Casandra Oldham has had success in her running career that was never intended to be a running career! She shares her knowledge of neurodiverse brains and how thinking outside of the dystonia "box" might be helping through nutrition, functional medicine, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and other modalities. Autism Knowledge Gateway https://www.autismkg.org/ TLI Foundation https://www.thoughtfoundation.org/about HBOT - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11097100/ and https://pmc.nc...

Julie, JoJo and special guest host Karrie Hamstra-Wright chat with wife, mother, NBC Track and Field Broadcaster, author, World T&F Silver medalist and 2-Time Olympian Kara Goucher. Kara shares her dystonia history, diagnosis, celebrations, tendencies to compartmentalize and other struggles in this real, heart-felt cast. You can find more about Kara here and order her book, The Longest Race, here. If you really want to geek out, listen to her podcast with Des Linden, Nobody As...

Julie sits down with Megan Cohea, a physical therapist living on the East Coast. Megan has Runner's Dystonia and shares her journey, symptoms and recommendations in this conversation. Apologies for the audio issues at the beginning of the recording. Here is a link to the TENS unit Megan uses. Support the show The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medical conditions. We are not licensed medical professionals and do not take the place of y...

JoJo and Julie sit down with Karrie Hamstra-Wright, Clinical Professor and Co-Director of the Applied Sports Psychology and Injury Research and Education (ASPIRE) Lab in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago. Like many of us interested in these podcasts on the topic of dystonia, Karrie also has this condition. For those interested in the lab's work, you participate in the community service program - Resilient Athlete Program (RAP) - which prov...

In this episode, JoJo and Julie talk with Runner, turned cyclist, Randy Morton about his dystonia journey through medical in-attention, gaslighting and athletic career. Randy is resilience personified. Give it a listen and we welcome your comments and feedback. Please continue to share with colleagues, friends AND your medical team! Support the show The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medical conditions. We are not licensed medical professio...

Default Mode Network (dmn) discussion on how to down regulate, how it might be a factor with Dystonia. What things we have tried help to down regulate the DMN. Includes references to breathwork, meditation and psilocybin. Paul Stamets Psilocybin Research in Nature Default Mode Network Research from Stanford University DMN Modulation by Psychadelics Research The Neural Basis of Psychadelic Action Support the show The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. rec...

We talk with Australian runner Kirsten Jackson on her progress with dystonia and DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation). Kirsten had the implant in February of 2025 and considers herself cured from dystonia with this device. Listen to this intriguing talk about her story. What she has tried and the amount of money she has invested in her health is astounding. Links: Doctors - https://www.cabrini.com.au/find-a-doctor/a-profwesleythevathasan/ DBS - Deep Brain Stimulation https://www.ninds.nih.gov/h...

On this episode, Julie talks with long-time dystonic runner, Roberta Reardon. We discuss modalities that are non-drug as well as how the issues first began. Roberta shares some key insights into how her recovery has progressed to the point of feeling almost "normal." One key to all of this is Belief. Links: https://www.alpenboxx.com/adventures.html Ruth Chiles Dr. Farias Support the show The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medica...

In this episode, we talk with Shannon Webb, a newly diagnosed runner with dystonia. She shares what she has tried, where she is in her progress and what she hopes to have happen in the future. Here is a link to the University of Illinois - Chicago's ASPIRE Resilient Athlete Program. Thanks for listening. Support the show The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medical conditions. We are not licensed medical professionals and d...

Julie and JoJo are joined by Victoria Upson in this episode to hear her journey with running and Runner's Dystonia. Victoria shares a lot about her symptoms and how her persistence have allowed her to move forward in positive ways. You can find Victoria on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@dystonicrunner and Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dystonicrunner/ The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medical conditions. We are not license...

Julie and Joelle sit down with Bree Williamson to learn about her experience with Re+active PT. This is to share information and not to recommend any particular programs. If you are interested, the website for Re+active is here. The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medical conditions. We are not licensed medical professionals and do not take the place of your team of medical professionals. You can find us here: Julie Bergfeld - julie@jul...

Ih this episode, Julie and JoJo chat with fellow Dystonic runner Maria Winters. Maria has successfully used the principles from the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) to enhance her healing progress. She shares how symptoms first exhibited, what she had tried and how she is doing now after several years' worth of this type of therapy. Just to note, that we are not promoting PRI as a "cure," but rather one other tool that MIGHT be useful for some people. If there were one way, we'd all be do...

Julie and JoJo discuss how they have managed comments, questions and reactions from other people. If you have comments or questions, we would love to hear. The information shared in this podcast is not intended to diagnose. recommend nor treat medical conditions. We are not licensed medical professionals and do not take the place of your team of medical professionals. You can find us here: Julie Bergfeld - julie@juliebergfeld.com and juliebergfeld.com (@juliebergfeldcoaching) and JoJo...

In this episode, we do a deep dive into the Farias Dystonia Recovery Program. Benefits, Drawbacks, Cost, etc. The Dystonia Recovery Program (DRP) is an online platform tailored for individuals with various forms of Dystonia, including Cervical Dystonia, Hand Dystonia, Leg Dystonia, Blepharospasm, Oromandibular Dystonia, Facial Dystonia, Spasmodic Dysphonia, and Musicians’ Focal Dystonia. Developed by Dr. Joaquin Farias, this program integrates a multifaceted approach to recovery. ...

In this episode we talk with cyclist Chris Melia about her presentation of Focal Dystonia. Chris is a former runner and now a cyclist who recognized the signs of dystonia in 2021. She relates to us how it presented and how she detected it. Since that time, she has made much progress and this episode details what she has done to move forward. Much of what Chris shares is less about the physical and more about the mental and emotional. As always thanks for listening. The information shared in t...

In this episode, JoJo and Julie review all of the treatments tired for dystonia, explaining what seems to be working and what didn't work. It's a long list and NOT comprehensive by any means. Keep in mind that this is based on our own needs, tolerances and preferences - and may not work for you. In addition, some things that did not work for us may be working for you. We are all unique in our journeys through this. By all means stay hopeful that change is possible with persistence and a curio...

In this episode, JoJo and Julie describe our intentions for this show and give background information on what is know as Runner's Dystonia, how it presents and why it is so hard to diagnose, much less understand. We briefly share our own personal stories and journeys from initial days of knowing something was "wrong" and how we are leveraging our newly discovered resilience. Our intention is to spread the word, educate and share what we understand about Runner's Dystonia. The inf...