Polaris Osteopathy

05/13/2025

Hello everyone, and happy spring!

We are pleased to inform you that we are now taking bookings for our return to office in June!

For the time being, we are accepting bookings for Follow Ups only.

If you are an existing patient and did not receive an email update regarding bookings ~ please check your junk inbox!

Looking forward to connecting with you once again.

03/22/2024

Hello everyone!

Polaris Osteopathy is on pause while I take some time to tend to my new family member 🐣
Please stay tuned for updates on my return to the office.

- Lesley

06/27/2023

Osteopathic treatment

✨Restores symmetry to the body

✨Increases movement capacity to areas of stiffness and tension

✨Opens blood, nerve and lymphatic pathways

Most importantly, all of the above lead to improved physiological balance and function in the person! Because ⬇️

➡️ Restoring symmetry to the body reduces unnecessary strain, tension and compensatory patterns in the connective tissues that hold us together and keep us upright, creating ease in our posture and daily movements. More ease = less effort = more energy

➡️ Specific areas of stiffness and tension are often sites of increased inflammation. Bringing movement back to the related anatomy of these nagging body parts can reduce inflammation. Inflammation is sensed as pain⚡️ by our brains 🧠, so a decrease in local inflammation = a decrease in pain.

➡️ Our arteries, veins, nerves and lymphatic vessels travel through the body in shared pathways, kind of like neurovascular highways. Tension, asymmetry, and stiffness compromise the optimal natural flow of these important physiological structures. When we free these pathways, ideal flow is restored, allowing physiological functioning to self regulate.

03/01/2023

Hello everyone!

As many of you are aware, my journey to osteopathy began in deep study of the movement arts, dance and yoga. These practices are still alive in me, and I am happy to announce that I will be joining three other movement facilitators to offer Movement Mondays! Starting this March, together with Ann Cummings, Candice Irwin, and Sophie Pheasant, we will be offering a variety of movement classes and events on Monday evenings at the Little Current United Church.
The class I will be leading is ‘Somatic Yoga’. This class will be therapeutic in nature, providing you with ways to move ease-fully while increasing mobility and strength. This will be a gentle class, designed to calm the nervous system. I will bring in some basic anatomy and self treatment tools to aid our process and bring in an osteopathic lens.

Movement is life ~ down to the cellular level. I invite you to come move with us!

- Lesley

01/06/2023

Happy new year everyone! With January upon us, we tend to find ourselves reflecting on the year behind us and creating intentions for the year to come. If you are currently setting some goals for yourself, let’s consider a few things.

What are your health goals? Health goals are important and encourage us to make choices that help us thrive. However, health is a living and breathing state of being that fluctuates every day, and it’s important for us to consider our own health goals with self compassion.

Before setting your health goals, defining what health means for you will be your foundation for making informed choices.

So, What does health mean for you?

We often speak of health as a thing to attain. What if we could see health as a resource we already have? A resource in constant flux, ebbing and flowing, that requires our tending to as our lives and evolve. When we see health this way, we understand that it is unique to each individual.

So - What is already healthy in you? What is the health you have now? And what small steps can you take to aid your unique expression of health, be you young or old, be you ebbing or flowing?

Wishing you health in 2023 and beyond!

11/29/2022

Flu season is here! And with that comes some compromised respiratory systems 👎 Our breathing capacity can become dampened while we are sick, weighed down by congestion and aggravated airways. With shallow breaths, congestion has a better chance at stagnating in the chest, and this stagnation can prolong our healing time.
Guess what else becomes compromised in this picture? RIBS!
When this process is either repeated or prolonged in time, the ribs may require some help to get moving again. (Which in turn helps your lungs get moving, aiding lymph flow, optimizing your eliminatory systems, leaving you healthier and happier 😉)

Integrating osteopathic treatment into your post flu routine may benefit you if you are the type of person whose illnesses linger. Notice we are saying POST flu here - When we’re sick, our breathing may be compromised and that’s okay! Short term that is…That’s when we require rest. Ensuring we have healthy rib motion and full breathing capacity as we are returning to health post flu helps bring us back into vitality as our normal.

10/12/2022

How can osteopathy help headaches?

Headache is a broad term to describe varying expressions of pain and discomfort we may experience within our heads. The experience of a headache is unique to each individual, and can range from infrequent and mild to persistent and debilitating. Though headaches may signify a serious problem to be followed up with your doctor, oftentimes they are not the consequence of any known underlying issue… This is when osteopathy may have some benefit.

