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Mary Teunis & Her Story of Human Performance Refined®
April 12, 2018
For many people, breaking their back would be the end of a lifelong athletic saga.
But not for Mary Teunis.
When you meet Mary, you intuitively sense this tenacity. Standing at around five-feet, one would never mistake Mary’s stature for the size of her wholehearted...
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How to Re-Engineer Stress
March 14, 2018
Stress. We all feel it. We know we experience it, but what is stress?
Before you can work on changing how much you are affected by stress, you first need to understand what it is and how it affects you.
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30 Day Traction Challenge
February 1, 2018
How Traction Benefits Your Nervous System
The traction exercise helps balance the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which helps regulate our stress response. The ANS is made of two parts; the Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Systems.
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The Benefits of Ongoing Care
January 12, 2018
People go to yoga class to relax, and to keep bodies limber and strong. We all know that going to the gym only three times won’t keep your beach body for long. We are living systems and require more good habits than bad to thrive. If our patients get injured, we can help them recover...
Cold Induced Arthritis
December 13, 2016
In our practice we see a major spike in joint specific complaints when the weather gets nasty. It would be great if we could all winter in the Bahamas, but for many, dealing with cold damp weather is part of the reality of living here in Maryland.
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Our Story
July 6, 2016
Structural Elements® was founded in 2006 by Douglas Bertram, L.Ac, MTCM. Douglas started working as a massage therapist in 1995 with a focus on treating athletic injuries. He practiced for several years in Boulder, CO before pursuing a Master's Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine....
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Our Brand
June 27, 2016
The story behind the Structural Elements® logo is foundational to our approach. The full logo is a representation of a Tensegrity Model; tensional integrity or floating compression. In architecture this is seen as a balance of compression and tension elements...
To Stretch or Not to Stretch
June 16, 2016
Who doesn't have tight hamstring muscles? Why are some people constantly injured and others seem to tolerate just about anything? Many patients ask, “should I be stretching more”, and our answer is often surprising.
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A Happy Father's Day
June 14, 2016
As a father my proudest moments were the births of my children. My wife did all the work, yet I still take most of the credit. I am fortunate to have two spectacular teenage sons and they bring real meaning to my life. Watching them set goals, no matter how small, and achieve them is a wonderful...
#HumanPerformanceRefined
May 10, 2016
At Structural Elements® we believe the body thrives on efficiency. Anytime an athlete's body is “out-of-alignment”, there is a compromise to performance. We see several patients a week who come to us because they are in pain, but by this time they have already been compromising...