Community Highlights: Meet Josh Crill of Strength As Medicine LLC & JC Wellness LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Crill.

Hi Josh, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I didn’t take a traditional path into healthcare — and in hindsight, that’s been my greatest advantage.

I started college as a Wildlife Biology major and dropped out after three weeks. What looked like indecision at the time was actually instinct. I pivoted into an EMT program at a community college, and that experience ignited a deep fascination with the human body — not just anatomy, but how stress, trauma, movement, and meaning live inside it.

I planned to attend chiropractic school, but instead discovered massage therapy at the Healing Arts Institute in Colorado. Within a year, at 21 years old, I opened my own practice. That was November of 1997 — and I’ve never looked back.

Early on, I immersed myself in real-world experience. I worked in a busy physical therapy clinic where I treated over 1,500 patients in a single year. I studied craniosacral therapy with Dr. John Upledger, lymphatic work with Dr. Bruno Chikly, and later taught manual therapy, neuromuscular re-education, and therapeutic exercise nationwide.

Over the last 25+ years, I’ve treated more than 70,000 sessions, earned dozens of certifications through over 3000 hours of hands-on education, opened and ran a CrossFit affiliate with my wife Jacki, and evolved from being a technician of the body into a coach of people.

Today, my work lives at the intersection of physical health, nervous system regulation, embodiment, intimacy, and meaning. Through Strength As Medicine and The Embodied Life, I help people not just get out of pain — but reclaim their vitality, agency, and connection to themselves and those they love.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been anything but smooth — and I wouldn’t change that.

Early in my career, the struggle was overgiving. Like many practitioners, I believed my value came from how much I could do for others. That led to burnout cycles, physical exhaustion, and periods of questioning whether I could sustain this work long-term.

Professionally, I’ve navigated industry shifts, economic downturns, the rise and fall of brick-and-mortar fitness during COVID, and the constant tension between hands-on care and scalable impact. Personally, I’ve faced the deeper work of identity — evolving from “the healer who fixes” into a leader who teaches people to listen to and trust their own bodies.

The hardest lessons weren’t technical. They were about boundaries, alignment, and learning that transformation happens when people are guided — not rescued.

Those struggles reshaped my philosophy: the body is not broken, pain is not the enemy, and healing is not a passive process.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Strength As Medicine LLC & JC Wellness LLC?
At its core, my work is about teaching people how to live inside their bodies again.

Strength As Medicine is my clinical home base — a practice built on the belief that the human body is not fragile, broken, or something to be “managed,” but intelligent, adaptable, and capable of remarkable change when approached correctly. We specialize in resolving chronic pain, movement limitations, and nervous system overload by combining hands-on manual therapy, intelligent strength training, and education that empowers clients rather than creating dependency.

The Embodied Life is the broader evolution of that philosophy. It expands beyond pain relief into vitality, intimacy, resilience, and personal agency. Through courses, coaching, and experiential work, we help people reconnect with their physical bodies, regulate their nervous systems, and build lives that feel strong, grounded, and meaningful — not just productive.

What sets my work apart is integration.

I don’t separate physical pain from emotional stress, sexuality from nervous system health, or strength from self-trust. After decades of treating bodies hands-on, it became impossible to ignore that pain often isn’t just mechanical — it’s relational, habitual, and identity-based. My work lives in that intersection, where physiology meets lived experience.

I’m known for being direct, practical, and deeply human. There’s no mysticism without structure and no science without context. Clients don’t come to me to be fixed — they come to understand themselves better and leave with tools they can use for the rest of their lives.

Brand-wise, what I’m most proud of is integrity. Everything we offer — whether it’s a clinical session, a nutrition program, or an intimacy-focused course — is built from real-world experience, not trends. I’ve spent over 25 years in treatment rooms, gyms, classrooms, and conversations with real people. Nothing we teach is theoretical.

What I want readers to know is this:
If you feel disconnected from your body, stuck in pain, burned out, or longing for deeper connection — there is nothing wrong with you. You don’t need to be fixed. You need the right framework, the right support, and permission to inhabit your life fully again.

That’s what our work is here to provide.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I gravitate toward resources that integrate body, psychology, and meaning.

Books that have shaped my thinking include Relentless by Tim Grover, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, and Atomic Habits by James Clear — each reinforcing the idea that change is embodied, not just intellectual. That said, my favorite read of the past couple of years is Greenlights by Matthew McConAughey.

I’m a lifelong student of movement, nervous system regulation, and relational dynamics, and I learn as much from hands-on experience and conversation as I do from formal resources. Teaching, coaching, and being in the work with real people has been my greatest education.

At this stage of my life, the most important “resource” is intentional reflection — slowing down enough to listen to the body, the nervous system, and the signals life is constantly offering.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joshcrill.com
• Instagram: @the.embodied.life
• Facebook: @theembodiedlife

Image Credits
Kacey Cole Photography
@kaceycolephotography