We all have aches and pain and stiffness in our bodies. Some of this is from physical sources, such as poor posture, carrying heavy things, or repetitive movements. But some of our aches and pains are due to emotional hurt trapped in the body.

When we experience pain, anger, hurt, loneliness, grief or stress, we move our bodies into certain postures. We clench our jaw or our fists, we hunch our shoulders, we bend over to protect our heart and our stomach. These postures and the tension that creates them often gets ‘locked’ in our bodies. It can stay there for months, years, or even decades. Unlike animals, who often shake themselves off after being attacked or experiencing a heavy experience, we store these past hurts in our muscles.

Touch and Awareness is a bodywork system that seeks to bring awareness and understanding to emotional tension in the body, easing both psychological and physical pain. I will ask some questions and then begin touching certain parts of your body where you feel tension (or where I see it). We will talk through the emotions and thoughts that come up when I am working on each part. It’s quite amazing (and unpredictable) what can emerge during a session.

Afterwards, you can feel relieved, light-headed, deeply relaxed, and have a sense of clarity. Everyone has a different experience, and often each session is very different.

In my own experience receiving Touch and Awareness sessions, I went back to moments early in life, when I had felt alone and abandoned. I realised that these experiences were what made me so convinced of the healing power of touch, and the importance of feeling held. That’s what I’d like to offer to people during Touch of Awareness sessions.