Brent Anderson, PhD, PT, OCS, President and CEO

Brent received his degree in Physical Therapy at University of California, San Francisco in 1989 and his PhD in Physical Therapy at the University of Miami in 2005. His doctoral thesis explored the impact of Pilates rehabilitation on chronic low back pain using psycho-emotional wellness and quality of life measures. He is currently adjunct faculty at the University of Miami, Division of Physical Therapy. In addition, he owns and operates Polestar Physical Therapy and Pilates Center in Miami, FL, which serves as a model for the use of Pilates for rehabilitation.

From his extensive background in rehabilitation and movement science, Brent has applied critical reasoning skills and supportive scientific research to Joseph Pilates’ revolutionary mind-body work. He also brings to the Polestar curriculum an investigation of the effects of psychology and energy systems on motor control and motor learning.

THE “ENERGY CRISIS” IN MEDICINE

James L. Oschman, Ph.D.
Nature’s Own Research Association
Dover, New Hampshire, USA

In every culture and in every medical tradition before ours, healing was accomplished by moving energy.       ~Albert Szent-Györgyi

Interest in energy medicine is increasing rapidly around the world, and methods such as Pilates, Reiki, Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, Polarity Therapy, Cranial Sacral, Zero Balancing, Acupuncture, Shiatsu and so on are rapidly gaining in popularity. Likewise a variety of energy medicine technologies using pulsing electromagnetic fields, sound, light and other forms of energy are proving to be valuable for stimulating healing. When practitioners of these methods talk about energy, precisely what do they mean? Why does western scientific medicine know so little about healing accomplished by moving energy? This presentation is about resolving this conceptual "energy crisis" in medicine. The presentation has two parts. First we look at research done by a famous scientist who recognized the importance of energy in medicine and did ground-breaking research on the subject, but was unable get the scientific community to listen. His work provided the basis for a system within the body that moves energy. The properties of this system help us understand how the various bodywork, energetic and movement therapies can produce rapid healing by stimulating energy flows. The second part of the story summarizes how recent developments have clarified the significance of his work and enabled us to resolve the "energy crisis" in medicine.

PANEL MEMBERS

Brent D. Anderson, PhD, PT, OCS
Founder & President, Polestar Pilates Education, USA


Carol Davis, DPT, EdD, MS, FAPTA
Professor Department of Physical Therapy, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, USA

Libby Weaver, PhD
Holistic Nutrition Specialist, Australia

Sherri Betz, PT, GCS
Polestar Pilates Educator, USA

POSTURING FOR THE FUTURE
Sherri Betz

How should we shape Pilates for the future? What are the myths and misconceptions? What might be missing? Is it really the perfect exercise method for adults and our aging population? Based on interviews with the first generation teachers, Sherri Betz, PT and Geriatric Clinical Specialist, will discuss what is most important to them in the Pilates method and what has hindered or helped their lives the most. How do we impact the lives of the aging population, preventing loss of independence and declines in physical activity? How do we motivate the older adult to exercise? Let's make the greatest impact for the greatest good by getting involved in community-based exercise programs, learn the latest research trends in world physical activity and use evidence-based practices that are effective for improving vitality at any age.

NUTRITIONAL WISDOM
Dr. Libby Weaver

As Hippocrates so insightfully said, “Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Thy Medicine Be Thy Food”. And let’s keep the bold statements going.... without our health we have nothing. So often, so tragically and so unnecessarily, it takes a health crisis before we step up and take action in an area of our lives that we know needs attention... we know in our hearts when we are not eating well or moving regularly. Don’t wait for a health crisis to make the changes you know will benefit you so enormously. One of those areas is almost always nutrition - food is a powerful medicine and healer. There is so much seemingly well-meaning yet conflicting nutrition information out there, that we as health professionals, have a duty of care to ourselves and our clients to educate and empower, and remind them the power that is in their hands to prevent so-called lifestyle illnesses that can rob humans of their quality of life. Right now you could walk into a book shop though and pick up a book that says eat bucket-loads of carbohydrates and right beside it will be a book that says don’t eat carbs. How are we supposed to make sense of such opposing information? The answer is by paying attention to the signals your body communicates every minute of every day. This presentation will explore many of those key signals that food and the right body chemistry solves. Food is designed to nourish us... body, mind and soul and it truly has the capacity to do just that.

FASCIAL FABRIC
Dr. Carol Davis

The new science of epigenetics is unfolding in such a way that we are obtaining a clearer picture of how each of our over 100 trillion cells work, minute-to-minute, to keep our bodies healthy and functioning. The fascial matrix that we are embedded within plays a major role as a conductor of the subtle energy signals that cells respond to, activating the DNA of our genes to order the protein chains within the cell to carry out cellular function. We now know that certain signals promote nurturing and healing and growth, and diminish the effects of aging. Likewise, other signals take away from healing and growth. What this means is simply this: Each person living on this planet, rich or poor, is in charge of the quality and the quantity of his or her life, day-to-day. And… it is far easier to carry out this stewardship of our cells than traditional medicine would have us believe.

David Greenspan

David spent almost 25 years in the corporate world as a Wall Street first vice president, marketing director, chief operating officer, mergers & acquisitions advisor, author, and entrepreneur.

Shortly after watching the Twin Towers fall on 9/11, at the height of his emotional turbulence, he left New York on a journey of self-discovery. He met Dr. Deepak Chopra at the Seduction of Spirit meditation retreat in Oxford, England who advised him to make peace with his past and taught him to reconnect with his unconditioned self through sutra meditations. A few days later, David arrived in southern India at the abode of a Naadi scroll reader who helped him explore and make peace with his past and future lives.

When he returned to the states, he attended an Ayurvedic workshop where he met Chopra Center co-founder David Simon, M.D., who invited him to balance the two worlds of business and spirit as COO and CMO of Chopra Enterprises and gave him the name davidji.

Within the nurturing environs of the Center, and under the daily guidance of Deepak and David, davidji became a Certified Perfect Health educator, the Center’s lead Primordial Sound Meditation instructor, and a guiding force helping others learn the practical tools to integrate these timeless teachings into their 21st century lives.