The Actify programs are focused on a whole body approach model. That means we view one's health, acknowledging the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual factors in a person's ability to thrive, not merely survive. We support the journey to total health & wellness by focusing on what we refer to as the Four Pillars of Whole Body Health.

​

Hippocrates  once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. While we intuitively understand the importance of food in causing and relieving health issues, most doctors are much more knowledgeable about prescribing drugs than foods and the ‘food as medicine’ philosophy has been largely overlooked. Because healing depends largely on what we put in our bodies as nutrition (and the digestion and absorption of the nutrients, which we will talk more later about), part of our approach is to make available to you the knowledge you will need to make the right decisions for your health. Along with the Autonomic nervous system treatment, adding the right nutrients to your body will significantly improve your levels of inflammation and energy as  well as modulate your pain levels. Research has continuously been showing the implications of gut health on the treatment of chronic patients.

​

While all forms of exercise have physical and mental benefits, many today are also seeking a ‘mindful approach’ to movement which starts as a philosophy, is practiced as a discipline and often leads to a lifestyle that works to achieve harmony between mind, body and spirit. In addition to a whole body exercise approach, mindful movement will help you to achieve better proprioceptive awareness also known as kinesthetic sense – exercise that couples muscular activity with mental focus to improve our body’s ability to sense where we are in relationship to our surroundings.

​

The approach also incorporates breath-centering. The breath is the primary centering activity in mind-body exercise and essential for patients with chronic illness as it will facilitate the activation of the rest and digest phase. The program also focuses on a multilevel structure of anatomic alignment mini sequences, such as spine, trunk, and pelvis, focusing on proper physical form. Disciplining oneself to a particular movement pattern or spinal alignment holds true for many forms of mind-body exercise. Muscle activation focus is also part of the Actify Method. The development of awareness and attention of one's muscle activation and movement will retrain your brain to the correct pathways of muscle response during activity. Mindful movement is an important part of whole body health. The health benefits alone of regular, mindful movement are realized by improved sleep, reduced pain, gains in flexibility and strength, reduction in stress, increased energy, better cognition and mental function. These milestones are essential before we introduce you to the larger muscle group exercises or more advanced and complex movements. Once your body has mastered our "Foundations Program" you will be progressed to the next level always taking into consideration your individual needs.

​

The first level of your program can last from 4 to 12 weeks depending on your condition when you start the program. On this first level of the protocol we will focus on the autonomic nervous system regulation and the brain body connection by making you aware of your body's position, activation and use of the correct muscle patterns and postural alignment. This is done through the use of neuroscience based techniques and neuromuscular reeducation exercises  and activities. In this phase we focus on the quality of movement over the quantity of movement, and the rest periods may be a little longer, while number of exercises performed will be less than on the next levels. This happens because we need to overwrite the unhealthy deeply engraved movement patterns and habits and replace them with the new ones that require at first a very conscient effort before they become subconscious and automatic. On this phase you will be required to perform a set of exercises two times daily, ideally in the morning and then later afternoon always being mindful of your energy levels to do not exacerbate any co-existing diagnoses (MCAD patients may require a less intense protocol to control the histamine release in the body due to physical activity). Contrary to the traditional physical therapy, we will be focusing on a sequence that truly addresses the root cause instead just the symptoms. In this level we will also teach you to adopt a regular routine of "quiet time" and for those who really enjoy we will add meditation practices to your day, all this to stimulate your mind-body connection. 

​

The second level starts when you meet the required milestones for your level one graduation, and this may happen in between weeks 5 to 14. Level two essentially builds on the first level and progresses the exercises to more functional positions (POTS patients do have a variation on progress to address their special needs as their protocol may have a few extra steps), progressing strengthening and stabilization exercises to a higher level including an added cardiovascular component (don't worry it is tailored to your specific needs). At this level you will continue to develop your body-mind connection and dive deeper into mindful movement practices.

​

Once you have met the  milestones required for graduation from level two, you will be transitioned into level three, this usually happens in between weeks 6 to 16. when you get to this level you will be functioning at a much higher level, but yet not quite ready for that Disney park or Super Target shopping spree. Here we will start tailoring the program exactly to your specific needs and goals, so the sky is the limit.

​

Keep in mind that when suffering from a chronic illness it is imperative that you understand that you will need to keep a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy, practicing mindfulness and exercising several times a week so you don't loose your progress. Even thought flare-up of symptoms may be way more spaced apart, you still may experience bad days, the major difference will be that the bad days will be much shorter and the symptoms may not even be as severe as before.

 

Because each person is different, not all individuals will experience the same exercises and activities, or all steps of the program during the treatment progression. Each phase has 3 to 4 different strategy levels, and the entire program may have 9 to 12 steps for different individuals. Keep in mind that results may vary as we are all unique and have very individualized needs and motivation factors.