Do you sit at a desk all day and a couch all night?

Our sedentary lifestyle contributes to poor posture, and in turn causes back aches and other ailments, but you can work on it with a few easy tips. During the day try to walk and sit tall and keep chin tucked. If seated for more than 20 minutes, stand and roll shoulders 5-10 times.

There are also corrective exercises you can try at home. Using a door jam, stand tall with shoul­ders down and back. Place forearms on the door jam, elbows should be bent close to 90 degrees, and upper arm should be slightly lower than shoulder height. Step through the door or into the corner with one leg maintaining a tall posture. You should feel a stretch across your chest and front of the shoulders.

Hypnosis is a natural state of awareness where the body is deeply relaxed and the mind is focused and receptive to therapeutic suggestion. With the guidance of a hypnotherapist you easily enter an enjoyable, aware and relaxed state. When deeply relaxed the mind supports desired changes in mood and behaviour at profound levels. A common myth about hypnosis is the belief that you lose consciousness during the process.

During Hypnosis you are aware and understand the hypnotist at all times. You are always an active participant in the hypnotic experience, and have complete control over the suggestions you accept. The suggestions are changes, in your own words, that you wish to make. Hypnotherapy enables you to alter habits, improve quality of life and achieve your goals. Hypnosis has been proven effective for smoking cessation and other habits as well as anxiety, performance improvement in academics, the arts and sports.

Building a strong foundation.

Children are natural little yogis; they explore everything through sight, sound, taste, smell, touch and creative imagination. Children need freedom to explore through their senses and they desire this physical, emotional and spiritual guidance and support to come from their primary teachers; their parents.

During the family yoga class, parents will actively participate with their children on the studio floor, singing full-voice and leaping through the air.  Through this interaction, the child-parent bond is strengthened, spanning wider than the smiles that dance on their faces and running deeper than the laughter that rings in the air. This family yoga experience is a life-teaching for both child and parent. You are co-creating a special moment together. The experience will be an important imprint in your lives and on your hearts that develops trust and understanding, maintaining the foundation of relationship and family.

Autumn presents itself with beautiful colours, warm sweaters and getting ready for winter! As we prepare for winter with yard work and unavoidable shovelling, aches and pains can creep in. Whether it be back pain from tidying the yard, or shoulder pain from shovelling 2 inches of snow, nobody wants the feeling of slowing down due to pain.

Why not prevent those aches and pains before they start with a well-balanced strength and exercise program? At Prairie Trail Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic we can tailor a program to meet your specific needs. Our trained professionals have years of experience in exercise prescription, and assessing and treating musculoskeletal dysfunctions to keep you moving and performing at your best.

So if you are feeling any aches or pains, or simply want to empower yourself with an exercise program, contact Prairie Trail Physiotherapy.

Pets are huge amounts of “joy” on four legs! They are there when you are down, stressed, ill, and sad or need comfort. They are there when you want to play, laugh or have fun. They never make fun of you or judge you, and they give absolute unconditional love. They add to your emotional, physical and mental balance which helps provide us with a tremendous sense of well-being.

They also make us feel important as their entire being relies on our proper care for them. A cat or dog would be a huge positive addition to your home. If there are children in the home, even better, as pets are very protective and provide much entertainment for them. Pets also teach us respect and responsibility. Consider a new pet, and enjoy all the wonderful benefits they can bring to your life, and theirs.

Holidays can be a time of exuberant joy, excitement and giving. However for some it can also be a time that brings up deep feelings of grief, disappointment and loneliness especially when you have lost someone or something that is important to you.

Dealing with loss and pain while the rest of the world celebrates can be unbearable for some. Finding a new way to mark the ritual of the holiday and honour yourself or a loved one during this time of good cheer is a way to make the holiday experience meaningful. Finding a way of giving your energy to others, telling those you care about what you appreciate, writing a gratitude letter or diving yourself into a project, these are ways to help cope and get you through a difficult transition.

How can one escape problems and the negativity around them?

The answer is we can’t escape problems and negativity. Escaping just brings denial and suppression, and we often continue to carry the problem with us. Ironically, it is our lack of acceptance and resistance to the problem that creates the pain. Resistance builds up an energy wall or block that, if not discharged, gets suppressed into the body. These blocks identify places where we have not enough understanding or love in our life.

So let’s, instead, jump into the problem head on and dispel it with the energy from within us. Orison Swett Marden wrote “Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.”