Why is the body my workspace?
When I was a kid you could have easily called me a feral child. I climbed the highest trees, spent summers paddling in bogs, rivers and lakes, and rode pretty much every pig, cow, bull or horse I could lay my hands on. I loved exploring the world. My body and my mongrel dog were the best and the most reliable companions I had.
But some years later came university. I had to give a presentation to a small bunch of students from my year. I was fascinated by the subject, I knew the group so I felt pretty confident. However as soon as I stood up and was ready to speak something unimaginable happened. I lost my voice, my breath became shallow and fast, my stomach crumpled, my hands were all tingly and my legs wanted to go somewhere else despite my will. I felt terrified and could not understand the reason. I somehow managed to scrape myself together and did a mediocre presentation, but the impression of being let down by my own body remained with me for a long time. I could not stop wondering, why was it that this previously faithful friend could abandon me at such an important moment?
So I started searching for an answer. Although I loved philosophy and science I knew that focusing on thinking wouldn’t help me much in this scenario. Intellectually understanding why the body goes against our will is not the samei as being able to stop it from doing so. I wanted something experiential, something that not only covered the theory but also practice, something that could be used to help me feel more at ease next time I stood in front of a group to speak.
In my explorations I stumbled upon Rolfing Structural Integration. The idea was simple: have 10 sessions of Rolfing, have your posture and coordination improved – and voila, you are a changed person. It sounded a bit too-good-to-be-true, but I read some raving testimonials and decided to give it a go anyway. Having had 10 sessions I can say, and without being bombastic, that the whole process changed my life. I got to know my body infinitely better, I discovered its innate resources and how to use them, and importantly, I understood its limitations. And yes – I was finally able to stand in front of a group and turn something that used to be fear into excitement.
The power of this experience was so valuable that I decided to share it with others. So here I am – now a certified Rolfer and a Body Confidence trainer.
My philosophy
Your body is full of delicious surprises. We don’t and never will know everything there is to know about the human body. It is full of little quirks, surprises and secrets. This makes this kind of work so much fun. When approached with gentleness and precision your body will show you the most fascinating secrets. You will for example discover that using your big toe has a huge effect on how you enter into a meeting room, or that a morning walk to the station can be tremendously liberating. Discovering these little gems has no limits and will make you feel ever so richer in yourself.
Gravity is the king. I know this sounds a little bit mystical, but our primary relationship is the relationship we have with the earth’s gravitational field. Its force exerts continuous pressure on our bodies to which we need to adapt. The quality of this adaptation has a huge effect on the quality of our lives, our freedom and capacity to express ourselves. Most of us have body areas that feel stuck and inflexible. This is a sure sign that the body compensates for a lack of gravitational support. By bringing your body to an optimal alignment with gravity the stuck-ness and inflexibility and associated symptoms usually disappear.
Body & Mind are one. Although we are mainly working with the physical frame, the effects of our work will have profound effects on your entire person. For example, the way we stand will affect the way we are supporting our nervous system which will affect our perception and our coordination. This in return will influence the way we feel emotionally and interpret the situations we are in. This interplay is happening constantly and each component of ourselves has equal value.
To change, be prepared to be challenged. We often get stuck in unhelpful patterns because we insist on doing things the old way. We often don’t event question or are aware why we do things in one way or another. Old habits die hard and to root them out we have to be prepared to question our most ancient and deepest beliefs about how our bodies should and shouldn’t look, move and function.
Patience. Sometimes we want to do too much too quickly. It is in fact a signature of our time to demand more for less. This philosophy doesn’t work when it comes to transforming our body and the relationship we have with it. Our bodies are living systems that are innately conservative when it comes to change. After all they so far succeeded in keeping us alive so their strategies are right. To persuade a lasting change we need be like gardeners, tending to our garden throughout the seasons, knowing that the harvest will come in time.
How I approach my work
I am above all committed to your change. When working with you I invest 100% of my passion, energy and knowledge in your transformation. I will sometimes make you stay longer than the agreed session time and perhaps work a little harder then you may have expected. After all what we both want is for you to succeed.
I adapt my approach to your individual needs. We all have different bodies and different stories that shaped us. This is why before every session I take an inventory of your individual resources and places of challenge. With this knowledge taken into account the change is sustainable and comes about more naturally.
We are in this together. I will work with you as an equal partner. A fellow traveler that has the maps but knows not the territory. I will certainly not know all the answers to your questions but will be delighted to ponder them with you. I will be committed to the path and the direction of our journey and on occasion I will be happy to be led astray to the unexplored places of wonder.
My education
I graduated in History from Sussex University in 2008 and have been studying the body ever since. My training is always focused on bringing more benefit to my clients. Apart from being one of only a handful of Certified Rolfing Structural Integration practitioners in the UK, I also am a certified ITEC Sports & Remedial Massage therapist. As a Rolfer I enjoy participating in annual supervisions and regular mentoring sessions. This is a fantastic opportunity to work with the most talented and renowned practitioners in the field. I also participate in trainings that help me to grow as a group coach. I am a proud graduate of the 6 month Inspiring Speakers Programme from Ginger Training & Coaching and a participant of the ORSC Alchemy programme.
I am fascinated by life sciences, and not only because of their funky names: Biological Anthropology and Physio-Psychology are my favorites as I can use their principles in my workshops and 1:1 work.
If you’d like to discover how you can revolutionise your body by working with me, click here to learn more about my programmes.
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