StableMovement Physical Therapy

07/12/2022

Covid-19 has changed perspective of life for most and transformed it completely for some. Healthy living is now the primary factor in our lives. Let’s work together for a happy and healthy life.
I am a certified Physical Therapist with over 25 years of experience, a yoga teacher, and practitioner.
I can help you with:
- Preventative Physical Therapy –sports related, workouts and exercise routine related, work related, art form related (dance, martial arts, etc.), wellness.
- Regular Check-Ups- healthy movement screens and yearly body tune-ups.
- Posture and stable movement patterns- healthy living in general, - lifestyle management with personalized, one-on-one fitness programs.
- Rehabilitative Physical Therapy- Pain management from injury, shoulder, spine: neck, mid-back, low back, SI joint, hip, knee, ankle and foot, etc.
Fill the form here to schedule an appointment. We’ll get in touch and set up the appointment.

StableMovement Physical Therapy is committed to ensuring optimal health and well-being of our patients. We look forward to seeing you at our boutique clinic. Please be aware that the nature of in-person physical therapy services calls for hands-on treatment. Mask wearing is optional if you are fully...

06/19/2020

Holistic, Integrative Physical Therapy and Yoga Wellness open for visits & Virtual-PT sessions
StableMovement Physical Therapy is a private, boutique holistic and integrative physical therapy and yoga practice for preventative care, painful shoulder, back, chronic pain, sports injury, post surgery and follow-up wellness. It offers patient centered, one-on-one, hands-on physical therapy. The main focus is holistic therapy using integrative approach, movement pattern training, and specific exercises to get you back to enjoying your daily activities.
Rest assured, the environment is safe, following county recommended and suggested protocols and implementing these with patient care and well-being at the core of services provided. Telehealth / Virtual PT Sessions are also available.

StableMovement Physical Therapy,
Ami Gandhi, PT

Call (408)252-8790 for a phone screen/consult, and when appropriate, to set an appointment, or
e-mail : amismpt@gmail.com
*With your well-being at heart.
website: https://www.stablemovement.com/

05/02/2020

Santa Clara County has released new guidelines effective May 3rd, 11:59 pm and is easing businesses to slowly open as the spread of Covid-19 related cases are slowing down.

StableMovement Physical Therapy chose to close earlier after March 16th shelter-in-place guidelines, to prevent unnecessary exposure and contain spread due to non-essential services at that point.
Although all healthcare access was granted by earlier county order, Stable Movement Physical Therapy has followed safe practice to prevent any exposure during this critical period as cases due to Covid-19 were still rising in the county and Bay Area.

As of May 4, 2020, StableMovement Physical Therapy is opening its doors to:
i) essential workers that need such services to continue their work uninhibited and contribute optimally to this situation
ii) all those that require post-surgery physical therapy/ rehabilitation in outpatient setting (e.g. Rotator Cuff, ACL, Joint Replacements), where lack of such services may leave individual with sub-par recovery or outcomes,
iii) are in significant pain which is affecting function and /or impacting ability to work from home.

StableMovement Physical Therapy is a boutique outpatient PT clinic, solely owner operated, that treats patients one-on–one. Rest assured, the environment is safe, following county recommended and suggested protocols and implementing these with patient care and well-being at the core of its services provided.

Please call (408)252-8790 for a phone screen and when appropriate, to set up an appointment.

With your well-being at heart. 🙏

10/09/2019

Is pain preventing you from enjoying Yoga?

Our body has through popular yoga been given prime importance as if that were the only means and end to our being. While it is true, the body is a means or a tool and a very powerful, effective tool to learn more about ourselves and to touch and abide in our true being.
Yoga is the root of physical therapy. For physical therapy to succeed and set you on a wellness path, yoga principles (character building through meditation and eventually a still mind) are a must.
“The main aim and goal of yoga is Samadhi or “evenness of mind.”
-M.S.Viswanath

