therapist or other yoga therapy and health care specialist. No written work can replace insights and instruction of personal guidance.

The author, Geo Cesare, Zenergy Physical Therapy, Inc. and Integrative Medicine Academy is indemnified and held harmless by readers for any liability, injury, or loss in connection with the instructions, information, advice, practices, and poses described in this book. The author is indemnified and held harmless for any medical outcomes that may occur with readers or third parties as a result of someone teaching the contents of this material to others. This includes but is not limited to a health care professional and/or individual certified to teach this material.

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Table of Contents

Foreword By Carol M. Davis, DPT, EdD, MS, FAPTA

INTRODUCTION BY KAMYAR HEDAYAT, MD

INTRODUCTION BY GEO CESARE, DPT

BALANCE ASSESSMENT TESTS

REFERENCE LIST OF BALANCE EXERCISES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Part I.

1. MONTH 1 - MASTERING THE FOUNDATION

2. MONTH 2 - MASTERING THE ESSENTIALS

3. MONTH 3 - MASTERING DYNAMIC & RADIANT BALANCE

Part II.

• INTEGRATION – NEXT STEPS

• APPENDIX: HOW TO FALL EFFECTIVELY

• APPENDIX: RESOURCES

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PAGE

• About Carol M. Davis, DPT, EdD, MS, FAPTA

• ABOUT KAMYAR HEDAYAT, MD

• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• NON PROFIT PAGE

• CONTACT PAGE

FOREWORD BY CAROL M. DAVIS, DPT, EDD, MS, FAPTA

When Geo asked me to write the Foreword to this book I was delighted. Traditionally, a Foreword invites anticipation, you are about to read something potentially great, and we are about to discover what that is. What makes this particular work so special to me, and I anticipate will for so many others? For starters, it serves as an excellent example of:

— evidence-based physical therapy for improving balance due to loss of strength, range of motion, loss of sensory awareness, and/or presence of inner ear and/or central nervous system instability;

— an integrated therapy which supplements traditional physical therapy for strengthening with the holistic advantages of Yoga therapy for the physiological benefits of increased oxygen to cells and increased soft tissue flexibility;

— a specific program that allows the participant the opportunity to increase self-confidence, self- efficacy, and, done correctly, mindful connection to the inner energy of the self which some maintain resides within the soft tissue or fascia;

— one of the hallmarks of good physical therapy: careful progression of activity to build strength, range of motion, oxygen saturation, and, as a result, confidence and independent function.

The text starts out by measuring the reader’s function at this moment in time. The Balance Assessments allow for an accurate, evidence-based measure of strength and balance at this point in time, the results of which become a marker against which we can measure our progress, which often takes place so incrementally that we don’t even remember our level of function to start, so cannot accurately see how much we have progressed.

As I made my way through the days and weeks of the 90 day program, as a physical therapist I often realized how Geo’s little notes in each chapter of what to watch and how to increase or decrease the difficulty of each challenge will be helpful to people without training in body awareness. So often we humans follow the dictates on that page of instructions, or from the mouth of the experts, and ignore the messages our bodies have for us, moment to moment, or are unaware that our bodies actually have messages for us, moment to moment. Geo give the reader a head’s up to be careful about proper alignment, and to assist in increasing or decreasing level of difficulty with each effort.

That said, an educated eye and heart are quite invaluable to success in a progressive, movement- based program. The development of a Certification process for Radiant Balance therapists and educators will add a level of quality control that will help further ensure positive outcomes.

Physical and occupational therapy students must internalize so much information in their preparation programs, more often than not balance education and progression is just briefly touched upon, and is not sufficiently taught and tested. And the basics of integrative therapies, including Yoga, are seen as outside the scope of medical science. As the population of the world continues to include more people aged 65 and over, more patients will confront diminished balance and strength which greatly interfere with active lifestyles. And more people will be turning to integrative therapies to make up for perceived lack in traditional health care, including physical therapy.

