Green Tea Conversations
Increasing Flexibility and Mobility with Theodore Rick
February 23, 2020
Meet Theodore Rick, owner of Healing Taj, a holistic clinic located in Bloomington, which offers several healing therapies, including active, isolated stretching, massage, and reflexology. Rick talks about his journey and how he came into his field. Learn about the benefits of good flexibility and what a test of flexibility entails. Rick also discusses how he helps kids with flexibility issues and some pro tips to regain flexibility. For more information, visit HealingTaj.com.

Increasing Flexibility and Mobility with Theodore Rick


[00:00:05.100] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Good morning and welcome to Green Tea Conversations, the radio show that delves into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine to bring you the local experts who share progressive ideas and the latest information and insights needed so you can lead your best life. I'm your host Candi Broeffle, publisher of the Twin Cities edition of Natural Awakenings magazine, and I am honored to bring these experts to you. Today in our studio, we have Theodore Rick, owner of Healing Taj, a holistic clinic located in Bloomington, where he offers several healing therapies, including active, isolated, stretching, massage, and reflexology. Theodore is also the founder of Taj Kinesiotherapy, an energy, and soft tissue technique that integrates the body's most powerful energy centers and reflex points to the central nervous system. Welcome to the studio, Theodore. How are you?
 
[00:00:58.050] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Very good, thank you. Thank you for having me.
 
[00:01:00.360] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Well, we're really glad that you're here today and I know you and I had talked. I'd stopped by your booth at the Healthy Life Expo. You have been an advertiser with Natural Awakenings for years, years, even before I had purchased the magazine. So, thank you. We always appreciate the support of our advertisers. And you and I were talking about some of the different techniques that you offer at your clinic. And one of the things that we were talking about that just got me so interested was the importance of flexibility. And so, I want to talk about that today. But before we get started in that, I really want to have you introduce our listeners to who you are. So, give us an idea of who you are, what it is that you do, and kind of how you came about doing it.
 
[00:01:49.310] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Sure. Well, I got into flexibility probably at a young age, working on my family, of course. And it inspired me. Everyone seemed to like what I did. I started to go into massage school probably around 2002 with Sister Rosalind School Massage, and I would dabble in different survival trainings after that and different wellness classes. And I always find myself working on people doing bodywork, stretching out different pain or aches that people had in the woods and people loved it. People always drew me back, like, you got to keep doing that. You got to keep doing that. And here I am today, after all these years of training and working with people. And I'm just here to really inspire people to keep their body loose and flexible. And the benefits are magnificent. It's beyond what people really think flexibility can do for the body.
 
[00:02:43.750] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Now, when you were growing up and even now you've been an athlete, right?
 
[00:02:48.280] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct.

[00:02:48.810] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so, you really understand the importance of keeping that physical body flexible, especially as an athlete, you use that all the time. So, what when you say that you were taking some survival classes and different things, what was that about?
 
[00:03:10.200] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Well, I have done many different classes. I worked with the National Leadership School. We were hiking, backpacked, hiking in the Himalayas for a month. Other classes I would go to would be Boulder Outdoor Survival School, which is before Tom Hanks did his Castaway movie. He wouldn't train with what those guys. And so, that class with the Boulder Outdoor Survival is amazing. It really draws you into learning about nature and how nature can really help you the more things you know. And it's about not being scared of nature, but really learning and appreciating. So, that's why I was there. I was always drawn into what else can I learn about nature and involving stretching and massage and flexibility. Working with my hands without any real tools to really help people is another big draw of bringing those two together. And that's what I do today, working as a naturalist and a bodyworker.
 
[00:04:16.440] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, you really just are able to integrate all of that. So, let's talk about some of the benefits of flexibility. So, I was telling you earlier, you know, when I was in my 20s and 30s, I probably didn't think about it as much. You just, you respond pretty well. You recover pretty well from different things that you are doing. But now, as I'm in my 50s, I'm really noticing the need for flexibility, the need to have better mobility, better flexibility. So, let's talk about that a little bit. What are some of the benefits of having good flexibility?

