Combing physical therapy and yoga for whole health

“I grew up between Killington and Pico,” Andrea Trombley said, “and everyone I knew had blown out their ACL by the time I was 16.”

Trombley remembers driving her sister to physical therapy appointments and although she personally never needed physical therapy, she was intrigued: “I was just fascinated by anatomy and exercise. I wanted to have an active job so physical therapy seemed like a good choice because I could help people and also get up and move.”

The 51-year-old Shelburne resident has been a physical therapist for more than two decades and received a doctorate in the field in 2017. A long-time yoga practitioner, Trombley was certified to teach yoga in 2012 and last year she opened her own studio, Andrea Trombley PT and Yoga. “I combined the two because I found that the yoga practice I was doing helped my own body stay healthy to be a physical therapist,” she said, “and I found that my patients did their exercises better if I prescribed them as a yoga routine.”

Everyone she sees as a patient gets some sort of yoga for treatment, Trombley said. She noted that patients with headaches or stress benefit from breathing exercises and relaxation techniques, while others are aided by standing poses which help get patients into better alignment or poses that require strength.

“A lot of people end up in PT because they are tight,” Trombley said. “People don’t stretch enough and a lot of injuries come from a lack of flexibility. Adding stretching can help correct imbalances.”

Trombley offers yoga workshops for small groups at her studio and teaches a class at Yoga Roots, which has a larger space. She also leads a weekly workshop on yoga and anatomy for both yoga teachers and students at Yoga Roots. “It’s been really fun to have both teachers and students in the class,” she said. “We go through some of the poses and they ask questions about specific issues.”

A native Vermonter, Trombley has lived in Shelburne for the last 17 years. Although she grew up on the slopes, she now considers herself a fair weather skier. “I stood at the top of too many mountains freezing my butt off in my racing suit,” she said. “Now I go out a couple of times a year when the weather is perfect.”

These days, Trombley prefers taking spinning classes several mornings a week and enjoys hiking. Her 19-year-old son has challenged her to run the Vermont City Marathon with him so she is training for this year’s race: “I’ve never done a marathon, but when your son asks you to do something like that you say yes.”

Trombley’s specialty is working with women over 45. “Too many places are aimed at young men,” she said “and my niche is the older woman who doesn’t know where she fits in.” Trombley noted that sometimes women over 45 think they are too old for exercise and it is her job to change that mind set. “I like working with women and creating that motivation that you can keep pushing,” she said. “Just because you have injuries doesn’t mean you should stop. Injuries happen and you have to figure out how to keep going forward.”