Dimity Thompson has been with Physiocise for 15 years, but has been a physiotherapist for much longer. The first part of her career included working in the country, working in hospitals and running her own private practice in the city, but it seems – if her bubbly enthusiasm is anything to go by – that she’s found her purpose at Physiocise.
“We want people to wake up every morning and feel inspired,” says Dimity, describing the Physiocise philosophy. “We want people to come in and feel really safe – we want to help develop their confidence. And we want to help fulfil their movement needs.”
Founder, Anna-Louise Bouvier, launched Physiocise in 1995 after spotting a gap in the market for a more augmented form of physio that focused on continued maintenance and self-care; a big picture solution. An initial consultation takes about an hour and a half from which a customised program is then designed for the client.
“It’s more than just the one hour of exercise each week,” explains Dimity, “we want to really teach [clients] more about their bodies. We give them a lot of pre-class reading… we have lots of different programs that target all their different needs. We also send them lots of weekly videos that give them little snack exercises to do at home.”
In the beginning, Physiocise was targeted at young, hyper-mobile people who tend to have trouble sitting or standing still for any length of time because they were too flexible (hence, the physios started referring to them as “floppies”). They are still a large portion of the clientele.
“They love coming into a class where we can look after them. We know exactly how their bodies work and how to get them stronger,” says Dimity. She herself is strongly focused on women’s health.
“I also look after women in their child-bearing years, so when their pelvic floors are a little bit weaker or they’ve been looking after young children. We’ve developed a special program for that called Core Burn.”
It helps strengthen core and is good for balance and flexibility. Many peri-menopausal and menopausal women also find it helpful.
Another very popular class is Strong Bones, which aims at improving bone strength and density through combining diet, sunlight, and movement.
Classes can be taken in studio or at home via their online platform. Dimity now has clients across the country doing her classes.
Physiocise has had its studio in EQ for around 8 years now. Prior to that it was at Willoughby and in the Sydney Football Stadium.
“I’d say this practice has made a big difference in terms of boosting up our image and our awareness to the community […] Often on a Saturday morning I’ll be teaching here and I’ll be talking to people as they come up and down the street; they’ll come up and want to know what’s going on.”
Some of their clients include workers from around the precinct and occasionally dancers from surrounding studios will pop in.
For Dimity, it’s an ideal place to work.
“I love being in EQ. I just love the atmosphere. I love looking out there at the fairy lights that are everywhere. I love the markets. I love that my kids can come here and can run up and down the street and are ready to jump in my class as soon as I’m finished. It’s just got a lovely atmosphere; all the people that work here are lovely.”
She’s got three favourite cafes – which she diplomatically refuses to name – and loves the gozlemes at the markets. Dimity wasn’t all that familiar with EQ before Physiocise located here, but is a complete convert now – especially being a mother of three young girls.
“[EQ] is great for families – it’s got the movies, it’s often got the jumping castles out there, they can just roam up and down on their bikes. My kids have come into work with me for 10 years and they get bummed when they can’t come into work because [here] they can just roam free.”
It’s equally popular with clients.
“Parking’s good – that’s another big seller for our clients. It’s got nice, easy parking, you never have issues,” says Dimity. “So for the clients, they love coming here too. It’s got that nice feel about it – like its own little community within a community – a little village.”
Check out the newly released Podcast from Physiocise.