[00:04:56.820] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, a couple of main benefits that you mentioned that I can see as benefits. You had mentioned some things that you may be hidden from your past like, you get an ache and then you start to adjust or compensate your body's movements. It's like you used to use your left arm to pick this bag up and now you're using the right arm. So, there's this already a change going on when you're lifting, that's affecting your shoulder, that's affecting into your spine. So, the benefits of flexibility is keeping that balance and that pressure in from your right arm, your left arm coming into your spinal muscles, keeping that open so they're not getting those pinched nerves.
 
[00:05:46.660] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And the pain that comes along with that.

[00:05:48.690] - Theodore Rick, Guest
That's right.
 
[00:05:49.530] - Candi Broeffle, Host
You know, it's really interesting that you say that because we're really not aware of how much we do that, where we adjust for any kind of minor aches or pains that we have. And I'm sure that there are a lot of people like myself who once you start to really become more aware of it, it's like, wow, you know, what can I do to get back that? Because we don't think about it so much if we've already made that adjustment for it.
 
[00:06:20.250] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yeah. So, I mean, just taking care of yourself is, you know, what are you going to do to take care of yourself. Right? You understand in your brain, I got to take care of myself. But not everyone is going to take your arm and show you what's going on. When people meet me, I'm like they're walking by at a store and I'm set up as a booth are like, you want me to show you a magic trick? And they're like, What? I'm going to show you magic to work through your arms. And the majority of the people have a huge difference in their mobility in their left arm versus their right arm. There's a little bit of difference as you know, with the rotation and the movement of bringing your arm back. But generally, there's always a difference and that's creating different pressure in the spine.
 
[00:07:11.910] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so, when I saw you at the Healthy Life Expo, you did that. You did some testing for me to try to determine how much flexibility I have. And there was one side of my body that was much less flexible and one of... So, tell us some of the things that you do to like, test it. And keeping in mind that we're on the radio so, just kind of describing what a test might be for, say, my arm and shoulder.
 
[00:07:42.260] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, it's not that complicated. All I'm doing is grabbing your shoulder so it doesn't move or compensate. Compensate, it's like you start moving your torso instead of your arm. I just want to move your arm. So, I'm holding your shoulder down, and then we're bringing your arm back to a point where it stops. It's supposed to be nice and smooth when we start, when it starts slowing down and or then coming to a stop, you know that there's something going on. A lot of times you can feel like you hit a bone or it's like, you know, it shouldn't go any further. But 99 percent of the time, it's supposed to be able to move further like, smooth movements. You don't want to be running a marathon, running, wearing yourself out because your tissues can't move.

[00:08:34.530] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And that's what was really interesting. I think, too, is as you were doing it, as you were doing the stretch on me, I could feel and you stopped immediately, but I could feel where I wanted to start, kind of moving my body forward, moving my torso forward. Like at a certain point, you know, hold your arm back and it's comfortable. And then it gets to the point where you feel like, okay, that's as far as I can go. If I want to get it higher, I'm going to have to move my body forward.
 
[00:09:01.470] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. And that's what a lot of people do. They get all this tension in the shoulder, the neck, or wherever, and they compensate. They're reaching back. The arm doesn't move before. And then it has an automatic response. They just start bending their torso forward to pick up the bag or whatever they're trying to do or exercise. It's hard to strengthen a muscle that doesn't move.
 
[00:09:26.670] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so, when you're talking about flexibility besides our arms and shoulders, what other parts of our body do you like, test for to see what the flexibility is?
 
[00:09:39.300] - Theodore Rick, Guest
A majority when people come in for their first initial assessment, I'll check their shoulder flexibility because half of those tissues are coming up and affecting the neck in the head, as well as coming down into the lower back. And those muscles also, of course, come into the front of the chest, into the front of the sternum. This is the bone right in front of your chest there. I'll also check the flexibility of your legs because your hips are basically your base, your since your legs, your feet aren't attached to the ground, your legs come up to your hips, your torso comes to your hips, your hips or your basal. The more we can help and understand what's going on with your hips the more we can help you further in your mobility. So, we'll check out the, obviously, we'll check out the leg, mobility as well.

[00:10:29.840] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so, I know I've had some knee pains at different times and do notice how much of a difference it makes if my knees hurt, what happens to my back? And so, is that because your hips are that base like I'm overcompensating with my knee or for my knees somehow that's causing kind of tension in my back and my lower back.
 
[00:10:55.750] - Theodore Rick, Guest
So say again, you're having issues with your knee specifically then.
 
