By Dr. Phil Lombardo
I wonder if the creator of MovNat, Erwan LeCorre, with his love for sharing the practice of Natural Movement realized that he would reach this far into the Medical community and crack it wide open. Since its origins, MovNat has always attracted a variety of Physical Therapists, Chiropractors and Osteopaths. I’d be hard pressed to find a certification course that doesn’t have at least one medical practitioner. Honestly, it just makes sense! Or so I realized the first day of my Level 1 Certification so many years ago.
The content of the MovNat Medical course is what I really want to talk about today, but the atmosphere, the experience, and bonding during those few days cannot go unmentioned. It’s great to have a place where you can discuss your passion for the practice of Natural Movement through the lens of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology with like minded medical professionals.
“The most memorable part of the experience was being able to talk and be understood in an environment with people who know what I’m saying.”
“The most memorable part was knowing that there are others out there who are just as excited about this as I am. I came here seeking a new mindset, not just a protocol and that’s exactly what I got.”
As the Curriculum Director for the MovNat Medical course, I have had to put all my biases aside and approach the experience of creating this course, along with an eclectic international team of medical providers who comprise the MovNat Medical Advisory Board, with a beginner’s mind. I didn’t know what exactly medical practitioners wanted, but as a clinician myself, I admit that I had high expectations.
I was not surprised when I came to the realization that clinicians wanted two things: (1) to learn and discuss the skills of Natural Movement through a medical lens, and (2) to open their mind and create a spark on to how to apply them to a patient with an injury. Our own Captain Stefano (MovNat Team Instructor, Stefano Tripney) has informally coined the term “Obstacle Optics”. In the Medical Course, we discuss Patient Optics (instinctually seeing what skills can benefit each patient).
This course is NOT about learning a fancy new technique that seems mystical, but that you’ll probably only use once in your career. It’s more about truly understanding the depth and capability of our innate human movement; the goal of all clinical treatment and healing.
“I feel I can immediately use this understanding to take some of these natural movements and replace “traditional” exerices. I think the biggest benefit of this is the ability to both address individual patient deficits while also improving their ability to perform foundational movements imperative in life.”
The two parameters for anything that makes it into the MovNat Medical course is the discussion of what is occurring at each joint and muscles during these Natural Movement skills, and understanding what pathologies, assymetries and diagnoses can heal and improve from each. The result is a treatment course that is very much focused on the strategy of progressions and regressions; developing an understanding of the psychology of movement, dysfunction and pain; and learning how to use your patient’s innate human capability (instinctual, evolutionary, practical, universal, and mindful to mention a few).
And you know what…patients LOVE IT! They’re tired of isolated exercises and they are ecstatic to work toward a sense of achievement with a skill they were uncertain about just a short time before.
“The most valuable part of the experience was learning movement principles from a scientific backsplash, clinical perspective, and finally finding a way back/rubric to understand integrative physical therapy.”
There are a few common red flags that I frequently observe in many questionable Medical continuing education courses; those who attend love the concepts, but have no idea how to integrate the concepts into treatment; or they are taught strategies but not how to communicate and convey the benefits of those skills to the patient. You have to know what you’re doing AND why! The two aforementioned parameters for what makes it into our MovNat Medical course is guaranteed to change your mindset (and change your patient’s lives)!
For those who have never taken a MovNat course, this course is a perfect introduction. It doesn’t demand that you get good at performing the skills, rather it teaches you how to use your knowledge to evaluate and treat the patient.
For those who are seasoned practitioners in MovNat Certifications, this course encourages you to flip the lens from your own skills, to better understanding your patients through deeper empathy toward movement and fine tuning your assessment skills.
So if you are on the fence about taking the MovNat Medical course because you don’t know if you’re ready or worried about taking other courses during the year, don’t wait! This will change your patients’ lives and your mindset forever. The skills, the mindset and the community will also change your career as a practitioner…forever! It did for me. From day 1 of my Level 1 Certification, I have brought these skills into the clinic and never looked back.
If I had to describe the course in a short sentence, I would say that it is eye-opening, in that you will look at your patient’s treatment program completely differently, keeping what you have learned from this course in mind. You can’t unsee it.
“Understanding the value of incorporating context into rehab and meaningful tasks that not only address physical limitations, but also empower and excite the patient. Traditional PT is terrible but so familiar and “easy”. The effort of incorporating MovNat principles is worthwhile and necessary for best care.”