I am a recently retired registered nurse and also a qualified teacher. Having trained in western approaches to health I am passionate about the more holistic approach offered by Shiatsu and Qi Gong. I specialise in working with people with long term health conditions and had a small private practice at Brighton Shiatsu Centre. I have recently relocated to Thorpe on the Hill near Lincoln.

I have provided Shiatsu for two of my local Hospices and was part of the complementary therapy team alongside my clinical role as a community palliative care nurse. During the height of the pandemic I was part of a rota of people providing daily meditation and qi gong  “time-out” sessions for our staff and volunteers. At one point this had to become virtual, which prompted me to develop “seated supercharge” 15 minute sessions staff could access from their desks. This has continued online on a weekly basis, now known as “tranquil Thursdays”.

I was a Wellbeing Champion within my workplace. One of the very interesting aspects of this has been to gain insight into how services gain accreditation for their work and as a response I have aligned the “Action for Happiness” 10 keys to happiness criteria, also used by the Mental health Foundation, to the five elements and devised a programme of qi gong, self-shiatsu and dietary advice that sits alongside. I have used this to deliver both one hour, five session programmes and longer self-care mini retreats. Participants really enjoy the techniques they can carry on themselves at home.

I am very proactive in offering grass roots sessions. I ran a group at Age UK, which as well as a weekly qi gong class has monthly “self-care Saturdays”. These allow more time for the members to ask questions and to learn acupressure points for self care

I have been interviewed on our local “Rocket Radio”, persuading a rather sceptical breakfast host to do some live dao-yin. I try to support local causes whilst raising the profile of shiatsu; I have treated runners at the London Marathon and the Brighton and Cambridge Half Marathons and along with colleagues from Brighton Shiatsu College we have supported the national Mental Health Football Championship when it was hosted by Lewes FC.

Alongside my shiatsu, I currently run seated qi gong classes in care homes and also an outdoor qi gong class in St Andrews Community Garden, Sincil Bank.