Hello there friends. I have decided to move all my articles on to my new websites. So if you are interested in reading more of my writing please either... 1. Join my mailing list to be the first to read more via my newsletter by emailing me on [email protected]
or 2. Visit my websites: www.nicoledrummondshiatsu.co.uk - for Shiatsu / www.nicoledrummond.co.uk - for EFT to find the writing pages. warmly Nicole x

​Do you hate the cold? Me too! So why on earth would you try this therapy...? Because the health benefits will blow you away and the positive results start immediately.

I first heard about the Wim Hof Method a few years ago when I watched a short documentary about ‘The Ice Man’. The film showed how this Dutch athlete, Wim Hof, taught two reporters how to walk up a freezing snowy mountain in their shorts, resisting the cold by using a breathing technique and ‘cold therapy training’. I filed it in my mind as a bit mad, curious, and not relevant to my daily life.

However, what I really didn’t pick up from the documentary was the potential for extraordinary health benefits from this simple, accessible technique. 

When I was pregnant I found a plethora of information on pregnancy and birth but almost nothing about postpartum care. Having gone through the postpartum experience I frankly find it mind-blowing to realise no weight of attention or advice is given to our aftercare, and that we have no system or tradition in place to care for women after giving birth.

Luckily however, with various resources including our lovely doulas, my Shiatsu colleagues, and friends with experience, I learned enough to set myself up for optimum healing support after the event and I want to share that with you.
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I realise when you are pregnant there is SO MUCH to organise, learn and decide about – but trust me, this is not an area to skip. It is paramount to plan for as it will affect your long-term health. I am no expert in the area of postpartum care, but I have gone through it myself using most of the tools I describe here. There will be postpartum doulas who will be able to advise you further as well as guide you to other resources. Consider this article a jumping off point to prepare you for your healing journey postpartum – it’s an overview of suggestions that I wish I had been given up front.
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Nicola Ley 
​​Nicola is one of the founders of the Shiatsu College. Currently she is passionate about teaching people who want to teach Shiatsu and Qigong - ways to make that really effective.

She is also an artist and makes work about the energy of Shiatsu and Qigong. She loves to make ‘energy portraits’, which are often a watercolour of a person’s energy on an etching of the central channels. Since completing an MA in art she has worked on this theme in her studio and is also returning to her old love of botanical work. www.artofshiatsu.wordpress.com

Profile: Alice Whieldon, MA PhD SFHEA MRSS(T)
​Alice has spent her life researching the keys to what helps in finding fulfilment and acting less from old traumas and patterns.  In 1985 she came across Shiatsu and it was this work, along with the Enlightenment Intensives, that struck particularly strong chords for her.  She has remained a student of both disciplines ever since.

In 1997, she also met Kishi Akinobu, internationally renowned Shiatsu master, however, in 1980, Kishi began to develop his work in a new direction called Seiki  which is within the Shiatsu tradition and a development of that work. When Alice met Kishi she recognised the key she was looking for.  When in 2008 Alice suggested they write a book together, Kishi was keen on the idea and Sei-ki: Life in Resonance, The Secret Art of Shiatsu was published in 2011. Kishi died in 2012 but Alice continues to work with Seiki. 

​She has also spent time training in and practicing Mind Clearing.  Mind Clearing is based, like Seiki, on the principle that there is an essential person that is not the mind and not the body.  In 2016 her book, Mind Clearing: the key to mindfulness mastery was published by Singing Dragon, London and Philadelphia.

Profile: Dinah John BA MRSS(T), Shiatsu Practitioner and Principal of The Shiatsu College Norwich
Originally an English graduate who taught English at Language schools in Cambridge and for a year in Sudan, Dinah was introduced to Shiatsu by Clifford Andrews in 1985 and has studied with and worked alongside him since then. Dinah is a popular teacher, invited regularly to schools on the Continent as well as in the UK, where her clarity of presentation, breadth of experience and her enthusiasm are widely appreciated. Dinah is the principal of the Shiatsu College Norwich.  Dinah has taught along with the founder teachers on Shiatsu College Post-Graduate CPD courses for many years and is also a long-standing editor of the Shiatsu Society Newsletter.

Written by Nicole Bayes, Shiatsu Practitioner MRSS (tt) and Marketing Manager www.nicolebayes.com
Kindly edited by Tasmin Rohman and Dinah John, Principal of the Shiatsu College. 