Earlier in my own physical therapy career, I taught balance evaluation and treatment as a part of a continuing education workshop series called Aging in America. I am embarrassed to remember how much I thought the content of what I was teaching was sufficient. I included up to date information on evaluation and treatment from the peer-reviewed literature and taught how to carry out good functional assessments.

With Geo’s book, I realize my error at failing to incorporate the importance of the breath, as well as the importance of self-awareness in space as a starting point. Also, I realize my hubris around thinking I fully understood the emotional cost of how falling, with the resulting weeks of soft tissue injury, wears down one’s previous unconscious concept of self and safety with each and every step taken. Frequent fallers become surprised to recognize over time that spontaneous life as it was is no longer available and have to work to get it back.

Geo’s mission in life, his purpose, in his own words is, to empower people to help themselves overcome health challenges. Overcome is the operative word here. Those who face strength, range of motion and balance loss, for whatever reasons need not just give up. We have the ability to help our body/mind to heal, to recover, in Geo’s words, vitality, strength, and balance.

Vitality –to live a life of quality enriched with strength and self-confidence, to feel connected to life energy coursing in our fascia, in our marvelous, dynamic biotensegrity spiral home we live in and move about in and find our meaning, day to day. When this is our way of being, we are living a vital life, we feel whole again, just as Geo suggests each one of us is intended to do. This text helps do this.

And now a confession. Here’s what I haven’t told you: Geo tells you about why he asked me to write the foreword to this book by describing my historical career in physical therapy, describing the accomplishments of the me of before. Granted, I’m having a wonderful career, which continues to flourish. However, at 73, although I am still writing, teaching and practicing physical therapy part time, specifically J F Barnes myofascial release and exercise, I no longer am the spontaneous, active, frequent traveling person I used to be.

I began to notice weakness in my legs climbing the stairs while healing from a severe ankle fracture in 2011. That weakness, which as a physical therapist I, and others, inaccurately diagnosed as a simple orthopedic deconditioning problem, turned out to be a nervous system disorder: axonal polyneuropathy and hypothalamic dysregulation secondary to chronic immune deficiency syndrome brought on by Lyme disease. Sometime early in the 2000’s I was bit by tick. My healthy immune system kept my symptoms in check, but as I aged and picked up more environmental toxins and developed leaky gut, my nervous system symptoms progressed over the years, until I was finally diagnosed in December of 2016 by a functional medicine neurologist. Many of us remember the day we finally got a label to put on a cluster of symptoms that resulted in a central core change in how we see ourselves in the world, not only who we are, but also what we are here to do.

I confided in Geo that I was surprised and saddened that I had developed a deep seated fear of falling as part of my symptoms. Every step I took I had to focus with great care, for my left knee would buckle immediately if one foot or the other were not totally flat on the surface where I stepped. Down I would go, suddenly, collapsing over my feet, ankles and legs, tearing the myofascia away from the bone. And, over the ensuing years, for 4 to 6 weeks after a severe fall I would be in pain, with swelling, limping, and more fearful than ever. Alternatively, I’d collapse and hit my head and the other-worldness of a concussion, the lapses in time, the repeating myself, and the black eye, broken ribs and bruises would engulf me and my self-esteem would suffer, and fear seemed embedded within my cells and followed me like the dirty cloud over Pigpen in a Peanuts cartoon.

Today, even with a year of antibiotics and neutraceuticals, I continue with my symptoms of bilateral lower extremity weakness and bilateral hand weakness, but now with these exercises, I can see all my self-esteem and self-confidence returning slowly. My legs are getting stronger, and I have more confidence on uneven surfaces.

Along with each of you, I will never be who I used to be again, none of us will. Each of us, moment to moment, is continuously evolving into a new person. Personally, I recognize my purpose continues and grows, and I believe I am evolving into a better person than ever. I rest more now, and am more reflective. I hold the faith that my symptoms will reverse when, with my interventions, I am finally able to clear out the toxins that contribute to the fascial restrictions which interfere with my cells, especially my mitochondria, from getting adequate information and nutrition.

In the meantime, my life goes on, with joy. JF