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SARAH COURT, PT, DPT, E-RYT

Physical Therapist, movement mentor, yoga teacher trainer.

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Blog

When Two Wings Don’t Make a Wight (sorry)

April 9, 2021 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Winging is a catch-all phrase to describe different positions of the scapula on the back. In this video, I discuss a few different reasons why it might be happening, including one you may not know about…

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Filed Under: Blog

Got Mask Mouth?

April 2, 2021 by Sarah Leave a Comment

If you have to wear a mask for long hours –  clinicians, movement teachers, or any other person-facing jobs – you may have found yourself doing all sorts of weird facial contortions to try and make more room under that mask.

When we first reopened the clinic and I had to wear a heavy duty mask for several hours at a time, I kept doing a crazy underbite to take the pressure off the back of my ears without even realizing it. (I’m still pretty convinced that I have behind-the-ear-mask-strap-calluses.)
 
However, the biggest thing you may have noticed is that you have turned into a Mouth Breather (dun dun duuunnnnn).

And now that you’ve acquired this habit, you may be Mouth Breathing all the time (or is that just me, staring at the TV at the end of a long day with my mouth hanging open…?).
 
While it may seem like a better way to get more air in while masked up, mouth breathing takes us out of the ideal resting position for the mandible (lower jaw), tongue, and lips.

It can also create tension in the masseter (your big chewing face muscle) and its friends, which can lead to headaches, neck pain, jaw pain, and dehydration, to name a few.
 
So, what’s a Mouth Breather to do? Well, a few things:
 
1) Learn and practice RMF (Resting Mouth Face)
 
2) Try some masseter massage 
 
3) For the truly experimental – try taping your mouth closed with medical tape while sleeping to avoid DOMBF (Drooling Open Mouth Breathing Face)

Watch the video below to see them in action – and if you’ve got your own tips for avoiding mouth breathing, let me know in the comments!

Filed Under: Blog

Ask A PT on the Body Nerd Show!

March 11, 2021 by Sarah Leave a Comment

I got to chat with Alex Ellis on her Body Nerd Show Podcast again this week – and here’s the video of our conversation!

Filed Under: Blog

What’s Your #1 Job as a Movement Teacher?

February 24, 2021 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Recently, I posted a question on Instagram: what do you think is the most important job for a movement teacher? I got a lot of great responses from you, most of which cited helping students feel better, gain confidence, move well etc.

What’s the Uber-skill (not a car service) in achieving all those things? Communication.

If your students don’t understand you, that’s your problem, not theirs.

Watch my video to see some examples of not great teaching that I have experienced and that may be all too familiar to you, and for my suggestions on what to do when you’re not making yourself understood!

Do you have go-to tricks for this? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Filed Under: Blog

What If Your Client Won’t Stop Pushing Through Pain?

February 21, 2021 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Have you ever had a student who won’t stop pushing through pain? Or they don’t want to modify what they’re doing, even though it hurts? 

I see this all the time in the clinic, when someone comes in and they (for example) love running, but now they have hip pain, and they want their hip pain to get better, but they don’t want to stop running.

I used to see it as a yoga teacher when people wanted to practice every day, or at least 6 times a week, typically the vinyasa/power styles, and they had pain, but they weren’t willing to reduce or change their yoga practice. 

It can be that the movement is a meaningful part of their identity – if I’m not doing yoga every day, can I call myself a practitioner?

Or sometimes it’s the only exercise a person likes and will stick to.

Watch my video for tips on how to work with someone who won’t stop pushing through their pain, and let me know any tips or approaches you have as well!

Filed Under: Blog

How Do I Work with a ‘Fragile’ Client?

February 6, 2021 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Have you ever had a new student or client tell you, “My doctor said I can never [insert type of movement] because I will hurt myself” (or something similar)?

To be fair, not all doctors use fear-mongering language, and it’s not only the purview of the medical profession – plenty of other people (chiropractors, PTs, yoga teachers, Pilates instructors) do it too. 

We know words have power, and in particular, when it comes to our bodies, if a trusted professional tells us to be afraid, that’s a powerful influence and a difficult message to try and shift.

No matter the source, once someone has been set up to be afraid of movement, it’s a challenge to unpack it for them and find ways they can move safely and without fear or anxiety.

As a movement teacher, what do you do when someone comes in with rigid beliefs about what they can or cannot do with their body?

