ABOUT ME

A bit of info about me…

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I have worked in a variety of healthcare settings over the last 20 years, initially practicing as a reflexologist within a busy Holistic Health Centre. Working at the clinic provided me with extensive experience across a range of concerns, including: anxiety, stress, pain, fatigue, women’s health issues, and cancer. Co-treating with other complementary therapists, consolidated my view that holistic health care is vital in achieving and maintaining a state of wellbeing. I also believe that it can be a huge support to conventional medicine - confirmed for me by working as a therapist at a Macmillan wellbeing centre, for a number of years.

I’d initially dismissed yoga for myself, thinking that it was only for super fit, bendy people! An accident in my early twenties had left me with chronic pain and restricted mobility, and friends that practiced yoga could contort their bodies into all sorts of amazing shapes! It was during my pregnancy that I realised yoga really is something that is accessible to everyone, whatever your ability, body shape, size, level of flexibility, emotional state or life experience. The understanding that yoga is so much more than postures pushed me to explore yoga therapeutically. 

During this time, as a mother meeting other parents, I became increasingly aware of the number of children suffering from stress, anxiety and trauma and the struggles these families often had accessing the help they needed. I personally found yoga therapy so helpful for both me and my son in terms of navigating our way through difficult times, I decided to train so that I could offer others that support. I am now a Yoga Therapist for Children and Young People, which I love, and have also trained in Integrative Somatic Techniques to further support those I work with. 

This was also a massive turning point for me in terms of my own sense of health, wellbeing and regulation.

I now offer support to parents and carers of the young people that I work with as well as individuals experiencing mental and physical health difficulties, stress, anxiety, trauma, burnout and fatigue. Chronic pain is another big part of my work and I offer support through yoga therapy and mindfulness, integrative techniques for nervous system regulation, breath work and clinical reflexology.

A common theme for many of the people that I work with now is overwhelm, for all sorts of reasons. I have lived experience of this and have truly benefited myself from the mind-body and body based therapies that I offer.

As well as working privately, I am a Director of the Manchester Wellbeing Rooms CIC, offering treatments, workshops and health programmes to the local community.  My Co-directors are an Acupuncturist and a Nutritional Therapist and our aim is to make affordable, quality therapies accessible to all. We are about to move into a new premises where we will also be joined by some other therapists, so it’s all getting very exciting!

I am also a Yoga4health teacher offering social prescribing programmes through the Yoga in Healthcare Alliance and I run educational and self care retreats for reflexologists, as Co-founder of Equilibrio.

Outside of work my big passions are singing, family, friends, camping and sunshine - maybe not living in the best place for that last one!