Milly’s incredible Barefoot adventures!

in

Milly took the plunge and moved from her hometown of Brisbane to 100km out of Mt Isa. Cherelle recently sat down with Barefooter Milly, to see what has changed & how life is in the country!

Milly 1

What is it like living there?
Every morning I walk outside and think of a line from a Dixie Chicks song that goes “I wanna look at the horizon and not see a building standing tall, I wanna be the only one, for miles and miles”. After years of living in the city with your neighbours right on top of you its surreal being so remote that there are literally no buildings on the horizon and no-one for miles!

We live roughly 100km from Mt Isa, which makes life much easier than many people on remote properties. We head into town each Saturday for fresh groceries and collect regular mail, and weekend sport. I am very lucky that I am able to enjoy these simply luxuries, whilst still reaping the rewards of remote living.

Why is the best decision I ever made?
For about 10 years now I’ve had a “weird” (as I was always told!) fascination with the country lifestyle. After finishing year 12 I considered taking a gap year to be a jillaroo, but decided to throw myself into university life instead. Five years and two (failed) attempts at a uni degree later, I finally bit the bullet and moved out bush!

Knee injuries prevented me from being a Jillaroo, so instead I took a position working as a governess teaching two beautiful girls and I’m so glad I did! As a governess I am able to get the best of both worlds. On days where there is mustering or yard work to be done we take the day off school and I get to become the student! The photo on the right was taken just before we all started working in the cattle yards (the first time ever for me!).

‘Follow Your Arrow’ is a song by country singer Kasey Musgraves. It is basically about following what your heart tells you. The reason that moving to the bush is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made is because I finally started following my arrow! (Cheesy, but true!) Following my arrow out to this far-flung corner of the country has made amazing differences to my health, my happiness, and my overall wellbeing.

We know you love dressing up for the races and that you even make your own fascinators! What’s some of the best fashion advice you follow when it comes to a day at the races?

Wear whatever makes you feel like you! Every outfit I make and wear for the races is quintessentially me. Ultimately, if you wear something that makes you feel amazing inside and out, it is going to make you stand out much more to the judges than something that is “on trend” Milly 2and almost the same as the person standing next to you.

One of my favourite photos is of the top ten finalists from last year at the Cairns Amateurs. I am front and centre, in a neon (was not “current-in-style” colours), knee length (technically too short according to FOTF rules) dress I bought years ago (not “current-in-season” style) that I refashioned with bright DKNY lace, and a homemade fascinator. The outfit is bright, bubbly, and above all – very different! Quintessentially me! Which goes to show that you don’t need to fill the FOTF criterion to wow the judges if what you’re wearing makes you feel amazing.

Stay tuned for next weeks blog post, where we discuss Cheerleading with Milly and what the training regime looks like. To read our previous Barefooter stories, click here!

Five steps to living your Barefoot Lifestyle

in

Ever get that feeling like life is just passing by? Like you want to be out on the field playing but you’re hanging on the sideline ? Are you wondering what it would look like if you were living your “Barefoot Lifestyle”?

You know you enjoy being fully part of it, in fact maybe you used to be a key player but it now feels like you’ve forgotten the moves?

blog post pic

We get it, your life can get busy and it’s very easy to let the things that are important to you slip down the list of priorities in the midst of your day to day.

Our Barefoot Lifestyle Guide is a reflection tool to help you think… think through the things in your life that are important to you… remind yourself of the things that you enjoy…  so you can include more of these in your days and get your life back on track.

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane and forget about the bigger picture. You know, that bigger picture where you know how you make this world a better place, where you have passions and drive and talk about them. Why is it important to focus on that bigger picture and live it rather than dream it? I think we would all agree this leads to a more fulfilled life for yourself and the people around you.

In no way is the Barefoot Lifestyle Guide telling you how to live your life… it’s a way to get you thinking about how you want to live on your terms and helping you to go out and do it!

We all have the resources within us that we need to make our lives even more enjoyable. It’s amazing how much you can discover about yourself when you just ask the right questions.