The most important challenge in the kind of lifestyle we live today is the ability to be in charge of the mind-body so that we may dwell in spirit. Hence the popularity of yoga involving the bodily asanas. With all the amenities and comforts of modern world, the connection with our divine aspect is hanging on loose threads. It is up to each one of us to establish this connection and strengthen it into a firm and strong thread/string. And if your chosen path is through contemporary yogasana, welcome to StableMovement Physical Therapy. (Contact us today to set up your appointment)

How does the yoga tie in with physical therapy you wonder?
Well physical therapy is nothing but yoga modified and “broken down” so to say to bring the focus on a particular part. A good analogy would be the use of a microscope to reveal finer and subtler tissues, cells, and sub-cellular structures which are not visible to the naked eye. The important thing here is to look at the finer aspects yet at the same time keeping the whole picture in mind. That is precisely where yoga comes in. Not only in the sense of a particular yogasana, though that is definitely a tool to recovery, albeit the process undertaken through the rehab and wellness journey.

Discover your method
How do you learn and pursue your goal? Hatha, Ashtanga, or Vinyasa yoga? These 3 popularly mentioned yoga methods actually overlap. Read on to understand:

Hatha means nothing but a strong will or firm determination. That is when one chooses to practice any form of yoga (or physical therapy for that matter) taught by a qualified master (skilled PT), and stay on this journey through sheer will and determination to see the end even though the path seems difficult.

Ashtanga yoga also means the eight-limb yoga. These are
1. Yama- ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, aparigraha (non-violence, truthfulness, non-covetousness, self-restraint/moderation, non-possessiveness)
2. Niyama- saucha, santosh, tapas, svadhyay, ishvara pranidhana (cleanliness, satisfaction, austerity, self-inquiry and study, surrender to higher Self)
3. Asana- sukham sthiram asanam
4. Pranayama- breath regulation
5. Pratyahara- sense withdrawal
6. Dharana- concentration
7. Dhyana- meditation
8. Samadhi- stillness of mind or “I-sense dissolved in object of meditation.”

Vinyasa yoga (Vinyasa flow) though practiced as a variant of yoga methods, it only refers to a series of asanas or postures undertaken before and after performance of a particular set of asanas to help the body limber up and increase flexibility and range for optimal performance as well as decrease fatigue and allow for nourishment of active muscles and tissue, prior to the next asana in the set.

Yoga is nothing albeit a journey through which you learn and master yourself to take charge of the body and mind to perform genuine and pure action in the world.

Pursue anything or any action with these golden principles for with this attitude, you will not fail.

10/05/2019

04/03/2019

Drop By April 15th to get your FREE Body Movement Assessment Score.
Free Event on Tax Day!

Find local events on Nextdoor, the private social network for neighborhoods.

05/19/2018

The last post was all about spinal stability with hip mobility and eventual transition to spinal mobility. However this requires recruitment of the deep postural muscles, stabilizing the spine prior to the activation of the movement muscles . The postural stabilizing muscles include the transverse abdominus, deep multifidus, pelvic floor and diaphragm. Therefore, functions like breathing pattern aerating the bases of the lungs and volitional lifting up of internal pelvic organs and volitional continence, which are primary functions of the diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles respectively are linked with spinal stability.
Stable bones, joints, and articular structures with the entire spine acting as one unit and the vertebrae stacked one on top of the other is the basic pre-requisite of healthy weight transfer. When the spine is stabilized adequately, the weight transfer is aided by the strong surrounding ligaments and muscles. The normal curvature of the spinal column -i.e. cervical and lumbar lordosis and thoracic and sacro-coccygeal kyphosis- is maintained. A smooth transfer of weight through the weight bearing structures of the spinal column is suggestive of ideal posture, without excessive weight through the anterior column which predisposes to vertebral disc problems or excessive posterior column transfer leading to facet joint problems and if this persists for prolonged duration it may eventually lead to neurological symptoms.
Ability to perform plank and side planks with neutral spine for 30 seconds, without deviations, demonstrates healthy static spinal stability. Slow leg lowering, without loss of neutral spine at end range is an indication of strong lower quadrant spinal stabilizers. A smooth, symmetrical, trunk lowering to the floor and push-up in plank position (neutral spine) is an indication of healthy dynamic spinal stability.
After a low back injury, pillars of rehabilitation program after interventions for decreasing /alleviating the acute pain/inflammatory process, would be to develop and establish good spinal stability as well as restoring or encouraging adequate spinal mobility. Of course, the order of implementing the interventions and which ones to employ to maximize the functional mobility, will vary based on individual evaluation and response to the treatment plan. Once this is achieved one must progress to fine tuning of the movement and/ or strengthening of functional patterns.
This brings us to the next step in rehabilitation which is the precise timing of dynamic movement. Notice how the joints, muscles, and soft tissue must work in synchrony with nerve impulses being the driving force for ex*****on of smooth, graceful movement? The difference between mediocre movement and a smooth, graceful one is only in the timing of ex*****on (assuming flexibility and ranges are the same). PT rehabilitation plays a big role in ensuring good motor patterns from the beginning to maintain the ideal biomechanical alignment and hence optimal soft tissue length and tone for stabilization and healthy functional movement patterns. Eventually specific movement patterns for return to ADL’s, work, or leisure/ sport/ recreational activity are incorporated.

