The importance of touch
At the heart of my work is the quality of touch – attentive, listening and responsive. This creates space for clients to notice the character of feeling and sensations in their body. Unlike bodywork that is more forceful, my approach emphasises presence and subtlety.
Facilitating embodied awareness
I aim to help clients connect with their whole embodied self - feeling and sensing their body as part of their whole lived experience, both physically and emotionally. Exploring the inner landscape of the body helps us to recognise the patterns that shape us: postures, movement habits, areas of tension, disconnection or tiredness.
At the same time, embodied awareness can put us in touch with how we are emotionally and reveal how our body and emotional life are deeply intertwined.
Offering support and grounding
I approach each session with empathy and understanding for life’s complexities and challenges. I recognise the importance of feeling supported, grounded, and settled, and I strive to facilitate this through being open, present, and fully embodied.
Promoting natural capacity for healing
I believe each person has a natural capacity for healing and transformation. Working with the ‘meridians’ of the Chinese healing system (the flows of life force energy, or bioelectricity), Shiatsu aims to support and enhance this process.
Working towards lasting change
Sessions begin with a conversation about the changes clients would like to see in relation to a symptom or feeling. My guiding principle is to support clients in developing awareness and insight into their life patterns and habits, many of which are unconscious. Therapeutic touch is so valuable here as it provides space for new sensory experiences, deep emotional connection, and a felt sense of the body.
From this process, clients may:
- Find different ways of being in their body in everyday life
- Understand how physical symptoms may relate to experiences of the inner self
- Grow awareness of unacknowledged or unexpressed aspects of themselves
- Cultivate new feeling states and ways of meeting needs
- Develop resources and tools for self-support