“For it is in giving that we receive.” Francis of Assisi
Observations of many hundreds of bodies along with the need to preserve my own wellbeing and ability to continue with the work I love has only served to increase my yearning to learn as much as I can to understand more about how these marvellous complex bodies of ours work, and how to keep them well. I have a passion for posture and with an empathy for others developed through my own life experiences will do all in my ability to share what I have learnt on my path.
“For it is in giving that we receive.” Francis of Assisi
Observations of many hundreds of bodies along with the need to preserve my own wellbeing and ability to continue with the work I love has only served to increase my yearning to learn as much as I can to understand more about how these marvellous complex bodies of ours work, and how to keep them well. I have a passion for posture and with an empathy for others developed through my own life experiences will do all in my ability to share what I have learnt on my path.
My Story
“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.” Lao Tzu;
My Aunty Mary would ask me to massage her neck and shoulders when I was a child. I was fascinated by her stories of various complementary treatments that she experienced back in the 1970s, particularly reflexology. When she died from cancer I had recently experienced a traumatic life event and in seeking and praying for how to cope, I recalled my interest in learning reflexology. Aunty Mary was my guide for the next 10 years of my intriguing journey – I asked and I received – picking up a leaflet in a recently opened crystal shop led me to a local teacher; qualified in massage and reflexology I approached a local hospice asking if I could work for them as a therapist – it was such a privilege to work with the patients with whom I learned to develop intuition in my work and witnessing the grace that can be in the process of dis-ease and sometimes death; an interest in djembe drumming took me to Africa where Aunty Mary had spent many years – far more than ‘just drumming’ I was immersed in the meditation of movement and sound that is drumming, www.circlesofrhythm.com/blog/wp-content/…/The-Healing-Power-of-the-Drum.pdf ‘free the mind and the body will follow’ our drum master repeated, all the while correcting us on tension he could see, unknowing of my search for answers as to how to release the imbalances in our posture that cause us so much trouble –long term neck pain and carpal tunnel syndrome that I had feared would halt the work I love was cleared; his friend appeared daily to give me a massage and taught me traditional African techniques and a new level of working with stretches to the body reminding of its original settings; a chance email from a massage school I had studied at offered my the opportunity to go to Jerusalem (Aunty Mary had been there on holy retreats) on a healing project to work with suicide bomb victims – there my empathy and intuition for healing the whole beyond the physical deepened.
“Sometimes give your services for nothing.” Hippocrates
Close to my heart are England’s summer festivals. Early experiences at gatherings of like-minded folk opened a door in my world to a sustainable, self-sufficient, sharing and survivalist way of life. For many years I worked in exchange for the privilege to be part of many sustainable events, giving alternative technology demonstrations http://www.c-realevents.co.uk/, facilitating drumming workshops and performances, working in children’s areas or in information tents. For the last 25 years I have provided massages in return for affordable donations in the healing fields of The Green Gathering and Glastonbury Festival, and run my practise from my tent providing a calm space in the midst of high energy at many others.
“Take nothing but memories. Leave nothing but footprints.” Chief Seattle
I qualified in massage and reflexology in 1996.
I have trained and gained certification with ITEC (International Therapy Examination Council), GCP (Guild of Complementary Therapists, MSCM (Middlesex School of Complementary Medicine), SEED Institute, Lynne Booth founder of VRT, Gerry Puyves founder of No Hands Massage, LSCH (London School of Complementary Health), Paula Pluck’s SMART Foundations (Stress Management And Relaxation Techniques), Richdales Institute, Alexis Brink of Jin Shin Institute, Usui Reiki.
I stepped onto my journey as a complementary therapist 30 years ago and found the calling I had searched for.
