Being a Critical Thinker in the Digital Age with Tyler Tanaka

You're listening to the PTA Profit podcast, episode number 182. Today I'm sitting down with physical therapist Tyler Tadaka, and we're talking all about being a critical thinker in the digital age. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.

What's up, coach? Thank you so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson, and today I'm sitting down with physical therapist Tyler Tanaka, and we are talking all about how to be a critical thinker thinker in the digital age. And Tyler is going to share with us inside of the episode his journey and experience on education and how he went from studying, learning, practicing on the east coast and why and how he drove to the west coast. And it talked all about his experience and how he became an effective physical therapist based on his clinical experience, in addition to working with patients of all different backgrounds from athletic performance as well as the general population. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. What's up, Tyler? Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

I'm great, Beverly.

How are you?

I'm doing so great. I'm super pumped for today's conversation. So for those of you who have been hanging out here with me for a while but have never heard of your work, I'd love for you to share with us who you are, who you serve and how you got there.

Yep. So my name is Tyler Tanaka. I'm a cash based physical therapist in Eugene, Oregon. And the population that I serve here is mostly active people and athletes. And then I have some chronic pain people as well who want to become active. So what I really specialize in for those people is how do we get somebody from being in pain all the time or very fearful of movement and how do we get them to a point where they can do things like exercise and train and do all the things that they, in their head, they want to do to live a healthier life? Plus, I work with some high performance people, MMA athletes, football players, basketball, baseball, people like that. So that's my main clientele.

Now, how did you get to Eugene.

So I got to Eugene because I. Well, first I practiced in the Boston area. Practiced PT for four or five years. I think it was four years. And then my wife got into a PhD program at University of Oregon.

So.

So we drove out here summer of 2020, and that's how I got to Eugene.

Oh my gosh. Okay, so share with us a little bit. You started to tell me earlier, you were talking about the, you know, what happened? How did you, you know, how did convergence. How was convergence created? Born.

Yeah. So I got a call, I think it was the day before we were supposed to drive out here. And it was from the guy that I had a job lined up with. And he said, hey, listen, you know, I can't have you come on the team anymore. Because it turns out that his practice had sold and his business part, his majority owner, business partner had sold the practice. So I was like, okay, well, I've always wanted to do the whole out of network cash based thing. I might as well try now. You know, I'm looking at job posting. It's like I'm never going to be caught dead in like a skilled nursing facility. So I just decided to take the leap. And they call it like burning the ships, right? I mean, my ships were burned. Not by my choice. So when I came out here, I started that.

Okay, so tell us a little bit more about, you know, the fundamentals, like what are the principles that you live by? Essentially, how are you in, how did you build this cash based pt?

So I think the thing that helped me set myself apart the most from other practitioners in this area is using postural restoration, like PRI concepts and techniques. It's a very, you know, it's very uncommon to find a practitioner, especially in Oregon for some reason who uses pri. So I'm the only certified PT in Eugene and it really helps to. It helped me find clientele that needed a very specific service. And then incorporating that with high performance principles really help me to set myself apart.

So can you share with us a little bit more about what some, what are some of these PRI principles that really are different and unique than traditional or. Or traditional is not the right word. Is it conventional, conventional physical therapy?

Yeah, for sure. So I would say the biggest difference is just the appreciation of the body as a system and not just looking at a joint or an individual body part. Right. You know, in school we're taught, okay, if someone has a shoulder issue, you're doing shoulder range of motion, you're doing, you're testing their strength and you're looking at how well the scapula moves. And that's about it. Whereas for a full PRI assessment, where you're looking at everything, no matter what, no matter what who, no matter who the person is, no matter what their injury is, you're doing this full body assessment. And I think the word a lot of people use is like holistic, which that word means a lot of things to a lot of different people. But I would say that that view and then incorporating principles of asymmetry is probably the biggest thing.

Okay, so can you expand on what are some of the symmetrical patterns that we tend to think that we should be living in versus not?