An osteopath will look at structural causes, viewing the headache as a symptom. Osteopathically, the neck and head are areas of interest in understanding headaches, and a thorough assessment of these respectful tissues can determine structural factors playing a role in causing your discomfort. Osteopathic treatment can then aid a return to health through addressing associated structures, helping you feel clear headed once again.

10/04/2022

Why is spinal health important?

We all have some idea of the importance of spinal health, but the reality of spinal problems goes beyond disc problems and low back pain.

➡ The spine acts similar to an axis around which we move. When we lack spinal mobility, we also lack ease in our basic day to day movements. When we lack ease in basic movements, other parts of the body work over time to “help” us out. This often results in hip, shoulder, and knee problems, or perhaps just a very fatigued back.
➡ The spine houses the spinal cord, which stays protected within the spinal column. From openings between the vertebra are pathways for nerves to travel out to our muscles, joints and viscera. A compromise in this exit point affects not just one nerve, but many. Which is why a compromise in the spine can be felt in other parts of the body, including in the gut.
➡ Nerves are similar to an electrical wire, acting as a pathway for nerve impulses to travel to and from the spinal cord. Within the spinal cord, a disturbed nerve reflex will communicate with the central nervous system (CNS). When the CNS becomes involved, a sympathetic response can be created, disturbing hormonal balance and functioning of the vital organs within the body.

In conclusion ❕ the human body is a complex system, in which spinal health is related to every function. Spinal health is incredibly important.

07/05/2022

Osteopathy focuses on the Health of an individual.

A founding philosophy of osteopathic practice is that health is inherent to our nature. Nature is perfect in its incredible intelligence and we are one and a part of nature.

This philosophy places emphasis on a person’s ability to self heal. An osteopathic manual practitioner is a facilitator of healing, working to promote health to its fullest expression.

Our bodies are built to navigate towards homeostasis, towards balance, constantly. Osteopathic treatment aids a natural process that is already looking to fulfill itself.

06/28/2022

Pain is a simple term to describe a complex reality. Pain consists of anatomical, physiological, and psychological processes, which makes it difficult to measure, and often difficult to treat. We commonly understand that persistent pain significantly impacts quality of life - pain acts like loud noise that the body constantly needs to buffer, filter, process, and respond to.

Pain is incredibly exhausting 🥀

Any reduction of pain helps us flourish 🌸

Anatomically, we have a few types of pain receptors, or nociceptors, that respond to different types of stimuli:

✨ Mechanical - respond to pressure, stretch, pinch
✨ Chemical - respond to inflammation
✨ Thermal - respond to heat

Mechanical stimuli are altered with anatomical asymmetries and fixations, which is what osteopathy aims to treat. Restoring mobility and balance to the person in turn reduces the amount of input to the central nervous system, calming the amount of noise and chatter that the CNS has to process. This is an energy saving process, giving life back to the individual for everyday functioning.

Osteopathy can also affect the chemical balance within the body, as any stagnant blood creates an acidic environment - changing its chemical makeup. A chemically acidic environment for our nerves is an unhealthy environment for our nerves. Freeing anatomical obstructions allows blood to flow 🌊 and blood flowing means less fluid stagnation.

Less fluid stagnation = Less aggravated nerves = Noise reduction to the CNS = Less pain = Increased quality of life = Healthy Body/ Mind/ Spirit

You can’t go wrong with that.

05/26/2022

This coming Saturday, May 28th, Polaris Osteopathy and Hollyhock Herbal are opening our doors for you to visit our space, chat with us, and share some refreshments!

 If you have any curiosities about Osteopathy and/or Herbalism, please feel welcome to pop by. Details below 👇

Who?

🦴 Lesley Smith of Polaris Osteopathy ~ Osteopathic Manual Practitioner
🌿 Danielle Bourgault of Hollyhock Herbal ~ Clinical Herbalist
🍓 Catering by Simon de Sousa of Mast

What?

An open house for you to view our clinic, chat with Lesley and Danielle about osteopathy and herbalism, and to visit Danielle’s store featuring Hollyhock Herbal creations as well as work by local artists.

Where?

52 Meredith Street East, Little Current

When?

This coming Saturday, May 28th
1-4pm

Why?

Because your health matters, and alternative health care helps 💗

05/19/2022