My Philosophy

Healing our Beautiful Bodies through Conscious Listening

As a Remedial Bodywork Practitioner, for me to be able to help my clients to find health and wellbeing mind and body, I firstly  need to understand WHY they are in pain, what the primary cause is and follow the trail and pattern of restrictions within their body.  

With quiet listening hands, I follow these adhesions through the fascia which envelopes and holds our musculo-skeletal, visceral and nervous system from beneath our skin down to a cellular level.   

Connecting and following the fascia web of the body draws me into the adhesion(s) to its point-of-ease and by continuing this direction and holding the body, it allows my hands to connect deeper. Through further listening to the body it communicates whether the restriction needs to be elongated and opened by movement away from its point-of ease, or to remain held within its fulcrum of comfort. 

Following and listening to the dance of the tissues the adhesion softens and releases, often feeling like the body has melted giving a sigh of relief. The client may experience this release through; taking a deep breath; feeling the pain and discomfort release and dissolve away; feel a wave of warmth or heat rise through their body and they may also feel emotional as the body holds and stores unresolved emotions.

An intrinsic part of this physical and emotional healing is for the client to be able to slow down from their lives and to find time to truly Listen and Observe their body.  Chronic pain and injuries are generally a development of adhesions and restrictions forming a compensatory response overtime, which eventually can no longer be held…something gives way.

The tapestry of our lives are represented within our bodies, the unresolved physical and emotional traumas, child birth, accidents, surgery, medication and the general day-to-day life and perceived requirements and stresses are all held within our bodies creating physical adhesions and restrictions.

The body will often highlight this through “niggly” or minor health issues, the body is waving a little white flag for us to listen to and to take notice and to take the required actions. These positive actions could be finding “ME” time for rest and relaxation, meditation, gentle exercise, reviewing of one’s diet and lifestyle and  seeking help from professionals  to help you understand why you are experiencing these issues , for treatment and lifestyle advice. 

However, we don’t always listen to these issues, the white flag; we most likely see these as the body being “a pain”, as it isn’t letting us do what we want to do at the pace we wish to do it at! We may get annoyed with our bodies as it is perceived as a sign of getting old, or you feel the only option is to take medication which most likely masks the symptoms rather than address the cause. 

So rather than listening to our bodies to truly understand what love and care it needs, we ignore them and continue on our ways. Our bodies then become more fatigued, forming more adhesions and restrictions, possibly impacting the functionality of the organs, until the body is unable to continue in this way. As a way for our bodies to protect itself, it increases the symptoms so that they cannot be ignored.  It waves a large red flag, such as acute pain that we can barely move, disease or an illness.

It is at this point we take notice and seek medical help and hopefully a professional therapist like myself, hoping you will be fixed and back on your way, back to normal, similar to your car or bike. 

However, our beautiful and intelligent bodies are not just a vehicle that does what our minds want to do, they are a part of us, they need to be listened to, honoured and loved by us. Sometimes we have to look within ourselves with honesty and vulnerability, maybe there are painful memories or patterns in one’s life that are being held by the body and to be truly free, these emotions need to be acknowledged, accepted and released. 

…Our bodies are intricate layers of the physical and emotional…

… As we listen to our bodies and unpeel each layer of ourselves we find the cause… 

…Through this Enlightenment we have Empowerment…

My ethos and role as a Bodywork Therapist is to be able to see my clients as a whole, their mind and body, not just their presenting ailment and symptoms. By following the body’s tapestry I seek the root cause be it physical and/or emotional. 

From listening to the body we gain knowledge and realisation, it empowers the client and as a partnership we are able to unpeel these layers to heal their bodies and their mind.

A case study of how our mind and body are connected

A client comes to me presenting chronic back pain which they have suffered with for several years, they are debilitated with the pain and are considering surgery. Following a comprehensive consultation I start to see a picture or pattern unfolding about their body…

Imagine a person who had a  trauma earlier in their life, this experience  made them wary of the future, they felt out of control, they felt stressed and worried as they were still holding onto this trauma mostly likely rooted within their subconscious.  To rationalise and control this fear, to feel at “ease” with life they begin to plan and control every aspect of their life, possibly other people within their lives, believing that no other unexpected traumas would happen again, because they have it “under control”. Unbeknown to them, this way of being becomes the norm to them; it becomes a part of their character and way of life.

Through this worry, stress and tension and holding onto the trauma, the intestines and digestion system becomes restricted and irritated, as this is where we store worry. This causes them to experience symptoms of indigestion and feeling bloated with the odd lower back pain and twinge. To subdue these symptoms they take medication and continue their ways.

The adhesions become greater and more restricted within the intestines, they start to find they can’t tolerate as many foods anymore, they feel more fatigued than normal, they get more bloated with a fluctuation of bowel movements, they generally feel more stressed, tend to overreact to situations more, the back becomes more restricted with increased pain, they can’t do as much, this is put down to just getting older, so it’s simply accepted as this, they take medication to subdue the symptoms and carry on their life.

The adhesions and restrictions increase within the digestion system, they start getting sharp pain in their groin and hip area, often referring down their leg. Their back stops them from doing the activities that they enjoy, they feel so much more inhibited in their movements and they feel more fatigued and debilitated from this discomfort. 

They seek medical help and increase their medication to reduce the pain, they practice a few stretches yet with no resolution.

They become quite frustrated, angry with themselves and their body as they can’t stop nor control it, they don’t know what else to do, they feel lost, down, depressed, which brings in further anxiety as the situation is challenging them how they have always conducted themselves, being in control. They are considering surgery as this seems like their only option available, what else could they do?

As a last resort, they seek “alternative” help, they find me.

Through the detailed consultation I see a correlation of the digestive symptoms of fatigue, food intolerances, indigestion and the back pain. Listening to the body I am directed to the lower left hip towards the groin, this is where the sigmoid colon is located. The colon nerve supply is through the lower back, it is also linked by fascia to the femoral nerve and artery which supplies the hip and leg. I’m also drawn to the small intestines which has an in direct attachment to the spine through its blood and nerve supply the Mesentery, restrictions here will cause pain in the lower back

Emotionally the intestines are affected by over-worry and anxiousness, a tendency to be over-protective of one’s family. These emotions cause tensions within the gut, you may have heard of “tying oneself up in knots”, hence the functionality of the intestines are reduce in absorbing key nutrients, which are vital for our overall health, our energy levels and immune system, paving way to food intolerances and fatigue.

Through explanation of the connection, whereas the client before had thought all of the symptoms were unrelated, they are enlightened and empowered to be able to make positive changes within their life to help themselves heal. 

Alongside the physical treatments, connecting and releasing the trauma held within the body, they practise diaphragmatic breathing and mediation; they follow a healthy balanced gut-healing diet, which improves the intestines health and improves their vagal tone, which is imperative to the health of the mind and body. 

Their pain gradually reduces, they feel much more positive and relaxed about life, things do not stress them out like they used to, they are calm and at peace within their body.