Hello fellow dancer, I’m Heidi!
AND I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT'S LIKE TO NEED TO RECOVER, STRENGTHEN, AND STRETCH YOUR BODY TO THE LIMITS, WHILE ENSURING LONGEVITY AND HEALTH as a professional dancer.
Like you, I have been a dancer all my life. Dance is and has always been essential to me; it’s how I express myself, connect with the world, and worship God. Not being able to dance would devastate me in mind, body, and spirit.
But in 2017, the reality of not being able to be a dancer anymore was becoming increasingly real.
After returning home from the National Tour of Matilda, I was in so much pain that I had to completely stop dancing. It seemed no matter what treatments I received (physical therapy, e-stim dry needling, massage therapy, KT) my body just couldn’t recover from the injuries and the demands of being a dancer anymore.
I had pushed through so many years of pain, discomfort, and injuries and it was all catching up with me.
In fact, I had so much pain in my lower back and hip, there were days I could barely walk—let alone dance. Seemingly out of nowhere, my hip would feel like it “went out.” And every time, it took me out with it.
I knew I had to do something before it was too late.
After over 4 years of being told I should get an MRI, I finally did. I was avoiding it like the plague because I couldn’t bear the thought of someone telling me I couldn’t be a dancer anymore or needed to get back surgery…
The results of the MRI were worse than I thought they would be.
My entire lumbar spinal disks were degenerating, I had a herniated disk, loss of disk signal, and my L4 lumbar vertebrae was beginning to slip backwards off of L5 (retrolisthesis-which is very rare).
I couldn’t believe it. I was only in my 20’s and my options were quickly becoming: stop dancing or get surgery.
Throughout my life I’ve broken bones, torn ligaments, been bucked off horses, been dropped during a show from 10 feet in the air (in heels)—to name a few accidents.
But, as dancers do, I kept pushing forward regardless of what my body was telling me.
I felt like I had already tried everything.
Because I was still pushing through year after year (against better judgment) I thought I had recovered enough between shows and incidents to escape the long-term effects from all my years of dance and other mishaps.
I was wrong.
Desperate to get back to dancing and auditioning, I rushed to all of the methods that I had either already tried or that friends and experts recommended: ‘Broadway’ doctors, physical therapy, a personal trainer, chiropractic, acupuncture, orthotics, KT tape, cranio-sacral therapy, fascia blasting, massage, e-stim dry needling— you name it, I tried it.
I was bleeding money and time I didn’t have, but it didn’t matter (in the moment). I had to recover. I had to dance.
And yet, even though I was only getting temporary relief from all these therapies, I didn’t know what else to do. I felt like I had run out of options. All I was getting were shrugged shoulders from the experts. No one knew what else to do with me. My ‘hope tank’ was already low, but now it was draining fast.
I needed something that could reverse my past and present injuries and ensure health and longevity in the future.
In my desperation, my pastor recommended something that she claimed worked tremendously. She called it postural alignment therapy. While I assumed it had to be something like physical therapy (which I had been doing on and off for over 20 years without any long-term success) I decided to look it up.
I saw that postural alignment therapy was very popular in the NFL, MLB, ATP, and pro golf. Even though I was hesitant since I’d never heard any dancer talk about it, I figured I had nothing else to lose (except more hope of recovery and longevity).
Filled with the fear of more disappointment and failure, I called The Egoscue Method Clinic of New York City. The clinic director, Jon Winawer, recommended I come in and see him because he was sure he would be able to help me heal myself.
I made an appointment for the next day.
Within an hour and a half, my back pain and hip pain that had me in tears almost daily, was gone.
GONE. Not less—GONE.
That's when I knew this was unlike anything I had ever tried or heard about before.
Jon explained to me that while my full recovery and the ability to gain strength and flexibility would be a process, he showed me the answer to my ability to recover, strengthen, and ensure longevity lay in the knowledge of how the human body was designed, and what happens when our body deviates from that design.
He showed me and connected the dots to how my unique postural misalignments got me to where I was today, and more importantly, how to fix them!
Before long I was enrolled in Egoscue University to become a certified Postural Alignment Specialist so that I could share the gift of recovery, increased strength, flexibility, balance, stamina, and confidence with YOU!
That's when MOVE WITH HPA™ For Dancers and the HPA Program™ were born!
I created MOVEWITHHPA For Dancers so that you too can find recovery, strength, and longevity in ways you haven’t before (I know it’s scary!). The HPA Program was created by a professional dancer for dancers. It is also 100% customized to your exact physical misalignments and needs—because no two dancers are the same. This means that your program will be developed specially for you by someone who KNOWS what it means and takes to be a dancer.
I am dancing proof that there is hope for you and your body regardless of what you have been through.
If you’re ready to take the leap, you can join the cast and crew at https://www.movewithhpa.com/hpa-program/.
5, 6, 7, 8!
