Shiatsu Bodyworks Cheltenham

Foot soaks are therapeutic!

If you suffer from achy feet, hard skin, stiff joints, even fungal or viral infections then a foot soak can help with all of these plus calm your nervous system and help you sleep better. A lot of people don't want to or can't take baths and so this is a perfect alternative and gives your feet the TLC they deserve.

Here are some tips:

🌳 For detoxing add Epsom salts plus some baking soda
🌳For nervous system muscles and sleep add Magnesium flakes
🌳For strengtherning against infection boil some water before hand and add a small handful of cloves (ie clove tea) - antibaterial fungal and viral. Then add this tea into your foot soak
🌳Add a couple of drops of your favourite essential oil - they all have positive and medicial effects as well as smelling great
🌳Citrus oils are uplifting and cleansing where as woody / herbacious oils are calming and grounding

For those of you that like to pamper as well moisturising foot booties are my favourite go-to this summer.

If you have painful feet this can be a sign of an imbalance or tightness in muscles through out the pelvic/hip region - seek shiatsu to resolve - contact me!

Are you stimulating your feet? Learn why foot wiping is essential...

Try the challenge yourself. Get a coir mat and wipe your feet every which way on it for 2 minutes and then test your balance.

Regularly walk over different textures in barefeet to keep these receptors tuned up!

My balance used to be great and in the last 4 years has really declined and I thought this was to do with the ankle accident but maybe it's more to do with my less sensitive foot receptors (being way over 50 now!)

FACT - there is an age related decline in the sensitivity of the receptors on the bottom of our feet

FACT - You NEED the messages from these receptors if you want to to control movement, balance and stabilize your body.

Without them movement is much harder.

It’s like driving a car with a foggy windshield …or like listening to a symphony with ear muffs on

▶️ by age 50 it takes 20% more pressure for these receptors to perceive a stimulus
▶️ by age 80 it takes 75% more pressure for these receptors to perceive a stimulus

🧠 No wonder old people walk around so cautiously, rigid and braced.
THEY CAN’T FEEL THE GROUND

🎉 However if you stimulate these receptors, exercise your foot and get your foot into different shapes, you can prevent and even reverse this change.

Foot wiping is a powerful tool to reverse these effects, improve your movement accuracy and experience what movement SHOULD FEEL LIKE.

Try it yourself.

⚠️ Pro tip
Feel like your feet are HYPERSENSITIVE?

When our receptors for touch and vibration decline ( the ones we want) there is an increase in sensitivity for tickle and pain ( both travel on the Lateral Spinothalamic tract). That’s why tight areas on our body are often painful or ticklish. This gets better though!

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for contributing to our knowledge of feet how our body works so that we can feel better in our body and have it last a lifetime

Take 5 minutes out of your day to try this stretch
to rejuvenate your nervous system....

When you come for a shiatsu if you have work done on your back to start off with it's calming down your nervous system but here's a stretch to try that you can use everyday of the month.

You may want to have a couple of cushions to hand as this is a more challenging stretch than just taking both knees over to one side. Pop a cushion or 2 under the knee which should be resting on the ground just incase you can't reach that far the first time you try this stretch. One side will likely be more comfortable than the other side note this and try the strefch on the easier side first and work up to it on the more challenging side. If you're super flexible you may not find this a challenge at all but I find most of my clients in treatments struggle with the waist twist that puts a stretch through your hip and your opposite shoulder and chest muscles.

Remember to breathe in and hold your stomach muscles as you right your legs to centre so that you don't hurt yourself.

If you struggle to do this at all remember to ask me about helping you become more flexible as part of your shiatsu treatments - just contact me for more details!

How bendy are your big toes?

Big toe mobility is a BIG deal! And I know from accidents and injuries that my left big toe is more in the Rigidus region but to keep it as healthy as possible I have it worked in every one of my shiatsu sessions along with my left ankle. I can also put a good stretch through my right foot to get my big toe to well above limitus.

