Inspire Recreation Therapy

10/18/2026

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10/18/2026

Let's talk about our core!!
Most people think sit-ups, crunches and planks but there is so much more. Our core runs 360 degrees around our entire mid-section. It supports us during every movement throughout our entire day.

Do you experience lower back pain when you are doing lower body movements, especially deadlifts? Do you find it hard to go up stairs? Do you find you have poor balance? These are just a couple of quick questions.

If so, this is related to a weak core. During workout videos, we are told to engage our core. But does anyone actually know how to do that? And no, it is not sucking in your belly!!! Do we know how to hold that engagement during our movements, for all of our required repetitions?

We lose our inner core muscle engagement during most injuries, pregnancies, change in exercise habits or we have never had a strong core to start with.

Example: I have worked with a woman who have been going to the gym for years, are very fit and lifting heavy but has never been able to gain in her glutes. We were working on bridges and she was just lifting up through her feet over and over again. For glutes to engage we need to have abdominal strength and engagement. This was her missing piece. After changing her technique, she felt her glutes fire for the first time ever. Think a slinky.
Bridges are a lot harder than people give them create for.

During a deadlift, to eliminate the lower back pain, you may need to drop your weight to support your core over your glutes. If the core cannot support the weight, your lower back is going to drop and you are going to experience lower back pain. Building the core and technique before moving to heavy weights will allow you to progress in your workouts. Think of a Scared dog with their tail between their legs.

Working with individuals, I coach you through every movement with a focus on core engagement and alignment throughout your entire body for each movement. We are the worse judges of how we are moving but we can acknowledge what it feels like.

10/08/2026

Starting any new habit can be challenging but it can be even harder when you do not understand the terminology or how your body overcompensates or operates.

I am starting a training program out of small home gym. This service is for individuals who are new to fitness and need guidance on the basics; individuals who are new to weight/strength training (the going fitness trend right now); looking to improve mobility (bone health); looking to increase their fitness but traditional gyms seem intimidating. I am creating a service that focuses on correct posture/form, simple easy to follow work-outs and will help you reach your goals.

As a Recreation Therapist, Aquatic Therapist and Personal Trainer my focus is not on strength gains but on overall life and well-being. If you are a sports Parent/Grandparent, we know it takes a bit of physical effort to make it to games/practices to cheer on the individuals in our life. It takes strength to carry in our groceries, rack leaves from out yard, garden or even (I am scared to say it so soon) shovel snow. I want to help you get strong to help prevent injury and be able to keep up with life and our loved ones.

Child Care an issue, no worries. I have lots of toys and safe place for them to be. Sometimes they are our biggest motivators and seeing them while you work-out will help you push harder- it is also good for them to see you look after yourself.

All you do is Cardio and do not know where to start. Been doing online videos but unsure what they mean when they say engage your core (and no that does not mean suck in your stomach), feel like you are doing all the core work and not seeing progress, feel intimidating in group fitness classes and you are a beginner. Recovering from an injury and having a hard time getting back to fitness or not knowing where to start (it can be challenging to drop weight or modify during this time). I can help in all of these situations and more. With working in rehab for the last 4 years and guiding people through their rehabilitation exercises, I have seen it all and have helped individuals by providing cues that make sense.

Come train with me.

10/03/2026

Leg day complete before a busy afternoon of dance and hockey.

You may be thinking those weights seem like for leg day. A little about myself and why I am passionate about this service I am offering.

I have been dealing with knee pain since I was 17 years old. At 20 I had a ACL Reconstruction which never left my knee the same but I was still extremely active, riding number of horses (an amazing seat), had two beautiful children and got in the best shape of my life. After seeing a Chiropractor who did a HUGE adjustments on my hips, I tore both meniscus in my right knee (same knee). Went for 2.5 years before deciding to get a knee scope. During the time I was still active but had pain.

Knee scope- September 2024. During our time time in Petawawa I did not notice a lot of limitations after surgery but felt weak. But I was walking 10km a day between before and after school picks, working my horse and from time to time walking the dogs, 12 hours of pool therapy work and 4 hours of teaching aquafit a week.

