Smoothing Knots

11/08/2021

Hello fellow travellers.

As many of you know I’m not great at posting 😬 but wanted to mention this little freebie.

I know it’s been a tough ride for everyone over the past 18 months and we are all still riding (my analogy for my passion of 🏄‍♀️) the wave. In my case I wobble and fall off, a lot, but I keep trying. So when this popped up, run by a super friendly and interesting client of mine, I thought this may be of interest to anyone who wants some help with getting back on the board or even finding some techniques or help in getting back in the water and trying again.

Keep paddling 🙏💪💕🏄‍♀️

I picked a beautiful strawberry from the garden the other day and was looking forward to tasting it’s delicious flavour with my cup of coffee after my lunch. Then I got distracted by something and started worrying about an issue.

31/08/2020

What a year so far 2020 has been to date, so much has changed for everyone and it’s been very tough for lots of you.

At the beginning of lockdown, some of you will know that I put 100 packets of sunflower seeds, harvested from last years seeds at the end of my drive for people to collect!

The results have been outstanding and I’ve had so many lovely communications from you all on progress, even a little ‘thank you hand painted stone’ from some of my younger recipients!!

So whilst summer seems to be fading fast, I thought I’d share some of the brilliance of this years crop, the largest head I recorded was 20” with stalks as thick as a post! They have also encouraged the bees and wasps, so much nectar from their sunny heads will be feeding into local honey everywhere.

Please share any of your growing this year on this post, would be lovely to see and don’t forget to harvest the heads of your sunflowers now they started to go over in a cool dry place (away from squirrels and 🐁) so you can repeat the cycle next year (and snack on a few seeds during the winter months 🥰)

Sunflowers I think are a great metaphor for the cycle of renewal and growth, they have given me much pleasure as I hope yours have too 🌻💕

10/07/2020

Hurrah, hurrah!! Following on from the Governments announcement last night, I can officially announce that I will be once again opening the clinic doors!! (shame we didn't have more than 3 days notice though )

Thank you to everyone who has been in contact over the last 110 long days and for your continuing support, you've all been brilliant.

So I can announce that from Wednesday 15th July, I will be re-opening & would ask that you give me a few days in the early part of next week to get in contact with you all individually and book you a session if you need me.

Please bear in mind that under the new guidance and to keep everyone safe, I will only be able to see a maximum of 5 clients a day and there are currently 115 of you on my urgent list 😕 so please be patient and kind as I make a priority those with urgent needs first.

Great news everyone, I feel re-born 💪🙏🌻

09/04/2020

For my over 60’s young clients, I noted that SHINE at Wokingham District Council have put a half hour exercise video on YouTube that you might be interested in.

With this amazing weather we are having if you can launch it from your i-Pad you could take it out into the garden with a glass of water and do it there! If you need to work a bit harder then up the tempo and for those that don’t have much strength in the legs or struggle with balance you could adapt some of this by doing it on a chair.

Shout if any queries, thought it might be worth sharing. For my pre 60 clients, worth a recommendation to your parents or grandparents?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EBZUfO-yQI

Please don’t forget to clap tonight to celebrate the amazing job our NHS is doing keeping us all safe 20:00 💕 🌈and stay safe

SHINE (Some Health Improvements Need Exercise) is a physical activity programme for adults 60 and over living in the Wokingham Borough. Enjoy these seated ex...

07/04/2020

Currently closed due to COVID-19 and keeping everyone safe here at Smoothing Knots, hope you guys are Staying In, Protecting the most vulnerable and the NHS and helping to save lives.

So, what to do with my spare time?

Make up with gardening projects to keep the kids (& adults!) occupied during the Easter lockdown 🤪

Sharing the Sunflower love and positivity of last years display and looking forward to Summer 2020’s radiance, they never fail to put a smile on your face and give hope for the future.

