Jessica

Hey, I am Jess and I work as a physiotherapist, and I love dance. I am interested in effects on nutrition on wellbeing and women's health. Dancing since 2016, student of New York & Chicago House, Hustle, Cuban Salsa, Capoeira and more. The purpose of this page: - increase access to high quality healthcare in the performing arts - build confidence, mobility, strength, and performance in one's body. Provided physiotherapy services for Theatre Shows (Ballet Shoes, Tina Turner, Devil Wears Prada, Phantom Of The Opera etc), Breakin Convention Festival, AUSbreaking, Sydney Marathon, Musculoskeletal Private Clinics, and more. Experienced with VALD Force Decks & Dynamometer Strength and Power testing, Runmatic Assessments and treatment, with training in Women's Health Physiotherapy and Vocal Health First Aid. 📷 Rodrigo Salcedo, Namchops

After experience assessing, treating and creating run programs for those training for half marathons and marathons, I wanted to adapt the principles of run training for professional performers who are similarly overloading their bodies on a weekly basis (~8 show weeks, rehearsals, filming, teaching and more). This is important for injury prevention, maintenance of fitness and strength and fatigue management. This is for free-lance and theatre performers and is relevant for rehearsal periods, schedule changes for shows per week, and more. Modify parameters such as intensity (marking during rehearsals or changing intensity of movements during performances) if volume cannot be changed due to the nature of your current job. If you experience aches & pains from work, monitor your fatigue, sleeping patterns, hydration, nutrition intake. For more specific advice around movement technique and injury assessment organize an appointment through the links in the bio.

FIBROMYALGIA & PHYSIOTHERAPY What can I do if I have Fibromyalgia? 🌀 Movement: Aerobic exercise (swimming, walking, running etc) and strength exercises improve pain, physical function, quality of life reduce fatigue, improve mental wellbeing. Choose something you will enjoy and that does not bring on your symptoms. 🌀 Relaxation and breathing techniques: Useful for improving sleep quality, reducing pain, and improving connection to your body. How you relate to and connect with your body changes when you experience pain for a prolonged period of time. 🌀 Engage! Engage! Engage! Keep working, staying in your communities, continuing in your hobbies. If you need to modify what this looks like for you, please do so. However keep engaging! 🌀 Support! Have loved ones around you to support you. Be a receiver. 🌀 Medications: There are pharmacological options for pain management. Speak to your GP and Pharmacist 🌀 Work with a multidisciplinary team: 1. GPs to understand your condition 2. Psychologists for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and more to address anxiety or depression symptoms that are associated with Fibromyalgia 3. Nutritionists to address your nutrition patterns. They can also provide resources for easy recipes to get started with. 4. Speech therapist for sleep education 5. Occupational therapist to discuss strategies to continue daily activities that are limited by pain. Equipments and aids can also be provided. 6. Pharmacists for education around main medications, how often to take them and more. AND MORE #fibromyalgia #fibromyalgiaawareness #physiotherapy #chronicpain #chronicpainwarrior

First line care for traumatic shoulder dislocations! Every individual's injury is different and so it is important to consult with a physiotherapist to get specific diagnoses, treatment options and a tailored rehabilitation plan.

4 TIPS FOR VOICE CARE 1. Using your voice less can help with managing vocal fatigue or changes your voice 2. Rehearsals, shows and singing practice do affect your voice. However also consider your general health habits, which also affect your voice health 3. Movement strategies when singing help reduce tension in the head, arms, ribcage, and spine when singing. Find which one works best for you. 4. Straw exercises help with improving your voice strength and efficiency This series is inspired by a Vocal Health First Aid Training I completed. If you have any questions don't hesitate to message me directly. If you'd like to book a physiotherapy appointment for vocal health assessment and treatment please refer to my bio. #westend #performingarts #performers #singers #voicehealth #firstaid #physiotherapy

Take a step back and reflect on these questions Is your body getting enough energy or fuel? Are you experiencing stress currently or have experienced stress for a long period of time? How many hours do you sleep per day? Are there variations? Do you experience big jumps in your dance hours or intensity from rehearsals, festivals, work, excitement? How many days do you give yourself to recover?

