As a Tummy Team Trained Professional we adhere to the values of The Tummy Team and their Methods. The Tummy Team Approach The Tummy Team has a unique approach to rehabilitation. It is based both on founder Kelly Dean’s professional background, as well as her own personal need to restore her core. This approach is founded on medical expertise and years of practical application. 1) Retrain the Brain Kelly’s professional background is grounded in NDT (Neuro Developmental Treatment), an approach that was initially developed for brain injury patients. During 13 years as a stroke and brain injury specialist, Kelly has used these techniques to help severely injured people regain the ability to walk, lift, and return to the most important areas of their lives. Having shifted her focus to core rehabilitation, she found the same approach to be incredibly effective when working with the core and pelvic floor. We Tummy Team Professionals have been trained to use this neuromuscular re-education approach to reconnect the communication between the brain and the affected muscles by reinforcing what the muscle was designed to do. In the process, we are retraining the brain to respond to and reinforce that function. The intentional process and progression of our programs are designed to set you up for long-term success. 2) Make it Functional The muscles of the core are primarily postural muscles that are intended to be strong and active all day in every activity. The most effective way to retrain the body and the brain is to reinforce every exercise with functional activities you will engage in consistently. We have found it has to be functional to be meaningful, and ultimately effective for the client. For these reasons, our approach purposefully designs every strengthening exercise, anti-compensation stretch, myofascial release, and motor learning strategy to easily integrate into movements you are already doing. Our approach prioritizes upright postures with balanced and active muscle alignments. We make it functional, we make it meaningful, and we make it doable. 3) Partner With You Everything we guide you through is ultimately designed for you to do independently. We take your education seriously so that you can feel empowered and equipped to know how your body was designed and why it may be failing to function. Our programs provide both hands-on education as well as comprehensive take home materials. Our passion is to help you rehabilitate yourself – we just equip you with the awareness and tools you will need to identify and improve ongoing alignment challenges. Our goal is to give you strength and tools for life. 4) Our Story is Your Story We Professionals of The Tummy Team has personally experienced the life-changing benefits of core rehabilitation. This firsthand knowledge gives us an incredible passion for what we do, and a serious drive to help you recover. We have personally healed our own severe diastasis, traumatic pelvic floor dysfunction, chronic pelvic instability, lower back pain, constipation and more by living what we teach. We constantly refine and improve our approach to make it realistic, doable, and effective for you. While The Tummy Team consists of highly trained Core Rehabilitation Specialists™, we’re also real parents, athletes, and professionals just like you.