[00:11:00.230] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Yes.
 
[00:11:01.070] - Theodore Rick, Guest
So again, yeah, a lot of the tissues coming from the hip are coming down into that knee, but then you have all the tissues from the foot coming up into the knee. So, it could be one or the other. You know, we'd have to look at that and see what's really going on. Is it the foot, is the hip, is it all of the above? You know, we try to clean it all up and leave no stone unturned.
 
[00:11:23.970] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Well, good. So, now when we come back, we're going to continue to talk to Theodore about the work that he does and some of the different modalities that he offers at his practice. So, to learn more, you can visit HealingTaj.com or call (952) 922-1478. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota and we will be right back.
 
[00:12:04.810] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations, where we delve into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals who share their expertise on natural health with you. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with Theodore Rick, owner of Healing Taj, a holistic clinic located in Bloomington and founder of a unique healing therapy called Taj Kinesiotherapy. So just before the break, we were talking about the importance of flexibility and how at different times, depending on what we may be having some pain or some inflexibility will compensate for that in another part of our body, which then can also cause us pain as well. And so, I kind of mentioned about knee pain. Thankfully, I'm not having that now. It's just at different times, you know, different things that happen sometimes with gardening, that kind of thing, which, by the way, is getting harder and harder as I get older. I really need that flexibility back. But the importance of just having being very, very flexible and what that can do for us at a very young age, but also as we age. So, before the show, you and I were talking a bit and you were talking about that even youth, even young people, as young as 10 years old could have flexibility or mobility issues, just like somebody who's my age say.
 
[00:13:36.460] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct? Yes.
 
[00:13:37.840] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so do you work with kids quite a bit in helping them with the flexibility?
 
[00:13:43.510] - Theodore Rick, Guest
I do. I used to work in a Montessori school and at the school, I would stretch out all the kids. And, you know, you think people think that kids are all flexible. I was like, oh, I wish I was a kid again. And checking out all these kids, flexibility, everyone is different. You know, and look at how your birth was, you're rolled up in a ball for nine months and then you're born. Are you standing up straight right, when you're born walking around? No. You know, you're still laying on one side, laying on one shoulder. There's always one shoulder that ends up getting overused or overslept on and just use the word adhesions start to lock up in the body, you know, whether you've had an injury or not. Many people have what's called an adhesion. It's basically the glue inside the tissue sticking together. And the joint is not working as well as it could be. So, yeah, we definitely work on children for sure. And obviously, if you had issues when you were a kid and I want to talk with adults and they're like, well, I never had the flexibility, that doesn't mean you can't have it now.
 
[00:14:59.140] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so what are some of the ideas to help them regain some of that flexibility?
 
[00:15:04.990] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, I do a lot of different stretching, rehab kind of work, massage work, deep tissue, many forms of like active movements where you're actively helping, as I'm working on the body, whether it's deep tissue work or flexibility work, sometimes I'm doing very passive work where you're pretty much passed out, half asleep. So, I work. But your body is like an onion. If I just did one technique five times, we'd only work on one layer. Your body is not just one layer. There's so many different layers and each one has a different way to open up that area.
 
[00:15:50.680] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so let's talk a little bit about that because; give us some examples maybe of some of the kind of stretching exercises that you might do with somebody who has say an inflexible shoulder. They're having trouble being able to reach back more than, say, 45 degrees.
 
[00:16:11.980] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, for someone who's having some shoulder issues, obviously, we'll probably be working on doing some manual therapy, opening up the pectoral muscles in the front of the chest, now your shoulder really begins about right underneath your neck muscles right in front of your neck. So, starting right there is a lot of the beginning points of opening that up. So, I might be doing deep tissue, working with my fingers to help slowly open up knots, and almost like what some people maybe describe bubbles or bumps inside the skin. That's like adhesions or the tissue locking together. And so, again, doing the deep tissue, doing active stretches, doing inactive stretches sometimes...
 
[00:17:06.910] - Candi Broeffle, Host
What do you mean? What is the difference between an active stretching and an inactive stretch?
 
[00:17:11.980] - Theodore Rick, Guest
So, an inactive is where you aren't doing anything. It's me, the therapist, I'm usually moving your arm into different ranges of motion while working open the tissue. An active stretches where you're actively moving or I'd like you to move as I'm working on the tissue or assisting with the movement, moving you further.
 
