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Rewild Wellness with Lea Pickard

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Melanie Stevens Sutherland on Finding Healthy Movement

Feb 3, 2021

How do you prioritize and simplify the health you need to live the extraordinary life of your dreams?

Melanie Stevens Sutherland is a graduate of McMaster University and brings 16 years of experience as a senior physiotherapist to Body Co. She has enjoyed a long tenure working with active populations at prestigious sport medicine clinics. Past clients include Provincial, National and Olympic level athletes as well as members of the National Football League, the Canadian Football League, the Ontario Hockey League, the American Hockey League, the National Lacrosse League and Major League Soccer.

In this episode, Melanie and I bond over our approach to understanding the body. Melanie has loads of wisdom that she shares in our conversation. First, Melanie explains the components of functional movement. You are not able to strengthen your body unless you know how you want to use it. Instead, it’s all about how we do the movements that we do. During the pandemic, everyone is sitting for extended periods of time. However, the sitting environment most likely is not supporting your productivity. How you sit will have a massive impact on how well you can function and your resistance to stress.

Plus, Melanie discusses how to find healthy movement that you just don’t hear other people talking about. For instance, humans were never designed to sit on a toilet. Instead, we need to put our feet up on a stool to have less strain on the digestive system. Also, Melanie says we should be checking the toilet every time that we use it. For example, if your poop doesn’t look right, something is going on in your body. Tune in as we chat about the importance of learning how to breathe, how we can improve our pelvic health, and Melanie reveals what could potentially be irritating our pelvic floor.

In This Episode:

  • About Melanie Stevens Sutherland and what it’s like to be a physiotherapist [ 1:05 ]
  • The components of functional movement [ 8:40 ]
  • How our bathroom movements + breathing will impact our health [ 11:05 ]
  • Ways to improve our pelvic health [ 16:15 ]
  • Why it requires a team to address health for women [ 24:00 ]
  • Other ways we can improve our pelvic health [ 26:00 ]
  • What are pelvic floor irritants [ 36:10 ]
  • How our pandemic patterns are affecting our overall health [ 43:40 ]
  • Why Melanie doesn’t believe in balance [ 46:20 ]
  • The importance of our intuitive feelings + connecting with the body [ 51:50 ]
  • What is lighting Melanie up right now [ 57:40 ]

 

Quotes:

  • “We create strong, confident bodies that allow people to have the health that they need.”
  • “We treat mind, body, and environment.”
  • “How we go to the bathroom is an indicator of the stress and strain that we put on our pelvic floor.”
  • “Digestion is hugely important to the pelvic floor.”
  • “We have moved away from the natural state of our body. So, we have shifted away from the optimal way our body should be operating.”

Links Mentioned: