Holistic Massage & Bodywork

Massage, but not the conveyor-belt kind

Most massage is sold by the technique and the clock: choose "deep tissue, 60 minutes," lie down, get worked on, leave. I don't really work that way. I trained in holistic massage, which means I'm treating the person on the table, not just the muscle that's complaining and what your body needs today isn't necessarily what it needed last time.

So we start, as always, with a quick conversation. How are you, where are you holding it, what's been going on and then we work out, as we go, what your body's actually asking for that day.

What I might reach for

I've got a fair few tools, and I blend them depending on you and the day rather than booking you in for one named thing:

• Holistic massage — flowing, whole-body work that helps your whole system come down a gear. The ground the rest sits on.
• Deep tissue — slower, firmer work into the deeper layers and the properly stubborn knots. For when a gentle relaxing massage just isn't going to touch it.
• Myofascial release — slow, sustained work with the fascia, the stretchy webbing that wraps around all your muscles. When that gets stuck and tight, everything feels stuck and tight; this helps it let go.
• MET stretching — assisted stretching where I get you to gently push or hold against me, then we ease a little further. It works with your muscles rather than forcing them, so you tend to get more movement back without the ouch.
• Cupping — suction cups that lift and draw on the tissue rather than press into it, which can release tension and get things flowing. 
• Hot stones — warmed stones that let heat do some of the work. Lovely when you're tense, cold, wound-up, or need your nervous system to remember what calm feels like. I use the stones to massage with. Flowing with the stones.

You don't need to know which of these you want. That's my job, you turn up and be honest about how you're doing.

What massage tends to help

Knotted shoulders and a stiff neck, a back that's seized up, the kind of tension that's crept in from months of stress and won't shift, tightness that's lingered after an injury, or simply a body that's been running on empty and needs some proper, unhurried attention. Sometimes people come in for the physical and find something else loosens too. That's normal, and there's room for it here.

How to start

The first step is just a conversation. Call or text me on 07870 508912, or send a message through the contact page, and we'll work out what would help. Sessions are 60 to 90 minutes, from £55-95 depending on venue.