Urban Tool Massage & Bowen Therapy

23/04/2026

I've had my eight hours, (some of you are still sleeping I presume? 😆). Since I have a rare day off work, I'm up bright and early, drinking my coffee while getting the benefits of the early morning (blue light) sun while I'm still cozy in my bed. When high-intensity blue light from the morning sun hits the melanopsin receptors in your eyes, it signals to your brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that the day has begun.
​This stops the production of melatonin (the sleep hormone) and triggers the release of cortisol, giving you natural alertness without needing a third coffee. It sounds counterintuitive, but our quality of sleep tonight depends on what we do in the morning. Early sunlight exposure helps regulate the timing of our melatonin production. By seeing the sun at 7:00 AM, the brain "sets a timer" to start making you sleepy about 14–16 hours later.
Morning sunlight exposure is also linked to increased synthesis of serotonin, the hormone responsible for stabilizing mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness. Nature provides everything we need!

22/04/2026

In CST they call this an 'energy cyst'. When the big debate go's on about fascia storing emotions, I think it's taken too literally at times, but I do personally think there's a very real connection, call it what you will. So for me, it's important not to slam that door shut, I'm staying very much open minded on the subject. I am my own best teacher, my body is forever on it's own journey of discovery and the answers always lie within.

🧠 Nervous System First Aid: Beyond the Ice Pack
We’ve all been there: the loud thud, the immediate cry, and the rush to grab the frozen peas. But while we treat the “bump,” are we treating the nervous system?
When a child experiences a fall or a concussion, the physical impact is only half the story. The other half is the startle response—the moment the nervous system “locks” in anticipation or shock. If we don’t help them move through that energy, the body can stay in a state of high alert long after the bruise fades.

Mini course this weekend for anyone, but definitely parents! Covering nervous system regulation, vagus nerve toning, nervous system treatment and more. Early bird through Wednesday, dm or comment “ouch”

🔄 Shift the Pattern
First aid isn’t just about preventing a bruise; it’s about ensuring the trauma doesn’t live in the tissues. By supporting the sensory-motor loop immediately after an injury, we help our kids return to a “neutral state” faster and more effectively.
HolisticHealth

*always consult doctor for serious injuries, but can still utilize after medically cleared.

21/04/2026

21/04/2026

Dem Bone's, Dem Bone's. 🤝👏👏

Bone is not inert. It is alive, contributes to your overall health, and is constantly tearing itself down and rebuilding. This is Post 1 of 3 coming out about bone, bone density and bone health.

18/04/2026

Experience all the benefits of . Spaces available at the Westend studio for Sunday's session - 19th April at 11.30am. 💪
Hope you can join us!! 🙂

06/04/2026

It's not often I get involved in posts I see on social media positing about this or that being 'woowoo' or false, or unproven etc. This one was 'pooh-pooing' the postulation that 'Fascia holds stuck emotions'.
​
So I had to put my tuppence worth in... It's a bold tuppence to spend as it felt like going up against a giant. However I think debates are healthy, necessary infact, otherwise we run the risk of never broadening our thinking.

This was my response.. "Too much 'left brain' thinking perhaps?. I think it's important to keep open minded, the lay person just wants to be out of pain, I don't think it's helpful to 'funnel' treatment options. We didn't devise our CNS, we were born with it, just look at the remarkable intelligence of our trillions of cells 'knowing their role'. Man gets his 'ego' involved and we overlook the genius interconnection of our autonomic systems and their ability to function seamlessly every second of every minute of everyday. I think the issue is not with the 'therapy, treatment, modality etc' I think it's that we use 'human devised language' to describe it...That's where we get lost in translation, humans are notorious for misunderstanding each other with the 'spoken word'. Let the body do the talking, if someone experiences something beneficial, and someone else doesn't, then just move on and try something else. I can't think of anything worse than to be stuck in one place because I took as fact someone else's opinion.... 'This or that doesn't work'... OK, let me see for myself."🤔

We don't have a microscope or a chemical test that can "see" a molecule of sadness sitting in the connective tissue of someone's left thigh.
​​While the fiber itself might not have a "brain," the nervous system embedded within the fascia certainly does. Chronic stress keeps the fascia in a state of high tension (via myofibroblasts). When that tension is finally broken, the nervous system often "offloads" the stress it was holding to maintain that tension. To the person on the table, it feels like the tissue is crying; biologically, it's the nervous system finally exhaling.
Take away the words and focus on the feeling... I'm fully open to being challenged on my thought process, I'm forever in a state of learning!! 🙌🙌

05/04/2026

You are going to be hearing alot about CST from me in the coming months as I prepare to start my studies with The Upledger Institute, so here is a great article on . Enjoy!! 😊 https://www.iahe.com/storage/docs/articles/THIS-IS-HOW-CRANIOSACRAL-THERAPY-HELPS-LESSEN-PAIN-1.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ_Il1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6FAaoiVvn0di5x9NMz3NgbCbMkovSV8xMCHriS9TQfssVsShGLLUjnbwQC4Q_aem_OgVaI_2StomDP5h11XLUTg

