SUNDRE — The pandemic was not enough to prevent a hometown cowgirl and former Miss Rodeo Sundre from pursuing her aspiration to alleviate a wide spectrum of aches and pains through her new osteopathy clinic.
Bronwen Cunningham, née Bowhay, who in 2011 wore the local rodeo royalty crown, was compelled to pursue a path in kinesiology following a personal experience that inspired her.
One of four children who grew up on a family farm, Cunningham recalled the time when her sister Arleta Thiessen bore the crown almost 10 years ago.
At the time, the crown was a new piece that was so heavy it ended up placing unnecessary weight and subsequently stress on Thiessen’s spine, eventually resulting in a bulging disk that caused numbness.
So Cunningham drove her sister to a Calgary clinic for treatment, and was impressed by the care Thiessen was provided.
“That’s where it kind of started,” said Cunningham about her decision to study kinesiology, which after earning her degree following a practicum in Calgary led her to specialize in osteopathy.
Although her studies began at Red Deer College, Cunningham went on to take courses through the University of Alberta, where she will this coming semester be starting her fourth year in the discipline.
“It’s my last year,” she said.
In the meantime, she opened her new clinic -- Fundamental Health -- this June within an existing clinic along the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor on the west side of Second Street South, called Back 2 Balance Wellness, which is run by acupuncturist Dr. Cindy Grainger.
But trying to start a new business amid the COVID-19 pandemic has been an uphill struggle. Especially since osteopathy clinics were throughout much of the public health orders issued by the provincial government deemed to be non-essential, meaning existing operations in the province had previously been forced to shut down, she said.
However, an effort led by a couple of osteopathy clinics that “for lack of better words had to fight" to have the profession recognized as an essential service, was eventually met with success, she said.
So during the latest round of restrictions, which were largely lifted July 1 when the province entered Stage 3 of the government’s economic relaunch strategy, osteopathy clinics were able to remain open under public health measures including masks, regular sanitizing, and scheduling time between patients, she said.
Growing up around the rodeo life and seeing how far people would have to travel to seek help, Cunningham said another aspect motivating her career decision was to provide a treatment option close to home.
Clients who step through her clinic’s doors are asked to fill out an intake form to assess their health concerns and help start down the path of identifying the origin of the health problem that has manifested, she said.
Cunnigham’s training enables her to treat a variety of issues affecting the skeletal, visceral, circulatory and cranial systems.
Some of the conditions she’s been able to provide relief for include recurring migraines as well as digestive issues.
“But one of the bigger ones is people carrying stress and tension in their neck and shoulders,” she said, adding that tends to metastasize into painful headaches.
Meditation and stretching can in such instances offer a level of relief, but there is also often the need to retrain one’s body into a normal routine of physical activity compared to what they might have become adapted to.
“The body can get in a state of dysfunction and be there so long, it forgets to go back to what it was structurally designed to be like,” she said.
