I have been involved in athletics all my life. I started rhythmic gymnastics at a very young age and competed provincially with it until about age 13, all while also playing soccer, volleyball, snowboarding and discovering waterskiing. At that age, I left gymnastics to pursue competitive waterskiing. Waterskiing introduced me to the sport that ended up becoming my passion – wakeboarding. Participating in a sport that, at that time, was predominantly male allowed me many opportunities that I may not have had in another more “female” sport. I competed at a national level and considered myself to be pretty badass to be able to flip and spin on my board.
At age 17 in 2005 while in a tournament in Kamloops and training for Nationals, I landed a simple, routine jump awkwardly and tore my ACL in my knee. That was the end of that season and the next. After surgery that winter, I spent the following season in rehab and finally got back on my board in 2007. During that time I had begun university at UBC studying kinesiology. I had the best season that summer after 1st year, learning new tricks, placing 2nd in Nationals and finding myself a place on the Canadian Junior National Wakeboard team. Unfortunately, after returning from training camp in Florida that winter I knew something wasn’t right in my knee again and after consults and imaging it was determined that I had torn my ACL again along with my lateral meniscus. This time, surgery wasn’t quite as simple and the recovery was a lot more strenuous. I was deep into my studies at this point and made the decisions to not continue pursuing wakeboarding. This decision was always a tough one to reconcile because it wasn’t on my terms, it was forced from an injury, something outside of my control.
I missed wakeboarding and the people I knew from the sport tremendously in my first year off and dealt with a lot of emotions as the next season started and I watched my friends and teammates continue competing. I felt like I was missing out (and as a 20 year old the fear of missing out was a huge issue for me generally) and I struggled to find something else that I enjoyed so much. I played volleyball, soccer and snowboarded but was always much more conscious of my body and harboured a lot of fear of re-injury.
The anxiety and lack of confidence in my knee was the next difficulty I faced in my recovery. Going from a strong and fearless 17 year old to a 20 year old who was too timid to fully kick a soccer ball was an internal battle that still lingers to this day. Through much rehab and soul searching I have found a much improved confidence in my knee to do all the things I desire, however I lost a lot of active potential from my 20s and still sometimes wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t injured my knee.
Although it sounds like the story of a sporting career ended far too soon, this story actually has shaped who I am. The universe has a funny way of shaping who we are to become and I really believe that I would not be the person I am today if I hadn’t had that experience. From there on I continued my studies and dedicated my learning to understanding the human body. I received my Masters in Physical Therapy from UBC in 2014 and since then have continued to pursue higher education. My career was shaped by sports and the resulting injuries and I now dedicate my 9-5 to helping others perform injury free. Learning never stops for me, I have spent much of my time since graduation in courses and helping to teach courses. Now, being able to help other athletes recover from their own injuries has helped me to reconcile my own athletic career ending. I have a new purpose and can relate to a lot of my clients.
I have always only had one gear; full tilt. As someone who has spent most of her life in the pursuit of athletic and educational excellence, I have learned that it is very easy to become burned out and overwhelmed emotionally, physically and mentally. This has led me to seek out strategies to achieve my own lifestyle balance and to share these strategies with others. I founded The Balanced Collective in 2014 as a small blog to share health and fitness tips. TBC has grown in last 4 years to not only be a blog, but a lifestyle movement. Through my new pursuits of balancing education, career and fitness, I have met some brilliant people and learned some great, balanced ways to re-energize and wanted to provide others with a way of learning these same things. The Balanced Collective now has three main pillars – The Balanced Ideas: my blog and podcast where I share my musings on health and wellness and interview other practitioners and entrepreneurs to learn about their own self care strategies; The Balanced Experience: retreat offerings internationally and locally where guests can recharge through movement (fitness, yoga and adventures), healthy food and relaxation; and The Balanced Sessions: local workshops and education seminars featuring health care practitioners and fitness/yoga instructors – all while networking with other like-minded people over a drink and some food.
My athletics pursuits now are much more balanced (if you will) now. I have discovered CrossFit as a way to build my fitness and also continue to snowboard and wakeboard recreationally. I like to play beach volleyball in the summer and hang out in the mountains hiking and snowshoeing on the weekends. I have realized that training my mental and emotional health is equally as important as my physical fitness. Something I am really focusing on is learning to relax and not feel guilty when I miss a workout or an activity. I used to have a lot of anxiety and guilt when I missed a workout, now I am much more in tune with my physical and emotional needs (although they are always a work in progress) and recognize that sometimes I need a bath and a book more than a forced workout. The Balanced Collective is all about helping others find their own version of Balance and I strive to be a role model of that for others and if my story can help someone else through an injury, burnout or a generally tough time then it was all worth it.
Danielle Boyd, Physiotherapist/ Founder of “The Balanced Collective”
Any individuals in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com