In my short talk below I explain:

– How not moving can not only create more pain but reinforce negative beliefs

– How to earn the trust of a fearful client

– Techniques to rewire their beliefs about their abilities to get them moving again

If you’ve had a hard time figuring out how to work with someone who doesn’t trust their own body, watch the video for some guidance.

I’d love to hear how you have worked with a ‘fragile’ client and what techniques you use – feel free to comment below!

Filed Under: Blog

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Footer

sarahcourtdpt

@ me, I’m in a rare arguing mood. Or comment if @ me, I’m in a rare arguing mood. Or comment if you agree. 

Stop messing up my patients.

#pranayamabreathing #nadishodhana #bastrika #kapalabhati #diaphragmaticbreathing #bellybreathing #yogateachers #alwaysastudent #neckpainrelief #backpainrelief #yogateachertraining
💪Shoulder Play Thursday! (It’s a thing get in 💪Shoulder Play Thursday! (It’s a thing get into it)
 
1. flex/extend
2. circles
3. rotation
4. diagonal Xes
5. S shape
6. tired shape
Started ➡️ Going ➡️Going April 2022 to Ma Started ➡️ Going ➡️Going

April 2022 to March 2023

What a difference a year makes! 

“An amateur practices til they get it right; a professional practices til they can’t get it wrong”

I will continue to bore you with motorcycle content and thank you for indulging me 

🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
In episode 31 of the Movement Logic Podcast @laure In episode 31 of the Movement Logic Podcast @laurelbeversdorf and I discuss three types of cues movement professionals use.

VERBAL, VISUAL, AND TACTILE CUES

We look at the plusses and minuses of all three types.

We also discuss:

🗣️What a verbal, versus a visual, versus tactile cue is.

🗣️A debate in the yoga community about whether or not teaching using verbal cues (only or predominantly) is preferable to demoing while teaching.

🗣️How our teaching has changed with respect to cueing.

🗣️Different ways to stage and contextualize a demo.

🗣️Why highlighting the difference between what a movement *looks like* versus what it *feels like* can be helpful.

🗣️Whether to use first person or second person pronouns (or even to talk at all!) while demoing.

🗣️3 main ways you can give tactile cues + tips for teachers when giving tactile cues.

🗣️Why obtaining consent is crucial before touching students.

🗣️The perils of “creepy hands”.

🗣️How trying to teach too many things means not teaching much at all.

🗣️The importance of using multiple types of cues—verbal, visual, and tactile—and aligning them toward a clear movement goal.

LINK IN BIO TO LISTEN! 👂 

Don’t forget to S U B S C R I B E 🎙️

#verbalcues #visualcues #tactilecues #cuetips #yogateachertraining #strengthcoaching #shityogateacherssay
🛑Things barbells aren’t: 💋Only for bros 🛑Things barbells aren’t:
 
💋Only for bros
let’s move past the 5lb dumbbells, friends. If @laurelbeversdorf’s 4-year-old daughter can lift a 10lb kettlebell, so can you. And more. Let’s have a Hot Bitch Who Fights Bears in the Forest Summer.
 
🤓Harder than kettlebells or dumbbells
A barbell is like a big dumbbell, but even easier to manage, because you are holding one thing, not two (if that’s hard to visualize why, imagine holding a barbell in each hand, versus one barbell in front of you. Easier, right?)
 
💪Only for lifting heavy
I’m lifting 55lbs in this video, which I could also do with 2 kettlebells, but the lighter lifts in my program help me focus on the form I need when shit gets heavy.
 
😆More likely to injure you
As a generally clumsy, hypermobile person, the barbell is my friend. I get closed chain feedback through my hands, I’m lifting one thing only, and I create the stiffness through my tissues that actually is protective to my neck, my back, etc…
 
😃Complicated to learn
You know what’s way more complicated? A kettlebell swing.
 
➡️Want to get started with barbells but not sure where to begin? Laurel and I will be putting out a FREE barbell equipment guide in a few weeks that will help you sort through the myriad choices so you can get set up in your own home (or know what you’re doing in the gym). 
 
🔗Get yourself on my mailing list to make sure you don’t miss it!
This makes me so happy and humbled and grateful to This makes me so happy and humbled and grateful to all of you who shared my Cancer Resiliency Program. 