The Barefoot Lifestyle looks at areas that we believe are important to living a fulfilled happy life
P8260289

  1. Staying active
  2. Taking care of your body and mind
  3. Friends and family
  4. Your vocation
  5. Doing your bit to change the world

What you will create by completing the Guide are immediately actionable steps as part of our ‘Barefoot Choose-to’ list. Here you can come up with a list of things you choose to do (or do more of) that really satisfies the inner you.

It’s a great feeling completing the guide knowing you’ve delved a little deeper. And reminded yourself of those enjoyable crazy things you love to do!

So, if you can spare 30min today, download the lifestyle guide and complete the action steps on your ‘Choose-to’ list. Even just one step a day, is enough to transform your life, and get your SOUL (as well as you body) feeling like it is on holiday everyday!

To download the lifestyle guide, click here.

The Barefoot Physiotherapy Plan

in

Discuss your Problems:

Our holistic therapy approach is based on a partnership between you and us. This starts by us truly knowing and understanding your story and why you have come to Barefoot for help.

We then use specific nerve and orthopaedic tests to determine our initial hands on treatment that starts you on the road to recovery, be it back pain physiotherapy or posture training.

As you progress we utilise our full body assessment and testing to determine the root cause of your problem. We then treat it, teach you how to treat it and teach you how to take care of it for now and the future.

Throughout this process we will incorporate postural retraining, strength work and individualised education to ensure you understand what is best for your body.

What You Need and Require:

Treatment doesn’t begin and end within the four walls of our clinic.

If you need us to assess your posture at your workplace, we’ll be there.   If you’d like us to collaborate with your personal trainer on which specific exercises to focus on (and avoid), we’re happy to help.

Working in with your broader “support team” is one of the best ways in which we can support you back to optimum health.

And if for any reason you’re not getting results, we’ll work with you to find alternatives. We’ll closely monitor your progress, with the goal of getting you out of pain and back doing what you love. Our success is measured by your results, nothing else.

We’ll Create a Treatment Plan for Current Pain and Underlying Cause

From the thorough assessment we compile a list of significant findings in your body. These findings relate to your joints, muscles and movements which can be linked to your nerves, thoughts and worries.

From the list, you and your therapist will prioritise which key findings to test first. These findings are tested by performing TDTs (Treatment-Direction-Tests) to the limited movements in your body. Most of the time, we find that that the underlying cause is not exactly where you are feeling your symptoms. We discuss this with you during your session or you can have a read about it on our website in more detail.

We’ll Teach You to Take Care of Your Body to Avoid Reoccurrence of the Pain

Once we confirm the underlying cause we will treat it to reduce its impact on the rest of your body. We continually reassess your movements, muscles and joints to measure the improvements from your treatment. This confirms we are on the right track, and on the way to help you reach your goals.

Our focus is to prevent build-up of strain to the primary cause of your condition. We do this by:

  1. A) Teaching you to treat the structure yourself or how someone else can help you treat it (e.g. partner, family member, friend)
  2. B) Teaching you how to use your body in a way to prevent build-up of strain on that area. This can be by changing your posture at work or strengthening a specific muscle group.

We understand this is different for everyone, so we tailor it to you! If you have particular posture or performance questions, feel free to ask the physio during your session and we will address this when appropriate.

We’ll Craft a Plan for Health Maintenance to Ensure Your Body Stays Happy

To ensure your body stays in optimal shape and you prevent future injury, it is important that you check in with us at increasing intervals for “tune up” sessions. In these sessions we focus on prevention, to help you to continue living your Barefoot lifestyle.

As well as continuing treatment to the primary cause of your condition, we may also need to treat some secondary areas in your body. These secondary areas are findings that make some improvements to one or two things in your body (not as significant as the primary cause), but play an important role in keeping your body functioning at it’s highest level.

Our goal is to empower you to confidently live the life you choose!

2017 Australian Small Business Champion Awards

in
Read more