Pregnancy, a time of beautiful transformation, can often feel like a jumbled choreography of hormonal shifts, physical changes, and emotional highs and lows.

But fear not! Just as a skilled dancer learns to move with poise, you too can glide through the stages of motherhood with ease, armed with the secret weapon of physiotherapy!

We’ve been focused this month on how certain things slow down in winter and ways in which we can use that for restorative purposes. But at the height of the holiday season, in the midst of cooking, cleaning, and shopping, you may feel an even greater need for rest and recovery than usual.

Other things that help you relax will also help you extend your rest and digest stage. Reading a book if you love to read. Taking a bath with your favourite scented bubbles, if that’s your thing. Playing a musical instrument. Painting. You get the idea. If you’re feeling like you’re under constant stress, try to build some time into your day for the things that help you relax - it does more good for your health than you can imagine.

There are many different kinds of rest your brain and body need to feel whole and function at their best. As the darker days and cooler temps set in, remember that this time of year - which so many of us dread - presents an excellent opportunity to build a little more rest into our routines.

If it seems like you know more women than men who are impacted by autoimmune diseases, you’re not imagining it. Current statistics estimate that women account for a whopping 78% of the roughly two million Canadians who suffer from autoimmune diseases.

You have a digestive system. You have a reproductive system. You might visit a gastroenterologist when you experience abdominal discomfort. You probably visit a gynecologist for reproductive concerns. But the truth is that these two distinct systems are not unrelated.

I know a few things to be true. One is that it is virtually impossible to know how you will feel about being a new mom until you bring that baby home. Two is that you should always ask for help when you need it.

Once in a while, a book comes along that resonates so much you want to shout from the rooftops that everyone else should read it too. For us, one of those books is Burnout, The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski.

We all experience life transitions. They may correlate with our age and stage of life, like perimenopause when we go through significant biological changes, or with milestones - like entering adulthood, forming relationships, motherhood, divorce, empty nesting, retirement, or loss.

It’s common knowledge that pregnancy and childbirth are life-changing events. You grow a person inside your body! You bring that person into the world! Your life will never be the same - and your body will go through more transitions than you can count.

Our bodies are always talking to us. As a women’s health professional, it is my passion to listen to women and their health stories to identify a pattern with the signs and symptoms so I can help her feel her best. I also believe in empowerment, which is why I’m outlining some information that every menstruating woman should know, so that you can take charge of your own wellness.

One in five adults are living with chronic pelvic pain. As a pelvic health therapist, that statistic pains me. Because no matter how severe that pelvic pain is, there are natural ways we can alleviate it - or even relieve it all together.

Many of our clients walk through our doors for the first time without knowing what a sensitized nervous system is or how it relates to the levels of pain we experience. With an estimated 7.63 million, or one in four Canadians aged 15 or older, living with chronic pain, it seems like we should be talking more about the root causes of pain.

Pain. So many of us live with it. Sometimes because we’ve been living with it for so long, it has become a part of us. Sometimes because we don’t believe there’s anything else out there that can actually make a difference.

Since the start of the pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression have been going up at an alarming rate. It can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, ancestry, etc. That’s why it’s more important now than ever before to pay attention to your mental health, to know the signs of depression and anxiety, and to build some self-care for mental health into your daily routines.

Famed American midwife Ina May Gaskin says it quite clearly in her childbirth guide: “Gardeners know that you must nourish the soil if you want healthy plants. You must water the plants adequately, especially when seeds are germinating and sprouting, and they should be planted in a nutrient-rich soil. Why should nutrition matter less in the creation of young humans than it does in young plants? I'm sure that it doesn't.

Pregnancy, labour, and delivery are so unpredictable, aren’t they? Some women sail through 40 weeks with a smile on their face while others suffer from nausea, heartburn, and sciatica with little relief. Birth can go any which way – a little early, a little late, induction or impromptu, long or absurdly long, vaginal or caesarean. Whatever way it happens, the only constant is that it rarely goes the way you plan or imagine it.

It was passion that fueled the creation of Holistic Physiotherapy & Wellness. What started out with one woman and a commitment to health has grown into an integrative healthcare clinic that fosters community, empowerment, and collaboration.

Holistic Physiotherapy & Wellness Values YOU