The illustration highlights the ideal range of motion, although the range of motion in the top, is hard to reach, it should be a good guideline and something we ALL had from childhood 😊

45° and above is an ideal range of motion in our toes, anything under this should have daily mobility drills applied to improve range of motion.

From My Foot Fitness:

Most health and fitness professionals overlook the importance of proper foot and toe function. Yet, these areas—hidden away in our shoes—play a crucial role in our overall movement and well-being.

Think about it: our feet are as intricate and vital as our hands, yet we often confine them to rigid, sensory-deprived environments—similar to wearing mittens on our hands all day. Is it any wonder then that foot dysfunction is so common?

The big toe IS the driver of our foot’s mechanics, yet it often doesn’t receive the extension stress it needs due to our footwear choices. This can contribute to issues like plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinopathy, and anterior hip pain.

When you're bare foot either standing or sitting place your big toe (one at a time on the floor and then bend your knee so it reaches over your foot put a stretch through the whole foot and bending the big toe past the ange of Limitus - does the stretch feel good? If yes then do this regularly.

If you can't stretch or when you do it feels fragile then your joint is weak and it could do with some energetic support and massage with a shiatsu.

Shiastucheltenham.co.uk for all your feet knees hips back shoulder and neck issues!

Thanks to for the insight!

🌿🌿What is causing your mystery foot pain? 🌿🌿

My new blog investigates why it isn't your foot you need to be looking at

In my new blog I explain how foot pain is a symptom and not the cause. Find out what you can do about it!

Shiatsu blog: What is causing my mystery foot pain? Feet - They put up with A LOT! Today's shiatsu blog: What is causing my foot pain? I will explore causes you may not be aware of ...

New blog: The secret to keeping cool in the summer time!

The beauty of using Chinese medicine in everyday life is that it expands beyond just medicine!

This simple trick helps your body regulate your temperature in summer or winter. I'm normally explaining this in Winter time but seeing as the sun is starting to show up it's handy tip now too:

Shiatsu Blog: How to keep cool in the summer by staying warmer! You’re not going to believe me straight away when I say: You need to keep your body warmer in order to cool down… Yes, you read that right! I’m going to explain this simple custom from the Japanese culture based on Chinese medicine that I normally save for the winter time and explain why it’...

Found a couple of old reviews I didn't know I had!

Shoulders and hips - I do them every day - both areas of pent up and unresolved emotion leading to tension, tightness and pain.

Relieve these once and for all and understand why they happen...

I'll also give you at least one technique / exercise / advice to take away and use for the rest of the month!

Comment below for more information!

🌿New blog: Shiatsu - more than a therapy it's a state of mind!

Did you know that going to a therapy can change your way of life?

Find out what this is plus:

~ The link between unresolved emotion embedded in you physically

~ Helping you to start listening to your body

~ Learning how to let go for your health

~ The power of shiatsu in understanding relationships

~ Add this dimension for optimal health

Read more and choose your treatment option - click button!

🌿New blog: What does shiatsu help with?

Delving into why shiatsu is so beneficial for all those aches, ailments, stressors and emotions that you haven't found any other therapy helps with.

I was once told:

Shiatsu is the intelligent person's go to therapy...

I like that!

and today my longest running (not oldest) client said as she got up:

"I feel like I've been all ironed out again" :)

That's shiatsu - iron out the kinks whether they are emotional or physical; and find out why the emotional leads to the physical!

Shiatsu - gentle bodywork to make your bodywork better

https://www.shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/shiatsu-cheltenham-blog

🌿✨Spring Blog #2: Can Spring energy exacerbate migraines and anger? 🌿✨

If you suffer from migraines at any time of the year its utterly miserable and quite debilitating but what if they are worse at this time of year - why does Spring make them worse?

Also anger flare ups and associated symptoms like high blood pressure and rosatia why are they worse?

It's all Liver-related the organ that is most affected by the upward thrust of this seasons energy. An there's always plenty to blog about when the liver is involved.

https://www.shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/single-post/shiatsu-blog-can-spring-energy-exacerbate-migraines-and-anger

I've organised Gloucestershire's First Menopause Fayre - Thursday 18th April

A holistic wellbeing event showcasing all the options to help you have a better menopause transition - there's so much more than just HRT!