Move to Nova Scotia and I barely been moving. Nothing is in walking distance, job is sedentary, kids are deregulated so needing more attention, kids sports are more demanding and my horse is farther away with a different living situation. Pain in my knee became horrible. Strength was lost from my core down.

To sum it up, I am rehabing right along with you. I know the struggle of being able to lift heavy, feel the strength and not be in pain. I have progressive arthritis in my knee which makes training and movement difficult at times. I have learned to modify in many different ways but it does not stop me.

No matter your medical limitations, movement is always something that can happen. I would be happy to help and get the confidence back.

10/02/2026

- Do Gyms feel intimating?
- Do you find it hard to start group classes?
- Do you question what the instructor is talking about when they say engage the core? (It does not mean sucking your belly button in).
- Does lifting heavy seem scary at first?
- Do you have exercise equipment collecting dust?
- Are the online programs leaving you wondering if you are doing the exercises the right way? (We can try to watch ourselves try to feel the movements, but we cannot always do form correction on ourselves).
- Are you a caregiver and do not have any support to take time to look after yourself?
- Are you supporting your kids through their active time, leaving yourself to last?

I am a Certified Recreation Therapist, Aquatic Therapist and Personal Trainer. I have been working in the rehab world for the last 4 years. The main thing I see are individuals not knowing how engage their core when they thought they were, body alignment, overcompensations, weakness or trying to jump right back into their old activities prior to injury. For some people, starting over is hard but having someone coach you through that makes the process easier and reduces injury.

For others, big gyms or leaving the house to work out, feels intimidating or unknown. You do not always know what kind of workouts you should be doing, how many reps, what weight you should be lifting, how much time you should spend on each exercise and so much more. In my home gym or at your house, I can show you different exercises that can be done right from the comfortable of your own home.

Group Fitness classes can be great for connecting with other individuals, provide accountability and enjoyment. But you can still feel lost knowing if you are doing the movement correctly, whether it is safe for a certain injury and if you are engaging the right way. Engaging your core takes more than just sucking your belly in or bracing. There are steps that need to take to strengthen our core.

What they do not tell you is, you cannot lift heavy when you start. You need to progressively work to that. Attending classes with people who have been attending for a long time have the strength already can feel like you are weak. Strength is measured differently for everyone.

I am a trainer that does not measure fitness by how heavy you can lift something but how good you feel as a person. I look at fitness as being able to live the life you want to live and not be limited to your physical or emotional ability.
Are you a busy Mom that wants to be able to not be tired in the afternoon knowing you must still take you kids to their evening activities and figure out supper. Are you a senior who wants to keep living alone and carrying your groceries into your home or standing up from your chair or play with your grandchildren. Are you someone recovering from an injury and left wondering where to start with strength and endurance once returning to your workouts? Are you a new mom that is trying to reconnect with yourself outside of motherhood or working?

This is the place. You are welcome to bring your children with you. I have space and lots of toys they are welcome to play with (along with 2 children myself). The bonus of this is they are watching you take care of yourself, and see their caregiver being active. They will want to joy in (I am happy to plan children’s sessions as well- the challenge really pushes them- a adult/child sessions are fun- I have done them with my son for a few months).

But I am offering sessions outside of a commercial, big gym setting. Allowing you to feel comfortable learning and reaching your goal.
I have done the big gyms, the YouTube videos, Online video platforms, group classes (I have taught Aquafit for several years) and training with a trainer, but I always feel more comfortable working out at home. I can be with my kids, fit it into my schedule and still be present in whatever I need to be present for or escape.

Reach out if this is something you are interested in.

08/20/2026

Update:
Inspire Recreation Therapy is now registered to run programs and services in Nova Scotia.

New program coming soon!!!!

Send a message to learn more

07/09/2026

Some Exciting News!!!

I just passed my Certification Exam as a Personal Trainer. Will be finished with my Fitness and Health Promotion Diploma by the middle of next month so hopefully I can start focusing on offering services to the community and figuring out how to support East Hants.