Yeah, definitely. So PRI teaches that we're all in the same asymmetrical pattern based on the human nervous system and the human structure and even behavioral things throughout the day. So the gist of it is that each and every one of us are stuck on our right side. And in order to get to the left side, we have to make compensations most of the time. And if you think about during the day, you know, first, how many people are right handed. So we, we say, you know, we live in a right handers world. So lefties already feel like they're trying to. They're almost forced to be right handed. And even things like grocery stores are set up to where you walk in and you turn right and walk around the entire store and then go down the aisles as you need to. Right. It feels very weird to walk into a grocery store and turn left and it's like produce on the left. So even things in our everyday life are set up in that way. Or the most recent thing that I found was when you're in an airport and you go through the scanner, you always turn right to face the scanner and put your arms up like that.

Right.

And then actually the airport in Eugene is the only one. And I've been to like 25 different airports in the past four years. Right. And the airport in Eugene is the only one where you turn left and you feel super weird. And just because our brains aren't used to turning that way.

Right.

So behaviorally, we're all kind of stuck on this right side. And it's just, I mean, there are things throughout our life that we can kind of pick and tease out of why this is the case. But what it really comes down to is neurology. We're all left brain driven, and the right side of our body is more dominant. Then we have these different structures in our body, like the right side of our diaphragm. Is bigger. So every time we take a breath in, it pulls us to that direction. And the right lung is bigger. So, you know, we have more lobes of our right. Like all these different things kind of combine to make this right side dominant system of the human body.

And it's not that it's necessarily a bad thing. We just have to be aware of it and then pattern accordingly.

We have to appreciate it, especially physical therapists, right, because we're working with pain. So we have to appreciate these asymmetries to address people's pain. Because if we don't assume that somebody's asymmetric when they walk through the door, then we have to do this more comprehensive exam. And, you know, there are systems like I took the SFMA course, where you do all these different tests and you break out the tests, and it's really, really comprehensive. It's really good at figuring out, okay, here are these persons movement deficits. But I tell people it's like taking out a terrorist by carpet bombing, like a whole square mile, right? It's very inefficient. There's a lot of collateral damage, and it takes a really long time to actually do the entire sfma. Whereas when you go in with a PRI mindset, it's like, okay, I know that this person probably can't do XYZ and I'm going to test to confirm, right? So 97% of the time, you know what your tests are going to look like, and you're just confirming. It's like, okay, yes, that's the case. Yes, that, you know, it's. It's just going through this checklist when you have the nose, that's when things get a little hairy. But the further you go into this PRI coursework, the better you are at treating people who are different and treating people who have, like, weird tests.

Oh, really? So can you give me an example of a weird test?

Yeah. So, for example, in a pri, in a typical pattern patient, right, we call them, like, it's like the left AIC pattern. We expect their left hip. When they're lying on your side, you expect their left hip to drop and the right hip, or you expect their left hip to be stuck in the right hip to drop, right? It's called the adduction drop test. And stereotypically, we see that test be that case. However, sometimes you get somebody who, like, drops on the left and doesn't drop on the right as well. And then it's like, okay, that's weird. What is this person doing that makes them that case. And then if you've seen enough of those people, you say, okay, I really have to stabilize this person's, you know, hip in their socket. So let me hold that down. Okay? They don't drop anymore. I know this person has, you know, ruin the integrity of their left hip capsule. So then we have to do other interventions that are different than if they couldn't drop that hip. And in that case, what I found is that usually you have to go up to the neck. You have to do interventions that affect the neck and the systems involved with the neck and jaw and vision, because that person is kind of so unstable on their left side that they've created this fake mobility to be able to go left. So then, you know, from a sensory perspective, they're all over the place from the neck up.

So now is this.

That's an example. That's just an example of someone who, if you haven't taken the more advanced coursework, you'd be like, okay, I have no idea what's going on. I'm just going to try the same stuff I normally do, and then it doesn't work.

Okay. So there's two things that are coming up for me. Number one is that. Are you speaking specific? Like, is this for just an everyday, active person, sedentary person, or a performance athlete? And then number two, it's clear in your description of dealing with these weird cases. And I'm. I'm gonna say weird in quotations, but. But abnormal, I'll say, you know, or uncommon. What? You know, it's clearly your level of expertise and the. The clinical hours that you have seen, you know, treating this type of pattern, which is really hard to get, you know, reading a book or going to, like, a weekend course. So how have you been able to think critically in that way? So.

