Blog | Inspire Physical Therapy

The Deal with Vitamin D3

We have all heard of vitamin D3 and that it's important, right? If you're lucky, this is something your primary care provider checks...

Laura Welch

Feb 14, 20243 min read

Channeling Your Curious Cat

I'm in Baltimore through the weekend for a Barral visceral course about the pelvis. I left Richmond yesterday at 5pm, a time that I...

Laura Welch

Feb 8, 20244 min read

The Core and Our Adrenals

I am still following NPR's Body Electric, a series of short podcasts about how chronic use of technology is changing our bodies. I...

Laura Welch

Feb 2, 20242 min read

Tracking HRV: Spying on the autonomic nervous system.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the window into our autonomic nervous system. This means, we can look at the HRV value and get an idea...

Laura Welch

Feb 2, 20243 min read

Breathing.

Thanks to James Nestor's book called Breath, more people are aware that the way we breathe is actually important. In short, breathing...

Laura Welch

Jan 10, 20243 min read

Sugar and Spice and Everything Not-So-Nice

I'm just going to start by stating the obvious: sugar is terrible for our bodies and a habit that's hard to kick. Yeah, yeah, so what? ...

Laura Welch

Dec 30, 20233 min read

The Buzzkill for Our Body? Alcohol

When I was in my residency program at Kaiser Permanente in Vallejo, California, every week I sat in rounds where all the disciplines...

Laura Welch

Nov 19, 20234 min read

Protein: Ah, Amino Acids, Let Me Count the Ways

I've had a fascination with amino acids lately. In my undergraduate studies, we learned that amino acids are the "building blocks of...

Laura Welch

Nov 3, 20235 min read

Understanding Knee Pain: A Monkey in the Middle

The knee joint is such a cool structure. I especially admire it for it's intricate design. Let's start with some anatomy. If this...

Laura Welch

Oct 22, 20235 min read

Follow Your Heart(rate)

I love the heart. It's so unique in that it has its own contractile tissue that is a different kind from skeletal muscle tissue in your...

Laura Welch

Aug 25, 20233 min read

NSAIDs...worth it?

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are readily available for our consumption and they certainly have a place in this world for...

Laura Welch

Apr 26, 20234 min read

Why do I hurt more after I stretch?

Ah...stretching; the intervention that used to get great acclaim for preventing injuries. Then it was realized that injury prevention is...

Laura Welch

Apr 13, 20233 min read

Opening the Medicine Cabinet in Your Brain

We come into this world equipped with our own medicine cabinet in our brains. Our brains and our guts produce amazing feel-good hormones...

Laura Welch

Apr 6, 20233 min read

Get Off Your Tuchus

In this modern age, it is common to have what's lovingly termed a "desk job", which basically means sitting is usually maintained for...

Laura Welch

Mar 26, 20233 min read

All We Need Is...Oxytocin

The impending birth experience is on the horizon for me and true to my nature, I dove right in to learn as much as possible. I have read...

Laura Welch

Mar 2, 20232 min read

The Content You Consume.

There has been a strong theme circling around me lately so of course I felt compelled to share. It caught my attention a few weeks ago...

Laura Welch

Feb 22, 20235 min read

Looking for change? Target your environment.

We are humans, yes. We are sophisticated in many ways compared to our ancestors and fellow animals. We are equipped with an...

Laura Welch

Jan 10, 20233 min read

Fear and pain

Have you ever had these thoughts when you experience pain? Jumping to conclusions: "I will never be able to do (activity of choice)...

Laura Welch

Oct 21, 20223 min read

Where is your tongue?

Your tongue is in your mouth...duh. But where does it rest? Is it on the floor or on the roof of your mouth? Why do we care? If we had...

Laura Welch

Oct 13, 20222 min read

What is the best form of exercise?

The best form of exercise...this is a topic that comes up frequently in the office. Do you know what I always say? The best form of...

Laura Welch

Oct 6, 20224 min read

Lethargic or Actually Tired?

I've been reading books and listening to podcasts about emotions lately. One paradox that interests me is this: it is important to be in touch with your feelings however, sometimes your feelings can be misleading or not entirely true. One argument is that we don't have the expansive vocabulary that is required to most accurately label the feeling. For example, someone could say they are mad when what they really mean is that they're disappointed. The more specific the lab

Nov 193 min read

Superficial Fascia Blowing My Mind

This summer was full of continuing education for me and although they were all wonderful, my streak ended with a bang of two courses that...

Sep 233 min read

You Are Not Your Diagnosis

At a continuing education course, the Canadian physiotherapist teacher poked fun at my class saying, "Oh you Americans, you are always...

Jun 103 min read