Return to Life

04/07/2025

Taking a step back from seeing clients for the next little while. The practice will be open again in January 2026 🌿

20/11/2024

Excited to share this project that I have been working on. You can learn more and sign up here: https://www.returntolife.co.za/pilates-pain-science-online-course

19/08/2024

Looking forward to this on Saturday. Fatigue can have a profound impact on quality of life but there are many practical ways to manage fatigue in everyday life. You can sign up here: https://returntolife.as.me/DSSA 🌿

Excited to share that Dysautonomia Support South Africa is hosting its first webinar next weekend, August 24th, in conjunction with Julie Anne van Veenendaal! The topic is on Chronic Fatigue Management in Dysautonomia/POTS but the information would relate to chronic fatigue management in most conditions.

Julie Anne is an Occupational Therapist in private practice here in South Africa. She’s also a member of our Rare Disease community and has dedicated her life to learning all about the conditions that affect her, the way pain and fatigue so often affect the lives of so many of us. She has been certified in some of the best therapies to manage pain and fatigue-while, importantly, still recognizing the individual patient behind each disease.

Julie Anne is kindly donating her time and expertise for free so we encourage you to share with your groups, on social media and with anyone you think it might help in or out of this Rare community.

When signing up there’s an option to send in your questions and there will be time for live Q&A during the webinar as well. We look forward to having you join us!

https://returntolife.as.me/DSSA

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23/08/2023

I've been quiet here for the last little while as I'm been wrapping up my master's research looking into resilience and how it relates occupational therapy theory.

I have lots to say about the topic and will probably been speaking about it here quite a bit! How we think about resilience is really really important.

But for today, here is the number one misconception of resilience...

*Resilience is not an individual trait or characteristic or collection of traits*

Resilience is really about the types of resources people have access to and is an ongoing dynamic process.

Does this surprise you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments

11/07/2023

Finding ease in the challenging...

This is a topic that has been coming up in conversation with many of my clients recently and I think it captures some of the essence of why I practice pilates. It feels wonderful to do challenging movements with the least amount of effort.

Ease and challenge seems to be a contradiction, but how can we approach difficult movements in the simplest way possible?

This often means finding strength without bracing or tensing, finding full body integration, or perhaps letting go of tension you are holding somewhere, or letting go of the idea that you can't do a certain movement and approaching it with curiosity instead and being willing to fail.

What might ease and challenge look and feel like for you?

And yes, control balance pictured here is one of the movements I've been working on with a few of my clients as we play around with these ideas, but we've also been speaking about the same concept while doing single leg lifts.

26/05/2023

May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) awareness month 🦓

Hypermobility refers to greater than normal range of motion in the joints. Hypermobility is not always caused by an underlying condition, but can be the result of EDS or HSD.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders are conditions that affect connective tissues, including collagen, impacting the body's stability and function. These conditions can manifest in joint hypermobility, chronic pain, fragile skin, fatigue, and a range of other symptoms.

I love incorporating pilates in treatment plans for clients with EDS and HSD as a multidimensional intervention that helps to address a range of symptoms.

Is pilates something that you incorporate?

07/05/2023

Newest addition for the rooms. So looking forward to teaching the wunda chair work again.

19/04/2023

Many of us have complex relationships with our bodies. But how we relate to our bodies has implications for our health.

Ignoring our what our bodies are telling us comes at a cost and always pushing through will eventually catch up with us...

How might we begin to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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03/04/2023

I got to speak at an in-person event on Saturday at the Durban Pain Academy and share about the evidence base supporting the use of mindful movement practices in pain management.

And while it was wonderful getting to share about the work that I spend most of my time doing, here are some of my takeaways from some of the other speakers:

🌿 Pain and sleep are closely connected and addressing sleep can help to change the experience of pain
🌿 We have to understand the social realities of the people we work with, pain is tied to the social determinates of health
🌿 Any pain intervention requires appropriate and comprehensive assessment
🌿 We need to be curious about understanding the mechanisms involved in the treatment of pain to make informed recommendations
🌿 South Africa has a long way to go when it comes to integrated pain management and collaborative care

30/03/2023

Alot of people I've worked with have started pilates because they have been struggling with pain. And pilates works...
but it's not really about the core strength.

While building strength is helpful, and learning how to move efficiently is valuable, some of the other things that can happen in a pilates session include:

✨️ Graded exposure to movement
✨️ Challenging fear avoidance with movement and kineseophobia
✨️ Novelty and motor variability
✨️ Nervous system regulation techniques that are accessible
✨️ Positive expectations (people have been told pilates can be helpful for recovery)
✨️ Building interoceptive awareness
✨️ Lots of opportunity for pain neuroscience education
✨️ Opportunity to provide psychosocial support

And I don't even think I covered them all...

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

PS. If you're looking for references, I'm happy to share them with you, just pop me a DM, this post is based on a presentation of mine that has a long reference list 😅

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02/03/2023

I found some notes today that I made when I first started Return to Life exploring the motivation behind the work that I wanted to do.

I had written "our relationship with movement and our relationship with our bodies is central to our wellbeing as it impacts every aspect of what we do on a daily basis"

Two years later, and I absolutely love what I get to do everyday.

If you're interested in exploring how movement and pilates could nurture your sense of wellbeing, I would love to connect, send me a DM 🌿

Image description: Julie Anne performing single leg stretch on a pilates mat outside in front of a shrub wearing green leggings and a cream top.

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20/02/2023

I think this captures why Occupational Therapy is so important.

Health is not just what happens to our bodies, health is about everyday life. But everything that happens to our bodies affects everyday life.

Occupational Therapy addresses both, looking at ways to maintain or restore health, and ways to bring about a sense of joy, purpose and meaning in everyday life.

But it's not just about Occupational Therapy, all healthcare and rehabilitation needs to consider people as whole people and not just as bodies.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments 🌿

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