Tickets still available at: https://www.cotswoldmenopause.co.uk/menopause-fayre

🌿🌿 New Spring blog #1 : How to stop the most common joint injuries in Spring 🌿🌿

When you spring into Spring are your joints ready to be jolted out of hibernation?

Read what's at danger and how you can support your joints to be health and work best!

https://www.shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/single-post/shiatsu-blog-how-to-stop-the-most-common-joint-injuries-in-spring

🌿Shiatsu for Migraine Relief 🌿

Can you imagine a life free of migraines? Shiatsu can help you achieve this....

The problem with migraines is they can either be a hot or cold condition but Chinese medicine helps me understand which you have.

Once this is known it's about treating you in a sympathetic and gentle way to help relieve the underlying causes. You should feel benefits from your first session.

This is what Richard said:

"When visiting Andrea she knew what my body needed. I'd suffered headaches and IBS daily for 20 years. I've been on her plan now for 3 weeks and since my first shiatsu I feel 95% better."

Contact Andrea at Shiatsu Bodyworks Cheltenham and don't put up with debilitating headaches any more.

🌿Shiatsu - a gentle physical therapy that is truly holistic🌿

Gentle is the key here - no deep tissue massage going on.

Your body doesn't want to be beaten up it wants sympathy and TLC when you have aches and pains that won't go away.

These types of chronic pains are often linked to embedded and unresolved emotions.

Just think how you tense your shoulders up and lock your neck when you get emotionally wound up... you literally get physically wound up and then stuck!

Shiatsu supports your body to let go, the muscles to effortlessly release and you'll leave floating with a wonderful sense of wellbeing and calmness.

Shiatsu works on the physical, psychological, emotional and touches the spiritual too... all whilst you keep your clothes on and relax quicker than any other therapy will relax you*

* Direct quote from my clients!

Book in this February and have a life changing session with me. Search shiatsu cheltenham.

Photo credit: The Book of Shiatsu - Saul Goodman

🌿🌿 New Blog! 🌿🌿

I thought I'd kickstart the New Year with a blog that is for longevity!

Packed with the ten best Japanese lifestyle tips these are the ones I (try!) to live by, I may fail on the decluttering but I'm still a work in progress.

We all are, you never stop trying to better yourself in health and wellness and with these tips under your belt you can elevate your moods and energy levels; key to healthy longevity!

https://www.shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/single-post/shiatsu-blog-elevate-your-energy-and-longevity-with-these-japanese-lifestyle-tips

Happy New Year! Happy New You!!

Shiatsu Blog: Elevate your energy and longevity with these Japanese lifestyle tips My life changed dramatically when I stepped into the world of shiatsu! I didn't know what was going to happen but my life has improved in every aspect and it's thanks to this millenia old style of living life to maximise your health, wellness, wisdom and happiness. Last month I looked at tips to ele...

The wonderful benefits of Shiatsu ...

a treatment that still isn't really known about but is so effective for helping you with a host of issues including relieving your menopause symptoms.

In clinic today it's been an array of support:

~ Tight hips getting ready for snowboarding holiday, after resolving all my clients menopause symptoms so she has the energy to go snowboarding!

~ Menopause support since coming off HRT (and now feeling better with my advice and supplements) today my client had a cold so was feeling very low... she went out feeling much chirpier

~ Supporting trauma: a year long project a my client faces a monumental life change and she's doing brilliantly. Today she couldn't breathe, plus achy shoulder and knee - all sorted. She's left completely ready to go on her winter hols!

I love the variety of sessions that I do in my clinic. I know some of my clients are bemused about how I can help with a bad knee and menopause at the same time but this is the beauty of chinese medicine, it gets to the root of the problem that may manifest in varying symptoms.

If you're struggling, if you've got nowhere with your Dr's and tests then shiatsu may just be what your body has been crying out for. Message me to learn more!