04/04/2026

I can never end a session like a normal person... (Well now that I'm a CST Practioner in training, there's a method in my madness) I'm always offering up some wisdom, advice or maybe a challenge of some sort! 😆 After teaching this mornings session in I told everyone to give this a go.... What you do is lie down comfortably on your back, small pillow under head so that you don't force your head to much into either extension or flexion.
Place your left hand on the left front of your pelvis & your right on the right side. It's a bony protrusion called your ASIS (basically the boniest bit that you feel at your anterior pelvis. In CST it's called a 'Listening station - I love that 😊) The padded part of your palm will rest there and fingers will generally rest around the crease of leg/groin area.
Arms should be resting against the mattress, not held in a holding position or you won't be able to 'Listen'.
What you are listening for is your Cerebralspinal Fluid flow. It would feel like your pelvic bones are getting wider (laterally) and narrower (medially). It's subtle, you may also pick up the longitudinal direction. You need to be able to distinguish between your arterial pulse/heartbeat, your breath and your CSF flow. The CSF flow is the slowest at about 6 beats a minute... Fancy giving it a go?

02/04/2026

It takes two...." In my world what this usually means is two treatments and I'm hooked!
During my second CST session I had the most 'ethereal' experience of my life, where I felt completely 'translucent' as my therapists hands seemed to pass through my body. The follow on from this is a 'systemic breakthrough' including a lot of SomatoEmotional release. Even though it's been a week since the physical session, just the memory of that translucent feeling is enough to trigger further tears and giggles as I continue to ride the wave of returning to my blueprint.
As my brain tries to berate me for not using CST as a therapy option sooner, my body know's I've simply taken the scenic route, the only route that makes sense in actual fact. Here's why I 'feel' that Bowen followed by MFR and now CST are the perfect sequence. Bowen told my nervous system 'The emergency is over.' MFR further soothed my 'fractious fascial system' and finally CST peered into my 'Core' and kissed it better.
​I believe this is why some people don't get the outcomes that a particular therapy suggests they could.They are simply not ready to receive it.
This is where it gets intetesting for me as a therapist, I've done my decades long apprenticeship of being in pain and subsequently searching for the 'one thing' that would 'fix me.
It's living through this process, feeling the frustrations of getting better for a short time, only for the pain to manifest again and again. Investing in and learning professional skills and techniques that seemed to be the holy grail only to come to the realisation that it's not a one size fits all. It was never supposed to be, it's a journey and I feel as though I've not just read the map, I've walked the terrain, I've taken in the sights, stopped off at some significant travellers rests where I've been helpfully signposted forward, other times I've come to crossroads and went a few miles in the wrong direction before turning back.
In CST they talk about the therapist being the facilitator, and the real work is done by the clients 'inner physician'. I think it's only really now having experienced this 'breakthrough' that I can say I have a true understanding of what this feels like.
I'm not relying on my own therapists to 'fix me' now, I fully recognise the therapeitic input that my nervous system has received from this sequence of modalities, it was completely ready, the foundations had been laid, it's no longer muffled.... It's coherent, the defences are fully down, the safely guarding has been deactivated, had I tried CST first, I'd 100% have scoffed at it. Now I know 100% that I'd never have truly known peace without it.
We have a poweful diagnostic tool - Our body, and as therapists we have the humility of our hands which we use to perceive and subsequently treat the body.
What's important to me here is finally reaching the awareness within myself of what it feels like to experience touch without an agenda. Learning CST is going to humble me as a therapist and remove all sense of ego (and sometimes frustration) about personal expectations as to when, how or why a clent will respond to any therapeutic input.
When I lay down lay for my second CST treatment, my body didn't need the "rolling" of Bowen or the "stretching" of MFR to unravel it's deepest holding patterns. It was ready to drop straight into a deep, parasympathetic state. The "hands passing through" sensation happened because my Dura Mater (the tough membrane around your brain and spinal cord) completely relaxed It’s a level of release that is hard to reach with the more active moves of my previous therapies, although they set me up beautifully to be able to feel receptive enough to acknowledge this lightest of touch and the meeting of client - therapist energy that went right into my core.
I now see that I did indeed come to know of these therapies in the correct order, I wouldn't be the therapist I am today if I was simply learning manual therapies to apply to clients. Instead I'm really grateful to have experienced firsthand the profound changes they've all had on me personally... Just two treatments each time and it set me off on a path that is continually transforming and improving my life.
When I had the nudge out of nowhere to try Craniosacral Therapy back in February this year (despite my reservations) I followed the nudge... And thank goodness I did (Always listen to your gut).
I needed to know more, I read the books, I watched the videos, and now I'm starting my CST1 training in November, something tells me I'm.going to feel like I've come 'home'. 🙌

16/03/2026

This is a very serious post about introducing co-contraction during a standard shoulder bridge... 🤔🤣

12/03/2026

Why does the ball between the knees add a challenge? Basically, when the adductors fire, they send a signal to the deep core to join the party. It’s much harder for your abs to stay relaxed when your inner thighs are working. 💪