I think it was a combination of the sheer amount of people that I saw when I was in insurance and just the. The fact that I was. I didn't have, like, a direct clinical mentor at the time. You know, it was just like me failing at things and getting better and failing at things and getting better. You know, I have all these cases in my head that I could go back to be like, wow, I should have done this a lot differently, and this person would have got a lot better. But there. Because of the area that I was in, I was in this town outside of Boston that was, like, very affluent, right? So there's a certain expectation of people of the quality of care they were getting. So that was an added pressure to be better than Everyone else, even though I was getting reimbursed the same amount as any, they could have gone to any clinic in this, and probably the reimbursement would have been similar of that clinic.

Right.

So it's like this weird disconnect of you could be giving somebody the best quality care in the world and you get paid the same amount through insurance. But because this was in such an affluent area, people thought that they were getting some, you know, higher level of service. So because of that, it was kind of higher pressure, Right. Where people had no. They had no hesitation of leaving the clinic and giving you a battery if they weren't getting better, which was kind of good.

Right.

It kind of puts pressure on you as a practitioner, and you're not just going through the motions. You're trying to get better, you're trying to learn new things, you're trying to refine your skills. But for me, at the time, it was a lot of trial and error because I didn't have anyone to serve as that mentor role. And there were no online mentorships back then either.

Right.

There was no, like, sign up for this thing and people will help you through these hard cases. If there was, I would have signed up, but instead I was just, you know, taking repeat courses and coming out of these courses with, like, wow, I have, like, five new things that made me better. Even though I took this course, you know, once before or whatever.

I'm laughing because I remember being a trainer when I, you know, it wasn't that long ago, but it was long enough where you had to wait to get educated, and then you would just get the book, and then, you know, you try to do what the book said. And I'm telling you, I think there are sections specifically of my Precision nutrition book that I have memorized because I had read it so many times and wondered why is. Where's the lot? Where's the losing in translation?

Yeah.

So.

And that's a hard thing, too, is you don't know what system to put your, you know, put your eggs in that basket.

Right.

Like, I learned the sfma. I learned, you know, frc. I learned Priya, I learned strength and conditioning principles through a couple of internships that I've done. And you have all these different approaches, and I think social media makes that a million times worse. And that's not even exaggerating. With Instagram, there's all these people shouting different things, and some of them come across as way more inflammatory than others, but those are the people who get the attention. So I Think it's really hard. Especially if I was a PT student or coming out of school right now, I wouldn't know what to think because I have 10 people shouting that PRI is a waste of time. 10 people saying that it's the next coming of Jesus in the world. And you don't know what to think because they all make good points. Right, so that's the hard part.

Yes. And how so? And how are you supposed to navigate it? Because you are literally asking yourself, you know, compared to what? Like, you don't know what you don't know. So how are you even assessing whether or not it's working or not? And then what's user error and what's not?

Yeah, exactly. I think the number one data point that we get as physical therapists is, is this person still in pain?

Right.

That's like the number one thing. People go to PT because they have pain somewhere in their body. And a doctor or someone else said, oh, a physical therapist can help with your pain. But when you have these layers and layers of compensations in this pattern, I think the most valuable thing is to tell that person from day one. Like, listen, people who have this pattern take months, not weeks, to get better. And setting that expectation from day one really helps these people to say, okay, I know that this isn't a quick fix, and I got to buckle down and we got to get this thing taken care of, even if their pain isn't that bad. There's some people with debilitating pain, but there's patterns, really simple, and it resolves in a couple weeks. There's other people with nagging pain that was never really bad until now. I'm going to go get a prescription from my doctor and go to pt. It was never too, too bad. But this pattern is so ingrained that it's like, you know, it takes months to get out of, which can be the case for some people.

Yeah. So that you're bringing up a really good point. I'm curious, you know, how do you navigate it in terms of, you know, what is part of the process and what is, you know, you maintaining the like. No, this is part of the process, and this is what it's like, versus. No, no. We are in chronic, impossible pain and we're not solving it. How do you navigate.

Yeah, definitely. So I think the first thing I do is based on. So in my practice now, I have a phone conversation before I see anyone.

Right.