🌿🌿 New Blog! 🌿🌿

'Tis the season of bugs, colds, stress and feeling rundown... so let's combat that!

Here are my top tips to keep you not only health but more energised through this season.

Remember though, you can't always be on the go, everything in nature has to have some downtime to recouperate including us humans.

Aristotle said:

We need relaxation as we cannot work continuously. Relaxation then is not an end, for it is taken for the sake of activity....

Proactive resting up is good for your mind, body and spirit and it doesn't cost a penny. It is the most underated way you can help yourself heal!

Now I know you're pretty busy at this time of year so this blog is packed with 10 of the best ways to help you re-energise.

Check out Shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/blog

Shiatsu is one treatment a month but keeping nutritionally topped up happens everyday!

Combat bugs and low moods this winter time with supplements that you can get the most out of!

Cytoplan are plant-based, this means you readily absorb the nutrients so top up and stay healthy. If you'd like to chat with me about your health needs I also have healthy discount codes too!

https://www.cytoplan.co.uk/featured-special-offers

Give yourself or your loved one the best gift this Christmas?

Imagine floating home after the best treatment you've ever received

Imagine sleeping really well

Imagine if those aches and pains have dissappeared

Imagine if you feel more energised in the weeks to come

Imagine if your finally free of anxiety

You don't need to imagine! You can feel like this... just book your first shiatsu and I'll take it from there.

Shiatsu is a holistic gentle physical therapy you feel like you've had a massage but you keep your clothese on.

As part of your treatment I will give you bespoke wellness solutions to help you resolve the health issues you come along with.

I have created your complete holistic health solution all wrapped up in one delightul treatment time.

You deserve more... Your deserve Shiatsu!

Call Andrea to arrange or book through the website at shiatsucheltenham.co.uk

🌿 Why reviews are so important to me... and to you? 🌿

Sometimes someone has their first shiatsu and you don't hear from them for a while. Some people book bac in straight away, but others may need to process how they feel after the treatment or they just feel so brilliant that they jump back into life and forget to let you know that they're ok!

This was Richard, he turned up in a bad way:

20 plus years of migraines and IBS with it severely affecting his working day. He works for himself and he was cutting his hours down and down, living on caffeine to try and quell the migraines and exist.

He bravely came for his shiatsu and we worked together through his list of issues and then I asked him to get back in touch with how he was doing a few days later....

But he's a guy!

So a few weeks later I heard from him:

Your first shiatsu can be the most powerful one!

If you have issues that haven't been able to resolve with your doctor, medication or in other ways then you're a prime candidate for shiatsu.

Why?

Ailments and issues that don't show up on xrays and in tests are in the 'energetic realm', this means you feel them but there isn't a physical issue that can be captured by western technology - this is its limitation and it's also a good thing. If something shows up in tests it's normally in a bad way, you don't want things to show up!

When your issues are energetic this means you're feeling things in your body that are telling you something is up. A lot of the time it can be attached to unresolved emotion that you may not even know about. The funniest things can trigger pains and symptoms in your body.

Shiatsu finds this relationship and eases it out. Think of it like something has got knotted, but you can't see it, shiatsu finds that knot, undoes it, smoothes out the kinks and sends you on your way feeling so much better.

When you have these unwanted pains, they get you down, they sap your energy and lower your moods. Your energy becomes blocked and it can build up like a dam. On one side you have pressure (causing pain) and on the other side, a lack of what you need and this can a lot of the time cause a worse long term issue (known as chronic).

You could be left with pain in your lower back that was caused by stubbing your toe and limping around for 3 days and now you now have back ache; not knowing where it's come from.

Richard is an example of that energy building up and getting itself into a mass of knots that was causing everything from daily headaches to continual gut health issues. He was just about to pay for intolerance testing. I told him to hold off until we knew how his body reacted to the shiatsu - expense saved!

Richard's issue was his Vagus nerve , this runs from the brain ,down the side of your neck to your gut. Incorrect signals going back and forth! Shiatsu intervened to calm the whole system down like giving it a reset...

