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Laurel Parsons Wellness

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Kingsley, WA
Laurel Parsons Wellness

Retired Health and Wellness Coach, Occupational Therapist and Personal Trainer I am committed to helping you be your best self and to live life to the fullest.

Laurel Parsons Wellness

About Me

My long career as an Occupational Therapist (OT) reached a turning point when I realized I wanted to start using my passion for health and wellness to help people live a life they love, as well as assist in preventing many of the conditions I treated as a therapist. I offer a unique service by integrating Wellness Coaching with my clinical skills and professional experience as an Occupational Therapist, plus my Health and Fitness Qualifications, to support midlife women who want professional guidance in making positive lifestyle changes. Qualifications and Professional Memberships

Registered Occupational Therapist – AHPRA

Member of OT Australia

BSc (Occupational Therapy) – Curtin University

Post Graduate Diploma Health Science – Edith Cowan University

Certified Wellness Coach – Level 1, 2 and 3 Wellness Coaching – Wellness Coaching Australia

Certified Nutrition Consultant - Jill Coleman Fitness

Certificate 3 & 4 Fitness – Fit College

Registered Exercise Professional – Fitness Australia

Certificate in Pain Management – Edith Cowan University

14/10/2025

Just catching up on our Sri Lanka pics. Day 1 we chilled out at our hotel in Colombo, after a long flight and arriving in our room at 2:00am.
Day two our small group tour started and we visited a Hindu temple (photography not allowed inside), Pettah shopping cross streets and market, plus a couple of museums, followed by a bit of a drive, a boat trip on the River Madu and a visit to Cinnamon Island to learn about the harvesting and processing methods, plus have a nice cup of cinnamon tea. Then it was onto our hotel in Galle in time for dinner.

10/10/2025

We shared delicious Sri Lankan Kottu with chicken for lunch 😋

01/10/2025

So, September is done and dusted. Here’s a quick recap…
lots of stairs to practice for our trip to Sri Lanka (only a week away now!), our daughter and SIL visited from Melbourne, including a lovely family lunch for Father’s Day, coast walks,
running two small group strength training classes each week,being greeted each morning by our blooming wisteria, going to live music,
and loving the refresh of our living/dining room, with our old retro cocktail chairs and dining chairs recovered by our expert upholster friend, plus delivery of our new sofa (hopefully the secondhand furniture store has found a good home for our long loved pre-war club lounge).

Now just need to focus on packing, plus keep up stair practice and strength training so we’re ready for our trip.

14/09/2025

Sage advice. If the post is difficult to read, what he says is:
Things I would tell you as a scientist if I wasn't afraid of hurting your feelings...
1) Fiber is the most underrated nutrient. It reduces risk for some cancers, helps manage satiety and blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol all at once. Your microbes eat what you eat. Feed them fiber, and they’ll reward you with better health.
2) Alcohol is a carcinogen. The “red wine is healthy” myth doesn’t hold up, and the net health effect of alcohol is negative. That doesn't mean you have to go to zero alcohol, but reducing intake a little bit is helpful for health.
3) Physical activity is the closest thing we have to a magic pill. It lowers risk for nearly every chronic disease. Even a few minutes per day of hard work gives measurable benefits.
4) Strong legs predict independence later in life. Grip strength and gait speed can literally forecast your healthspan. Yesterday was the best time to start training, but today is also great.
5) Social connection is kind of a form of medicine. Loneliness can be measurably harmful to your health. If you don’t have a “third place” right now, start brainstorming ideas that you could test out (somewhere other than home or work e.g. coffee shop, library, a club, etc).

09/09/2025

It’s four weeks until our trip to Sri Lanka and I want to ensure I’m able to climb the 1,200+ steps to reach the summit of the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, so resuming stair climbs via the 145 steps at Whitfords Nodes stairs (which held me in good stead for the hills and stairs of Portugal earlier this year).

I always include squats, step ups and lunges in my workouts, and that certainly builds strength in my legs, but training closer to the functional, real life scenario will help prepare even more.

My goal is to do 9 laps of the stairs up and down. Yesterday I did 5 laps, so 725 steps up, 725 down, followed by a walk around the beach park. Still some work to do, but getting there. Thankfully, after a cold, wet winter, the weather is improving a bit.

07/09/2025

Celebrating the dads in our family 🥰🥰🥰 Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!

10/07/2025

I turned 68 today. I’m not 100, or even 70 yet, but at 68, I’ve still seen stuff…a lot of events and changes, both globally and in my own little circle.

I’m not blind to the awful things happening in the world at the moment and observing it can cause a range of emotions from anger to sadness, but I also don’t want that to cloud my vision of the positives and beauty left in the world, or influence the way I live.

So, I celebrate firstly that I was born, then that I have family and friends that I love, a comfortable home, access to quality food and clean water, and pretty good health (well except for a dicky shoulder and the head cold I’m just getting over). I’m strong enough to carry my 20kg suitcase (inelegantly) up three flights of odd shaped European stairs and walk up the hills and steps of Lisbon all day (and night).

I still have vision (with glasses) and I can hear (kind of, with hearing devices 😂) to take in all that is around me. I live close to nice bushland and a lake, and a 10-15 minute drive to beautiful, white sand beaches where I love to go for long walks.

I live in a country that is not at war and where we have universal health care, public schools (even if they’re not absolutely perfect), a strong economy and a multicultural society.

