Movement & me exercise physiology

29/04/2025

Help shape the future of exercise physiology and address educational and research gaps in gynaecological health.

I'm pleased to share this survey on behalf of my University of South Australia Honours students. Your participation will help us explore how university curricula and research priorities could be enhanced to better equip Accredited Exercise Physiologists to deliver knowledgeable and effective consultations for individuals experiencing gynaecological conditions.

To learn more and complete the survey, visit: https://unisasurveys.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZ3716ujvoCwkey

28/03/2025

This is where I work! wanted to show you so you can get a feel for the place. I'll also show you where the parking area is and the access ramp. There's a map on the website here: https://www.movementandme.com.au/contact. Come visit me! 😀

03/03/2025

I'm very excited this year to be teaching in the degree that I did to become an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, the Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology (Honours) at University of South Australia.

I'm really looking forward to working with people who are wanting to do the same thing I love doing - helping people use movement to get more out of life, no matter what health challenges they're facing.

It's also a bit nostalgic for me, as this year is the last year UniSA will exist as its own entity. In 2026, it will merge with the The University of Adelaide to become Adelaide University. While that's an exciting change in itself, it's lovely to be having this last year teaching in my alma mater.

If you're interested in learning more about the degree's content and learning outcomes, visit https://study.unisa.edu.au/degrees/bachelor-of-clinical-exercise-physiology-honours.

27/02/2025

Thinking about working together? Let's chat!

A free 10–15 minute phone call is the first step—it’s a chance for you to see if I’m the right fit for you and for me to understand how I can help. No pressure, just a conversation to explore what’s possible and to determine if I can make a meaningful contribution to improving your life.

Send me a message or give me a call—I'd love to connect! 👉🏼 https://www.movementandme.com.au/contact

20/02/2025

Great news for gynaecological health—so much to celebrate! A huge thank you to ACE, along with all the incredible Endometriosis and Women’s Health organisations, for their tireless advocacy. And to all the courageous people who keep on speaking out about their experiences—you inspire us all and remind us how much progress is possible.

📢 Major Win for Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Management! 📢

The Australian Government is investing $573.3 million to improve healthcare options and affordability for people and people with endometriosis. Key highlights include:

💊 PBS Listing of Essential Contraceptive Pills: From March 1, 2025, Yaz® and Yasmin® will be on the PBS, lowering costs significantly—saving people up to $250/year. Contraceptives like these help manage symptoms of endometriosis, heavy periods, and pelvic pain.

⚕️ Expanded Endometriosis Clinics: 11 new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics will be added, bringing the total to 33 clinics nationwide, ensuring more people can access timely diagnosis and care.

💡 Bulk Billed IUD and Implant Services: Increased Medicare rebates will make long-term contraceptives like IUDs more affordable, saving around 300,000 Australians up to $400 annually. These options are crucial for many managing endometriosis.

This is a critical advancement in addressing the gaps in care, ensuring better outcomes for those living with endometriosis and pelvic pain.

This is another step in the right direction. We will continue to advocate for systemic change and welcome you to join us in this movement.

Join as a member here: www.acendo.com.au/membership

14/02/2025

Did you know that pain doesn't come directly from your body parts? Pain is a signal sent by your brain-a protective mechanism designed to keep you safe. While short-term pain helps you respond to injury, chronic pain works differently.

Over time, these protective pathways in your body can become overly sensitised, like a smoke alarm going off when you're just making toast. This means your brain may interpret small triggers as significant threats, amplifying pain more often and more intensely. Sometimes you might get pain with little or no provocation at all.

The first thing to get clear is that this does not mean you're "making up" your pain. All pain is absolutely real! The good news is that these protective pathways can be retrained. Through movement strategies that reduce unnecessary muscle tension and get them working in a more co-ordinated way you can teach your brain that your body is safe. Understanding how your thoughts and feelings can play a role in turning the pain signal both up and down is also immensely empowering.

By working with your body and brain, you can build a calmer pain system and take big steps toward feeling better🙌🏼

07/02/2025

How you feel about movement and exercise can change every day, and no one knows this better than Cathy!

Join Cathy as she shares her thoughts on how the ability to control the pace of her movement and exercise can bring up all sorts of feelings - frustration, exhilaration, disheartenment, boredom, empowerment, and so much more!

Cathy's own experience with movement has fueled her passion for understanding the unique stories people have with movement and exercise. She considers it an immense privilege when people generously share their experiences with her.

If you're looking for a health professional who will listen to you, without judgement, who will never invalidate your experiences, and who will be guided by your own expertise on your body, then reach out to Cathy for a confidential chat today.

05/02/2025

PMDD is a really challenging and under-recognised mental illness. It’s so important to get the word out so that people who are wondering, “What’s wrong with me? Everyone else seems to cope okay…” can get the help they need.

Movement can be very helpful in managing PMDD but, like with any other condition, what that looks like is likely to vary between individuals. For some, rest during the luteal phase is the best strategy. For others, an altered version of the movement they like to do during their follicular phase works well. And then there will be some people for whom a completely different approach to movement helps ease symptoms. Or a combination of the above. There are no hard and fast rules here. It’s so important not to hold ourselves to a set of standards that were not designed for us as individuals.

