In my last life, if someone mentioned the words wellness or holistic I’d think they were some modern day hippy who sits cross-legged in an incensed filled room reciting ‘Om’ at every opportunity!

In fact, when I designed my website, my advertising, printing and subsequent posts on social media I deliberately kept away from the words holistic and wellness, because, like me, I thought people would think I am that hippy! But through my 2 years of training and re-educating myself, I have come to realise that we all need both words in our life, and now! I’m just hoping everyone else is not as ignorant as I was.

wellness

[wel-nis]

noun

the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.

an approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.

holistic

[hoh-lis-tik]

adjective

incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory, or practice: holistic psychology.

Medicine/ Medical. identifying with principles of holism in a system of therapeutics, especially one considered outside the mainstream of scientific medicine, as naturopathy or chiropractic, and often involving nutritional measures: holistic medicine.

So, my newly found understanding of both words actually encompasses all that we need for our lives to be healthy and happy. And so my newly found career took on a life of its own and sort of happened by itself - organically, I had no real part in it apart from deciding that massage was the way forward, so I could work for myself at home. I didn’t realise that I would go on to become a holistic, wellness practitioner!

Ok, so I already knew about nutrition and food - tick, but that was it. So, long story short, my holistic, wellness journey went like this; I was the catering business manager and responsible for an Academy Trust of 2 schools. In the January of 2017 the Trust decided they would subcontract out the catering department, so, I instantly knew my job would become redundant, the new company would already have someone who designed the food, trained the staff and did all the managery type stuff that I did, but time was on my side, as they didn’t expect to choose a company for another 6 months, which took it to June and I knew they wouldn’t be able to start until the new term in September.

That same January, after the big meeting with all my staff and heads of this and that, HR and union reps, I had booked my Swedish massage course and by February had applied for planning permission to change my detached garage on the side of my house that had been begging me to be made in to some sort of small business. My other half is a builder, so what are we waiting for?

I took my massage course and passed in the March - tick. My planning permission was granted in the June - tick, and the building began.

My best friend, who is a nurse and a counsellor for young people, was excited for me but said, “But you realise that your clients will stay after their massage because everyone will naturally want to talk to you”, “Really”?, I said, “Yes, you’re a natural”, came her reply. That got me thinking, so I spent some time researching courses etc., and found a fabulous company who offered many different courses in wellness for mind and body and promptly signed up for 9 more courses! Reflexology, counselling and psychotherapy, life coaching, CBT, professional relaxation, aromatherapy, hot stones massage, Indian head massage and mindfulness!

Nearly 2 years later I have qualified in them all - tick, the building is finished- tick, and I’ve opened my doors - big tick. On the journey of learning the counselling, psychotherapy, CBT and life coaching along with the massage I kept reading, that massage was very effective for depression, anxiety and associated issues, then I kept reading that meditation and mindfulness is fundamental to good mental health, essential oils are excellent for uplifting and balancing our mood, hot stones are 4 times more effective than massage on its own, reflexology can go even further by relieving all sorts of aches and pains.

The more I read and understood about all of these subjects the more I realised that our minds and our bodies are interdependent on each other to feel totally happy and healthy - our mind doesn’t work well if our body doesn’t and vice versa. Our mind and our body depends on each other to create holistic wellness. So not so hippy after all hey? Down right essential actually!

If you feel you need a whole body and, or, mind overhaul, or some advice on specific treatments, or you’re not sure what help you might need, there is something for everyone here at The Therapy Shed, get in touch to discuss anything you might be worried about; Email help@thetherapyshed, call or text 07572102520, Facebook messenger @thetherapyshedHQ, Twitter message @therapyshedHQ

Denise x