04/27/2026

Spent the afternoon with the horses. The barn is my happy place, place to think, to breathe and to feel free. My mare, Breeze and I have been through it in the last 12 years. She is my heart and soul. She reads me like a book and reflects what I am feeling.
She is a Momma to my 2 children. She told me I was pregnant with Alena and protected me when I was pregnant with Jase (only owned her for 3 months at the time). She will protect them no matter what.
Moving here, we looked at more boarding facilities than houses. With her history, I needed to make sure she was safe amd the people would communicate with me fully. It had not been an easy road but she has found an amazing location where she is spoiled rotten which is something she needs.
She is truly my heart and soul.

She has been one of the hardest things with this move. I went from being at the barn multiple times a day and providing all of her care to maybe being there every night but for short periods of time. I am no longer able to provide full care because she is located in the opposite direction from EVERYTHING. She also was diagnosed with Kissing Spine (vertebrae in the spine rubbing/overlapping together) so rehab has been really hard for her. Finding supports is difficult but also the major financial loss since moving here has made it really difficult as well. It does not stop me from helping her though. She is my everything and only way of staying strong mentally.

The kiddos even got to go for a quick ride on another amazing girl.

04/26/2026

One thing we did daily was walk through the trees, off the sidewalks, jump/balance on fallen trees, crunch the leaves, and just be outside moving.

We took advantage of the nice weather and went exploring. Spent the afternoon, along with a picnic lunch to Oakfield Park. The kids loved climbing the rocks andour dog loved the space to run and all the smells. Being outside is one of our happy places.

Nature can do wonders for the mind, body and soul.

04/26/2026

Vulnerable Post Alert

I thought I would do something a little different and use my platform/business to help support my family and myself to demonstrate how Recreation Therapy and Fitness play a vital role in overall health and wellness. May is going to be a month of new for my family but in all honesty the last 8 months has been new and beyond challenging.

A little backstory:
I am a Mom of 2 very busy children, a Military Spouse, student and someone who has put her career on hold to support her spouse and family. In the last 8 years (since our daughter has been born), I lost all sense of identity outside of being a Mom ( I was running a Full Time Home Daycare to provide income and to be home with my children since Daycare was very limited there and there were no Recreation Therapy jobs in the area we were living in). In the last two years, in Petawawa, Ontario, I was starting to find who I was again through providing aquatic therapy with a local physiotherapy clinic, teaching aquafit classes both recreational and therapeutic and running my Private Recreation Therapy practice, on top of running the Home Daycare and being a student. I also had my horse 10 minutes away from us for the first time in 8 years (there is a story there too).

Since moving to Nova Scotia, I realized there was a lot throughout our schedule and way of life in Petawawa that we took for granted that we cannot find here. I had physical fitness worked into my everyday (including my family as well). I was in the pool 5 days a week providing 12 hours of aquatic therapy and 4 hours of aquafit weekly, I was walking 10km daily just for before and after school pick-ups/drop-offs, I was walking in the field to get my horse and working her for an hour each night (on the ground) and still getting work-outs in 4 days a week. My work schedule allowed me to have 4 hours a week while the kids were in school to have "me time" which allowed me to focus on tasks such as school, work-outs, house work, booking appointments or watching a TV show/reading my book I enjoyed without the anyone around or walking the dogs. Walking to the kids school each day, there were multiple trails I could take to connect me to nature with and without the kids which was grounding. We were close to playgrounds, multiple walking trails, the rink/community centre and more that we were walking to most locations or outside in the evenings (when we were not at the barn- which was 10 minutes from our house) allowing for an active lifestyle naturally.

Since moving here- we are not doing ANY of these things. I now have a sedentary job, kids are done school by 1:50 which makes working very hard (which is directly across the street), we are driving EVERY WHERE we go, sports are everyday of the week for the kids at inconvenient times or overlapping timings, new home owners, family and childhood friends around, and major financial losses on my end. Our children also have not been adjusting well making after school a complete mess- everyone has been miserable.

As a Military family, we are put in situations that are unexpected and not always ideal for the whole family. I want to take you through the journey of myself and my family starting to recover from the high intense stress and life altering demands life puts upon us especially for military families especially as parents. I am going to educate you on Recreation Therapy, Importance of fitness, recreation and leisure, and recovery in many different ways.

I am going to introduce myself, our struggles, journey, and recovery in the next month that is full of brand new changes on top of everything else we have been through. Through this journey, I want to connect the community to my services and the community I can serve.