About Dr. Mason

Individualized care for lumbar, pelvic, and hip problems, and health mentoring. As a PT with over 30 years of experience, I listen, investigate, and discover with my patients their heart’s desire for their goals, barriers to achieving the goals, and offer integrative support in boosting their pillars of health. Beyond exercise, the pillars of health and healing are promoted with good sleep, stress management, social support, optimum nutrition, and avoiding risky substances. I offer total health support for patients' needs and interests. Some individuals appreciate the most benefit from manual therapy, myofascial release, osteopathic-visceral work, some more with yoga and meditation training, others with instruction in the use of fitness trackers and specialty equipment for home programs. Nutrition guidance and stress management are typical aspects of my patient programs. The great majority of programs are customized like recipes for great dining.

I work with adults, from young, to middle-aged, to seniors. I have experienced back, hip, and pelvic health conditions myself and experienced my own need for rehabilitation.

This helped with learning to be sensitive to customize programs for comfort, reduce pain flare-ups, and focus on functional fitness. I combine neurological, orthopedic, and pelvic health clinical experience to evaluate and find what is causing symptoms, the “drivers” causing the problems, and how to steer other courses.PT involves teamwork between the patient and the provider, and each session rechecks and refines a program to advance toward desired goals. I enjoy working with people and problem-- solving, so it brings me joy, as well as appreciation from the patients I care for.

Pelvic PT is conservative medical care using behavioral and lifestyle training in conjunction with exercise, manual therapy, and specialty pelvic health equipment. It is education and empowerment oriented towards individuals for them to understand what is happening, why, and how they can help improve their pelvic health. Specifically, training, and fine-tuning programs to improve function with bladder, bowel, sexual health, and or pain problems are addressed. Research demonstrates significant improvements in pelvic health conditions with pelvic PT, a specialty field of rehabilitation that requires advanced provider training beyond a doctorate level.

Yoga addresses mind -body -and spirit, and it is an ancient therapeutic health practice that promotes our best selves in relation to others, and to self. Yoga promotes flexibility and balance in life and embodiment. Regular stillness, meditation, movement, and breathwork help me to provide self-care and client care in a grounded and compassionate style, in contrast to my younger years as a PT when I tried to rapidly “fix “people. With a yoga foundation, I can serve as an educator, guide, mentor, and encourage clients in honoring their own faith or spiritual discipline. I typically provide asana, pranayama, and meditation training in small doses such as 15 minute routines that people can blend into their daily lives. Yoga addresses the high-stress levels we all face, and it calms and soothes the nervous system toward homeostasis and healing of self and community. I find it of tremendous help in providing integrative care. Yoga can frame healing practices surrounding whatever physical areas we are working to improve in PT.

Integrative, holistic care addresses the pillars of health, which are the influences of stress, social support, nutrition, exercise habits, sleep quality, and the use of “risky substances, which are drugs, smoking or alcohol. This holistic care addresses the social, environmental, and economic barriers to health, screens readiness to change, patient motivation, and insight into their most important goals. We know health and healing are determined by the pillars of health, and by addressing the whole person, including assets as well as barriers to health. We can encourage patients' holistic health with exercise and other PT interventions, as well as support for improved “pillars of health” with education, teamwork with other providers, and direction to resources to

match their needs. It is wonderful to offer a big wheel of support from many resources. Ideally, patients feel listened to, understood, and respected as individuals while receiving holistic care. In my youth as a PT, I was too busy with 20-30 minutes per patient to ever offer holistic care in the modern hospital systems. It was frustrating as I knew in some cases I was skating over the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Now I have a practice that allows me the quality time and attention for client care.