[00:17:40.650] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so with the stretching exercises, do you then recommend that people continue to do that at home between the appointments? Do you give them, like, exercises that they can do at home as well?
 
[00:17:53.370] - Theodore Rick, Guest
I do, yeah. Yeah. We have exercises for sure to show people to help continue what we are working on.
 
[00:18:01.590] - Candi Broeffle, Host
What you have already started.
 
[00:18:02.970] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yeah. It definitely helps speed up the process and opening up the body to where we would like it to get to.
 
[00:18:09.780] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so when you're working on different adhesions, you said, which are some of the knots or some of the tissue, that's kind of hardened up, would you say?
 
[00:18:22.310] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct.
 
[00:18:23.690] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And you're working on that, you use different techniques to do that as well.
 
[00:18:28.430] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yeah, and so, when an area is really locked up, at times, I'll use different tools that I developed in the form of Taj Kinesiotherapy? And so I'll use some different tools that really help open up from scar tissue to these adhesions. And the adhesions could be the old patterns of overuse to the scar tissues, which is usually could be from an injury, a fall cut, a surgery, any of that. And we use the Taj Kinesiotherapy tools to really help open up those or to help activate the muscles; because a lot of times there's an injury, the muscles have been shut off. There's a nerve interfering probably due to a muscle is trapping that nerve or there's a bone away because obviously, this work works really well, but sometimes you obviously need other therapies like chiropractic to help shift things as well.
 
[00:19:36.080] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So you can kind of recommend people different types of therapies that they can use. When we come back, we're going to kind of get into that technique that you've developed called Taj Kinesiotherapy and some of the tools. And hopefully, you can describe for us some of the tools that you use with that method as well. And so, for people who want to learn more about what Theodore does and to make an appointment, they can visit HealingTaj.com and that's HEALINGT-A-J.COM  or call 952-922-1478 again that's 952-922-1478. To read the online version of Natural Awakenings magazine, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950 Radio.com, on Apple and Google Podcasts, and anywhere you get your podcasts. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota and we will be right back.
 
[00:21:02.330] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations, where we delve into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals who share their expertise on natural health with you, I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with Theodore Rick, owner of Healing Taj, a holistic clinic located in Bloomington and founder of a unique healing therapy called Taj Kinesiotherapy. So, just before the break, we were starting to talk about some of the different ways that you use stretching to help people regain some of their flexibility. And another thing that you and I had talked about was the importance of having good mobility. So, flexibility and mobility kind of go together. But let's talk a little bit about the importance of good mobility.
 
[00:21:52.520] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Again, the importance of good mobility is sometimes beyond what we can really imagine. Just, your nervous system can heavily be affected by the compression of your flexibility, you not being flexible, your muscles pinching nerves. On all the systems that are associated with your spine, if I'm looking at you right now and I see three people, I go to the doctor, you know, this has happened. People have gone to the doctor, like, what's wrong with me? There's something wrong. I see three people I can't run anymore. My, you know, I don't feel good. And people have been like, I told my doctors there's something, they're not sure what to do. And if you look at the nervous system, the powerful nervous system that's communicating with your entire system, and telling your liver to detoxify or your eyes to work properly, your dizziness, people get dizziness. You know, what's going on there?
 
[00:23:00.820] 
A lot of times it's the tissues inside the, near the ear and all that. So, the benefits of flexibility is huge, helping your body detoxify, helping your body absorb nutrition. You know, if your cardiovascular system is being squeezed and not being able to flow as well, you're not going to get the nutrition that you need as fast as you would like it for areas in the body to heal, to just be able to run, play, jump, all the things that we usually associate flexibility with. But think about the detoxing and helping their body heal better from all sorts of different things. I mean, it's amazing what the body can do when you allow it to work properly by taking away a lot of the stiffness in the body.
 
[00:24:02.170] - Candi Broeffle, Host
It's really interesting because I guess I wasn't even thinking about all of that. You know, when you think about mobility, you think about the ability to move and be able to even just sit up. Right? As somebody who takes care of elderly people, we really tried to keep people as active as possible and have them do as much for themselves as possible just because as soon as they start to lose that, they lose it very quickly. But I wasn't necessarily thinking about detoxifying, you know, the detoxification process in the body and just our ability to get proper nutrition in that, too, when it comes to our flexibility.
 