03/24/2018

Reality in its grossest aspect is portrayed as life as we see it. We struggle when the gross and subtlest aspect of this reality in our perception do not match. Life presents itself in layers. That is nature. The basis to success is to realize the layers, know them, and practice from the inside-out. Reality is blissful when the inside pierces the layers as is and matches with the outside- that is actions sprouting from pure consciousness. Which brings us to the core. Is that not why the core is so emphasized in PT? The truth is presented to us in all walks of life. It must be perceived in simple sincerity and ultimate depth, to live a life truly liberating. By liberation, I mean the ability to choose at every step of the way- it is exhilarating. Initially it does seem like there is a box, and there is constant striving to “think out of the box.” Then suddenly there is grace, and “poof” the box vanishes! –The truth is it never existed- it is all in the perspective.
For any movement to have a stable basis, it is necessary to have stability. Static stability is the ability to hold a posture with the apical skeleton (i.e. extremities or arms and legs) in a steady or stationary position. However with daily activities, we seek dynamic stability, which is a whole new world in itself. Here constant adjustment in muscular contraction is demanded to maintain a stable form, specifically in the spine. There is a popular notion in physical therapy, fitness training, and athletics/ sport training about spinal/lumbar stabilization (stable lumbo-pelvic region) with a mobile hip. This hand-in-hand notion of mobility only in the hip and to keep the spine neutral at all times has made “the squat” very popular-. This is no doubt, the first step. Though this is imperative to learn and the first step, so that mobility between the two (lumbar spine and hip) maybe discriminated between and mastered, spinal mobility should not be taboo in my perspective. We would not have been given the mobility, if we were to keep the spine neutral at all times! In fact, it is not possible for us to not use or employ spinal mobility and yet be graceful in our movements! How soothing is the movement in ballet or gymnastics? It takes training the spinal mobility, does it not? To think that it must always result in injury is to fear movement. It takes an additional level of skill however to strengthen the trunk musculature sufficiently with spinal mobility. Yogis have done this for years and their spines were never at dis-ease or in pain and they flex forwards, backwards and sideways and twist and turn without any problem.
So once the first step is mastered (lumbar stability with hip mobility), and don’t mind me saying this again since it is to be emphasized, it is the layer deeper than spinal mobility, and until this is mastered and understood well, one must not attempt the next level (reminiscent of developmental patterns?). This is simply for the health of the spine. Thus such a progression is a skill.