I want to get to know this person. I want to talk about all this stuff we would normally talk about on the first visit before they even come in, just so I can get a sense of what this person is like. So, for example, if someone uses certain words that are kind of like red flags to me, and it's. I don't have a list of words in my head. You know, you just kind of. When you're talking to someone, you kind of. You kind of pick them out. You know, when they're like. I don't know, when they seem like they're almost, like, fearful of pain or fearful of movement, it's like, okay, we're going to have to get over that part of it. If someone's kind of dismissive of their pain and they're like, oh, yeah, you know, my knee's been hurting for the past 10 years, but it hasn't limited me until now. It's like, okay, this is gonna. It's not gonna solve itself overnight, Right? So I think talking to someone and kind of asking the right questions is probably the most important part. I like to ask, in your mind, what will make your pain better? Just to see if they have an idea and to see if they have an expectation going into it.

Right.

Great question. And, yeah, so that kind of gives me an idea of, okay, this is the kind of person who I'm talking to and then obviously asking about their pain and PT is really important. You know, we're taught, you know, zero to 10, describe it. You know, is it numbness, tingling, whatever, whatever, whatever. And just listening to the kinds of words that people use about it is really important, too, because some people can't differentiate between muscle soreness and true pain. They can't differentiate between, I had a hard workout the day before versus I have an injury that needs rehabilitation. And then I think the other important piece of it is their PRI pattern itself, because like I said, there are people with debilitating pain who come in with a simple left aic, right BC kind of standard asymmetric pattern, and you get them to feel, you know, their left hamstring and left ab, and then they stand up, they're like, holy cow, I feel so much better. You know, that's like 20% of people, but that's the 20% that people will post about on social media. You know, it's like, it's not a realistic view of how most people go through these, how they progress through pt. So if they have some pathologic lengthening of tissue that's supposed to be holding a joint in place, for example, this is going to be a little bit harder of a process. If they have a ability to rotate their spine when they shouldn't, you say, okay, this is going to take a really long time to get through. From a neurological perspective, when you see enough people and see enough of these patterns, you pick out, okay, this pattern is really hard to deal with. Okay, this one is a lot easier to deal with.

Okay. So it's interesting too, you're bringing, you know, you bring up social media because I do think that, you know, just like every good, great thing, the opposite is also true. Right. There is pros and cons to everything. Right. And so I think you bring up a really good point when you highlight the issues essentially that we, that so many people are faced with when it comes to navigating and managing, you know, the impact of social media. And one of the things that we talked about was mentorship. Right. So I know that this was part of what fueled you to help, you know, other people who, who, you know, help them get their fast result by, or a faster result, but by not even anything else, just with the, you know, with just support and adding in a layer of support and guidance for other people. So I'm curious, in your words, you know, what are some of the things that you were seeing that caused you to, you know, be part of your mentorship and how has mentorship specifically played a role in your career?

Yeah, for sure. So one of the biggest things was like we talked about earlier, those inflammatory voices on social media that were saying things sometimes that I agreed with, but a lot of times I didn't. And then talking to new clinicians about it, and they were like, wow, I didn't know that I could. For example, a big one is like, I didn't know I could do manual therapy.

Right.

I thought manual therapy was a lazy cop out for active treatment. Like we're supposed to get people active. Why are we doing manual work on these people? And then I said, no, no, no, let's take a step back. Why would you just do manual therapy or just do exercise? We have an hour with people in most cash based settings and this was a cash based practitioner. And I said, why can't you do both? And don't you think that people would buy in a lot better if they had less pain no matter what you did? He was like, yeah, that's true. So I told him, shouldn't we modulate the nervous system by lowering pain by like doing some soft tissue work before doing that exercise? And all of a sudden the exercise feels better?

Right.

The exercise doesn't feel as threatening it doesn't feel as scary because, oh, yeah, my knee does feel better because my quad was so tight. You work on their quad for like five minutes and then it feels a lot better. I think it. A lot of voices on social media would say, oh, manual therapy doesn't work. And we have the studies that support that. But the studies that they're referring to are so. It's like the data is so cherry picked and it's so easy to make these studies say what you want them to say because when you look at who they did the studies on, it doesn't match the person in front of you most of the time. Or you look at the actual differences and they're like, oh, we found a significant difference in P value. But you look at the actual difference and it's like 0.8 points on the pain scale. It's like nothing. So there's so many different ways to twist this research. And in PT school now, they're emphasizing research so much that one of the reasons I wanted to get my voice out there was to give people permission to step back and go against the status quo a little bit. Because it's super popular right now to hate on something like manual therapy. And you have. And it's super popular to tell people, you know, oh, the way that you squat is why your back hurts, but you just have to, like, get stronger in that position or whatever. I don't know what, what people. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but these are the kinds of messages that people take, you know, and then you talk to the person who said it, they're like, no, no, no, I didn't say that. It's like, well, dude, that's what everyone's getting from it. So maybe we got to, you know, take a look at what you're saying here. So I think for a new clinician, or any clinician for that matter, who's on social media listening to these people who they hold in a higher regard than themselves, it's like, how do you navigate that? It's really, really hard to.

