Howland Muscular Therapy

12/11/2025

I know we don’t want to think about it, but December is approaching!

After a wonderful response to my Almost Thankful: A Different Kind of Gratitude Journaling experience (11 folks are joining me this month!) I want to gently start the conversation about my December experience.

Up next is a journal prompt advent calendar and the loose goals will be to restore the wonder, enchantment, and connection to the quieter roots of holiday magic.

Think: more whimsy, less commerce. More reflection, less hustle. More soul, less stress.

Prompts are delivered to your email every day* from Dec 1-Dec 25, and we have a Nearly New Year’s live, virtual gathering on Dec 28th.

Pre-sale is up now; DM me ADVENT if you’re interested. The first 15 folks to get in touch and sign up get a discount off the $35 price!

*If that pace is too much, I’m also offering a slower, self-guided delivery option of several prompts delivered each Monday.

03/11/2025

Are you ready to reconnect with the young dreamer within you? 'Return to 14' is here! This journaling prompt collection delves into your past to help you rediscover those lost dreams through Enneagram and Human Design. Get your copy for $11! More info: https://wix.to/lMVKq5M

22/10/2025

2025 has been *a year*.

Without diving into details, I'll say that I'm putting "Howland Muscular Therapy" as you've seen it on pause; and creating space for something that feels more aligned, more honest, more vulnerable, and way more exciting.

I would LOVE your support, especially if I've been able to support you in the past. The best first step is to spend an easy $30 to purchase my November holiday offer.

"Almost Thankful: A Different Kind of Gratitude Journaling" launches November 1, 2025 and will include 15 prompts about our journey with gratitude, delivered to your inbox every other day for the whole month; and a live, virtual reflection & journaling Bonfire Circle on November 30th.
One thing I've learned about gratitude this year is that, while it's so precious and vital, it can also be loaded. Pressured. Performative. Conflicted. So, in the season of thanks-giving, let's walk through it together.

Save your spot here:

Almost Thankful + Bonfire BundleYour full November journaling experience with thoughtful prompts and a community gathering..This bundle includes both:- 15 every-other-day printable prompts for November (PDF + email reminders)- A ticket to the Nov 30 Bonfire Circle (live Zoom journaling circle) You.....

07/10/2025

Big things coming for November! I've built an online store and here's what you can get:
- 15 prompts to help you journal away performative gratitude and dive into what's real, just in time for the holidays.
- The first Lighthouse live event: Bonfire Circles are live, virtual journaling & reflection events!
- A bundled deal if you want to get the prompts and a seat at the fire.

Check them out here:

https://www.howlandmusculartherapy.com/category/all-products

06/10/2025

New Post on the Lighthouse Substack!

AND - I now have special prompts for paid subscribers!

PM me "LIGHTHOUSE" if you want thoughtful essays PLUS prompts specifically for Enneagram, Human Design, & Burn Out/Body Disconnect.

29/09/2025

New Lighthouse post! https://open.substack.com/pub/ashleighhowland/p/gratitude-canyon?r=5spf99&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

For those of you who have no idea what this is for - it's a transitional step between the back pain world into whatever comes next for me. I'm starting quietly and softly, creating a space where high-achieving women who are dealing with burn-out, disconnect, and yes, back pain, can come to be held, seen, witnessed, and validated. If that sounds like you, comment "Lighthouse below" to get on the email list.

25/09/2025

What I showed you…

And what was actually happening…

What you saw:
- me showing up
- coaching riders through back pain
- creating programs, launching offers
- lifting heavy, walking dogs, super active
- getting things done

What was really going on:
- 3 burn-outs in 6 months
- $12k+ spent in coaching, $1500 ROI in a year.
- bone-aching, soul-deep fatigue and illness
- waking up excited Monday, then spiraling into failure and shame by Friday
- pushing and working harder and isolating myself while my nervous system tanked
- blaming myself for never “getting it right” and having “nothing to show” for my work

Escaping to Nova Scotia wasn’t just summer vacation. It was health-salvaging. And it’s where my Lighthouse community idea began.

Not from strategy, branding, or any coaching plan. But from necessity in a body that couldn’t keep up anymore. From morning pages and simple treasures that slowly brought me back to myself.

The Lighthouse Group is my way of bringing my Nova Scotia to other high-achieving/horseback riding women who are in pain, burned out, disconnected, and alone. You carry too much and don’t know how to put it down.

This is not a program and it’s currently free.

It’s weekly emailed reflections and journal prompts; optional space to share yourself and your words for witness; first access to deeper support if and when I create it and you feel called to it.

No fixing, no pressure, no time or financial cost right now.

Curious? Comment or DM me LIGHTHOUSE so I can get you on the list. You can join quietly, linger, lurk, participate, or come and go as you please.

Lighthouses are always here when you need them.

xx

23/09/2025

Are you ready to take the first step towards helping your body feel safer and more supported?

I’m here for you when you are.

Simply DM me “breathe” and I’ll send you my free quiz, “why the f does my back still hurt?!” to bring you into my humble but welcoming corner of the internet.

Yes. You’ll be on another email list.

But I’m less interested in selling you something you may or may not need than I am in creating a community where high achieving women working through back pain, body disconnect, and burn-out feel seen, held, supported, witnessed.

So yeah. I have an email list; but it’s not just for bombarding you with sales pitches.

It’s about bringing together people who are my work, read my words, and want to part of my community. We’re all a little lost, a little outside the norm, a little more marching to our own heartbeats.

The best first step into my community is DM or comment BREATHE so I can guide you to this safe, fun corner of the world.

Chat soon.

22/09/2025

New Blog Post on The Supported Rider blog!

"From Shovel to Saddle: How Barn Chores Trigger Back Pain (And What To Do About it!)

(And What to Do About It)Why small shifts during stall cleaning can make or break your rideThis weekend marked three full days of barn work. And for the first time in a long time, I felt… better after. Not worse.That’s new.Because normally, barn chores leave me stiff, sore, and bracing before I ...

19/09/2025

I’m creating the thing I needed most this year…

I think we can all agree 2025 has been…*a lot.*

I hit some pretty low points and while I feel tremendously better, it’s a daily journey, a messy middle, a foggy time of transition.

It’s uncomfortable and exciting and scary af and fun.

I’m learning to listen to ideas I would have ignored six months ago, and creating a community space for connection is calling to me.

I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I have lived experience and big thoughts, and even bigger feelings.

If connections, holding space, witnessing others and being held yourself are on your 2025 Bingo card, then seeing this post is your sign that something is being built that you will like.

DM me LIGHTHOUSE to learn more, ask questions, and get started.

Xx

15/09/2025

Blog post is up on The Supported Rider, and we're diving into why high-achieving horseback riders find it so hard to let themselves be on stall rest when they're injured.

Why your nervous system resists the very thing your body needs most; and how to begin again.For years, I believed healing meant working harder.Back when my own back pain started at age 11 after a riding accident) my first instinct was to fix it. I stretched, I strengthened, I iced, I foam rolled. La...