03/17/2018

So yoga is an integral part of PT. In fact it is an integral part of anything we do. Yoga not in the modern or popular sense but the traditional yoga I have alluded to in the previous post. “Yoga “is an inherent part and by giving it a separate name conjures picture of separate entity or process, which it is not!
From the PT perspective, let us consider an idea, say performance of a forearm plank position. For this to be executed in an ideal pattern, the idea of this is necessary- visually, mentally, intellectually. What is ideal pattern? The arms are shoulder width apart, with elbows directly under the shoulder joints, neck and entire spine in neutral, scapula slightly squeezed and firm on thoracic cage, hips, knees in neutral and aligned, ankle in neutral weight bearing on ball of feet and forearms only. In other words, the body viewed from the side or above appears straight like a “plank. “
I have mentioned earlier, that movement may be brought about through involuntary muscle action, with the example of cardiac muscle and smooth muscles in the visceral organs which work constantly without our volition, and if these stop functioning, life stops. So what is it within each one of us that functions for life to go on? Let us call this the cause.
Swami Chinmayananda brings it out beautifully through the 3 laws of causation:
1) Effect cannot be without cause
2) Effect is cause in different forms (effect is plural)
3) From the effect when the cause is removed, nothing remains.
This cause he says is the life spark within each of us, not only humans albeit all the living organisms including animals and plants.
With this pure consciousness, when the world is perceived, one can only act selflessly. Then the body, mind, and intellect, which are instruments of the perceiver, feeler, and thinker, are tuned/transcended. The field of object, emotion, and thoughts is limitless.
To realize the cause, we all have the same instruments (body, mind, and intellect). One way is to perceive, feel, and think till the truth is realized. This is done through expansion of the limited field of this self and make it limitless through inclusion of everything in our field (objects, emotions, and thoughts). Another way is to negate everything “neti- neti,” (not this-not this) till at last one reaches conclusion that there is only pure consciousness. Once this journey is undertaken, the unconscious within us slowly attenuates to nothingness and only pure consciousness remains. This is the state of nothingness and everythingness at once.
Bringing this down a notch into experiential realm of movement, one may go about executing the movement. Here the “root cause” is the idea of performing a plank position, and the “effect” will be its ex*****on. Hence, without the idea of performance of the forearm plank, the movement has no existence or may not be executed. Now let’s say there is a group of people who are instructed on doing the plank. Here, the idea or cause of a plank position exists in many different minds. The effect or performance will vary based on the perception and interpretation of the individual. So though the forms that the “effect” or performance of the plank has taken is varied and in different forms, it is however one and the same “root cause” (idea of plank position).
Through yoga any movement we undertake, even the ones involving voluntary muscles may be performed effortlessly! Amongst our skeletal muscles, the support or postural muscles are the ones with endurance and the ones that may work with or without voluntary input (being a reflex loop at the spinal cord level with connection to the cerebrum for voluntary input). So these are the essential “link” muscles, so to speak. The key to ex*****on of an ideal plank is stability in these postural muscles (the multifidi, transversus abdominus, obliques). The quadratus lumborum with the obliques balances the pelvis (maintains spinal symmetry) and prevents unilateral pelvic rotation (or dipping of the pelvis on one side). The toe extensors and foot dorsiflexors are engaged, as are the quadriceps and gluteus maximus. To maintain stability of legs in the transverse plane, voluntary co-contraction of the hip musculature (agonist-antagonist pairs) like gluteus medius and hip adductors, hip flexors-hip extensors, is essential. Plenty of muscles are activated in the trunk to maintain stability as the re**us abdominus co-activates with the gluteus maximus to prevent anterior pelvic rotation and hence hyperextension of lumbar spine. The rhomboids and middle trapezius keep the scapula or shoulder blades close to the midline/ spine and provide the ideal channel for weight transference. The serratus anterior fires making load transfer from stable shoulder blades to the arms. The rotator cuff (set of muscles- supraspinatus and infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor) stabilizes the shoulder girdle and keeps the head of the humerus (upper arm bone) snug in the glenoid socket of the scapula (shoulder joint). Triceps and biceps co-contract as do the forearm supinators-pronators. With practice, the reflex loop may be tweaked and altered through input from higher centers, till the muscle fibers are recruited and strengthened to perform consistently in an ideal pattern.
When mastered, the process becomes easier and easier and eventually effortless. That is the once voluntary activity has now become involuntary or automatic and an ideal reflex loop has been created. Once an activity (the performance of plank position) is seen as ideal in alignment and stability, involuntary, effortless, the effect is and cause is removed (the idea of plank). Now your PT says “do a plank” and you simply do it, executing the ideal plank, nothing remains. You do not think “first I have to bring my elbows under the shoulders, next I have to lift the pelvis and knees and bring the hips and knees in line, and then I have to squeeze the gluteii to maintain….etc.” You simply do it!
So with PT, this is the goal, to make the idea effortless. And even this is a mere pointer. That lack of idea or that “nothing remains” is in fact true fulfillment of life. It is this “nothingness” or the pure consciousness beyond our ego which uses the body, mind, and intellect as instruments to express and play in the world, which is at once nothing and everything within each one of us that we seek and the one that guides our movement. That is ideal movement!