Right?

So mentorship can really help, I think, because you can have these conversations with people to provide context to this claims that you're making. Like, no, dude, I didn't say that manual work will get people better. I said that it could be a great adjunct to an active plan of care. And it's okay to rub someone's back every once in a while. We're not doing anyone a disservice by making their pain less.

So it's such a good point. Now I'm curious, you know, in your perspective, you know too, you know, you're talking essentially about adding context to claims that are made, you know, in social media. And I, I think that one, I think too that there are definitely things that people will say in a conversation even if they disagree. Right. Two, people can disagree on something and have a conversation about it that they're not, but it necessarily doesn't show up or is reflected in that on social media, what people will type is a hang of a lot different than what they'll say.

Yeah. And I, you know, for this is an example I always go back to, because this is exactly what I'm talking about. I made a post about how I saw people like being like, we're so different because we make people back squat and like overhead press in their plan of care. So like, we, we're better than other PT clinics. And I was like, a barbell isn't a good rehab tool.

Right?

Like, for most people, putting a barbell on their back is going to be a lot more limiting than having them do like a goblet squat. So I said that I was like, a barbell is not a good rehab tool for most people. And there is some guy who came on my page that shall not be named, but like, had this whole rant about how I can't make these claims about how barbell exercises are bad and how I'm completely being an idiot basically for saying this stuff. And I replied to him and I said, hey, thanks for the comment. I appreciate the feedback. However, if you actually go back and read the post, that's exactly what I just said. And then he said, okay. He said, okay, fair enough. And I was like, dude, are you serious right now? This guy has 100,000 followers. I was like, you're coming onto my page. I have like 350 followers. And it's just like this like dumb little, you know, cash PT guy from Eugene, Oregon. And he had, he felt the need to come onto my page and completely like, blast me for it as a person. You know, he's like, you're a bad person because you made this claim. And I'm like, bro, we gotta take a step back here. Did what?

Did you read?

Yeah, exactly. It's like, I know you didn't read the post.

Yeah.

But it's stuff like that that's like, it's so frustrating. And then people who echo that will come on and be like, yeah, get them, you know, like, sick them, dude. Like, you're doing a great job. And then we have these echo chambers of people just like agreeing with each other because they like the person or they want to be like the person. You know, they're like, wow, this guy's really, he's, he's somebody who I want to emulate. So I'm going to agree with everything he says or she says. But then they don't have. And then in their day to day clinical work, they're like, I'm trying to be the idea of who this person is in my head and it's not working. You know, so some people say that has to change. And other people say, oh, you know, they probably just have to get stronger. They probably just have to stop being so scared of moving or whatever it is. But then the people who say, okay, I need to change this. How do I do that? I think a mentorship can be the most useful thing for those people. You know, people who just, they're like, there's so much information out there. How do we know what to listen to?

Yeah, well. And how do you. That's such a great question. How do you know what to listen to?

You don't know what to listen to, but someone can help you decide what the best thing to listen to is for you.

Right?

Like someone can help you navigate the waters. They're not going to be there holding your hand, you know, while you're treating people, but someone can help you decide, okay, in my particular clinic setting, for the people I see and my style, this is the most useful thing that I can do.

Mm. Mm. Yeah. And I also think that that is what I, in my opinion, it's part of what makes mentorship and a good mentorship, you know, different. Right. How it stands apart is that I think that when a true mentorship can help you navigate your own critical thinking skills and help you really clarify what's going to work best for you, for your practice and for your patient, as opposed to, you know, dogmatic approach. Whereas you have to do this. This or nothing. This or nothing. And if it's nothing, it's got to be client adherence. And you're like, well, what if it's not?