If you’ve got any questions or you’d like to talk to me about how to incorporate movement or exercise into your life with PMDD, I’d love to hear from you. https://www.movementandme.com.au/contact

PMDD IS NOT THE SAME AS PMS.
READ THAT AGAIN.

PMS is a normal set of physical (and sometimes mild emotional) symptoms that happen in the week before me**es onset. PMS usually doesn't cause much, if any, life disruption.

PMDD, on the other hand, is characterized by severe, life-impairing emotional symptoms (and sometimes also physical symptoms) that can last anywhere from 1-2 weeks prior to me**es onset.

In addition to the severity difference, PMDD is also primarily characterized first and foremost by emotional symptoms during the 1-2 premenstrual weeks. The core emotional symptoms of PMDD are depression, anxiety, mood swings or rejection sensitivity, and anger/irritability.

In order to have PMDD, you must have at least 1 of the emotional symptoms (& at least 5 symptoms total) that follow this cyclical pattern of becoming severe premenstrually, and then "shutting off" after me**es for an extended period of time (usually during the 1-2 weeks between me**es & ovulation).

This ON-OFF pattern must be present. Many individuals believe they have PMDD, but they actually are experiencing Premenstrual Exacerbation (PME) of an underlying disorder.

One example is someone with generalized anxiety disorder having constant troubling symptoms but developing much more distressing/disabling ones in the luteal phase.

In certain cases, both PMDD &PME can be present.

•Track your cycle & symptoms.
•Find a thorough & knowledgeable medical professional.
•Use the PMDD resources available at iapmd.org/toolkit to bring to your appointment.
•Look into current & past stressors/trauma.
•Complete comprehensive testing to rule out underlying conditions.*

*As with all conditions, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis to avoid risky mistakes in treatment that can lead to physical illness, psychological damage, & even death. There is no blood test to diagnose PMDD, although blood tests can be useful in ruling out other disorders or underlying issues.

29/01/2025

Woo Hoo! I’m so excited about this!

Approximately 70% of women and people assigned female at birth will become pregnant and go through delivery in their lifetime. For many, it is the single most significant systemic and musculoskeletal experience of their lives. There are so many ways exercise can help people in pregnancy and postpartum, and yet many of us were taught little to nothing about it in our degrees.

Calling all Adelaide EPs - The Women’s Health Collective’s new Exercise Physiology in Pregnancy & Postpartum is coming to Adelaide!! Super-high quality training delivered by two legends of the industry, Esme Soan and Elisha Bunch. I am absolutely signing up!

22/01/2025

Female pelvises have so many jobs to do. Sometimes things don’t go as well as we’d like. We can feel pain in all sorts of hard-to-talk-about places or experience incontinence, polycystic o***y syndrome (PCOS) or a whole raft of perimenopausal symptoms. And that’s just a few that spring to mind.

At movement & me, we work with people to use movement to help them manage and reduce symptoms. It might seem strange to think that movement could help, but the right movement can. It’s an approach that puts you in control of your treatment. In a sense, we help you learn to treat yourself.

We share research-based information and build your skills as we work with you towards whatever goals you choose. Our aim is for you to reach the point where you don’t need us anymore because you are happily managing things yourself.

We also work with you to address any mental health concerns you may be experiencing, whether they be related to your pelvic health or not. Movement changes and improves the way our brain works. Different types of movement can help alleviate specific mood and cognitive symptoms, and everyone is different.

There’s no one-size-fits-all exercise program for any condition. We will listen to you carefully so we can learn about your needs. Above all, we want to help you find ways of moving that are effective for you, that you love and can feel the benefits of, and that give you a sense of your own strength and control in your life.

For your convenience, we offer appointments in-person at our Leabrook practice, or via video telehealth.

Reach out to Cathy today to see how she can help you: https://www.movementandme.com.au/contact.

15/01/2025

Cathy has always been fascinated by how varied people’s experiences of movement and exercise can be, including her own. In primary school, she loved it, in high school, she felt totally incompetent and discouraged by it, and over the years she has tried to get moving and given up again many times before finding her feet and sense of adventure again.

How we feel about our bodies has such an impact on our experience of movement. Factors that can influence this can include societal culture, our own experiences and expectations of our physical and mental health, and for some, body image.

There’s a saying that goes “movement is medicine”. It can be, although it seems like an unusual sort of medicine. Movement effects nearly every part of our body, not just our muscles and joints. At first glance, movement can seem like a very general sort of treatment, but different types of movement have varying effects on each part of the body. Each body has unique needs, and we can choose movements and exercises to have specific impacts on different systems or organs in our bodies.

That’s where the science and art comes into exercise physiology, and why it fascinates Cathy so much. It’s about putting together the pieces of the puzzle with each person to understand what movements, in what environment and form, will work best for their particular health conditions and their individual perspective. Through this, she meets so many amazing, wonderful people and their amazing, wonderful bodies!