If any of you are passing my place during a daily health run, walk or cycle, there’s an appropriately placed social distance table at the front of my drive that has fun facts about Sunflowers and some free seeds that the kids might like to plant.

I always think gardening and growing plants is a great lesson about the cycle of life, seed, nutrients, water, growth and strength. It teaches us that of splendour & magnificence, the importance of looking after and nurturing things, putting in hard work and patience and then retaining something for the next generation.

01/03/2020

Happy First Day of Spring everyone

Hope you are all in the garden and addressing the weeds and tackling the ridiculously high grass! So important to get out there and make the most of the sunshine, after such a notably wet and grey autumn/ winter but we are there now, officially this is where the longer days and hazy days begin again 😎

I know lots of you London/ Brighton/ Reading Marathon runners will be clocking up the long miles today before the event and your taper program so enjoy this little slice of loveliness while it lasts....and don't forget I'm here to free up any tight bits or niggles if you need me 💪

17/02/2020

‘Am I a typical client?’
‘Do you see lots of people with issues like mine?’

Two questions I’m asked a lot in clinic and so I thought a summary of last weeks clients would be a good answer to share with you

One client who visited me twice, who was heading off on a ski holiday and had for no particular reason got an over strained adductor and Sartororius muscle

Several regular clients who visit every 4-6 weeks which have jobs that have caused impact strains on their bodies due to postural imbalances at work

Four people training for London Marathon with the obvious impacts of accumulated mileage in their legs and in one their upper torso!

An adolescent ballet dancer feeling the impacts from a hard term

A daily commuter to London, cycling when they can

A chronic shoulder issue that can be calmed down and managed with regular massage and correctional exercises

Two triathletes getting ready for the Spring season and experiencing training niggles

Three people who are not moving enough and sit and commute for long periods of their day - we looked at little things they could do to manage their postural related issues and help them get more balance

Someone recovering from shoulder surgery, who couldn’t do their physio exercises because the muscles had got too locked in contracted patterns

Four people managing chronic back issues that find a massage to their legs, gluts and back assist their backs not to go into spasm

A regular 2 years post a nasty ski break of the tibia and fibula, resulting in many surgeries and eventually a knee replacement - now back to exercise but the muscles tight from imbalance

Three people managing stressful lives and feeling the impact of that stress in their bodies - they felt more restored post treatment

A Valentine’s Day deep tissue massage purchased by a lovely wife for her husband 💕

Some clients pop in when they need me and others book regularly for maintenance. This week I was lucky enough to see 27 clients, 5 of them new to my clinic. There are always new challenges, they all left more hopeful than they entered and more in control of their recoveries, whatever that looked like.

I also found found time this week to hook up with a fellow therapist to complete 3 hours of Continual Professional Development, sharing ideas and techniques so we can be sure we are giving our clients the best of what we do and know

Thanks for listening 💪 and get in touch if you think I can help.

20/01/2020

Hard to believe that on this gorgeous day of sunshine it’s officially Blue Monday!

Feeling a bit out of sorts? why not book in a massage

06/01/2020

Happy New Decade Everyone

As we slipped into 2020, I had the sudden realisation that it's been 8 years since I started treating you lovely lot...thank you for your continued business and support

So as we think about training, new goals and challenges (both physical and mental) I thought I would share an interesting article with you on question I'm frequently asked post exercise.....

Ice Bath or not to improve recovery and help fix all those broken muscle fibres? I think you'll like the answer, as usual shout if you have any queries

When training athletes, resistance training should be executed with the same zeal and importance as skill and endurance training. However, this is rarely the case. Athletes tend to enjoy playing the sport the most and therefore gravitate toward drills and endurance play. Some find being stuck in the...

10/07/2019

You’d think it being summer season and the suns out 😎 that you’d all be out working those backs and keeping active but it appears not from the last few weeks of clients!!

So here’s some basic tips on how to keep your back healthy, common sense really but I’m our busy lives we often forget the basics. Stay active and healthy folks