Exactly. Exactly. And having somebody who challenges you, I think is the most helpful thing.

Right.

Somebody who's going to be like, hey, like, you need to zoom out. You're missing the forest through the trees a little bit here. And somebody to say, I don't know the perfect answer for this, but here are the questions I'm going to ask you so you can have that perfect answer for yourself, you know, So, I mean, I, when I'm working with people in the Solidify mentorship or when I'm working with patients, I ask them a ton of questions, you know, I kind of lead them to get the answer. Because if not, then you're just talking at someone and they never listen to you. Well, they often don't listen to you if you're just talking at them. But if you can help them derive the conclusion with leading questions, I think that's super helpful for people.

Yeah, that's so good and such a good point. And so, and also I just think too that the social media for all of it's good. And I love social media, which, you know, and most people here listening know, but I just think that it also has the, the ability to really just create a very pressure cooker container of cancel culture, essentially, which is like, believe me. Or you know, Lord of the Flies. It essentially.

Yeah, yeah. And it could be, it could be very toxic on someone's psyche, right? If they're like, okay, I'm going to finally post something. And then you have three people coming out being like, at this person. Do you agree with this? And then that person coming on and saying, no, this is garbage. You know, and you're like, okay, I just worked up so much courage to like put myself out there. And then I have some dude from a state I don't even know where coming on and saying that I'm wrong, you know? So for me and getting over my fear of posting on social media, I put something on one day, I forget, I. It was something about front squats or something random. And this guy came on my page, like out for blood. And it's my company page, right? All it is, it's like little tips for people. Like, try this. You don't like back squatting. Try a safety bar squat. You know, it's great. I have safety bar squat with everyone and then some guy comes on my page, like bashing me for it. And then I look, I'm like, who is this guy? It was like, is he a coach or something? He's just like a power lifter who does like. Well, he's like a welder who does powerlifting. And I'm like, oh, okay, I don't need to make this guy believe me. I can just kind of say, okay, thanks for the input and move on. And then I was like, why can't I just take that approach to everyone who argues with me on social media? You know, like, you're not Going to change someone's mind in an Instagram comment.

I mean, right? I mean, yeah, I mean, but to your point, it's so true. And to your point, though, I think that, you know, what people forget is that there are people behind these Instagram profiles. We're always chasing these, like, numbers. We need this, we need that. And you're like, wait a second, those are human beings. And there is a person on the side of that, other side of that. That profile that you're talking to. And in addition to all that courage that they had to put that out there, we also have no idea what their level of support is that they have on the back side behind that profile.

Yeah, absolutely. Right to. Yeah. To say, hey, you know, a lot of people didn't like that post you put up, but, like, it was fine. You know, you just said something that a lot of people disagree with, which is okay because they're taking it out of context and they're, you know, I can't even tell you how many times people will tag someone to sift them onto the person who posted it.

Right?

Like, I think Ben Yanis posted something the other day, and some guy tagged someone, like, at whatever. And this guy has a huge following that he tagged is like, at whatever. And then this guy came on and started talking to Ben on it. It's like, dude, you just literally like, hey, like, bodyguard, go get him. Like, go for it. You know, it's like, dude, what. What's. What's the goal here? You know, and, you know, you know, Ben puts out a lot of content that people disagree with, and he just has to, like, navigate those people coming into his. His DMs and navigating into those comments, which he did great with this guy coming on and talking to him about it, you know, but that's what social media has come to, is like a contest of, you know, is. Is this school of thought that I'm in, like, is that the most Right one? And if, you know, and people are like, if something. If I disagree with something, I have to yell at this person until they stop talking about it.

Yeah, I mean, definitely. Definitely in some cases and not in all cases. And I think, too, you hit the. You hit the nail on the head when. When we talked about, you know, how it all comes back down to, like, what's the intention? I think for a lot of coaches are trying to argue with each other to be right when really, ultimately, especially if you're trying to build a cash pt, we need to figure out what is going to work for you and for your clients and then speak to them.

Yeah, you know, Absolutely.

And I think so many people forget that.

Yeah, yeah. But not having. You're right. Like, not having somebody on the back end to say, hey, you know, it's okay that people disagree with you. I think it's very hard, especially for people of, you know, my generation and below. Like, we don't do well with people disagreeing with us. You know, we hate conflict. We hate anything.

