The past two years have been...a blur. I'm finally coming out of the haze that WAS 2023 to present, and figured that I would update y'all on a few Big Life Things now that the dust has settled.

My Health Saga

If you've been following me on social media over the past couple years, you've probably seen my (many) updates about my HEALTH. My partner and I moved from central Oregon to Portland at the end of 2023, which I was SO excited about: I love central Oregon, but I was really missing CIRCUS (which there was far more of in Portland). You know what ELSE there is far more of in Portland? MOLD. LOTS OF MOLD. More on that later.

Not long after I arrived in Portland, I got COVID (I had managed to completely avoid it until then). Unfortunately, I was one of the unlucky ones who REALLY suffered from long covid symptoms: I had TERRIBLE brain fog (which basically feels like a concussion that never goes away), increased issues with dysautonomia (my body did NOT have an easy time regulating my heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature), and probably the WORST symptom of all: post-exertional malaise (PEM). PEM is a bitch. If you're unfamiliar with this, it's basically when you over-exert yourself in ANY way, you have a sudden onset of flu-like symptoms for 1-2 weeks. For me, this happened any time I tried to ease back into gentle exercise and/or aerial training. I would feel okay during the session, but then the next day I'd feel like I just contracted the WORST flu of all time. And it lasted for at LEAST a week.

This continued for nearly two years. I saw SO many doctors, so many specialists, and yet - nothing helped my symptoms. Honestly, I've never felt so helpless about my health. I tried it all, and nothing worked...until one of my specialists brought up MOLD. After discussing it with them and learning more about mold illness (and how folks with MCAS, EDS, and dysautonomia are FAR more susceptible to it), I finally felt a sliver of hope. We tested our house for mold, and the results from the lab came back a week later...LOTS AND LOTS OF MOLD! OF ALL TYPES! EVERYWHERE!

Mold illness and long covid have MANY overlapping symptoms, so it all checked out. I'm going to fast forward a bit through the next part: our landlords agreed to remediate the house to fix the mold (yay!), and I started a protocol for treating my mold-related symptoms. I got a bit better, then I plateaued, then got worse. We had a sneaking suspicion that the mold hadn't been TOTALLY eradicated (landlords were trying to save some $$), so we ended up re-testing the house (mold was back), and moving out.

YES, I tested our new house for mold before signing the lease (lesson learned). I re-started my treatment protocol, and y'all...I am an entirely new human. My brain is clear, I have energy, and most importantly, I can exercise without getting the flu (cue sobbing). I have lost SO much strength, which is devastating, but I'm finally in a place where I can start rebuilding my strength (and my business!) without constant roadblocks.

Cirque Physio Updates

Which brings me to my next updates: It feels SO darn good to be able to focus on my business again. I had been trying to keep SOME semblance of normalcy over the past two years: teaching online classes, and working in a VERY limited capacity with Telehealth and in-person patients at my Portland, OR office. I am SO happy to be in a place now where I can actually set a schedule and STICK to it. There is absolutely NOTHING worse than having to cancel on a patient because of my own health, which was why I had whittled my schedule down so dramatically.

NEW Vancouver Office!

Another exciting milestone for me is opening an ADDITIONAL office in Vancouver, Washington. Now, I can see in-person patients in two places: in Portland, at AWOL Dance collective, or in Vancouver, at Meraki Collective. And because Washington state PT laws are more up-to-date than Oregon laws, I'm FINALLY able to offer dry needling as part of my patient's treatment plan in Vancouver.

Upcoming Online Classes & Teacher Training Program!

I'll be taking the rest of August to plan for the fall, but I'm SO excited for what I have coming up in September and October: I'll be teaching another flexibility series (likely a 6-week series), AND...drumroll please...

I AM FINALLY LAUNCHING A FLEXIBILITY TEACHER TRAINING CERTIFICATION! This has been in the works for a while, but my health issues sidelined it until now. If you want to get on the waitlist to learn more, you can sign up here. More details coming early September.

MY BLOG IS BACK!

And for my last update - I revived my blog; which has been another project that I put on the back burner. I've been pretty frustrated by the changes in social media algorithms recently. My instagram posts are being heavily suppressed because I often post about politics - so if you want to see my content, be sure to add my account to your "favorites"​ or sign up for post notifications. As such, I decided to go back to my Cirque Physio blogging roots. My old blog was REALLY out of date, so I totally scrapped it and am starting from scratch. So far, I've written about scapular positioning with overhead arm positions, tracking recovery when you have dysautonomia, and how to unlock stubborn hip flexors by addressing femoral nerve tension.​

Alright - although there is SO much more, I'll leave it there for now.

Actually, wait - I'd be remiss if I didn't give you three more (personal) life updates...you've been along for the whole ride, why stop now?

Update #1: Last spring (2024), my sweet soul dog Bella (who you all know and love), died. She was almost 15 - I adopted her as a pup - and we had the absolute BEST life together. I miss her every day.

Update #2: Last fall, my partner and I adopted Darla (aka The Duck/ Duckling/ Lambchop). She is the exact opposite of Bella, a total ham, and I love her so much.

Update #3: Last fall, my partner Tomara proposed <3 I couldn't be happier - she's been the most incredible partner and support system throughout the past couple years - she makes life SO FUN, and I'm SO freakin lucky. We're getting married sometime next spring (or right before the Supreme Court ends same-sex marriage, whichever happens first).

Okay...I think those are the major highlights - like I said, it's been a WILD couple years, and I'm looking forward to engaging with y'all in more intentional (and regularly scheduled!) ways now that I feel like a human again. If you've made it this far, drop me a line and let me know what type of content you'd like to see more of - I'm starting a list and I'd love to know what you're interested in!

Happy Wednesday,

Jen