What is wellness? Wellness is defined as a dynamic process of becoming aware of and making conscious choices toward a more balanced and healthy lifestyle. It includes learning new life skills that address both the positive and negative aspects of human existence.  There are many dimensions to wellness.  Here are the key dimensions available through Shallyn's Physical Therapy and Wellness Services:
    
     Social Wellness: creating and maintaining healthy relationships through conscious choice.  Social wellness embraces relationships at home and work, friendships and our relationships with all people and future generations.  This dimension encourages contribution to the common welfare of the community. 

Welcome to my family!  By participating in physical therapy regularly, there is a professional friendship that grows along with your health.  Not only do I encourage your independent growth in health, but I am happy to spread that news to a group you belong to.  If you have a particular health interest for your social group, please ask me about an educational seminar for your group's purpose.
                                   Mat 9:37 "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”…in leading our community to better life long health.

     Physical Wellness: process of making choices to create flexible, cardiovascularly fit, energetic, strong bodies.  These choices are related to exercise, nutrition, rest and sleep, stress management, and management of injury and illness.

Throughout this blog (and my facebook page), you will learn more tools for better exercise to manage injury.  I have always had a personal interest in nutrition and am now furthering my active education to patients about holistic, natural ways to combat inflammation (that contributes to the majority of our medical issues and manifests into physical issues) and create an anti-oxidative environment to limit spread of toxic agents in our body that leads to illness.  I believe we have been "fearfully and wonderfully made" Psa 139:14; that our bodies have the awesome, innate mechanisms to heal themselves from illness if we provide them the right opportunity to do so (and prevent opportunity to hinder such healing).  Finally, my rehabilitative Tai Chi practice and hippotherapy availability has been widely used to manage stress.

     Emotional Wellness: creating and maintaining a positive, realistic self-concept and realistically assessing potential and limitations.

I desire an environment built on integrity -- if I don’t have an answer for you, I will seek to find one, and will happily engage in medical team approaches, referring you to alternative practitioners, as needed, to complete the care you need to treat the cause of your symptoms most effectively.

     Career Wellness: staying current in one's chosen field, helping to create a healthy organizational environment which contributes to your own and others' well-being.  Career wellness also requires balancing work with the rest of your life.

If you are a PT, PTA, OT, or COTA reading this blog, you will know that I have provided local continuing education for the rehabilitative field.  I have assisted in teaching nation-wide continuing education courses and aim to continue my teaching to promote, specifically, the physical therapy profession, in a fun and holistic, evidence-based way.  Stay tuned here for 2018 events regarding continuing education here in the Colorado Springs area or shoot me a message if you have any requests for specific continuing education in your area.

     Spiritual Wellness: discovering meaning and purpose in life, and demonstrating those values through behaviors.

Shallyn's Physical Therapy and Wellness Services is not just a home based Physical Therapy and Wellness business, it is my “professional ministry”.  As I like to say, "these are not my hands, but His hands; these are not my encouraging words, but His encouraging words".  I desire each patient/client coming through my doors to feel loved, listened to, and respected.  Prayer and sharing of scripture for encouragement through life's adventures is commonly practiced at Shallyn's.

Acts 14:3 "Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands."

So, come, experience wellness at Shallyn's and be ready to be blessed!

Happy Valentine's Day from Shallyn's Physical Therapy and Wellness Services.  I am truly grateful for all of my patients that have contributed to the success of Shallyn's.

Here are a couple of heart healthy tips to get you through, sometimes, not a super peaceful day:

Take 3 deep breaths.  Fully exhale...push the air out of your deepest part of your lungs...then inhale using that diaphragm fully.
                                                                           AND
Smile...even if you don't feel like it. 

These practices create a parasympathetic nervous system shift.  What does this have to do with heart health?  It lowers both your blood pressure and stress related hormones.

So, go ahead, take a deep breath and smile.

Happy Valentine's Day!