Right.

Like, I know people who won't even talk to somebody on the phone to, like, reschedule an appointment because they're, like, so scared of it. They're so scared of conflict, you know, and that's kind of how this. That's how my generation kind of brought up to be, you know, like, very obedient. And everyone wants. You. Want everyone to like you. And when someone doesn't, it's like the end of the world. And you're. You'd go to, like, you go to the end of the world and back just to get one person to like you. That doesn't. But having a mentor to say, hey, it's okay if somebody doesn't like you, I think it is very helpful for your psyche.

I. I abs. For sure. For sure. And then also having that mentor, that's going to help you critically think, especially if we're all taught to be like, no, this is the way.

Yeah, absolutely.

Ask yourself those powerful questions of. Is that really true? Is this really true?

Mm.

And not coming.

I don't know if it is.

Yes. Yeah, I don't.

I don't know if it's really true, but I'm gonna help you decide for yourself if you think it is.

Yes. So I'm also curious. Just, you know, you know, speaking to this point and, you know, being able to really make assessments and, you know, make a call and make a decision based on what's happening. What are some of the things that, you know, what are. How quickly should someone get a result, essentially, or a positive result or any. How fast should they change, you know, their programming based on the result or outcome that's happened?

Are you talking about, like, a patient or, like, a mentee? Give me a patient or a client.

Give me both.

Okay. So. So working with a client, I think the change should be. There should be some sort of change immediately.

Right.

And no matter how small that change is or no matter what that change is, you know, sometimes with these people with really bad chronic pain syndromes, their pain can. Can go somewhere else.

Right.

Like, oh, I'VE had this chronic low back thing, but my neck has been killing me since I started that exercise. That's okay. We broke the pattern of your chronic pain, and even though something else hurts, it won't be a new chronic issue. You know, your brain now has something different to focus on rather than the pain it's been experiencing in the background for the last 10 years. And that's a good thing. Oh, thank goodness. I thought we just created a new problem, you know? So that's one example. Another example is I do this breathing technique, and my shoulder rotation changes and improves to full. Like, okay, great. We know that this is the direction we probably want to go in, but then as you get deeper into pri, it's like, okay, this person has a left hip that won't drop, a right shoulder that won't rotate, and a neck that won't bend to either side. What do I work on first?

Right.

And the answer is, you work on all of them at the same time. And when you. When you can do that, you get the best changes. And there are things that will tell you, okay, this is where we have to go. And learning that, I think will take you from somebody who can coach a 9090 hip lift into somebody who can use PRI to help people get better. That's the biggest difference, because there's a lot of people who know what a balloon does or who can explain what a left AIC pattern is, but there are a lot less people who can actually use these techniques to treat a system versus treating a hip or treating a test. You know, like some people treat tests, and the testing will just tell you about the system.

Yeah.

So deciphering that, I think is. Can make the biggest leap in terms of being, like, a practitioner, a strength coach, a pt, Somebody who works with people. How. I don't think you can ever notice change or not see a difference. I mean, like, being stagnant is a huge trap that people fall in. I've fallen into it many times myself, and then I force myself to get out of it by, like, taking a new course or by listening to someone talk or whatever it is somebody to be like, oh, my goodness, I've been doing this wrong the whole time, but that's okay. So I think if you constantly have that and you're constantly trying to get better at something, I think that's. I. I don't think that should ever stop.

Right. So good and so true. Okay. Tyler, you have been amazing, and I want to be very mindful of your time, so thank you so much. For spending time with me today, hanging out and pouring into us. So for those of you who want to learn more about what it is that you do or work with you or or learn more about your mentorship, can you share with us a little more about where are some of the best places I can send them?

Definitely. So I'm on Instagram at Tyler Tanaka, DPT and myself along with my co mentor Mike. We'll post a lot on there and then we have a new website, solidifymentorship.com that you can go to to find out some more information. And honestly, just shoot me a dm. That's probably the best way to get a hold of me because then you don't have to like read things that I thought up one day and post it about. We can actually have a great conversation and I can give you context to some of the claims that I make.

Okay. I love it.

So I would say, I would say Instagram DM is the best way to get a hold of me.

Okay, amazing. And we'll make sure that we link all of that up. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

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