Vanda Venta

27/09/2025

The importance of taking time to find pleasure…

I’ve never known a life without horses. We’ve had horses, I’ve had horses, for as long as I can remember and I’ve had the privilege of owning and working with some truly beautiful and amazing souls over 4 decades.

For the last 7-8 years though, I’ve not really been around them much, just the odd day here and there grooming for friends or helping out at shows or playing around but not actually riding.

One of the things I’ve been actively challenges myself with in my therapy sessions is identifying what patterns I subconsciously move away from and what behaviours I choose move towards and riding was something that came up as something I wanted to move towards.

So it felt AMAZING to just take the action and make it happen.

No stress. No agenda. No judgement. No feeling like I had to turn up and show what I knew or could do.

Just arrive and enjoy in the most uncomplicated way.

And I am SO glad I did. I LOVED every second of it. I love how it took me back to a version of me that I have so much faith and confidence in.

I loved the pure and uncomplicated joy it brought.

And I’ve realised that in amongst all that’s happened over the years, outside of bikes, there’s little else that just makes my heart sing in the way horses do.

And I’m so grateful to be reminded of it 💞

Thank you to Missy, the hairy cob, who put up with my flapping, and the lovely instructor who was so encouraging!

Feeling very happy today and enjoying some Prosecco with my Mum to celebrate 🍾

24/09/2025

About last night…

I think it says something when members of the audience start to cry because what you’re talking about resonates so deeply!

It reinforces to me the importance of what I and people like me are trying to achieve, which is to empower and educate people towards profound change!

I LOVED being able to speak about something I’m so deeply passionate about and I can’t wait for the chance to do it again and hopefully reach more people!

24/09/2025

16/09/2025

My first ever radio interview 🎙️And I didn’t disgrace myself 🥳

I don’t take for granted the opportunities I have to talk about something that I’m not only incredibly passionate about but that so desperately needs to be talked about so it gets heard by the people who need it the most!

It’s a privilege to do what I do, and it was an honour to be a guest on MarlowFM.

Let’s hope this is the first of many 💪



https://www.marlowfm.co.uk/listen-again/

12/09/2025

Terrible pictures…AMAZING experience 🤣💞

Last week I gave a talk for the Sequela Foundation, a beautiful charity supporting people with complex neurological conditions.

It was a privilege to share space with such remarkable people and add value and a little help to their day, hopefully even their lives.

I truly love my job, I TRULY love and am passionate about my message 💞

04/09/2025

Did you know that?

Your brain processes physical and emotional pain in the same places…

Which means that when you feel emotional hurt or distraught…

You NEED to be helping it to heal just the same as you’d treat and help a grazed knee…

Comment below the ways you’ve tried to help manage a broken heart?

02/09/2025

Less is more…

But sometimes more works a treat!

Medical acupuncture and NMES combined created a lot of bang for the buck in this case but…

This combination, as effective as it was, only provides a temporary relief so it’s important to ensure that the window of opportunity is not wasted

So we need to dial in the pain education and make the corrective exercises as good as possible while the tissues are vulnerable and receptive to input!

I keep saying it but there will always be a place for manual therapy techniques so long as they are not pitched as THE only thing that works

When in reality, it’s the least important cog in a much bigger wheel.

31/08/2025

Bubbles, cars and my favourite boys makes for a lovely day out at Salon Privè at Blenheim Palace 💞 thank you 💞

30/08/2025

It has taken me FAR too long to say something about this…

In fairness, I burst into tears when I unexpectedly received it, and for days after every time I looked at it I started to fill up again.

I’ve wanted to post about it, talked myself out of it because I didn’t know if I could find the words, then gone to do it, then talked myself out of it over and over again.

But…

Of all of the amazing journeys I’ve shared, the transformations I’ve been privileged enough to witness, the trust I’ve held…

This lady has astounded and humbled me over and over again with her tenacity, insight and infectiously inspiring positivity.

What she has achieved and what all this represents has been remarkable in every sense of the word and I could not be more grateful to have been a part of this amazing life!

Thank you for your trust, you know who you are, and for your gifts that mean more than you’ll ever know 💞

I still don’t think the words are right, but I just didn’t want to wait any longer!

27/08/2025

Here’s why getting treatment after an acute injury is so important…

This patient plays…or should I say played…rugby.

He got bashed up last week…again 🤕

Still waiting for imaging to confirm the extent of the damage but things are pretty gnarly and his leg isn’t looking its best!

There are however a number of things that, regardless of the confirmed diagnosis we need to get right now, whilst it’s acute, to give it the best chance of healing so it doesn’t become a chronic pain problem later down the line.

Here are my top 3 recommendations for traumatic injuries or post surgical recovery:

1: don’t fight the inflammation. At this point the body knows better than you and all this amazing swelling and bruising and heat is there for a purpose. Let it do its job. Anti-inflammatory drugs at this stage are an absolute no-no ❌

2: the body is using insane amounts of energy trying to recovery from a trauma…more than it would be doing a gym session. Now is not the time to cut calories…protein rich foods and plenty of them are a must 🍗

3: DON’T ICE IT! Yes, you read that right…don’t use ice unless it’s helpful for pain relief. In this instance it acts as a bit of a topical analgesic so it can be useful for this purpose but otherwise…read the first point. We want to promote blood flow and healing, not constrict it! So using ice and heat in combination is better❌🧊

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

18/08/2025

There are on average 8 appointments to get to a treatment for a mainstream musculoskeletal problem…

1: GP appointment
2: referral to physio
3: referral back to GP
4: referral to consultant
5: MRI scan
6: back to consultant
7: ‘injection’ by specialist
8: referral back to physio

That seems like a lot of steps to get a problem sorted…and that’s BEFORE you consider how long you have to wait for each of those phases:

1: on average around 10 days to wait for a GP appointment
2: a further 6-8 weeks for referral to physio
3: another 10 days for a GP appointment
4: 18 WEEKS for referral to specialist
5: 6 weeks for a referral for an MRI
6: around 6 weeks for a referral back to the specialist
7: 1-2 weeks for an injection
8: 1-4 weeks for referral back to physio

If we just mushed that all together and took something somewhere in the middle accounting for some people waiting longer and other people waiting for less time we are looking at around 10-11 months to get treatment for a painful shoulder, back pain, knee pain etc

Now let’s consider not just the time, but the impact, the cost of being in considerable discomfort for that period of time. The time off work, the activities you can’t do, your kids you can’t pick up or bath properly.

Then consider how much a swift resolution, faster pain relief and a quicker return to the things you love actually mean to you.

Then consider why you don’t see this incredible body of yours as worthy of spending money on!

If it was your car…???

14/08/2025

When your client goes from sitting in your treatment room…

Crying and frustrated that she can’t even manage going for a walk…

Frightened that her life was pretty much done because her pain would ALWAYS be the thing that ruined it!

Nervous of trying anything in case it flared anything up!

To doing epic paddle boarding and wild swimming and loving life!

This is possible…

For you too!