Move with Intention This Summer ☀️ 🏃‍♀️

With longer days and warmer weather, many of us naturally become more active—whether that means cycling, gardening, hiking, or simply spending more time on our feet. As we shift into these seasonal routines, it's important to remember that our bodies may need time to adjust, especially after a more sedentary winter or spring.

This month’s focus is on moving with intention—not just increasing activity for the sake of doing more, but paying attention to how we move and how our bodies respond. These small, mindful shifts can help prevent discomfort, support recovery, and make movement more enjoyable overall.

🌀 Simple ways to support intentional movement:

1. Prepare your body with movement, not just activity.
Before jumping into your favourite summer tasks, take 3–5 minutes to warm up the joints and muscles you'll be using. This could include shoulder rolls, hip circles, gentle torso twists, or leg swings—nothing fancy, just enough to signal to your body that movement is coming.

2. Stretch with purpose after activity.
Post-activity stretching can go a long way in reducing next-day stiffness. A hip flexor stretch after cycling, a forearm or hand stretch after gardening, or some gentle spinal extension after desk work can support tissue recovery and reduce repetitive strain.

3. Tune into how your body feels, not just what it did.
It’s easy to focus on how far you walked or how much you lifted—but taking a moment to ask, “How do I feel after that?” helps you catch early signs of fatigue, overload, or asymmetry. This kind of body awareness can guide both your self-care and how we approach your treatment.

4. Make room for recovery, too.
Rest days, hydration, sleep, and gentle movement between bigger activity days are key for maintaining long-term mobility. Massage therapy can be an excellent support for recovery, especially if you're noticing lingering tension, restricted movement, or changes in performance.

🔎 How Massage Therapy Supports Functional Movement

Whether it’s gardening, hiking, playing with kids, or finally tackling that DIY project, your body is being asked to move in different ways than it has all winter. This is where massage therapy can be more than just “relaxing”—it can be an important part of keeping you moving well.

💡 What Is Functional Movement?

Functional movement refers to the ability to move your body with ease, strength, and control through everyday activities. Think of reaching overhead without shoulder tension, getting up from a kneeling position comfortably, or walking for longer periods without hip or foot pain.

If your body feels tight, restricted, or compensating in some way, even simple activities can feel harder than they should. Massage therapy can help.

👐 How Massage Therapy Supports Your Movement Goals

As a Registered Massage Therapist, I assess and treat soft tissue imbalances that may affect the way your body moves. Each treatment is tailored to support your specific needs, whether you’re increasing your activity level, recovering from injury, or maintaining mobility.

Here are a few key ways massage can support movement:

1. Reducing Tension and Restrictions
Chronic tightness or adhesions in the muscles and fascia can limit joint mobility and fluid movement. Targeted massage techniques can help decrease these restrictions and improve range of motion in areas like the hips, shoulders, or spine.

2. Supporting Balance and Alignment
When one area of the body is restricted or overworked, it can lead to compensation patterns elsewhere. For example, tight hip flexors can affect your low back or knees. Massage can help address those imbalances so your body moves more efficiently and evenly.

3. Promoting Recovery
Massage supports circulation and lymphatic flow, helping the body process inflammation and recover more quickly after activity. This is especially helpful if you’re increasing your activity level or returning to a previously enjoyed hobby.

4. Improving Body Awareness
Treatment sessions often reveal subtle movement habits—like clenching the jaw, hiking one shoulder, or holding tension in the low back—that clients weren’t aware of. By bringing attention to these patterns, you can begin to change them in daily life.

🎯 Your Goals, Your Treatment

One of the things I enjoy most about massage therapy is that it’s never a one-size-fits-all approach. Whether you’re working toward a goal like increased flexibility, reducing discomfort with movement, or simply maintaining your body through the summer, your treatment will be adapted to reflect what your body needs at that time.

If you're unsure how massage fits into your movement goals, feel free to reach out or ask during your next appointment. Sometimes a small change in how we support the body can make a big difference in how it moves.

Heather


This blog post was partially developed using ChatGPT to generate ideas and refine the structure. The author made the final edits and choices