Breath, Movement & Stretching in North Liberty.

Pain is louder when your nervous system is stuck switched on. This is where you learn to turn it down on purpose, and then do it without us.

Nervous system regulation Breath, grounding, stretching Book My Free Consult

What It Is

Calming down is a skill. It can be taught.

A nervous system that has been braced for months does not stand down because somebody tells it to relax. Breathing goes shallow and high. Muscles hold. Sleep gets thin. Pain gets louder, because the system reporting it is turned all the way up.

So we teach the mechanics instead. Extended-exhale breathing, because a longer exhale is a lever your body already owns. Grounding, so you have something to actually do when a flare starts. Slow, supported stretching, so movement stops registering as a threat.

You have been told to relax before. Nobody handed you the how. The how is the whole point of this.

This is also where the two halves of this clinic meet. Natalie Johnston, MPT is a Fellow in Pain Sciences and a Therapeutic Pain Specialist, and she holds 500 hours of trauma-informed yoga training registered with Yoga Alliance. One patient put it better than we can: “She does PT to get you better and Yoga to keep you that way.” Tom R.

A person resting in child’s pose on a mat, breathing through a supported stretch A skill you keep, not a treatment you need

What It Helps

When the volume is the problem.

A system that never comes down does not stay level. It starts recruiting your sleep, your digestion and your patience, and it raises the price of everything else you are working on.

Pain that flares when life gets loud Days when everything is turned up Lightheaded every time you stand up Shoulders that live up by your ears A back that grips the moment you tense Sleep that never quite switches off

What A Session Looks Like

Three steps, one visit.

1

We look at how you are actually breathing.

2

You practice the down-shift, not just hear about it.

3

You leave with something you can use tonight.

Why It Works

Four reasons it earns a place in your plan.

A skill you keep, not a treatment you need.

Something to do when a flare starts.

Stretching that calms instead of provokes.

The bridge between your therapy and your yoga.

Pairs Well With

Breath work rarely works alone.

Yoga-Informed PT Medically guided movement, taught by someone who already knows your case. Yoga Classes Trauma-informed classes in the clinic, $25 to drop in, so the skill keeps getting used.

Questions, Answered

Breath, movement and stretching, no mystery.

No. This is a one-on-one session with a licensed physical therapist, aimed at your breathing pattern and your nervous system. Classes exist too, taught by Natalie Johnston, MPT, who holds 500 hours of trauma-informed yoga training registered with Yoga Alliance. Plenty of people do the therapy first and the classes after.

Flexibility is not the entry fee, and nobody is going to ask you to empty your mind. The first thing we teach is a longer exhale, sitting in a chair, wearing whatever you came in. Everything after that is graded to what your body will accept that day.

Pain is produced by a nervous system, and a nervous system stuck in high alert reports more of it. A longer exhale is one of the few direct levers you have on that state. It does not replace treating the cause, it lowers the volume so the rest of your plan can do its job. Call (319) 382-2743 if you would rather ask us in person.

Book Your Visit

Ready when you are.

Request a time and a real person calls you back. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.

  • Hours Mon-Fri: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
  • (319) 382-2743 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
  • No referral needed in Iowa

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Motion Matters Physical Therapy and Wellness

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