Recovery Room
Feeling worn down? Maybe your muscles are sore from the workout you did yesterday. Perhaps you’re feeling a little mentally drained from work or the ongoing list of chores that need doing at home. Whatever the reason, everyone needs some recovery time. Time to rest your body and mind so you can recharge those batteries. According to the Mental Health Commissions of Canada (MHCC), one in five Canadians experience a mental health problem or illness…
Thank You Front Line Workers
Even while closed for social distancing, Whole Therapy is stepping up to support front line healthcare heroes and first responders across Canada during this time. Please share widely to support those in the Covid 19 battle lines. Our Integrative Therapist David Gilbert is now providing ongoing no charge mental health and resiliency services online for Canadian front line healthcare workers via Zoom. A free, secure video conferencing platform. This includes physicians, nurses, EMTs, police and…
JEN’S JOURNEY: SEVENTH TIME’S A CHARM
That Day in June, we had a conversation in the van. “I think we should probably throw in the towel,” Husband Jamie said, “it’s been a long while and nothing’s happened. And I’m turning 40 soon. I don’t think I want to start a whole fertility process.” “It’s been almost five years,” I agreed, nodding, “and I don’t want to start a fertility process, either.” We weren’t officially “trying”. We hadn’t wanted to put a…
T TIME: BREAST HEALTH – POST MASTECTOMY MYOFASCIAL RELEASE
Pain and tightness suffered post mastectomy/ lumpectomy can limit one’s life drastically. Myofascial Release can help create vast changes by softening dense scars and fibrosed fascia that remain unchanged with traditional therapy and stretching. Traumatized tissue can have a cascading effect on the body. Locally, tightened and fibrous fascia can restrict blood flow and lymphatic flow resulting in lymphedema. Auxiliary cording can also occur, causing a significant loss of range of motion in the shoulder, leading to a loss of function. Pain and weakness…
#ChangeOneThing
Win with #ChangeOneThing! September is often a month of reinvention. We are back to school, back to work, back to “normal” life, and it’s right about now that everyone realizes they slacked off too much this summer/ate too much this summer/drank too much this summer/didn’t get organized enough this summer. And then what happens? We look at our lives (which are about to get really busy between now and Christmas), and we panic a little…
JEN’S JOURNEY: LEARNING FROM ACORNS
Husband Jamie and I took the kids wilderness camping at Algonquin Park a few weekends ago; it was their first time, and they loved it. When camping, one has a singular purpose: to survive. There’s no luxury to camping in the wilderness, save for a decadent square of dark chocolate at the end of the evening, or a luxuriously dry pair of socks when your body is damp to the bone. We pushed on, canoed…
JEN’S JOURNEY: CELEBRATE THE LITTLE THINGS
Got my red belt in karate this weekend. My first coloured belt; I’m no longer the lowest on the totem pole! My gi has pizzazz now: and I’m proud fit to burst. So often, in the dojo and out in the world, I see people brushing off their achievements. “Yeah, I just ran a 10k, but it’s not like it’s a marathon or anything.” “I did just work for 5 years to lose that weight, but…
JEN’S JOURNEY: CREATING SPACE IN MY MIND WITH KARATE
I’m on a mission to “create space” in my head. That was part of my homework when I had my nutritional consult with Karen, and I’ve been searching for it ever since. Meditation is the obvious choice for opening the mind, but meditation, it should be said, is like stabbing myself in the eye with a fork is not really my thing. I can’t picture myself sitting cross-legged doing nothing but contemplating for any length…
JEN’S JOURNEY: THE COURAGE TO BE VULNERABLE
I’m standing naked in front of my full-length mirror. This is my exercise in exiting my comfort zone today, and boy, is it ever working. Having grown up in a rather liberated household, I’ve always been comfortable disrobing in front of others in a change-room, or around family. Disrobing in front of myself for the purpose of affirmation, however, seems terrifying by comparison. During yoga training this weekend, we spoke a lot about our comfort…