Working with the NHS – Nature To Nurture
North Kensington Healthier Futures Initiative
Massage & Online Meditation/Relaxation
Less than 3 months after graduating from my BTEC degree level 6 in Advanced Clinical and Sports Massage and following on my research study “Evaluating the effects of The Jing Method™ of Advanced Clinical Massage on stress, anxiety, depression, and low mood in those with desk-based work/lifestyles” I started working with the NHS.
I now practice in clinic from the St. Charles Centre for Integrated Health and Well-Being at the St. Charles Hospital in Ladbroke Grove. Working as an independent therapist for Community Massage London CIC I take NHS referrals for both massage and online meditation/relaxation sessions. These are offered via GP or self-referral as part of the North Kensington Healthier Futures programme. This initiative works with both those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire and others with PTSD, and severe mental and physical health conditions.
Making my new treatment room nice and comfortable for my clients
Working with the NHS: Other Ways To Help
Online Well-Being Sessions – The Iranian Association
As part of my work for Community Massage London CIC I also run well-being sessions involving chair-yoga, stretch, 
movement, meditation and relaxation via Zoom video for the charity The Iranian Association once a month, which is a joy to help others get much needed movement – “motion is lotion” as I often tell my clients. The Iranian Association (IA) provides tailored services for adults and young people. It deals annually with over 20,000 requests for information/advice on a wide range of issues such as education, citizenship, health, welfare, housing, immigration, volunteering, culture etc. Over the last decades the Association has also supported over 5000 students to complete a variety of different courses. The IA is a registered charity and the provision of the services has mainly been made possible by the availability of funding and resources. (taken from The Iranian Association website).
BHMA Annual Conference
It’s safe to say that the British Association for Holistic Medicine & Healthcare 40th Anniversary Conference on Change-Making in Healthcare was not what I was expecting! Held on 5th October at Ham Green House in Bristol, the beautiful cancer care 
centre run by Penny Brohn UK, the cancer health and wellbeing charity, the conference did not disappoint. I was at once saddened, gladdened, shocked, unsurprised, familiar & inspired. To be one of the only complementary therapists in a room of NHS doctors, GP’s, nurses, medical students, professors & academics took me to another world & another viewpoint from those who surround me in my professional world. It also made me realise how important it was for me to be there.
First, we were, in the words of GP Dr. Andrew Tresidder, “all singing from the same heart”. Time & again we heard from speakers of the physical, emotional & mental health issues the NHS, they, colleagues, peers & patients – were facing from ‘modern life’. Life span increasing but health span decreasing. This is something that I see as a clinical massage therapist every. single. day. of my working life. It’s why I chose to work with mental health for my research study & dissertation. We all know what the problem is. The solution?
We were in agreement. Life compassion – for the self & others, love & care; Nature & the awe we can experience from it (actual medical research exists on this!); starting in small ways to make bigger changes; starting with mental health as a foundation so that we can build resilience to face & improve our physical health; from this flourish in life to create better physical health; from this increase heath span ❤️ The struggle is doing this in a system that is heavily regulated & where holism is hard to provide.
I left feeling extremely fortunate. I realised that I already have this, what so many in the NHS & our patients did not. I may not always have it, but through a combination of difficult life circumstances, regression therapy, Tibetan energy healing, working on my emotional issues, Dzogchen practice & my career path, I have good mental health, work-life balance & I am generally content with my life, and through this, I can help others.
The field of massage therapy is unregulated. This poses issues: ensuring professional conduct, ethics & guidelines for the treatment of our patients & clients; a huge lack of recognition for what we do or even that we exist; underutilising us as a resource for treatment. Yet it also allows us a freedom to operate & balance in our professional lives that I realise is precious. I spent the conference raising awareness of what we do & how we may be able to help – together we can be a force for change ☀️