Try these exercises out to build a strong and stable shoulder ❕ Great for building endurance, strength and confidence for floor work, footwork and power. HOWEVER the best exercise to build confidence for specific dance steps, is the movement itself. Break it down, practice the components separately, combine it together afterwards. 🎶 DJ Deeon (Learning Chicago House with Charles, and this is the current vibe I'm on). #dance #physiotherapy #physio #injury #dancephysio

I had a lovely conversation with someone about the positives and negatives that we have chosen by working as a (Physio)therapist. I thought I'd share parts of what we talked about... It's a privilege to earn the trust of another person, and to be a receiver of another person's concerns, expectations, values, and to be a collaborator for helping them achieve their goals. Therapists will naturally internalise the distress of multiple people across a day, week, month and years. So it's important for us to have outlets where we can release these emotions, and therefore have the capacity to give and receive again. Scheduled breaks every 3 months have been very helpful for me in managing burn out. In my ideal week, it would also be splendid to adjust my diary around my period cycle in consideration of the rhythms of the feminine body. Not every therapist and patient will be fit for each other. It's okay if patients choose to go and see other colleagues or therapists. The important thing is: are our patients getting better and getting the care they need. If they are, great. However, there is also a joy in practicing adapting yourself to multiple people with unique personalities, preferences, values and more. In the process of being present with others and reading their body language, words and tone, we then can be flexible in how we respond. People will also be judging the therapist from the physical appearance, to attire, to our facial expressions, our posture and body language and more. In being a physiotherapist I have had to practice bringing consciousness to different parts of myself. Peace, have a nice weekend.

Heal our bodies, heal our minds Dancing and music is healing for mind, body and spirit and it can be a very frustrating experience when we encounter challenges to our bodies that limit us from doing what we love. Injury is contributed by multiple factors, some within our control and some outside of our control. Here are strategies to get started with building confidence and resilience in our bodies For more specific advice, directly message me 🏵️

H.I.F. 🌸🏵️ "AH! I injured myself, didn't break a bone... What should I do?" Updated evidence says... PEACE & LOVE ✌🏼❤️ Right after your injury, apply... Protect (Do less) Elevate (Lift it up high high high) Avoid Anti-inflammatories (Different stages of inflammation heal our tissues) Compression Education (From your local physio) Then in a few days give your injury some Load (Return to activity as comfortable) Optimism (Look up and smile 😁) Vascularization (Comfortable exercise that pumps up the heart rate!) Exercise (Comfortable movements to improve mobility, strength and more) (Dubios & Esculier, 2020)

ON A HIATUS Lessons I'd taken away in my first 2-3 years of physiotherapy. 1. Don't make assumptions. You can never guess what a person will say or do. I decided to play with this idea through an already implemented habit: "would you like a receipt?". At first I would guess, and I would smile when I'd be proven wrong. Later I stopped guessing and would wait, open to whatever piece of information the human infront of me would say. 2. Some people won't like you. And some will 🌞 Following on from the above point, it is impossible to have a personality that is compatible with every patient or person that you engage with. Maybe you had a bad day, your face clearly showed it and that rubbed the person in front of you the wrong way. Some may give you a personalised email or a review about why they didn't like you, or some will directly or indirectly give you feedback. AND sometimes... you will make a patient unhappy on one day, and very happy on another day. 3. You're going to get it wrong. And that's normal. Whether it is diagnosis / clinical reasoning / initial management, whether it's miscommunication; it will happen. What I've found to be most liberating in those situations, is to take responsibility, acknowledge where the mistake has been made, genuinely apologise, reflect, research, revise and discuss your plan going forward. 4. Sleep. If you have the privilege to sleep, do it. You will thank yourself during your 8-10 hour shift with back to back patients. From experience of sleeping 3 hours vs 8 hours before a shift, the difference is phenomenal. Our job is fucking tiring, physically, emotionally and mentally and 4 coffees won't save you. 5. Support your team The people who will understand you most in regards to physiotherapy work are the people sitting beside you in the other clinic rooms for 38 hours a week (if you're full time). If you're experiencing a particular emotion or thought, it is not impossible that those around you have also experienced it at some point in their career. Get some ice-cream 6. Smile. Personally, I find it so fun to be able to be a part of the lived experiences of a diverse range of people. Enjoy it.

"Hey everyone! My name is Laxmi. I started dancing when I was 3 in commercial studios where I learned various classical and theatre genres, specialising in contemporary. Just under 2 years ago, I was introduced to the joy of house dance and the street dance community and since I’ve started learning waacking, hustle and popping." - @emisime__ It's been a joy to work with Em (Laxmi)! Em rolled her ankle out to the side when jumping and landing on one leg. Ankle sprains are so common and are often not rehabbed well. Once you roll it once, the risk of doing it again goes up! Pain or feeling 'unstable' in the ankles can affect confidence greatly and can limit performance in one's dance journey. Here are a few exercises and assessments I had Em do at the end of her rehab journey! Look at her absolutely crushing it! 1. Single leg bridge on a bench for hamstring strength 2. Single leg calf raises for calf strength 3. Side to side hopping for dynamic balance and plyometric ability! 4. Ankle movement is important for reducing the risk of injuries at the knee or hips 5-7. Y balance test looks at dynamic balance. These exercises may not apply to you specifically, so book online for a consult (bio) or message me by direct message to discuss further.