02/24/2018

Yoga has become the fitness mantra. Most of us are either going to classes learning and/or teaching yoga asanas or at least have heard about yoga in the popular form (Based on a 2016 “Yoga in America” study by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance, there are 36.7 million practitioners in US alone) . Why is yoga thriving? Well, it’s most obvious benefits at physical, mental, and emotional level are increased flexibility, fitness, and overall health and well-being. However, yoga goes beyond that and the health benefits are only side effects of the authentic practice. Though asana practice may also be used as a stepping stool into better understanding of authentic practice if the seeking is genuine. Patanjali describes the eight-fold path through yoga sutras:
1)Yama
2) Niyama
3) Asana
4) Pranayama
5) Pratyahara
6) Dharana
7) Dhyana
8) Samadhi
To see yoga in any other form than in its wholeness or entirety is a mere part and not the whole. To quote from Swami Jnaneshwar Bharti’s article “Modern Yoga versus Traditional Yoga”:
“The word "yoga" has become a homonym, with a traditional meaning having to do with the realization through direct experience of the preexisting union between Atman and Brahman, Jivatman and Paramatman, and Shiva and Shakti, or the realization of Purusha standing alone as separate from Prakriti, and the modern meaning of yoga as any of a wide variety of physical fitness or exercise routines.”
When one experiences this authentic yoga or union, and through practice, enter voluntarily into this state of union, anything that individual does or does not do, transforms lives. That is to say, their being is a blessing and to come into contact and learn from that one, sets one onto their own journey towards yoga.
When all the eight-limbs of Patanjali’s yoga sutras are incorporated into such practice of asanas with genuine heart, it encompasses and involves the whole life and being and propels one towards this union.
Each one of us is unique in terms of how we learn:
• Some are visual, i.e. sight, so printed exercises are beneficial or demonstration works well for these individuals.
• Some learn from listening i.e. sound, so instructions on how to exercise verbally and being motivated by listening to success stories.
• Yet some learn through touch i.e. sensory facilitation and manual therapy is key to serve as a reminder of ideal movement patterns.
While there may be predominance of one, the other methods contribute to some extent and most of us are mixed learners.
The long term goal is the highest goal one may achieve and the amazing thing is all of us are moving towards this- our own ideal. The truth is all fields and every path taken in this world -healthcare, engineering, aeronautics, marine biology, and agriculture (you name it!) – leads to this one goal only.
The whole basis of physical therapy is to alleviate pain and re-learn a good movement pattern, till we encounter the ideal. What next? Once one experiences this ideal pattern, it is so effortless and exhilarating, it easily becomes the “long term goal.” This “long term” (as a function of time) varies for each one of us, based on where we are on the “learning curve.” In my view learning never ends, however one may begin on the lowest rung of a ladder and climb all the way to the top and master one type of learning. At this point two paths open up- demonstrating this path to others along the way and the opportunity to climb with a rope or a pole or even the stairs! And so on and on. When a physical therapist works with a client from this perspective, he/she is open to both learning from and teaching the client on a day to day basis. It also explains why some are faster learners (being on varying rungs of the ladder).
Since the body is an amazing instrument (portable, movable, and evolving- a wonder of wonders!) we all learn through the body (involution and pure consciousness). One of the pet goals we physical therapists have is to “rehabilitate the (client) individual back into a contributing member of the community.” Herein comes physical therapy as facilitator to achieving this ideal movement pattern. Another view changer- our problems recur, just so we may learn and learn the truth well and see it from various perspectives and include all. Steadily we must move towards this highest goal.