[00:24:43.090] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yeah, it's hugely important. You look at when a therapist is working on you, what are they touching? They're touching your skin. That is like one of your biggest organs in the body.
 
[00:24:53.990] - Candi Broeffle, Host
It is, your biggest organ, right?
 
[00:24:55.390] - Theodore Rick, Guest
And what do you, you know, when you're younger and you look in the mirror and stuff coming out of your nose? Right? It's like pimples, zits. That's your body detoxing. You don't need chemicals or drugs to cover that up. Oh, I have acne. I got to cover this up. I got to put makeup over it, done on it, feel good to see that. All right. You did that. But why is your body doing that? Your body is detoxing something through your skin. It's getting rid of something. Could have been in your food, you know, could have been in your clothes. Something you breathe, then who knows what. But it's coming out of your skin and your skin is a huge part of your body's detox. So, when you're opening up that skin again, it's starting to be able to breathe.
 
[00:25:41.050] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, out of curiosity, and this might be kind of an odd question, but if somebody is having a lot of acne issues, do you find that that's related to their flexibility or to something that's happening with their muscle systems as well?
 
[00:25:59.140] - Theodore Rick, Guest
I haven't followed that that closely to give you any kind of answer on that one.
 
[00:26:04.630] - Candi Broeffle, Host
It was just interesting that you were talking about that so I thought I am going to ask that. So, some of the other techniques that you use is something that's become kind of popular with our last Olympics is the cupping. And we don't want to get into it too much because I know we want to really start talking about your Taj Kinesiology, Kinesiotherapy as well. But cupping has kind of gotten some interest after the last Olympics. A lot of the swimmers were using it to help with their stiffness and muscles and that. And so, they were being shown without as they're going into their events and it's showing these big round kind of red circles across their back and shoulders. So what is cupping? What is it used for and how does it help with our flexibility and mobility?
 
[00:27:00.100] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, again, if you look at those big circles on people's backs, if you look closely, a lot of times there's different patterns going on inside there and it's working on the skin and it's, again, pulling a lot of different toxins out. It's stretching out the fascia. It's a long, prolonged stretch is what's going on when they put the cups on there for the period of time that they're on there for. So, it's like someone pulling your skin for an extended period of time through a much larger area than like a pinch. So, it's opening up the tissue, helping the body detox.
 
[00:27:38.950] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And this is an ancient technique.

[00:27:41.620] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct? Yeah. People would use, you know, a lot of times you'll see plastic cups now or glass. Originally, I think they would use bamboo and people still use bamboo.
 
[00:27:53.890] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so the cupping technique is actually it's; if you're using like a glass cup, it's actually a suctioning or how would you describe that?
 
[00:28:03.040] - Theodore Rick, Guest
 Yes, it creates suction, whether it's a mechanical suction or through the fire cupping, which people will put a little bit of fire and alcohol in there, and light up, and then you quickly put it on the body and it basically pulls the skin up, creating that suction and it doesn't fall off. So, either one I see they're all beneficial. The fire cupping actually creates more heat. And some people like that. I have you know, I've done a lot of cupping and I have developed different forms of cupping as well, to work. So...
 
[00:28:45.950] - Candi Broeffle, Host
For different things.
 
[00:28:46.320] - Theodore Rick, Guest
yeah, for different things, I'll sometimes cup as well as doing different modalities at the same time.
 
[00:28:53.180] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, let's talk about this unique therapy that you've developed. And that you've named now Taj Kinesiotherapy. And from what I understand, you've kind of taken the best of the things that you've used and developed your own therapy with it. Is that correct?
 
[00:29:15.360] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. Yeah. Working on so many varieties of clients over the years, you know, I had to keep developing my techniques because one, you know, one thing just wouldn't work and this other thing wouldn't work. But it always worked with everybody else. So, I had to keep growing and developing if I was going to feel like; if I felt like I was going to even stay, keep my practice running, you know, sure, I'd be able to help a lot of people who maybe didn't have these conditions. But it just, these more challenging conditions I worked on just drew me further and further and developing Taj Kinesiotherapy, some forms of it help in open scar tissue, some forms of it being more just almost like gentle acupressure, acupressure points, whereas more like almost energy therapy to other therapies on that, where we're almost micro isolated, isolating different points with movement.
 
