Become free of limitation.
My practice
Building safe relationships is the cornerstone of my practice and I provide a confidential and non-judgemental space. My work is strongly influenced by Polyvagal Theory. The theory describes how individual nervous systems co-regulate.
This holistic systems approach has evidenced the most change in myself and many clients struggling with unresolved structural pain and emotional imbalance. I have repeatedly found that encouraging a deepened awareness of the whole rather than symptom-chasing provides the most significant and lasting improvements in pain, posture and outlook.
Rolfing addresses the connective tissue - the fascia. Fascia is the skeleton of the nervous system - it is the structural, functional and emotional scar tissue. It’s role is to connect, communicate, sense and stabilise as a functional web throughout the entire body. We hold repetitive movement histories and unresolved traumatic response in the fascial system.
The brain’s job is to keep us safe and it learns heavily from failure - don’t we remember the few things that went wrong more keenly than all the things which went well? Our motor control centre is no different - it reorganises movement patterns in order to avoid structural failure when there is injury or stress. Once the injury or stress event is long over the dysfunctional movement pattern often remains. Neurokinetic therapy helps discover these patterns and is an invaluable tool to further understanding the relationship between sensory and motor (movement) control.
My therapeutic goal is to bring awareness to blindspots in movement, to release restrictions and then help guide the system to integrate the new, safe movement patterns. Long-term postural and behavioural change is achieved through careful negotiation with the movement and sensory systems that communicate via the fascia.
It is my profound experience that the re-emergence of natural free movement can in turn help a person in becoming free of psychological limitations.
I am immensely grateful that life has led me to this challenging and rewarding work.
My journey
Manic “over-functioning” was my survival strategy since my earliest memories. I came to the alps aged 18 and I didn’t miss a day at work or on the mountain for the next ten ski seasons. I worked busy manual jobs and endured intense discomforts in order to stay close to the high mountains where I felt the most at peace. Painkillers were a necessary and daily part of life in my twenties. By the time I tried Rolfing I had been struggling with structural pain, insomnia, addiction, bouts of depression and constant, often debilitating anxiety for over 15 years.
In the initial Rolfing process I discovered the many layers of movement dysfunction from multiple injuries and surgeries - but surprisingly I learned about the highly destructive role of traumatic wounding. I didn’t think I was a “traumatised” person. The work profoundly changed my perspective on trauma and how far reaching it could be. I started to realise that disorganisation in the nervous system could seriously affect my ability to do the sport I felt so deeply reliant on.
As I started to see improvements it ignited a drive to learn as much as I could about human structure and the nervous system. I went to South Africa to study Rolfing in 2016 and since then I have worked hard to include multiple approaches in my bodywork education (see Training).
Coordinating core stability with proper breathing mechanics has proved to be some of the most valuable recent work - and so it is always where I start structurally with clients. I also turned to minimalist footwear in 2018 and have experienced my feet strengthen and change shape. I carefully built up my distances over the last 5 years but I can now complete full multi-day technical runs in my barefoot shoes.
The alps provide a great platform for learning how to improve upon movement, endurance and resilience and I still enjoy taking trail running clients out for a few weeks in the summer as an International Mountain Leader. Learning to breathe, stabilise and run from the beginning again yielded incredible results in my sport. I am passionate about sharing this discovery with clients.
I learned that healing isn’t a destination - it’s an educational journey I have been on since 2016 when I finally asked for help. Rolfing was the first approach to show me that true perspective changes were possible - and that I could be the driver of that change. I could work to become free of all that psychological and structural limitation. It was an incredible feeling that has been driving me ever since.