​ Marketing can be an emotional topic for some of us, especially for holistic practitioners I find. Why? Because the subject of marketing actually taps into some far deeper personal issues and can highlight unresolved internal conflicts. When we embark on a new marketing project these sensitive issues can be triggered, particularly for those of us who are self-employed and when working with clients, I am aware of this.
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If you feel opposed to engaging in a programme of marketing, perhaps read the following topics and consider if they may be the cause of some resistance. I am sure there will be reasons other than the ones presented - the simplest being, that marketing is just not an area of interest for you. If that is the case, then hopefully you are able to afford to outsource support. If you have limited resources however, and need to do the marketing yourself, then these areas might provide a working ground for reflection to support the next step for your business. 

We have recently started back with the new term at the Shiatsu College in Norwich. Now I’m a Shiatsu practitioner - an enjoyable and life-enriching journey (if daunting at times!) - and I’m attending classes this year as a Teacher in Training (tt). I found myself reflecting on the whole 3 year training process and realised there were some key pieces of advice I found especially helpful along the way, which gave me valuable perspectives on my whole learning experience. They still provide valuable touchstones in my unending sense of discovery as a Shiatsu practitioner and I hope they might prove useful to you too on your path. I am of course indebted to my friends and teachers for their knowledge and the wisdom that has brought me to these understandings.  
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1. You can trust in the healing power of touch 
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Training in Shiatsu, at its heart, is learning to tune into subtle energy in the body, a unique and undeveloped skill in our society, and not something we are used to practising. We do this in a fun, relaxed environment, making it far easier than you would imagine. Yet when it comes to giving a treatment, trying to connect with someone's energy meridians can feel elusive and intimidating, particularly as you want your receiver to feel some benefit! I would say ‘don't worry’. Your client will gain from the session even if you sense very little.
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In my first year, during the feedback session after treating a friend, I was fretting about how blank the feeling had been under my hands at moments during the treatment. I have never forgotten what she said, as it was so useful, reassuring and true: 'Don't worry you're learning and your receiver isn't aware of that. Touch alone is very powerful and healing, you can trust in that'. It's true. Remember most people receive very little physical contact in their daily lives, so simply being, receiving contact and body weight is hugely soothing and healing. You can trust in that, the rest will come. You don't need to be a Shiatsu Master for someone to benefit from your treatment. ​

Written by Nicole Bayes, Shiatsu Practitioner. Edited By Dinah John, Principal of Norwich Shiatsu College. 
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For many of us these days, the fast-paced world where we live and operate has normalised a high level of stress and anxiety. We may not even realise that anxiety has become our constant companion, even in some cases the driver of our decisions and of our lives. Often it isn't until we experience deep relaxation - and a return to greater internal rest or balance - that we realise just how 'wired' we have been emotionally, mentally and physically.
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There is a state of excessive stress which is standard for many now, and the conditions of our society help to facilitate this, with ‘time poverty’ and high levels of expectation. This may be in the workplace, at home with our family and even socially with friends, creating consuming and pressured stresses and complexities to navigate or overcome. Chronic stress, as is well documented by the medical profession, is not good for our health or happiness. However it is often only when our anxiety levels reach an unmanageable level, or hit a breaking point, that we are moved to do something about it.

Understandings of Grief in Chinese Medicine
Written by Nicole Bayes, Shiatsu Practitioner. Edited By Dinah John, Principal of Norwich Shiatsu College.
 
However well we make plans in life they can only ever be provisional, as the world will deliver unexpected changes. Life is fluid and everything by its nature is impermanent. Loss, therefore, becomes a constant companion and arrives in various guises - sometimes it's expected, other times sudden. The effects vary, but grief like a great hurricane can be destructive to our life with strong repercussions and lasting consequences. Loss can shake not only our happiness but our sense of identity; and with the end of a meaningful career, or as our world shrinks with deteriorating health, as the beauty of our youth fades, when we lose a treasured loved one who gives us joy, an intimate relationship ends or a beloved friend dies, we grieve.

This is an article that explores how we can aid, maintain and potentially further our health and wellbeing during winter following the wisdom of traditional eastern medicine... I hope you enjoy it and find some useful tips. Published in the winter edition of Norwich Mind, Associates E-Magazine and the NHS Health and Wellbeing E-Magazine. Author Nicole Bayes, kindly edited by Dinah John

For many of us, winter can herald a grim period to be endured, with long hours of darkness and the weather getting wetter and colder. The world can seem bleak and often our desire to leave the house diminishes, as we would rather stay indoors and curl up in the warm. Shiatsu, a popular Japanese bodywork therapy, has its roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) where these feelings are recognised as important natural signals from our own internal cycle, which mirrors that of the seasons. Maintaining good health includes recognising and honouring these cycles.