[00:30:30.010] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And when you say different points, what do you mean?
 
[00:30:32.350] - Theodore Rick, Guest
So, when I'm working on maybe a shoulder and there is like certain adhesions or something like that, sometimes I'll hold those points is one form and doing different stretches or the more energetic level holding different points on your hands or your feet. Now, if you look at your hands and feet, you know they're far away from your shoulder. Why would all of that have to do with my hips or anywhere else in the body? I'm having a headache. Why are you working on my hands and feet? Some people might say, and I get that a lot.
 
[00:31:15.200] 
Your body is like a bridge. All right. If you look at a bridge where cars drive over all the time, you take a part of the bridge away. What's going to happen? It's going to shift and it's going to affect the whole thing. All right. Your hands and your feet are not separate from your shoulder. Your whole body is fully connected. You're going to school and they teach you this muscle and then this muscle and this muscle. But they, a lot of times don't tell you everything is actually connected and affecting each other. So, that tension in your hand can affect your shoulder. The tension in your foot can easily affect your hip and everything up from that. The whole science of reflexology is a study of the maps on the body, right on your hands, your ears, and your feet where your whole body is mapped out on these areas and you can affect the whole entire body through your hands, feet, and ears. So it's tremendous what you can do by just working some points on the hands and feet and ears. I just developed some of the most important points from my experience and using those, integrating those into what I do.
 
[00:32:27.400] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, what would be like a difficult problem that somebody would come in with that you might be able to use this technique with?
 
[00:32:38.480] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, a lot of people like PTSD, a lot of traumas that would be more of this form where, if I'm using the gentle Taj K points that'd be a lot of the emotional side. All right. So, pretty much anything you can see where there's a trauma involved, mental, physical, whatever all comes down to, you know, might be the emotional trauma in a way.
 
[00:33:12.620] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, last week we were speaking with; for our listeners, we were speaking with the psychologist who was talking about the trauma and what happens in our body. So, basically what you're saying is you're working on the physical side. So, when we have trauma, it shows up, it manifests itself within our body, within our muscles and our joints and all parts of our body. So, you're working on the physical side of that with the Taj K?
 
[00:33:40.850] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yeah, I mean, it's physical, mental, emotional, it's all together.
 
[00:33:47.490] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Once again, it's all connected.
 
[00:33:49.740] - Theodore Rick, Guest
It's all connected. And, I mean, even I was one of the things that I was like; when you're working on a point, it can, someone can have a lot of pain. And the Taj K points has really helped with that as well.
 
[00:34:02.040] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, to learn more about what Theodore does and to make an appointment, visit HealingTaj.com or call 952-922-1478. To read the online version of Natural Awakenings magazine, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota, and we will be right back.
 
[00:34:34.190] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations, where we delve into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals who share their expertise and natural health with you, I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're visiting with Theodore Rick, owner of Healing Taj, a holistic clinic located in Bloomington and founder of a unique healing therapy called Taj Kinesiotherapy. So, just before the break, we were really kind of delving in a little bit more into what Taj Kinesiotherapy is and how you use it with your clients. And one of the things that I want to go back to is, in the description of it, it says that it's using, I want to get this right. So, I'm going to look it up here, an energy and soft tissue technique that integrates the body's most powerful energy centers. And you were saying it really helps to connect back to the central nervous system.
 
[00:35:34.700] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. Helping to balance out your whole body. There's some imbalance that you might be experiencing. It could be, so it could be coming out as pain or just unknown trauma in the body. That's a trauma. So, there's a disconnect usually in the body somehow separated yourself from it. And the Taj K really has helped integrate and reconnect those points, working with your central nervous system to reconnect that.
 
[00:36:10.640] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, what do you see people who have come to you for the therapy? How has it changed their lives? How has it improved their physical and emotional and all aspects, I would imagine?
 
[00:36:28.460] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. I mean, from people being able to, be able to walk again, run again, get over their traumatic trauma from war. I'm working with veterans to you know, people who've had hip replacements, knee replacements, all of that working through the scar tissue, getting them moving again, opening up the tissues through the lungs and helping people will breathe again, you know, getting the ribs and the pressure off of your heart and your lungs is huge, right?
 