If you’re new to me and don’t know about it, you can check out the program at the link in my bio. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
🤔When was the last time you strengthened your a 🤔When was the last time you strengthened your adductors?
 
➡️Better question:

✅When was the last time you taught your adductors to turn on at the same time as your contralateral obliques and serratus anterior?
 
If your movement diet is mostly yoga, then the answer is: possibly never.
 
Try this series of increasingly challenging versions and let me know what you think in the comments!
 
1) Bottom leg down, isometric hold
 
2) Full position isometric hold
 
3) Dynamic leg movements
 
4) Hip flexion/extension
 
5) Pelvic rotation (NOTE: don’t do it from your shoulder!)
In this episode, @laurelbeversdorf and I discuss t In this episode, @laurelbeversdorf and I discuss the cues movement teachers like yoga teachers and strength coaches use, and then what research has to say about them.

Namely, we look at the difference between internal and external cues, and what both types of cues are good for. We also discuss:

	•	What motor learning is and how it’s different from motor performance.

	•	What motor learning versus motor performance look like in the context of teaching and learning movement.

	•	What attentional focus is and how attentional focus affects motor learning.

	•	The difference between internal and external cues and what specifically defines them.

	•	Which type of cue is better for enhancing sport performance.

	•	What the mind muscle connection is and how it can enhance muscle growth.

	•	How internal cues can enhance the mind muscle connection.

	•	How the goals of yoga are different from the goals of athletics, or even the goal of improving skill within the asanas, and why that matters for the cues we use.

	•	Why internal cues have value both within the context of yoga and rehabilitation.

	•	Whether metaphor and analogy are internal or external cues.

	•	Tactile cues & constraints and what category they live in—internal or external cues.

	•	Lots of example cues in the context of yoga, strength, and kettlebells that illustrate the nuances between these different types of cues.

LINK IN BIO TO LISTEN OR SEARCH MOVEMENT LOGIC WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS.

Don’t forget to subscribe!
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#yogateachercues #shityogateacherssay #externalcues #mindmuscleconnection #motorlearning #motorperformance #physicaltherapy #attentionalfocus #contraints #tactilecues #cuetip #cuetips
🦵strength > 💪strength. ✋Any questions? 🦵strength > 💪strength. 

✋Any questions?

@laurelbeversdorf and I are putting out a Barbell Equipment Guide soon - watch this space!

(But if you have a burning question that won’t wait, drop it in the comments)
💪🗣️💪The Movement Logic Podcast is BACK! 💪🗣️💪The Movement Logic Podcast is BACK!
 
First up, Sarah and Laurel tackle the scourge of the pink dumbbells:
 
➡️Why women have been hoodwinked into believing that strength training is not for them (the patriarchy strikes again)
 
➡️How it’s actually the most protective and valuable training for women to do, in particular for bone density
 
➡️When prior experiences of somatic dominance in specific training environments (the gym, CrossFit) can hinder someone’s access to strength training
 
➡️How it can injury-proof your body
 
✅✅✅and more!

🔗Click the link to listen on Apple Podcasts, or find us wherever you listen!
💪Osteoporosis-safe impact training: heel drops! 💪Osteoporosis-safe impact training: heel drops!
 
I got an excellent question from my post about improving bone density: 
 
🗣️How do you start impact training for people who already have osteoporosis, without running the risk of a fracture?
 
✅The answer: heel drops! 

➡️➡️Note that I’m letting my whole body relax as I land. You could also start with these in sitting, though the amount of impact will be decreased.
 
Questions? Comments? Let’s discuss!
 
🔗And get on my mailing list for more free content!
Hesitant about a barbell at home? It takes up less Hesitant about a barbell at home? It takes up less space than you think!
 
My office is 8’x12’ – it’s not a big room, but this fits fine. 

💪You can also get a 6’ barbell – mine is 7’ because I wanted the heaviest one.
 
💪Portable rack from amazon (about $70) + the ability to follow IKEA type directions (or taskrabbit if you really don’t want to bother) and VOILA!
 
⬇️Comment if you have questions!
🦅Got a dragon that needs slaying? 😒Do you 🦅Got a dragon that needs slaying? 
 
😒Do you feel nervous about working with clients with special conditions?
 
💪Do you want to get stronger but you’re not sure where to start?
 
☹️Are you sick and tired of that nagging pain that you can’t seem to get rid of?
 
