Versatile Fitness & Physical Therapy

12/27/2025

In addition to modifying workouts, I’ve been focusing a little more on relaxation and mobility of my hips and pelvic floor in this late third trimester of pregnancy.

Prior to this week, I had been ignoring the signs from my body and instead had been pushing through tough workouts like I’m used to doing. Rather than making me feel better, it was depleting me. A nice talk with helped challenge me to take more cues from my body.

As labor approaches, so much changes physically, mentally, and hormonally within the body. Everyone is different in the way this manifests but it’s important to meet your body where it’s at and give it some TLC.

My mobility circuit: 3 rounds
-15 yoga block hip shifts per side
-15 supported lunge hip flexor mobilizations per side
-2 minutes of rounded back deep breathing with side shifts

Harder than it looks!

12/16/2025

First full year as a business completed! ✅🥳

I set out in 2025 with goals to give more, learn more, and educate more. It fills me with gratitude to reflect on the year and confidently feel that I was able to do those things.

Sometimes it’s hard for me not to look back and think I should have accomplished more, should be further along, etc…but what I’ve realized is that becoming better will always be an ongoing process. It’s never something to reach because there will always be ways to learn, improve, and serve. Stopping that pursuit would be a disservice to those I work with.

I’m sure 2026 will look a lot different and a bit more chaotic with a newborn in the picture. No matter what, I’ll always continue to

✅ treat people with the highest level of 1:1 care they deserve without third party payer restrictions
✅ provide free and/or affordable education to the community to spread meaningful health information
✅ better myself as a clinician through ongoing mentorship and classes so I can be the best for my clients

Thank you to all who continue to support Versatile Fitness & Physical Therapy. Whether you’ve trusted me with your care, learned from a workshop, or shared content that could help someone in your life, I appreciate it 🩵

12/14/2025

✨ Wrap & Wander ✨
Saturday, Dec 20 | 11–5

Most of us have felt things get tighter this year. The days feel heavier. There may be fewer gifts under the tree, but the spirit is still here. Part of the beauty of this season is in the colors and textures—in the small acts that make a place feel more like home.

Bring the gifts you’re wrapping and let us take care of that part for you with donation-based gift wrapping. Then wander the tables and build your own Christmas cookie box, choosing from dozens of homemade treats laid out for you—fill a box with favorites to share or keep close.

Every dollar stays right here in our mountains, helping families through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and the long in-between seasons where support truly matters. It helps us show up in hospital rooms and hollers, living rooms and late nights—with care that is steady, local, and deeply human.

This is an easy way to give.
A neighbor-to-neighbor kind of giving.

Come wrap. Come wander. Come help us make this season feel a little more like home in these mountains. 🤍

Can't make it and still want to donate?
Donation link in the comments.

11/26/2025

Start your 2026 with a village behind you. ✨

At Birthstone, a non-profit serving all of Western NC, we believe that relationships come first and that every family deserves unconditional support.

We are driving perinatal resilience by offering FREE monthly community classes that honor your unique journey.✨

Whether you need guidance on breastfeeding, newborn care, or are seeking physical and emotional healing postpartum, we are here to walk that path with you.

Led by Brandi Harrison, IBCLC, these sessions blend evidence-based education with the gentle, holistic care our mountains are known for. 🌿

Come find your village, get grounded, and build confidence. Save your spot here 👇🏼

https://birthstone.intakeq.com/booking?categoryId=b110f5c8-52b7-4bdc-9c40-54821f1e1d3c

11/21/2025

I get a lot of questions about running and impact exercise postpartum, the most common one being “when is it safe for me to start running again?” Or “how many weeks until I can run again?”

Everyone wants a blanket statement like “12 weeks” or “5 months.” But I can’t emphasize enough that there is not a one-size-fits-all timeline for returning to running in postpartum. Just because you’re “cleared” at 6 weeks, doesn’t mean your body is magically ready for high-impact activity. I’ve worked with women who get back to running their goal mileage at 8-12 weeks, and others who it takes their body much longer.

👉🏼 My advice: don’t count the days on the calendar. Instead, work up to impact exercise by first hitting the milestones I outlined in this post. Let your body recover and build the prerequisite strength and control it takes to support your body in impact exercise.

Want more guidance? Come in for an evaluation and I can do my full exam and return to running assessment for you. You can also check out my free resource (linked in bio) on early postpartum exercise and the body’s signs you’re overdoing it. 🩵

11/09/2025

To all the ladies who continue running throughout their whole pregnancies- y’all are built different!

During pregnancy, your body is under a lot of stress and going through a lot of changes (to be expected!). These changes affect running mechanics and overall decrease running efficiency.