[00:37:08.690] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, being able to breathe deeper and having healthier...
 
[00:37:13.670] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct? Yeah, so, all of the above. And obviously, working with children and helping them when you see children walking around whether walking on their toes, helping to balance out the tissues in their legs, even with adults. I've worked on adults and after working on their legs and they were like, oh my heel is touching the ground again. And, you know, the heel was touching the ground when they came in. But as you know, if you live in your body long enough, you start to know where you are in time and space. Are you leaning too far forward? Are you leaning too far back on to your heels? So, we like to create that balance where you're centered on your feet.
 
[00:38:01.930] - Candi Broeffle, Host
 And you're able to have more balance, more mobility, and flexibility.
 
[00:38:06.250] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. That helps the whole body. 
 
[00:38:08.310] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Now, one of the things that you also work on is scar tissue. How does, what is having some scar tissue in our body? How does that affect us?
 
[00:38:20.470] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Well, imagine, for some of you, you might already have this and others you can just imagine, you know, you get some glue and you squirt it on the table, what happens? That glue, it hardens. I mean, that's like the solidness of scar tissue. Some people can just; they know they have scar tissue and they can reach over their surgery area or their arm and they can feel that kind of really hard tissue almost feels like a bone. All right. So, you can imagine what's happening in that area. Is blood flow getting through there? Are your nerves able to communicate as well as they could? All this is about getting the light and the switch to work better. If the light switch works but there is some kind of disconnect in the wiring to the light bulb, with a light bulb is starting to flicker, you know, also known as your muscles, your hand, your arms are starting to flicker and not work as well as they could. All these can be affected when you got a stuck adhesion scar tissue locked in there like it has become a bone.
 
[00:39:32.940] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so, you can actually work with that to help to loosen that, to help to make even the scar tissue more flexible or more movable, I guess.
 
[00:39:42.840] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yes, absolutely.
 
[00:39:45.900] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so you do that through the different techniques that you use as well.
 
[00:39:50.520] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Yeah. Again, everybody's body is different and we use different techniques to test on what therapy we're going to end up doing.
 
[00:40:00.090] - Candi Broeffle, Host
One of the other things that you use in your practice is something called sound therapy.
 
[00:40:05.730] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. Yeah. For a long time, I always had studied sound therapy and the effects on the body and plants. You know, again, I love plants and how plants get affected with sound. Another guy I had studied with, studied from, Emoto, and he had studied sound and the different frequencies and he would go around the world and study even different lakes. And his study of that was he would take the sample and he would freeze it. All right. So, some parts, some of them would freeze into beautiful crystals and others would not. All right. So, he would play sometimes rock music to the water as it was freezing. And a lot of times, if they were playing rock music, it would distort and look ugly. Whereas when he would play beautiful music to it, it would form into a beautiful, perfect crystal like a snowflake. Okay? So, I would continue studying these things and I was like, this stuff is awesome. So, I incorporated sound therapy into my work where I do harmonization to different Indian music. And I also use a singing bowl. Some people have maybe seen singing bowls in yoga classes or whatever, but it's a really amazing thing that uses sound...
 
[00:41:41.880] - Candi Broeffle, Host
...to help with the healing process.
 
[00:41:43.530] - Theodore Rick, Guest
Correct. There I think I saw another new study on someone who uses the singing bowls and they are actually able to shrink a tumor.
 
[00:41:53.700] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So, sound therapy is something that I think people are going to really start hearing more about. It's really becoming more and more prevalent even in just everyday conversations with people. So, pay attention to that out there when you're starting to hear about some therapy. Well, Theodore, thank you so much for being with us today. I appreciate your coming in and sharing with us your knowledge and expertise. And for people who want to learn more about what Theodore does and to make an appointment, you can visit HealingTaj.com, that's HEALINGT-A-J.COM. Or call 952-922-1478 and again that's 952-922-1478. Thank you for joining our conversation today as we awaken to natural health. To read the online edition of Natural Awakenings magazine or to check out our complete online calendar of events, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of this show on AM950 Radio.com, on Apple or Google podcasts. You've been listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota and I am wishing for you a lovely day!