A little about me
I have been a little shy about having a 'about me' page. My feeling being that its, well, not about me. But thinking a little more about it, it may be useful to say how I got here, my influences and how it affects my Shiatsu/bodywork. After being brought up by a committed communist father, I have always worked in the non profit sector. In jobs that I felt contributed something to folks. After social care training I worked in lots of different settings, gaining extensive experience of working with; adults and children with learning difficulties, deaf children, children with severer behavioural issues, NEET youth and many others. I have worked for small and national charities, for social services in various roles and now for myself. My slow movement towards Shiatsu began I think with finding Buddhism when I was 15. Starting with Zen, this quickly become a strong interest in everything Japanese. This lead me to start training in Shorinji Kempo 25 years ago. Being a fairly physical art I picked up plenty of injuries. We treated these with a form of massage similar to Shiatsu. The link was made and after years of faffing I started training in Shiatsu with the British School of Shiatsu-Do. So after 4 years of study I graduated in 2012, since then I have been looking at ways to bring together my background with my Shiatsu, to offer Shiatsu to everyone regardless of who they are or what they earn as a living (the communist upbringing) and to offer it in a direct and useful way (the Zen). Its a work in progress but I'm moving forward. My approach to treatment is varied depending on who I'm working with. With some folk its about helping you to help yourself, to understand or experience how you feel your way through the world. And to allow you to make the changes needed to deal with any issues you may have. This may be letting go of anger, moving differently, feeling long dead areas of the body, changing the way you sit at your desk, whatever is needed. For others, who do not wish to (or are not ready to) take an active part in the process, I work to remove pain and make you feel better and keep the cost at a level where you can have treatment when needed. With most folk I mix the two. There are lots of complex ideas about why Shiatsu works, but the truth is no one really knows. My experience is that it does help with lots of issues people have, so as such I want to share this with as many people as possible.
