Season 1: Episode 4 - Michael Mullin - Hydro-bio-dynamics, Snow globes, Senses, Flow, and Zero Expectations

Michael is a clinically-based athletic trainer with over 30 years of experience in rehabilitation and performance training.  He is the owner and clinician at “Integrative Rehab Training” which provides rehabilitation, training services, consulting and educational programming based out of Cumberland, Maine. He is on Clinical Adjunct Faculty at the University of New England, is a licensed Physical Therapy Assistant, and is a Certified Clinician through the Postural Restoration Institute®.  He has provided consultation, treatment and/or presentations to numerous professional athletes and teams, universities, professional associations, and other national and international organizations.  He is an internationally recognized speaker on topics related to sports medicine, rehabilitation, training and performance and has been published in numerous professional and informational capacities. In this episode, Michael shares his inside out view on the human system. He talks about how we develop in utero as 99% fluid and explains his view of the body as a hydro-bio-dynamic system. He uses the concept of flow to create an image to his clients about what he is trying to help them achieve. He explains his view of suction within the body using an analogy of stepping in mud. “If you take a step and you step in mud, and it’s dense mud and you stand in it for a period of time and you go to pull your foot out, it’s holding you hostage, really sucking you down. If you step in it and move quickly or it’s too fluid, then your body is just able to move out of it easily.” He explains how this works in the diaphragm and uses his body to animate this concept of turning around his internal structures. This is definitely one you may want to watch on YouTube. He explains how this model applies to strength training when we need to develop power and have more compression but we also need to decompress. He explains the role of the connective tissue / fascia and what happens when the tissues aren’t fluid. What does this look like from a more traditional view of movement and pathology and how can this change the resting position of our joints. He talks about how society pushes messages of stability and how he wants his clients to feel safe with instability. He wants them to be able to wobble, not brace for optimal recovery. He explains his viewpoint of asymmetry and gives a great overview of the internal dynamics of our organs and the turn or procession that happens, which creates a leftward spin and opening, and right side bias. He discusses the left and right side of the brain in controlling these dynamics. He gives one of the best analogies I’ve ever heard for understand movement from the inside out. He describes our bodies as a snow globe and how we need to get the stuff inside of us to shake up so it can settle and redistribute better vs. having all of the stuff settled to the bottom or towards one side for long periods, usually our right side. He explains why senses are so important to our nervous system and how our current society can make us less focused on the present because of the over stimulation or focus on past and present. He explains how our brain is impacted. I ask Mike as a movement professional, where should we start, autonomics or somato-sensory? He explains how coaching and therapy is an art and how he has zero expectations and what that means to him and his patients. He says, “When the student is ready, the master becomes clearer”. I ask Mike what his thoughts are on pursuing more education so that we have tools to handle some of these 21st century problems, like rises in dysautonomia and how he talks to clients with potential trauma in a way that creates dialogue. If you are a movement professional this is a must listen! We bring things full circle with a bit of a deep dive into the emotional side of us and then Mike talks about the power of breath work and finding presence in your everyday. Mike gives 2 great pieces of advice for how to start using and tapping into some of these concepts for movement professionals and for anyone wanting to move and feel better. Again, you might want to watch this live on you tube so you can see what he is demonstrating. You can check out more about Michael at his website: https://www.mjmatc.com/ His Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmatc/