Where did you complete your training (or where are you still in training)?
I have completed my Facilitator training with Breathing Space and I have just begun working as a mentor for other trainees.
What do you enjoy about breathwork and how has it helped you?
What I love about Breathwork is how it brings me to a place of presence within myself at any moment of becoming conscious of my breath. When there are feelings of overwhelm, when I feel the call to rest more deeply or to face a challenging conversation, I love it that I can breathe and be present with emotions if they arise. There are so many ways that I am now able to use the breath to support me in life, to have a tool that brings me a sense of safety and resilience. Conscious connected breathwork gives me space to release old patterns and offer new solutions to life’s challenges. Breathwork has also connected me to a community of like minded people which makes me feel less isolated and part of something exciting and growing.
Are you trained in any other modalities?
I am trained in the holistic therapies of massage, reflexology and EFT. I no longer offer massage but used to use the breath with techniques to release tension and pain without pressure or force. I intuitively knew the power of the breath.
How do they integrate with breathwork?
I have always offered a mediation or visualisation and calming breath to begin a reflexology session. My reflexology treatments all now begin with Breathwork as a way to more quickly ground and land clients into the rest and digest state of being to allow the profound wisdom of the body to take over. Reflexology works by applying alternating pressure using the thumbs and fingers to the 20,000 nerve endings, meridians and zones of the feet. As the nervous system receives the information it enables mental, emotional and physical tension to be released. By actively engaging the breath into painful reflexes enables pain to be let go of much more quickly.
I also now offer ‘Breathology’, a journey beginning with Breathwork and intention setting, it combines some reflexology, followed by a Conscious Connected Breathwork journey. ending with reflexology energy balance technique, which has brought a whole new dimension to my therapeutic practice.
What is your personal journey?
My lifelong quest seems to be as a student at the ‘University of Life’. I have always been a seeker, curious and open to new possibilities. I began initial discovery into myself following a breakdown at 17 years old, I excelled at swimming and took that to National Level only to be stopped by glandular fever at 21. I recovered and completed Further Education as a Primary teacher but was left with chronic fatigue and anxiety, which has provided the inner work opportunities for me to master these ongoing energy and health challenges.
I retired from a 10 year primary teaching career feeling burnout and retrained as a therapist in massage, reflexology, EFT and reiki. During my 30’s I found the Ehama Institute based in the US who offered an amazing learning journey, a contextual framework for becoming a human being rather than a human doing! Earth Wisdom teachings from an ancient lineage, which opened up a deep connection in me to something greater, a nature based spirituality.
An auto immune thyroid condition was diagnosed age 40 at this point I began more self reflection and built a business offering Holistic therapies and then set up Essential Reflexology Training, sharing the benefits of reflexology with students.
In my mid-forties I made the leap to co-own a hotel on the Isle of Iona. What was going to be a four year transition back to my therapeutic offerings ended up as a 13 years full time time first as a manager then as baker and dessert chef….once again I reached burn out and came to a full stop. Time to reflect, rest and rethink those patterns of over producing and over doing. Six months later Breathing Space entered my life and it hasn’t been quite the same since. I am now on the threshold of a new start to better look after myself and to share the benefits of breathwork more widely.
What do you stand for, and what do you stand against?
I stand for walking my talk and being as authentic as I can be. The values of peace, fairness, compassion, forgiveness and love underpin everything I do. I believe strongly that it is never too late to begin again, to find new strengths and ways of being in life. I also hold all life and our inter-relatedness sacred.
I stand against, injustice, judgement and lack of respect at all levels including lack of care and support for the self! A good place to start if each of us is a container that seeks to hold others.
What is your greatest wish for your clients
My greatest wish for my clients in a session is to feel loved, held and safe enough to be able to let go at a very deep level. For them to feel lighter and more energised, to be able to look at challenges they are facing and find new ways through. To discover a deeper trust and resilience in themselves. That through our work together they will find new balance and strength to release the past and step into their lives.
