On the Joy of Helping People Heal — Q&A with Scott Dolly & Julie Brautigam
Scott Dolly and Julie Brautigam make an incredible team. At the RUNGA Immersion, Scott employs various manual therapy techniques to initiate a profound change in guests’ bodies, and Julie helps guests integrate exercises in order to further promote correct posture and movement. Scott is the founder of Evolution Human Performance and Rehabilitation, specializing in movement analysis and biomechanics, as well as myofascial release and I.A.S.T.M (Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization). As a registered nurse and lifelong athlete, Julie has an extensive background in the medical field and health and wellness industry.
Q
How did you become interested in working with the human body? Was there a moment that planted the seed?
A
Scott: My fascination and interest in the human body started when I was a little kid playing sports and practicing martial arts. I have always been captivated by meditation and human potential, including our ability to heal. After suffering many sports-related injuries and having to climb back up the mountain of optimal health time and time again, I can’t help but want to assist others experiencing the same thing. I am an absolute geek about the human condition in all of its glory. I love helping people get the most out of this journey—and keeping their bodies and minds up to the task is a big part of that.
Julie: My interest and appreciation for the human body was instilled very early on. My mom was a physical therapist and I grew up hearing stories about her house visits to her patients in rural Virginia and her work at Georgetown Hospital. I still have her beautiful set of anatomy flashcards. My dad was physically handicapped since he was 14-years old when he was diagnosed with the poliovirus and was in an “iron lung” for 6 months. He learned how to walk again, but always required canes. Witnessing my dad’s struggle with the aftermath of polio and seeing how my mother cared for him, as well as her patients, influenced me greatly as a little girl.
My work in oncology and hematology as a registered nurse really showed me how terrible cancer can be. My work in allergy and immunology showed me how prevalent auto-immune disease is in our society. All of these experiences have provided a deep understanding of the importance of movement and healthy eating and how vital these simple concepts are for total health.
Q
We understand how powerful these therapies can be, especially for individuals who are rehabilitating injuries or are otherwise in physical pain. What has been the most rewarding aspect of working hands-on with people?
A
Scott: I know what it’s like to experience injury or dysfunction and how much it can interfere with being able to live your best life. Pain is such a heavy burden to carry around, and I can’t think of many gifts greater than to be able to give someone a pain-free existence while empowering them to care for themselves. Through healing and empowering individuals, I understand the positive ripple effect it will have into all other areas and relationships in their lives. And in that, I know that I am helping improve the quality of our world.
Julie: I love being able to share my passion for health and performance and empower others by sharing my knowledge and experience. I love seeing the “ah-ha!” moments when clients get the connection or feel the movement for the first time. I also value being in the struggle with them, helping facilitate the “getting it” and expediting that process.
One of the most rewarding aspects is when the client returns to us and says that they caught themselves “doing it wrong.” Helping others become more self-aware of how they are moving or even how they are positioning themselves at rest is vital in their total mind-body optimization. When you can increase someone’s own personal awareness, you are affecting permanent change in their lives.
Q
You use a number of different modalities in your practice. When you started, did you expect that the therapy would include some energetic healing?
A
Scott: I started out as an energy healer 18 years ago and never stopped. My journey through reiki and qi gong training is what led me to the study of western medicine and the physical laws and properties of the human body. It was just the natural progression of study and investigation of the human condition. I found that the effects of energetic issues could affect the physical systems and vice versa. The entire energy of a limb is affected when it has suffered a physical injury, and the chi that flows through that limb and through the individual must be restored for total healing to happen. But, physical training and movement integration must be included and restored as well.