So lots to celebrate so far on this 68 year journey ❤️

08/04/2025

Yay for Frequent Flyer points 👏🏼 Spent most of the last 24 hours flying from Bali to Geneva and lay flat beds definitely make it easy. And bonus, the views coming in were stunning. We’re now in Annecy, France and glad I strength train as had no problem lugging my suitcase and backpack up 2 flights of stairs in an old building.

10/07/2024

So…today I turned 67. Just got home from a lovely dinner with family and friends. Not sure where all those years have gone, but grateful for every day, grateful for the people in my life, and grateful for what my body can still do for me.
I’ve been MIA a bit from Insta because I’m back working in an occupational therapy / Injury Management position 3 days a week, and with the exercise groups I still run and coaching / personal training clients, there’s not much time to post here. But, yep, I’m still alive and ticking off another birthday 🙌🏼 ❤️

05/05/2024

You may notice my right hand is in my pocket on my lakeside walk this morning, because I’m meant to keep my injured right shoulder still for 48 hours.

Exercise professionals sometimes carry injuries as well. For some months now I’ve been nursing what was first diagnosed via ultrasound as mild shoulder bursitis.

It had a gradual onset, so not really sure how it happened 🤷‍♀️

I’ve continued to train clients and do my own workouts (albeit modified for my shoulder, with less weight, reduced range and therapeutic rehab exercises). No issues with my lower limbs, so they’ve been working at the usual intensity.

Shoulder pain and ROM failed to improve, so last week had an MRI and now rotator cuff tendon tears added to the bursitis diagnosis. Had a corticosteroid injection Friday afternoon, and except for some lovely walks, I’ve rested over the weekend.

No significant improvement noticed yet, but fingers crossed it gradually improves 🤞🏼

In the meantime, I’ll keep all my other body parts (including my left upper limb) moving and strong.

So, if you too have an injury to one particular body part, don’t give up exercise altogether! Explore what you can do safely and comfortably with the remaining, uninjured body parts.

If your lower limbs are okay, walking is a great start, and squats, lunges or hip hinges (deadlifts) without weights can be alternatives.

If the upper limbs are okay, seated resistance exercises are an option.

Walking on land or in water, or swimming can be great for back injuries, as can gentle pilates, yoga or core exercises. As you improve, unloaded squats, lunges and hip hinges are options. When it comes to upper limb exercises, if you find that a freeweight exercise hurts, reduce the weight or try a machine option instead.

However, if you’re uncertain how to exercise with an injury, consult with a suitably qualified health professional or your doctor.

Anyway, just wanted to say, if you have an injury, take care, start back in small steps, but don’t completely ditch exercise. Instead, just find a way to keep moving your body within your tolerance 😍

07/03/2024

Tonight’s dinner - fresh beetroot and spiced chickpeas roasted in the air fryer, tossed with shredded chicken, feta, and spring onion drizzled with balsamic glaze. I also made a honey mustard dressing and added some of that at the table. Flakes from the shredded chicken made the beetroot look all messy, but never mind, it still tasted really good, and we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow 👏🏼 😋

I also burnt my forearm on the air fryer basket, but quickly ran it under the cold tap, then mixed turmeric powder with water and rubbed it on. Barely any pain now. Works a treat on minor burns 🔥

What was on your dinner table tonight?

25/02/2024

I really felt like working my legs this afternoon. For a bit of a change, I did a pyramid style workout. When I finished, I was hot, sweaty 🥵 and my legs were tired (so, needed this bit of a sit down 😂), but I felt accomplished, satisfied and loaded up with endorphins 🙌🏼😌

We babysat our little granddaughter last night, and there was a bit of squatting and sitting on the the floor to play, some vigorous dancing, emulating Barbie surfing on the TV, then carrying her up the stairs to bed. She’s so much fun, and I don’t want to miss out on any of these moments. Leg workouts will contribute to my ability to keep doing this, and all the other stuff I want to do.

I did 1 set each of 20, 15, 10 and 5 reps of:
DB lunges (each leg)
Squat jumps
Bench Step Ups (each leg)
DB Front Squats
Alternating DB Curtsey Lunges (each leg)

I took a 1 minute rest between sets.

I started with lighter dumbbells and as the reps decreased, I increased the DBs by a kg in each hand. I’ll be honest though, I started really light for the Squat Jumps because, well, they exhaust me, 😮‍💨 and for the Step Ups because, I’m not that steady on the bench, and although I’m improving, if I do stumble, it may well look hilarious, but I don’t want to be flailing around with heavy weights whilst trying regain balance (especially as I was recently diagnosed with mild right shoulder bursitis 😣).

Anyway, it’s good to do something different now and then to make things more interesting. What do you do to add a bit of interest to your workouts? 😍

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Kingsley, WA
6026

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About Me

My 20 year career as an Occupational Therapist (OT) reached a turning point when I realised I wanted to start using my passion for health and wellness to prevent the conditions I treated as a therapist. I am committed to helping you be your best self and to live life to the fullest.

I offer a unique service by integrating Wellness Coaching with my clinical skills and professional experience as an Occupational Therapist, plus my Fitness qualifications, to support clients who want professional guidance in making positive lifestyle changes.

Qualifications and Professional Memberships

Registered Occupational Therapist - AHPRA and member of OT Australia