The Stirland Approach

25/08/2026

When I saw someone else do this obviously I thought “hmmmm can I?” 🤨🤔

My first attempts made it very clear that wanting to do something and knowing how are two entirely different things.

Three days, plenty of failed attempts and several undignified landings later, my system finally worked it out.

Persistence kept me trying, but feedback meant that every attempt taught me something.

Getting older doesn’t stop your body learning. You just have to keep giving it reasons to

22/08/2026

BACK PAIN

Your bad back probably doesn’t need more strengthening

When it comes to back pain, we’ve focused so heavily on strengthening the muscles around the spine that we’ve almost forgotten about the spine itself.

Your spine is a chain of joints. Those joints need to be able to move, respond and share movement throughout the body.

This doesn’t mean strength isn’t important. It absolutely is. But strength is only one part of the picture.

If the joints of your spine aren’t moving well, continually doing more strength based exercises may not address what’s actually missing.

Joint mobility isn’t about forcing, stretching or chasing a bigger range. It’s about reducing unnecessary tension and helping the joints move and respond as part of the whole skeletal chain.

So, if you’ve worked hard to strengthen your back but it still doesn’t feel right, perhaps it’s time to ask a different question:

How well does your spine actually move?

DM me to hear about my next workshop:

WHY YOUR BACK STILL HURTS

04/08/2026

We are collab-ing !!

The Stirland Approach 🧘‍♀️and Rowes at Priory Gardens 💐are coming together to bring you what we do best under the setting of the summer sun.

Come and wind down for the weekend in the most beautiful of locations and take home a bunch of pretty flowers picked by you

✨ Introducing our brand new Golden Hour Retreat ✨

An evening designed to leave you feeling lighter, calmer and completely restored.

Begin with a warming tea before experiencing the incredible Angie Stirland’s unique approach to Movement—an intuitive practice that helps you reconnect with your body in the most uplifting way.

As golden hour settles across the flower fields, enjoy refreshments before wandering through our flower fields to hand-pick your own bouquet against the wonderful backdrop of Guisborough Priory.

The perfect way to end your week and surely one of the most unique wellbeing experiences in Yorkshire.

🌸 Limited spaces available.
🎟️ Book now via the link in our bio before they’re gone.
📍Priory Gardens
📆Friday 14th August
🕰️ 6pm-9pm

31/07/2026

HIP PAIN? It’s not more stretching you need….

I see videos every day promising the “best stretches for hip pain” or exercises that will “open your hips.”

But what does opening the hips actually mean? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Nothing. It means nothing 🙄

We use that phrase as though it explains what the hip needs—but it doesn’t. A stretch might create a feeling of length through the muscles, but that tells us nothing about how well the thigh bone is moving within the hip joint or whether the pelvis is able to respond.

These videos nearly always begin with the same assumption: if your hip hurts, the muscles must be tight, so they need to be stretched.

But what if those muscles are already working hard to protect the joint?

Taking a sore hip into a loaded stretch can create even more tension around it. That tension can affect the relationship between the thigh bone and the pelvis and restrict the very movement we’re trying to improve.

Hip health isn’t only about muscle length. It’s about how the joint moves—and whether the thigh bone, pelvis and spine are able to respond to one another.

Sometimes the muscles don’t need to do more.
Most of the time the joint just needs the freedom to move.

This is about recognising that hip pain deserves more thought than four generic stretches and an instruction to “open your hips.”

19/07/2026

The best way to finish a weekend

19/07/2026

At 54, I don’t want a body that simply looks healthy.

I want one that doesn’t just look healthy it is healthy

I want one that feels capable.
One that can adapt. One that can react in the moment

I want a strong body but I also want joints that can move, that are able to do the job that my joints should do

I want a system that’s able to listen to information, use it and create reactions because of it.

I want muscles that help me to move, that can be strong when I need them to be but aren’t just strong for the sake of it and definitely not just for aesthetics

I have a body that I’m proud of. It’s doesn’t ever give me pain, it moves fluidly and it’s still fairly adaptive even at 54. My skin might be looser and I definitely have more cellulite than I did last year, and in clothes I’m up a size from where I used to be.

But I’m so proud of where my body has got me that now I take none of this for granted. I look after my body the best I’ve ever looked after it, almost like a thank you.

Long gone are the days of restricting food, living on coffee, sugar and adrenaline and surviving in fight or flight.

Prioritising my health for my older self is my goal these days.

And that looks like;
- daily movement practise
- meditation
- therapy
- anything that helps improve my nervous systems resilience
- taking accountability for my responses and action’s
- nourishing my body with good food
- removing myself from toxicity and drama

If I can you can. I’m not special. I just learnt to listen to what my body was telling me

Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
(The Latin phrase my Grandad lived by 🤍)

05/07/2026

💥BACK PAIN 💥

One of the most common things I hear from people with back pain is:

“I need to strengthen my back.”

So they start doing core exercises, planks, sit-ups or back strengthening exercises.

But here’s what I look at first…

How well does the spine actually move?

If the joints of the spine aren’t moving efficiently, the rest of the skeletal chain has to adapt. Other joints compensate, muscles work differently, movement becomes less efficient, and over time the body can end up under more stress than it needs to be.

That’s why I don’t start by making someone’s back stronger.

I start by improving the quality of movement.

Because when the body moves better, it has more options. And with more options often comes less compensation, better efficiency and a body that’s better equipped to deal with the demands of everyday life.

Sometimes the answer isn’t a stronger back. It’s one that moves better.