A journey shaped by experience, curiosity and a deep respect for the human body.
The majority of my working life has been within the healthcare world. Initially caring and supporting individuals within the realms of mental-health and neuro-diversity, such as Aspergers, Autism and Acquired Brain Injuries. Eventually discovering community care, for individuals with life changing conditions, compromised mobility, chronic pain and on a palliative journey. A world rich in diverse needs.
What I learnt from these experiences were invaluable. The importance of non-verbal communication, when words cease to convey needs. The real struggles to balance powerful side-effects of medication and remain functional. The tenacity, humour and grace these people met life with and the ramifications of changing family dynamics, as caring for loved ones ran concurrent with the demands of modern day life.
During my time in care, a nagging spinal injury sustained in 2000 after falling from my horse, made its presence felt. Despite exploring numerous therapeutic interventions, nothing worked. My remaining options – strong medication or nerve blocks. Until Bowen Therapy was recommended. With no idea what was involved, I took a leap of faith.
In two months, I was almost painfree and able to return to the gym. Not
only that, I noticed other historic riding injuries had healed and my
nervous system had calmed right down. It felt a bit surreal if truth be told.
As my Bowen journey continued I became curious. What could it do for so many like myself, and those I saw struggling daily, with physical and mental health. Becoming increasingly disillusioned with generic healthcare approaches, I made the decision in 2012 to train in Bowen Therapy.
I could not have imagined the door that was about to open into the world
of our fleshy animated forms, setting me on a trajectory that continues to
leave me in awe of the human mind, body and spirit.
Straight after qualifying, I dived into three days of human dissection, at the Imperial Medical College, London. Humbled by the experience and needing to know more, in 2014, I attended a six day intensive hands-on dissection course with Gil Hedley at St. Andrews Medical Univerity in Scotland.
This experience drastically changed the way I looked at the human form. The intrisic tissue connections not found in books. The soft tissue matrix that conveys a rich neurological network seamlessly embedded thoughout us, that never stops communicating. Perhaps the most profound was the absence of that electrical spark and energy that animates our fleshy homes. It has instilled such a depth of respect for the human form and that enigmatic life force that brings it alive, in ways I could have ever possibly imagined.
I continued to train in a plethora of Bowen led courses and as I came across more challenging cases, I began exploring the psychological aspect of fear around pain and movement. I was fortunate to train with some incredible peers, one who is no longer with us, was the late, great Stephen Braybrook.
He inspired those who trained with him to challenge the way we look at movement, its variation and how our emotional status influences our spine and locomotion.
In 2016 I discovered Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWorkTM, curious about my own 14” nephrectomy scar off I went. To be fair I was shocked to discover how much my gait, balance and breathing had been impaired and why my pelvis wouldn’t stablise. Yep you guessed it, this sparked another trajectory into Scar Therapy, a journey which still continues.
Training in numerous types of scar techniques saw me travel to Sarajevo in 2018 as a volunteer therapist, providing therapy for those that had been afflicted by the Bosnian war. Working with what essentially were old “war wounds” gave me the opportunity to work with individuals, their body’s and scars in very different ways. Ways in which I continued with ex-servicemen through the UK Forces Project when I came home.
As I continue to explore the world of the human form in all its riches, I feel incredibly fortunate for the peers I have trained with and those to come in the future, as learning never ceases.
My biggest credit goes to the incredible human beings that grace my clinic.
You are my biggest teachers and I thank you.
We're here to support you every step of the way.