Are you suffering and don't know what to do? Go to shiatsubodyworks.co.uk and book a phone call with Andrea to find out if shiatsu is right for you. 🌿

🌿🍂New blog: Eating for your energy and moods this Autumn!🍂🌿

Do you suffer from a 3pm slump?

Do you feel your moods lowering as we lose the light?

Find out why this is and how to combat this with what you eat, and how you eat it!

Shiatsu Blog: Eating for your energy and mood in Autumn There is no other season like Autumn where we 'embrace' the weather and light changes. Why do we need to embrace Autumn? Is it due to the loss of light and warmth that we have to rally around and work out ways to manage the months of descending darkness and to combat the creeping cold? I think so! T...

💖🌲🌿Give the gift of relaxation this Christmas time🌿🌲💖

If you could give the gift of relieving stress or easing away aches ~ wouldn't that be great?

https://www.shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/shiatsu-gift-voucher

If you're looking for a unique present, and give someone special the opportunity to chill out and have some 'me' time with the choice of :

30 Relaxed minutes £45

Lazy Hour £72


Designed to put you into a deep relaxation quickly and leave you with an amazing sense of wellbeing there after.

New blog: Autumn, The Metal Element and Embracing Letting Go
https://www.shiatsucheltenham.co.uk/single-post/shiatsu-blog-autumn-the-metal-element-and-embracing-letting-go

Ever wondered why you can feel so emotionally different at this time of the year?

Chinese medicine explains it beautifully, the season of Letting Go...

Let go that which does not serve you well

Grab a cuppa, have a break, have a read

Shiatsu Blog: Autumn, The Metal Element and Embracing Letting Go The school term starts in Autumn, and so my Shiatsu course each year started at this time too. We learnt each element of the 5 element theory according to the time of year, so each year started with the Metal Element, and the message Letting Go; and I didn’t get it! By the 3rd year I was starting ...

Shiatsu it's more than a massage, look what it helps with...

What is Shiatsu?

The million dollar question.

It's a bit like trying to explain what Qi is, right?

Far easier to detail its effects than explain its mechanisms.

It's easier to list the effects of Shiatsu than how it achieves them.

So here is a very limited list of just a few of of those effects.

We all know it does way more than this, but it's a start.

Please put it into circulation in your networks.

Let's keep putting Shiatsu on the map!

Shiatsu Without Borders.

NEW BLOG: A History of Zen Shiatsu: Bridging Ancient Wisdom for Emotional Balance

This is a good! Just how did Shiatsu come about, where was it's power found. A brief history of it's origins and effect of Shizuto Masunaga making it the powerful therapy that it is today.

Also - how does your element (zodiac) sign impact what therapy you have!

A History of Zen Shiatsu: Bridging Ancient Wisdom for Emotional Balance I'm biased I love Shiatsu! Anyone who is passionate about their particular therapy will think it's the best go-to therapy of them all; so I'm shouting out the benefits of receiving Shiatsu. Today I'm looking at how my therapy came about, how it's been built on to become a powerful and complete mind....

🌿🌿 New blog: Shiatsu - Physical therapy for emotional and stress relief 🌿🌿

You may think of shiatsu as something that fixes your bad back or releases your tight neck muscles and just feels really good afterwards!

The secret of shiatsu though is that it's the ultimate therapy for relieving your emotional stress and tension through a relaxing physical therapy.

Based on chinese meridians in is gentle and empathetic to your mind and body and is the perfect way to ease stress from your bones and calm your mind.

Try shiatsu - just message me or ask for a phone chat to see how shiatsu can help you!

Shiatsu blog: Physical therapy for emotional and stress relief I go to shiatsu therapy for everything! It's my starting point, any ache, pain or emotional grumble I book in for shiatsu before anything else. For years prior to finding shiatsu and on and off since I'll also see a cranial osteopath when I know I've done a number on my neck or spine (i.e. going bot...

Grab an extra 5% off your supplements today, ontop of your discount with me :)

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