Testimonials

I am so grateful to have found CINK. Prior to doing the program, I woke up every day with pain in my back, neck, hips, shoulders – the location and intensity of the pain was unpredictable. In my mid-30s my evenings were spent lying on the floor “resting” instead of living. My body was tired and broken and incredibly delicate, and everything I tried to do to help myself provided only temporary improvement and/or seemed to make me flare. I was deteriorating, getting weaker, and I lived in fear of when I would have additional joint issues needing surgery.

As a physician, I tried to find the answer in many different fitness and posture programs, including physical therapy, Pilates, personal training, Egoscue and others. Most programs either ignored my hypermobility, or tried to “fix” it, in which case I was sure to flare. Through CINK I learned how my hypermobile body works, and how it doesn’t work. I gained strength and coordination, and I felt my body change -- I stood up against gravity, and my joints worked better and hurt less often.  

CINK is unique because it is a full body training that works with the hypermobility to create stability in the body. Through CINK I learned how ALL parts of my body-- my toes, heels, ankles, hips, ribs, shoulders, chest, neck and back, etc— work together to create stability and movement. These are fundamental concepts of body movement that should be taught in all medical schools and physical therapy programs -- not just for hypermobile bodies like mine, but for all bodies.

My body is still hypermobile and it requires more nurture and training than others do. Now, if I feel muscle or joint discomfort, I understand why, and I know to fix it. CINK has helped me to embrace my hypermobility and appreciate my body for its specialness. Most importantly, CINK has allowed me to avoid the serious joint injuries that my old movement patterns were creating. I am forever grateful to Linda and Havilah and CINK for changing the trajectory of my health and my life.

-MELANIE MODJOROS, MD

I had exhausted my options for chronic and reoccurring back pain before finding CINK. After spending years searching for relief from chiropractors, various physical therapists, massage therapists, and even an acupuncture specialist, I had come to the conclusion that no one was going to be able to help.  When I read about CINK, I knew that Havilah and Linda’s understanding of how the body, particularly hypermobile bodies, was different. The CINK method and theory is brilliant, makes so much sense, and it works. Learning and practicing CINK has been life changing, in that I have had a significant reduction in pain. That is something no other treatment method ever delivered. CINK has also given me an understanding of how to work with my body to maintain good function. I’m able to take what I’ve learned and incorporate it into my daily life. The result has been that I’ve been able to resume a full and active life.

-SARA RUIZ

“I am a 45 year old woman with a great deal of joint and muscle pain associated with a lifetime of hypermobility and poor posture. I was fortunate to participate in two-week intensive CINK treatment. Before discovering CINK, I spent 15 years trying to get help from physical therapists, physiatrists, primary care doctors, and podiatrists, all of whom have basically admitted that they don't know how to help me, and that the pain I was ensuring was the inevitable consequence of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Linda and Havilah were the first people to articulate a precise understanding of why I was experiencing the pain, to help me get over my fear of movement, and to encourage me to believe that my body was a ‘good body’ and that I could get better by focusing on very basic movements to strengthen weak muscles and avoid overusing others. I learned that I can integrate these movements and resulting postures into the everyday through practice, particularly through breath. It's been a month since my last CINK appointment. I am continuing to do my ‘homework’ and have a long way to go before I am pain-free, but I now feel that I am on a clear path, and can continue to educate myself as well as my doctors and exercise instructors on how they can help me heal.”

“6 weeks of CINK training, plus 12-weeks a year after, significantly reduced 10+ years of chronic pain caused by hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Before CINK, I constantly suffered back and neck spasms that left me bedridden for weeks at a time. 

Havilah and Linda’s knowledge and insight of EDS, coupled with their background as dancers and masters Pilates instructors, helped me understand my body better. I now have the motivation to push my body and mind further than I ever thought possible. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but the initial 6-weeks and the additional 12-weeks a year later, gave me the tools I needed to continue to make progress and manage my pain without the help of heavy prescription medication.

Because of my hypermobility, I have a propensity to grip certain parts of my body as a way to overcompensate for my body’s ultra flexibility. These gripping patterns caused me to overuse certain muscles, which led to extreme pain, tightness and spasms, while the muscles that I should have been using had gone into atrophy.

CINK taught me how to minimize these gripping patterns and how to build up the muscles that had gone into atrophy, which in turn reduced my pain levels. CINK was like getting the owner’s manual on how to properly use my body.”

-JOSÉ ESTRADA

“I spent my whole life struggling with health issues that I couldn't explain, 10 years of debilitating joint pain/instability and six years of living with the diagnosis of EDS-3 prior to finding CINK.  Doctors, physical therapists and surgeons did all they could for me but told me I would need to learn to live with the issues that would continue to present in my life with this diagnosis.  To help with symptoms, doctors did steroid, trigger point, epidural and prolotherapy injections, prescribed narcotics/opiates (extended and immediate release), muscle relaxers, anxiety suppressants and continued to help me through the ever-changing symptoms I encountered as an EDS patient.  Surgeons would step in to help me in the quickest way they knew how to operate, and they did so eight times on my knees, shoulders and back.

 When I found CINK, I realized for the first time that having EDS-3 was not a life sentence.  Linda and Havilah explained that my treatment leading up to CINK was all symptom based treatment and they vowed to treat the EDS.  I participated in a 12 week treatment program with CINK.  Years of medical professionals painting a picture of my 'forever' EDS landed me slightly resistant to what they were teaching me because it was such a different approach and understanding.  It was hard to stay resistant to the approach when it provided positive results in such a short period of time.  Their understanding of the human body and how it is supposed to operate is unreal.  To take it further, their understanding of an EDS body and how it could work with proper training is an understanding I have yet to encounter with any other group, including medical professionals.

 This is such a revolutionary approach to giving movement back to a human body — to an EDS body.  Before I participated in CINK, I was on heavy prescription pain meds, muscle relaxers and anxiety suppressants, was in bed at least 18-20 hours/day, was unable to walk my dog or work and had little hope for the future of my life with health.  Since completing the 12 weeks of treatment, I take only over the counter aspirin and have no need for muscle relaxers or anxiety suppressants, I’m only in bed to sleep (average of 10 hours/night), walk my dog daily, am able to complete all of my tasks needed for work and am excited for what the future holds.  Linda and Havilah gave me my life back with their patience, persistence, knowledge and high motivation for success with their patients.  Through the CINK process, they taught me how to breathe, how to strengthen my muscles to properly support my joints, how to listen to what my body is trying to tell me, how to help my body when it needs it and most importantly, they taught me that I could move again — that I could live again.”

-RACHEL RYKAL

My work with CINK under Havilah has been truly life altering.  After having spent several years seeking doctor’s advice for my herniated discs and genetic spine issues and having had to give up competitive sports because these medical professionals were unable to help me, I am now back to full activity levels.

What Havilah knows about detailed core work to support the spine and alleviate back problems is something every medical professional dealing with back pain should learn — immediately!

-WENDY NICKERSON