Register by Feb. 5 – More Info Here.

As the health care reform debate continues to make national headlines, America is undergoing a conciousness raising around the concept of health. Good health constitutes more than just the absence of disease.  Consider the word dis-ease and open to the understanding of good health to include the following additional characteristics: a unified body, mind, spirit; a state of ever-present mindfulness to the wonder of this beautiful world; a joyful, grateful and loving heart; and finally, a life lived to fulfill ones unique purpose and benefit humanity.

Are Americans experiencing this holistic view of good health?  Does our present health care system deliver services in a way that empowers the whole human being on a path to good health?   What are we as indiviudals doing to put our health in motion to get on a right path?  If you want to cultivate this spectrum of good health, do you know how?  Read on and find out about how Health in Motion programs might be a good start.

We have all heard the cries of alarm from the medical and social research communties for years about America’s adult sedentary yet stressful lifestyles contributing to ever increasing rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and depression.  Although this should come as no surprise, the cries are getting louder now as we see these same issues rapidly increasing in America’s youth.   As we sow, so shall we reap.  Following the health care dollars spent in this country annually, one will notice that the top 10 areas of expenditure consistently include not only the conditions already mentioned, but also depression, osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain.   Beyond genetics, these conditions all have very strong contributing factors resulting from an unhealthy body-mind/mind-body.

So, what is the good news?  First, we have complete control over state of mind; yes complete control.  Second, humans are designed with a biology and physiology that is highly modifiable; we get out that which we put in.   Third, humans are at the top of the animal kingdom because we the power to reason and act!   Present medical management strategies for these conditions can be greatly enhanced by an evidence-based holistic approach employing concepts combining Eastern and Western health principles and social science.  Are you ready for some right inputs to yield some right outputs ?  Having practiced physical therapy in Northern Arizona for the past 21 years, I know there are many people who should be saying YES, I am ready!

Enter Health in Motion. Health in Motion, LLC was formed by Cheryl Van Demark, PT in February 2009 to fulfill a mission of developing a well being program that would demonstrate the art of physical therapy as expressed through mindful movement practices.  Health in Motion currently provides the following programs: Joint Investors a holistic osteoarthritis program; and Yoga for Arthritis Seminar. The Joint Investors Arthritis Program utilizes an evidence-based and multidisciplinary approach to introduce the power of mind-body science in cultivating health and well being.  The target beneficiaries of the program are the 50+ age demographic in the Quad Cities who are experiencing limitations in function due to movement impairment related to chronic joint pain, muscle weakness, deconditioning and an unhealthy mind state that perpetuates this cycle.

Joint Investors Arthritis Program enhances fitness by combining traditional modes of resistive and aquatic exercise with mindful movement practices of Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates; all of which are adapted for individuals with balance and motion challenges.  Joint Investors promotes wellness through health education on the management of arthritis and chronic pain using mind-body science combined with meditation practices.   All movement arts are team-taught with the physical therapist and certified instructors in each movement art.  Only credentialed instructors with experience working with older participants with chronic conditions have been recruited into the Joint Investors program.  A combination of large and small participant groups are used to promote peer support, socialization and improved exercise adherence.  Guest speakers from the community assist with the health education.  Yoga for Arthritis Seminars allow those participants who enjoyed the Yoga introduction in the Joint Investors program to deepen their practice.

The next session of Health in Motion, Joint Investors will be held September 28 – November 20 at The Center for Physical Excellence & The Adult Center of Prescott.  Free informational talks illustrating how this program reflects evidence-based management for osteoarthritis and fulfills recommended federal guidelines for physical activity for public health will be held at the YMCA and The Center for Physical Excellence in coming weeks.

A new exercise program aimed at people with knee problems kicks off on April 6 at Prescott’s Center for Physical Excellence. Its organizer, Cheryl Van Demark, says it fills a need in the quad-city area.

“It’s taking all the pieces out there in the scientific literature about non-pharmaceutical ways to treat osteoarthritis and packaging it in a user-friendly eight-week program,” Van Demark said.

As a yoga teacher, she said, she sees how many people with osteoarthritis struggle in regular classes for the general public.

“They try to do right and they hurt themselves,” Van Demark said. “They don’t know how to do right by themselves in the gym and they end up thinking exercise is bad for them.”

She gave it some thought and came up with her Health in Motion program combining water exercises, Chinese martial arts, yoga and health education.

Seventy-three-year-old Sandy Swan, a Prescott resident with what she calls a “blown-out” knee, has signed up for the Wednesday arthritis health education and group movement class, which is part of the Health in Motion program.

She’s taken classes before with two of the instructors participating in the program.

“I’m just delighted to be able to hook up with the two of them again,” Swan said. In the past year she’s taken two bad falls and now wears a knee brace, which she hopes to eliminate after taking the classes.

Lack of mobility and loss of strength and balance are hallmarks of an arthritic joint, Van Demark explained.

Her program uses lots of props like blankets, straps and blocks coupled with “joint-safe” tips that emphasize proper body alignment.

“Pain can be devastating to how you move in the world and can alter your perception of how you feel,” she continued. “In these classes, you learn to feel certain body signals. People have the power to sense these things.”

Aaron Kravetz, a local Chinese Martial Arts instructor, will be teaching chi-gong and tai-chi movements as part of the program. If done correctly, the movements can be very effective at strengthening the muscles around the knees, he said.

“It’s just shy of miraculous,” he added.

The Arthritis Foundation, while not directly endorsing Demark’s Health in Motion program, says on its website at www.arthritis.org that health and exercise professionals have been identifying and developing alternative activities that people with osteoarthritis can do to improve their pain and function.

The foundation says water’s buoyancy allows easier joint movement and is virtually impact-free, making it an excellent choice for people with painful joints.

It also says tai-chi is an ancient movement practice that consists of slow, continuous movements that incorporates strengthening, balance, posture, relaxation and concentration – all of which are important elements for people with knee or hip osteoarthritis.

For more information or to register for any of the Health in Motion classes, contact Demark at 925-4388 or visit her website at www.HealthInMotionAZ.com.

8 Week Program Begins April 6, 2009