⬇️ trunk rotation: affects stride length and results in decreased force absorption with landing

⬆️ lumbar extension: tilts the pelvis forward, descending the pelvic floor and placing the glutes and core in less optimal positions to function

⬇️ glute activation: decreased pelvic control and power output resulting in decreased ability to absorb force with landing

⬆️ ground reaction force: often the result of increased body weight with pregnancy and the changes listed above. This is a major culprit for issues with pelvic pain and leaking p*e during running and other impact activities 💦

The bigger problem is that we often expect these changes to reverse quickly in postpartum but that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes we have to work to restore mobility and muscle function before returning to running and other impact actives without issues. These are areas I evaluate and treat regularly with my clients to help them return to running/jumping pain-free & leak-free 🏃🏻‍♀️💪🏼🩵

10/13/2025

The 🫖 on diastasis recti (ab separation) & coning in pregnancy

I’m 28 weeks pregnant..
YES, I have diastasis.
YES, I’m coning.
And YES, I’m still working out, including my core

Let’s talk about it ➡️➡️

Diastasis recti simply refers to the center abdominal fascia (the linea alba) elongating, which is a normal and expected adaptation during pregnancy as the center fascia widens to make room for the growing baby. Many people (like myself) actually have a wider linea alba at baseline but don’t notice until pregnancy puts more pressure on that midline.

Coning can occur when the abdominals are heavily challenged. The excess forward pressure on the midline results in the tenting or coning you see in the center of your stomach where the midline fascia has widened.

Diastasis and coning have been incorrectly feared for many years despite research demonstrating exercise having no negative effects. Recent studies show that core-specific exercise does NOT exacerbate or increase the widening in the midline.

Can we work on more optimal ways to use the core muscles and manage pressure in the midline in pelvic floor therapy? Definitely! But please know that you are safe to and even encouraged to continue exercising the core with diastasis 💪🏼

Drop any questions you have below! Or shoot me a message if you’d like to know the studies/research I allude to in this post 🩵

09/23/2025

Announcement!! 📢

I’m excited to launch Pelvic Pearls! 🤩

Pelvic health tips & information that I believe should be accessible to everyone. This isn’t your average, cookie-cutter advice. Each email is written thoughtfully by yours truly, an experienced pelvic PT & strength coach with years of years of clinical experience, continuing education, and evidence-based care. We’ll cover topics like:

✔️ strength & relaxation pelvic exercises
✔️ lengthening the pelvic floor
✔️ bladder function and leaking
✔️ peri-menopause & menopause
✔️ prolapse, diastasis recti, and other conditions
✔️ safe exercise in pregnancy and postpartum

+ much more!

Sign up here: https://versatilefitnesspt.com/pelvicpearls

🩵💎

09/18/2025

Curious about dry needling? 🪡

Come try it out for free next Thursday 9/25 between 4-6pm at Fusions Spa & Wellness for Sylva’s Friends Night Out event!

Needling is performed by a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy and can help alleviate muscle trigger points, nerve pain, neural tension, and more.

09/09/2025

Updates! Haven’t posted in a bit- been working on new resources and programs that I’m excited to share soon 🤗

Between building and running the business, serving amazing clients, and growing this beautiful baby inside me, it’s been BUSY to say the least.

I’m almost 23 weeks along now, and have had a lot of ups and downs. But I’m still here prioritizing my health and the things that fill my cup- biking, hiking, family time, and soaking up summer in the mountains. I’ve just had to shift my mindset to pace myself a little more than I’m used to, and that’s okay ⛰️🩵

07/26/2025

What a great morning with the Birthstone Breastfeeding & Wellness Center crew at the Live Love Latch event! There is so much support for new moms & families in our community 🍼👶🏼🙌🏼 thanks Latch WNC for putting this on

07/10/2025

With Birthstone Breastfeeding & Wellness Center, Brandi has created an amazing environment for families to receive resources and services in lactation and birth support. She has also made it possible for clinicians like myself and many others with services to offer to get the word out to the community and have a place to carry out services. I’m so thankful for this organization. Consider donating- this is not a business that we want to lose in Sylva! Truly person-centered care.

Big news!...
Birthstone is becoming a nonprofit! — and we’re asking for your help. 💛

For the past two years, Birthstone has stood beside families in some of their most vulnerable and powerful moments — offering lactation support, birth guidance, and more, community-rooted compassion. We've done it with heart, grit, and an unwavering belief that everyone deserves care that is safe, respectful, and equitable, and that innovative ways of meeting those needs MUST be made a reality.

Now, we’re taking the next step.
Becoming a nonprofit will allow us to reach more families across Western North Carolina — especially those on Medicaid, in rural areas, and those too often left out of systems of care.

It will allow us to circumvent the oppressive systems that make keeping a small medical practice open for a community whose needs are not reflected in the traditional system of payors, and where the immensely preventative interventions of lactation and doula care are not valued or seen.

To make that leap, we’ve launched the Rooted in Care Fund: Birthstone’s Nonprofit Transition Fund.
Your support will help cover startup costs of paperwork and filing, help use sustain core services so we never skip a beat in the care we provide, and lay the groundwork for long-term, grant-funded growth.

If Birthstone has touched your life — or if you believe in equitable care for Appalachian families — we’d be honored by your support.
Every gift helps lay the foundation for a more just, sustainable future.

Donate Here----->https://givebutter.com/eFJi4r