Episode 41: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast
#41 Physio to Patient: How Zoe McKenzie Makes Movement Accessible and Achievable
What if the problem was never that you can’t exercise, but that no one ever showed you the right dose for your body? In this episode, host Emily Johnson welcomes Zoe McKenzie, a physiotherapist, Pilates instructor, author, and the founder of Actively Autoimmune, where she helps people living with chronic illness, persistent pain and fluctuating energy find movement that genuinely works for them.
Zoe brings both professional training and deep personal experience, living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and lupus, she knows first-hand what it takes to move your body when it feels like you can’t. From a yoga mat, frustrated by the lack of visibility for people like her, she built Actively Autoimmune, with clients all over the world, and wrote her book Exercise Well with Autoimmunity (which Emily wrote the foreword for). Zoe also contributed to Emily’s very first book, Beat Arthritis Naturally. Whether you’re brand new to movement, starting again after a setback, or feeling stuck, this conversation offers warm, practical, science-informed guidance to help you move in a way that supports your body, not against it.
Topics covered:
Moving With Pain and Fatigue
• Right Dose Why movement is a dose to adjust and not a fixed programme to force
• Start Low, Go Slow Learning how to not push too hard and hit the wall
• Good Pain vs Bad Pain Finding your baseline and the warning signs to pull back
Pacing and the Activity Cup
• The Activity Cup How Zoe’s cup analogy helps to see activity building during a given day
• Boom and Bust The pattern of too much too fast and what to do about it
• Power of Rest Why rest is non-negotiable and never something you have to earn
Starting, Restarting and Staying Consistent
• First Steps Gentle strength and mobility and meeting your body exactly where it is
• After a Setback Using the dimmer switch mindset and that strength does return
• Finding Your Why Motivation, joy, and the five-minute-rule
About the podcast:
With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.
Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.
Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.
Episode Links:
Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist
FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download
Zoe McKenzie @activelyautoimmune
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/activelyautoimmune/
• Website: https://www.activelyautoimmune.com
• Book: Exercise Well with Autoimmunity
Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie
Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie
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