As a dual Summer and Winter Paralympian, practising osteopath and sought-after keynote speaker Jessica Gallagher is used to a busy schedule.
The Melbourne/Naarm-based athlete, who is classified as legally blind after being diagnosed with a rare disorder called cone dystrophy while in high school, was the first Australian to win both Summer and Winter Paralympic medals and has represented the nation in alpine skiing, athletics, cycling and rowing.
Jessica has recently returned from the Paris Games, where she won a silver medal in the tandem cycling, bringing her career Paralympic medal tally to four (two Summer and two Winter).
Jessica shares how she manages to fit everything in and finds time to unwind.
Unwind with… is a regular column that explores the simple ways interesting people take care of themselves.
A typical day for me involves…
On a relatively typical day, I've had a couple of training sessions, and in between those training sessions, I've caught up on emails. So generally, at the end of the day, I'm also catching up on emails with work stuff.
[But] post-Paris Paralympics, there's not really a typical day [yet]. My year leading into a major championship is very structured and scheduled … and coming off the back of the Paralympics, it's important to allow myself the kindness and space to not really have a lot of structure.
To find balance between training, work and other commitments, I have learnt…
That you're not always going to get it right but it's about understanding that my energy output is going to be high at certain times of the week, but on the flip side of that, I need to have the opposite.
I need to have moments in my life where I can recharge, because I've learnt that the best way for me to recharge is by internalising and becoming a bit of a hermit crab.
A change I've made to create space for joy or rest…
For me, it's prioritisation, so because I do have a number of elements in my career, understanding where my priority is right now in this moment in time.
For example, sport is something that's still been really important to me for the past few years, it requires a full commitment, but I'm also really passionate about my speaking career, and that also requires a full commitment.
So, as an osteopath, I choose to work part time. It's important to me to keep that element of my life active, because I love it, and it enables me to keep that career going for life outside of sport. [But doing it part time] allows me to do what's important to me right now, and that was being at the Paris Paralympics and being the best version of myself as an athlete.
How I navigate busy periods…
There are often months of the year where I'm exceptionally busy and have more going on than I probably should. So if I've got a really busy period coming up, then I'll intentionally schedule a down period afterwards.
A ritual or routine I use to stay connected to friends and family…
Planning ahead and having things organised is really important. I really love musical theatre, so maybe I'll have dinner and a show booked with a mate, where you can catch up with a friend and have a fun outing and socialise.
My diary is sacred to me. Once it gets put in the diary, that's where it stays, and that's not just the business side of my life and the training side of my life, but also the social stuff.
Something I do at the end of the day to unwind…
I don't find a lot of time to watch TV shows and things like that.
If I'm on my phone, I have things set up with large font, but not all apps are accessible. And so sometimes those things that I guess sighted people would do for relaxation aren't as relaxing for me. If I'm scrolling on Instagram … I can't see emojis and things like that, I have to screenshot and then try to zoom in.
Probably the most ritualistic thing is that I'll have a shower, and that's kind of like me switching off and going to bed.
My advice for unwinding…
I often will say to [osteopathy] patients: "We all want to give as much as we can to everyone else in our in our own lives, but if we're not giving back to ourselves, then we can't be the best versions of ourselves for those people around us."
