Who is Hollie?
“Live your beliefs and you can turn your world around”
If you've made it this far, then perhaps you are wanting to know a little bit more about me.
Well, hello there! Hi! I'm Hollie, a Wellbeing Occupational Therapist, Lymphoedema Practitioner and a Core Vinyasa Yoga teacher to-be!* Nice to meet you!
I've been in the Health and Wellness industry since 2006, training as an Occupational Therapist initially, before engaging in post graduate studies in Soft Tissue Injury Management, Complex Lymphoedema Therapy (i.e. helping managing swelling after cancer or injury) and recently I have started my Core Vinyasa Yoga teacher training. Through my personal experiences, professional interests, I have assisted many people who are at a crossroads in life. This may have been as a result of chronic pain from injury or illness, lifestyle changes as a result of stress or burnout or reviewing lifestyles and improving function following cancer treatment or surgery.
As an OT, I truly believe the notion that if we are not engaged in meaningful occupations (i.e. the tasks or activities, lifestyles that we want, need and love to do each day) that we can find our health and wellbeing will breakdown. Have a think about it for a moment, has there ever been a time in your life, when you've disconnected from yourself, or you haven't felt up to going to work, going to that social function, felt distracted by pain, frustrated that you aren't able to do the things you need and want to do because of restriction from injury -
How was your body feel during this time? What thoughts were you having? How does you life look now because of this experience? Do you long for things to be different now, but aren't sure where to start?
To me, when we experience pain, injury, emotional upheaval, illness or dis-ease or dramatic life changes, this is when we can experience a sense of being unbalanced, off-centre, or thrown off course, out of control - in all aspects of our lives.... in essence we loose our spark - our flame for life has been dimmed, or more often, blown out and there might be minimal evidence or connection of who we once were.
Finding our own inner compass to navigate back to our core sense of self, reclaiming and rediscovering our inner strength, can reigniting this connection with self to create movment in a direction where you find your meaning in the world. There are many layers to this, and this process can be like unpeeling the layers off an onion.
It is this journey to achieve wellness in health that I can assist to facilitate within others.
For those with primarily physical discomfort, pain or injury, my hand's on skills with myo-fascial release, postural retraining and tailored programs for redevelopment of core strength to improve breathing and posture for daily activities can help to find the root cause of discomfort and not just treat the outer symptoms.
For those following surgery or cancer treatment, the combination of these skills can assist with improving range of motion in areas which may be stiff or experiencing dysfunction. These sessions can be of benefit for those following musculoskeletal injury, or requiring breast and shoulder rehabilitation. If you are experiencing prolonged swelling or require compression garments, I can assist with this too.
If you have experienced stress or burnout, 1:1 sessions may include education and experiential guided support to develop skills to hold a space for exploration into ourselves to reignite, rebuild and rediscover your spark. Sessions focus on developing a core set of beliefs, using a range of emotional intelligence and mind-body integration techniques.
In November this year, I will be incorporating Yoga into my tool box as well, to allow ongoing support for clients who would like to maintain their own health and wellbeing, through movement and mindfulness practice on the mat. I will be looking for some volunteers for introductory sessions to test out our new space, so let me know if you are keen to be involved.
When we experience a rebalance, refuel with ourselves, we rediscover our core strength - in the true sense of a mind-body integration. Finding meaning in the things we do in life (or our Occupations) is really about finding what lights us up, in every space, in every moment to progress forward with ease.
Do you need some direction to rediscover your core? Do you feel disconnected, stressed or burnt out? Have a niggling injury that just won't seem to improve?
Why not get in touch and we can book in a session to see the best place for you to start and develop a plan for your journey to achieve health and wellness for life.
Ready - - - set - - go! What are you waiting for?
In health and happiness,
xo
Hol
*Watch this space for yoga classes and yoga therapy available in December 2016!