WOMEN's wellness IN west london, Somerset and online

The Embodied Woman

Women's bodymind wellness

A woman's body is an intelligent self care system that sensitively attunes to the natural rhythms of the environment and alerts us to both harmony and dis-ease. These alerts manifest in the body as feelings, mood and energy states and when denied or ignored, can easily lead to physical illness.

Women often work with me to address the emotional component of their physical health problems, and suffer from conditions such as Dysmenorreah (painful periods), chronic Pre Menstrual Tension, Vaginismus, chronic pelvic pain, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Interstitial Cystitis, Endemetriosis and Fibroids. In therapy, we work towards an integration of mind, body and spirit, that means, attending to the whole of our embodied experience with a spirit of inquiry and curiosity. We attune to our menstrual cycles the immense wisdom it holds and we learn to honour physical symptoms as messages from the body that are calling for our attention and we learn how to listen. We begin to face and welcome the painful parts of our experience we may have previously denied or repressed; pain that had no way of expressing itself so instead, gets locked into our bodies, hardening muscle and tissue, blocking access to oxygen, blood and energy flow, dulling our vitality and life force and creating a state of dis-ease within the body.

"Habitual repression of emotion leaves a person in a situation of chronic stress, and chronic stress creates an unnatural biochemical milieu in the body... Disease, in other words, is not a simple result of some external attack but develops in a vulnerable host in whom the internal environment has become disordered." Dr Gabor Mate

So we get to know our old hurts intimately - that is, emotionally, spiritually and physically - and in so doing, we; process old wounds; integrate these fragmented parts of ourselves, leading to greater cohesion and wholeness; create a space for transformation to occur, clearing the way for other exultant emotions to emerge like joy, happiness, compassion and love; encourage activation of the bodies parasympathetic nervous system which promotes rest and renewal.

"Our emotions and thoughts have such a profound effect on us because they are physically linked to our bodies via our immune, endocrine and central nervous systems. All emotions, even those that are suppressed and unexpressed, have physical effects. Unexpressed emotions tend to "stay" in the body like small ticking time bombs - they are illnesses in incubation." Christiane Northrup, MD

Please note - as a therapist, I hold the intention of healing not cure. Healing addresses the imbalance that underlies the symptoms and is a process that comes deeply from within. Healing gives us an opportunity to come more deeply and fully into life and integrates the often hidden aspects of a person's life in relation to their illness. Where appropriate and with the clients consent, I use Biodynamic massage and intuitive touch to support this process of healing. Cure usually consists of external treatments with a view to masking or getting rid of the symptoms. Healing is different from curing, though curing and the restoration of physical function may accompany healing.