Katrina Tarrant has been the owner and head physiotherapist of The Fix Program CBD studios since early 2005. She worked as a clinical manual therapist, interested in sports and lumbo-pelvic pain at Castlereagh Physiotherapy Clinic for 6 years prior to that. Since graduating in 1993 from Sydney University, she has worked in both private clinic and the public health sectors in both Sydney and London, gravitating towards spinal health and rehabilitation in the latter years or private practice. Katrina is interested in sports, currently enjoying a return to squash. She otherwise loves the busy balancing act between Fix and recent motherhood.    

Melanie Platt is a new member to the Fix team this year. She completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Sports Studies) in 2003 and completed a Master of Physiotherapy from Sydney University in 2006. She currently works in a private practice focusing on Musculoskeletal and Sports injuries. Melanie also works with the Barker Old Boys Rugby Union Football Club on weekends working with preventing injuries and attending to their on-field injuries. Melanie is thoroughly enjoying being a Fix instructor and enjoys seeing the results of clients achieving their goals and progressing with decreases in their pain. Melanie has just returned from a 6 week holiday in Europe where she had some amazing experiences but is happy to be home and back at work. Her interests include traveling, volleyball, history and relaxing.

Alla Melman completed her studies in Physiotherapy (Bachelor of Applied Science) at the University of Sydney in 2005. Since then she has completed a certificate in Hatha yoga teaching to complement her interest in therapeutic exercise.  She is currently working in physiotherapy private practice, with a focus on musculoskeletal and sports injuries. She enjoys swimming, bushwalking and a regular yoga practice.
Alla is enjoying teaching beginner & intermediate classes at Fix, watching people progress and improve week by week.

The power of relaxation.

Over your recent weeks at Fix, you have probably encountered “relaxation time” on the mats as a part of the class - incorporating diaphragmatic breathing, body focus and muscle relaxation.

We know that relaxation can bring about pain relief, but how? First we must understand stress to understand relaxation.

Threatening inputs to the brain, memories and circumstances can also lead to a stress response, which may in turn worsen your pain.

We’ve all heard the expression ‘fight or flight’. This is how the body has evolved to respond to any threatening situation. In times of stress, the body uses a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol turns on process we need for survival and switches off process that are not needed for survival.

What do you need if a tiger is chasing you? (Muscles – to fight or run away, your brain – for quick thinking). What don’t you need if a tiger is chasing you? (Reproduction and digestion. Healing can probably also be put on hold.)

So as you can see, this stress response is great in an emergency, but what if that tiger follows you around for a year and you’re stressed all the time? Prolonged elevated cortisol levels have been linked to depression, mood swings, memory changes, poor healing, weight gain and immune problems.

So you can see that if your pain is making you anxious and stressed, your stress can make things much worse, including the pain itself.

On the flip side, when you’re relaxed and feeling good, your body produces ‘happy hormones’ such as such as opioids and serotonin that block danger messages travelling up the nerves to your brain. These naturally occurring hormones are many times more powerful than the strongest pain-relieving drug on the market.

Which brings us to this weeks tip: relaxation brings pain relief.

So how do you de-stress. For a start, stop worrying about the pain. This makes a lot of sense now you know that worrying about your pain is scientifically proven to make it worse.

Yoga, relaxation, meditation and breathing techniques have also been proven to reduce the level of circulating stress hormones and increase your level of happy hormones.

Try going for a walk, listening to relaxing music, or just clearing your mind for twenty minutes every day.

Another technique is to set aside ‘worry time’. Rather than worrying about things constantly (and keeping your Cortisol levels elevated) make a specific time every week when you think about your worries. If a worry enters your head at another time, like when you’re trying to fall asleep, set it aside for your ‘worry time’.

So remember this week’s tip; relax and feel less pain.

Some of you may find this amusing!

Thanks to Catarina for sharing this with the staff at Fix.