Meet Amy Vander Linden | Physical Therapist and owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Vander Linden and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
I disagree that entrepreneurs have to hustle and grind. I know that for myself, and many other women who own their own businesses, we are done with that. I’ve now had my own business for over 10 years and have seen the emergence of a lot more female coaches. It didn’t used to be that way. The definition of success is shifting and we get to create it. I have had a lot of success through sheer perseverance, but that kept me partially in survival mode – and I’m exhausted,

I have endured a lot of changes this year and they have brought me back to my foundation with the opportunity to really ask myself what do I want? What do I want this next phase or season to look and feel like? I am a person of faith and God has really been reminding me about my true and original calling in the work I do. The clients this is attracting want far more than pain relief or post partum recovery. They want true healing, freedom from old beliefs and holding patterns to live their best lives, whole and integrated.

For me personally, my favorite and most challenging piece of what I do is that it requires me to keep doing my own healing work or I won’t be able to keep guiding clients along that journey. This year that has mostly involved somatic breathwork sessions. The largest shift has been connecting to my feminine side. This might seem obvious but I can promise you (without telling you my entire life’s story) that I have largely focused on my masculine energy, particularly when it comes to running my business. My coaches were male, a lot of my colleagues are male and the models for success were often with male leadership at the helm. I was also raised by a single mother without a strong male presence in my life until age 12 and I believe that shaped me. There are many parts of me that like the grind, the chaos, the fight, the digging in, but that’s why my soul is also rung out and exhausted. I’m out of balance. And so the pursuit of my feminine side continues.

Shifting this energy has also shifted the dynamic in my marriage – all of this requires a deep commitment to growth and change and I’m so glad I married a man who is committed to that growth, even when he doesn’t understand what’s going on. We truly try to embrace that things are happening for us and not to us. It’s a much more empowering way to face the world, with faith at the core of that guiding us.

I think it’s always valuable to pause and ask yourself why you’re doing the things you’re doing. Are you truly choosing it? Don’t go along to get along, especially if you own your own business or are trying to create something. It will get lonely and it will get hard so make sure you’re at least doing what you want to be doing. That has been my biggest win this year and something that is changing how success looks for me. If there wasn’t a huge “do what the F I want” factor, it would’ve been much more difficult for it to feel worth it. You don’t have to do what others are doing and you don’t have to grind – especially not yourself into the ground. Hard work is involved but choose your hard!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are a physical therapy practice that specializes in helping men and women get free from pain, trauma and restrictions to be more active and live without limitations. We use myofascial and visceral manual therapy to address holding patterns and tension with an emphasis on pelvic and sexual health. This year, we added radial shockwave therapy to our practice which is amazing regenerative medicine that is cutting edge and has patented protocols for improving clitoral orgasms and also treats ED, pain, scar tissue and this is helping us provide amazing healing to women with PCOS, endometriosis, fertility and menstrual issues, for whom there are often no answers or true healing.

Medicine and healing are ever evolving and I’m proud that we’ve stuck to our roots of myofascial release, which is unparalleled at addressing underlying tension and trauma, yet adding a cutting edge service like shockwave to the practice, which is furthering our pursuit of addressing sexual health for men and women. We are the only pelvic PT practice to have the Cliovana protocol and be using radial shockwave for this.

Our space also has a yoga studio, massage and stretch therapy as well as a Naturopath and Myofunctional therapist who practice there. I explained a bit about how I got here in my previous answers and advice but it’s definitely not easy, but you can absolutely make it worth it. Business is always about people so pick some good ones. Aligned values are more important than skills.

I’m here to help people know their own bodies, regain confidence and trust themselves on their healing journey. We all have that healing power within us. I’m here to unleash it and help them feel free!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would likely head to Sedona for hiking and possibly Prescott or Jerome for the small town feel. L:a Mariposa is probably my favorite Sedona restaurant.
Locally, we would go to Mochileros, maybe some shopping in the Norterra area. There is lots of hiking and awesome restaurants right in north Peoria so no need to go too far from home.
Catching first Friday downtown is always super cool and an unexpected cultural melting pot so might go there if the right time.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
God absolutely deserves all credit for any success and any changes or awareness I’ve gained. Then of course my husband, who shifts and changes and is committed to growth right alongside me. He is supportive, encouraging and helps me see varying perspectives.
Then there is Kate Shipp, my somatic breathwork therapist. She is also a business owner and person of faith so I see her walking the walk and she gets my journey in a unique way which is so valuable and meaningful to me. In our sessions, I see things more clearly and can integrate pieces of myself more fully. This has been a huge piece of me recognizing that my heart was guarded and leading to some of the patterns in business I didn’t want to continue.
She and I have created a 1 day workshop for healing sexual trauma. To do that kind of sacred work (which she and I both do on a regular basis), we have to keep healing ourselves. I’m forever grateful for her guidance and our shared passion for deeper healing work.

Website: https://www.momentoftruthpt.com

Instagram: https://www.instragram.com/momentoftruthpt

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/80325393

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MomentofTruthPhysicalTherapy

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MomentofTruthPhysicalTherapy

Image Credits
Angel Martinez