Grace Lambert

Clients often ask me what I used to do for work, and how it is that I got into posture therapy. The short answer is that I became passionate about posture – and educated as a posture alignment specialist – because I was in pain for years and nothing gave me lasting relief until I discovered posture therapy. You can read my entire story in the book I wrote: “How Did I Not Know About This?” Or, read on . . .

In my athletic and active youth, I broke a number of bones, including hand, wrist and foot bones. As a young adult, I was hit by a car and thrown to the pavement from a motorcycle, knocked unconscious and suffered torn ligaments in my back. I dislocated my shoulders several times while skiing, diving or climbing and had surgery to repair them both. In my mid-40s, I got involved working with and riding horses - ponying one or more from my bicycle, just for fun (I have a somewhat skewed sense of fun). Horses have minds of their own and they’re not always in agreement with the human handling them… especially horses in training because they’re somewhat unruly. I was slammed into trailer walls, stepped on, run over and bucked off too many times to count. My worst injury was being kicked by an ill-mannered former racehorse. I was lucky to have avoided serious disfigurement, a broken neck and/or paralysis - as it was my jaw was broken and wired shut for a couple of months.

Needless to say, after all this my body was kind of a wreck.

I also spent much of my adult life working in the computer industry. I sat at a desk for hours on end, and then became a weekend warrior, doing things that my body wasn’t prepared to be doing. One day it dawned on me that my body hurt - nearly all the time - and that I had spent thousands of dollars on a plethora of therapies including physical and occupational therapy, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, and more. Each modality offered some relief, but it was always temporary. This realization influenced me to change careers, and I decided to work in the fitness industry, thinking it would at least help me to maintain a more active and healthier lifestyle.

So, in 2011, I became a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). I received additional training through NASM and was also certified as a Corrective Exercise Specialist, Senior Fitness Specialist, and Strength Training for Post-Menopausal Women coach. I later received training as a Tabata Bootcamp (High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) trainer.

I opened a small fitness studio where I taught classes and offered private sessions. Most of my clients were seniors and the majority were women. I started noticing that despite engaging in regular exercise, many of my clients (and I) still had pain and physical limitations. These prevented us from gaining the most benefit from our workouts – even those that were designed as corrective or senior-oriented exercises.

In 2013, while working at a local occupational therapist’s office (his assistant was on maternity leave), I read a book that changed the course of my career. It was called Pain Free, written by Pete Egoscue with Roger Gittines. I was excited to find what I felt was the thing that I had been looking for to help myself, and to better serve my clients. I did an online search, discovered Oregon Exercise Therapy, contacted the owner (Matt Whitehead) and became a devoted and grateful client. I was so impressed with the results that I achieved doing his prescribed exercises that I decided to become a Posture Alignment Specialist (PAS II) myself. I was certified, in 2014, through the Egoscue University (now the Egoscue Institute).

Doing the exercises regularly, I experienced decreased joint pain with increased range of motion, improved strength of deep core muscles, better balance, and a greater ability and desire to move. I was able to partake in many athletic activities without pain or discomfort. I got so I could even do handstands on my two shoulders, both of which had been under the surgical knife and that I believed would never be strong or flexible enough to do such a thing.

I closed my studio in 2015 and went to work at The Sequim Gym, where I conducted several multi-day workshops and taught a few classes. However, soon after that, members of my family took ill and I moved to Arizona to care for them. 

Everyone in my immediate family died in just over a year. Maybe I wasn’t the best caregiver?  No… I did a fine job, and it was actually quite a blessing to be able to take that time to help them transition, especially my Dad. Caring for him helped me realize that it’s never too late to improve your position and feel better.

During this time, I continued increasing my knowledge of posture therapy and became a PTX licensed therapist. When I returned to Sequim I opened Posture First Exercise Therapy. I chose the name because posture is the foundation of any exercise program or activity. Good posture is not just about doing an exercise in good form, it encompasses much more than that - including benefits to all of the body’s systems.

The exercises I teach are relatively gentle (though they can also be challenging) and can be done with a minimum amount of equipment at home, or in a gym or yoga studio. I love to help people and to educate them about the profound effect that posture has on their health and well-being. I want people to know that it’s possible to tap into their body’s natural ability to heal itself and to experience less pain when it is in proper alignment. Even after years of being misaligned.

I also enjoy the camaraderie and dynamics of small groups, and love to teach workshops and classes. I also work with people privately in their homes if they cannot make it into the studio. My passion is really ignited when I find clients who are highly motivated and willing to commit to improving their posture through daily exercise.

Movement is vital to good health. I encourage everyone to keep moving, and to participate in any exercise program or physical activity that appeals to them, maintaining a heightened kinesthetic sense of posture and form all day, every day, regardless of activity.