✅I can help you with all of these – and more!
 
🔗Click the link in my bio, pick your dragon, and let’s slay that MFer together!
Let’s set the record straight - the two proven w Let’s set the record straight - the two proven ways to improve bone density and reverse osteoporosis are:
 
✅Heavy lifting (the equivalent of 9/10 on the effort scale, or ~90% 1RM)

✅Plyometrics (jumping, impact etc)
 
That’s it. That’s the list.
 
➡️➡️Here’s another Monday am fact for you: in order to lift heavy, you’re going to run out of kettlebells or dumbbells that you can hold pretty quickly. 
 
A 70lb barbell lift is a lot easier to manage than 2 35lb kettlebells, and it’s kinder on your wrists and elbows.
 
Not ready to unlearn the “Asana can reverse osteoporosis” story?
 
🗣️Hit me up with your “But what about” comments below!!
Afraid of falling? Time to practice! @the_longevi Afraid of falling? Time to practice!

@the_longevity_blueprint is an awesome, no-nonsense resource for you!

#osteoporosis #osteopenia #fearoffalling #empowerolderadults #yogiswholift #seniorswholift
My Cancer Resiliency Program is here! This has be My Cancer Resiliency Program is here!

This has been a labor of love, and I’m thrilled to finally share it with you.
 
My goal is for as many people as possible to benefit from this program!
 
🔗Learn more at the link in bio

🗣️Share with anyone you think would be interested

📌Save for future use

📫DM me with any questions!
 
 
#breastcancersupport #cancerresearch #yogiswholift #strengthtrainingforcancer #yogaforcancer #pilatesforcancer 
[Video ID: photos of Sarah going through cancer treatment, followed by video clips from her Cancer Resiliency Program. Video is fully captioned.]
💪Side effects of barbells include: increased se 💪Side effects of barbells include: increased self-esteem, improved body image, ability to carry heavy things without help, sense of empowerment, and a big middle finger to all the messaging that told you to stay small, that small is feminine, that feminine is what men want, that what men want is all that matters.
 
➡️Start where you are. And keep going.
 
⬇️DM me or comment below if you need help getting started with lifting weights. It can seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be!
✅What to expect from PT I had a zoom session w ✅What to expect from PT
 
I had a zoom session with a movement teacher who needed help with plantar fasciitis, and she said, “I’m so glad I’m talking to you because you’re not going to dismiss me, or talk down to me, or tell me I’m wearing the wrong shoe.” 

💩And I thought: if that is her experience of what happens in PT, that really blows. 
 
➡️So I thought I should list some things you should and shouldn’t get with PT, and some ways to advocate for yourself.
 
One caveat: if you’re getting 20 mins with the PT and the rest of the time with an aide, that is most likely because they take your insurance, and the business cannot afford to give you more time with the PT, because insurance does not pay especially well.
 
But there are still some basics that you should expect, and here they are!
 
👋There’s also still time to get a free 15 minute check in with me – comment below and I will hook you up!
📡NEWS FLASH📡 Your neck/back/any part pain c 📡NEWS FLASH📡

Your neck/back/any part pain can be relieved, and it might be because you are deconditioned. More on this story at 11. 

#movementlogic #pilatesinstructors #yogateachers #movementteacher #physicaltherapist #physiotherapy #physiotherapists #strengthconditioning #mobilitycoach #mobilitywod #worksmarternotharder #movementlogicpodcast #newsflash #chronicpain #neckpainrelief #backpainrelief
🤔Should you wait to add weight? (you’re welco 🤔Should you wait to add weight? (you’re welcome)
 
When I squat to the ground with no weight, I either fall backwards, or I have to work exceptionally hard not to. 

My entire spine flexes (which is FINE), and I have to counterbalance myself with my arms – in short, it is a great deal of effort to stay in place.
 
Now one way of thinking is that I should work on the unweighted squat and get ‘better’ at it where I’m lacking mobility – I’m looking at you, ankle dorsiflexion – before I add weight. 
 
💪But here’s the thing: When I do the same squat holding 40lbs of kettlebells, my body naturally organizes itself, I am balanced, I can access my hip and thigh muscles with ease, and I can go down and up no problem.
 
➡️So should I still wait on the weight? Or do I let the weight’s counterbalance do the heavy lifting? 
 
🤔👋What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
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