Saltbush Stretch
There’s a place where distance defines the day — where cracked earth meets big sky, and connection means waving at the neighbour ten kilometres down the road. For Em Armstrong, that place is home. From her property on the Hay Plains, she’s built something quietly powerful: Saltbush Stretch — a movement for women who live far from the studio lights, yet crave the same grounding, strength and stillness that movement brings. What began as a few homemade videos between feeding stock and fixing fences has grown into a community that stretches right across the bush. Out here, it’s not about perfection — it’s about persistence, laughter, and showing up, wherever you are.
Article BY ALYS MARSHALL | PHOTOGRAPHY by mads porter & sophie obrien
“I wanted bush chicks to have this.”
“Whoops — that was almost a nip slip,” laughs Em Armstrong through my laptop screen, mid-way through my Sunday morning yoga session.
Her workout top is giving her grief as she guides her Saltbush Squad through twenty minutes of practical (and key word — achievable) positions designed with rural women in mind.
Because, contrary to popular belief, yoga and pilates don’t have to be beautiful workouts performed in sleek activewear sets in matching neutral tones, promptly followed by an iced matcha that tastes like dirt.
If you, like me, are nowhere near one of these city studios, Em has a (much more fun) version for you anyway.
Her lovingly created Saltbush Stretch was born from a desire to bring movement to women in the bush — her “squad babes”, as she affectionately calls them.
No matter where you find yourself, no matter how remote your postal address or how flooded and impassable your driveway, Saltbush Stretch ensures you can always roll out the mat and move.
“It’s not like people in the bush have access to a heap of services, so I wanted them to have this.”
From the get-go, Em’s version of yoga was marked by the regional lifestyle she lives.
The videos — filmed in her back room with a view of her ever-evolving homestead garden — were made to download, a lifesaver for anyone battling dodgy rural internet connections.
She laughs as she recalls how grateful she is that none of her viewers minded hearing her husband chatting on the UHF in the background.
Despite the ever-present Wi-Fi woes of the bush, Saltbush Stretch quickly accumulated a loyal following online — and then, in-person too.
“Having everyone connected through Saltbush was always the most important thing,” Em explained.
“And I could have kept it just online, but I saw that everyone was going to Sydney or Dubbo or Orange — like these big regional centres — to treat themselves, to do something nice. And I thought, no, I’m going to build this little space and generate some growth in our little town too.”
And so, the Saltbush Studio began — offering yoga and pilates classes down the main street of Hay, in the Western Riverina country of NSW.
While I’ve never attended the studio in Hay, I know what it looks like, sounds like, feels like. And there lies the magic of what Em Armstrong has created.
Because there’s magic in the fact that I can open my laptop and roll out my mat on my dusty verandah, with poddy lambs bleating in the background, and still be part of a squad of regional women doing the same thing.
There’s also a little piece of that magic at 105 Lachlan Street, Hay, should you find yourself passing through in need of a bit of exercise — and a bit more connection.
This piece has been developed with the support of Saltbush Stretch
Image credits: @madsporter_photography and @sophieobrienphotography
