An Insight into Alexandra’s practice
“My work is all about taking the pressure out of the body. It’s as simple as that,” says Shiatsu expert Alex Evans of The Central London Osteopathy clinic based in Shoreditch. “The skill of a good practitioner is to be able to identify areas in the body where tension is accumulating and then to work to release it,” says Alex whose list of clients include actress Anna Friel.
By using a series of techniques to stretch and release the body, particularly the lower-back, Alex is able to treat injured areas as well as boost the body as a whole. But rather than just working to alleviate symptoms, she also aims to uncover the emotional issues that might be underlying the physical problem. She believes that a person’s mental and physical wellbeing are inextricably linked.
“In Chinese medicine, the principles upon which Shiatsu is based, emotional issues correspond to various parts of the body. If I was to treat fear and anxiety, for example, I would look at the kidney meridian,” says Alex who is also trained in Bio-Dynamic Cranial Sacral therapy.
A major area of Alex’s work involves cases of physical or psychological trauma. Trauma-related issues are those caused by something external, an outside intervention, such as an accident, physical or sexual abuse, a relationship break-up or even bereavement.
“A person might come through the door because they have severe back or shoulder pain as a consequence of a physical trauma. But when you start talking to them sometimes a story unravels itself such as a recent break- up, or in worse case even, rape or abuse, whatever the story is, acknowledging it can help address the fundamental cause of their physical problem,” says Alex.
Pembe Wright, 39, an equine sports massage therapist from Barnet, Hertfordshire has been seeing Alex for eight years. She was diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition that affects the spine and makes it curve from side to side, when she was 12 years old. Although surgery has helped to a large degree to correct the problem, it can flare up during periods of emotional strain.
“If I’m suffering emotionally, my body rushes back into problems and the pain in my back and pelvis invariably returns,” says Pembe, who suffered bereavement six years ago when her father died after having a stroke. “It was all very sudden as he had always seemed to be a very healthy man. After the stroke, he was unconscious for a week and in that time my body went into overdrive to cope with the shock and the stress of dealing with the situation. We were being passed from doctor to doctor, not knowing what was going to happen next.”
Alex believes that accessing and exploring one’s feelings after a traumatic event is vital to the healing process and is something that Shiatsu actively supports. Creating a safe and nurturing environment in which people are invited to talk about their experiences has been an essential part of her work.
“After my dad died, Shiatsu helped me through the grieving process,” says Pembe. “It allowed me to experience the sadness and anger bubbling underneath instead of bottling up the feelings. Alex talked to me in the sessions and gently encouraged me to discuss my thoughts. It’s a two-way process – Shiatsu helped me relax enough to access my emotions and the release of which helped my body to heal.”
“I always ask people why they’ve come to see me,” says Alex. “It’s important that they are allowed to tell their story without interruption. I may look at their body and form a diagnostic picture but it must be informed by the client’s own verbal story. People need to be reassured that it’s alright to feel upset during the session if say, they have suffered an emotional trauma.”
Shiatsu can also be used as an effective way of maintaining good health by keeping problems at bay. While completely eradicating symptoms is not always possible, Alex aims to reduce their severity by alleviating stress in the body. Working in the heart of the city, she sees a lot of people in high-pressured jobs who struggle to achieve a healthy work-life balance, particularly men. For the past six years, Alex has treated, Rhydian Fisher, 37, for psoriasis, a common skin condition exacerbated by stress. The managing director of a web design agency had just set up his company when he started seeing coming for treatment. He says:
“It was a very stressful period. Those first few years are crucial in a new business and most start-ups go under during that time. I work in a highly competitive industry and for the first time in my life I was responsible for other people’s wages – I was the boss and it was all down to me.
“I was feeling that pressure and knew from experience that it’s better to deal with stress when you start feeling it, rather than wait for it to get to a stage where it becomes less manageable. I sought Shiatsu to avoid stress, rather than to treat it.”
A condition such as psoriasis can be a very useful indicator of stress because it is highly conspicuous on the body. It is difficult to ignore dry and itchy skin but a diminishing appetite on the other hand, or poor sleeping habits, are less obvious markers of psychological strain. Shiatsu offers people an increased awareness of their bodies as they can feel tension being released in specific areas, through gentle physical manipulation. Those who undergo regular treatment are better placed to identify the parts of their body that carry stress, and are more alert to any physical imbalance.
“I try to see Alex fortnightly to keep a check on things,” continues Rhydian. “If I miss a few sessions, I feel the tightness build up in my back and shoulders or worse, my psoriasis flares up. You can see Alex write detailed notes each week that she regularly refers back to in order to really understand your body story, which is constantly evolving. She immediately notices if I’ve been sitting at my desk more than usual because she can feel the increased tension in my shoulders. She even knew when I had changed my bicycle because she was able to feel the subtle changes in my knees and hips.”
The effectiveness of Shiatsu is generally measured by the extent to which the body is able to relax. The deeper the level of relaxation, the better the results and this is something best achieved through long-term treatment. “An hour’s Shiatsu is worth four hours sleep to me,” says Rhydian. “It’s like meditating for an hour and I can feel my body and mind really letting go during the sessions. But you have to get good at it. The more regular the treatments, the quicker I’m able to sink into a relaxed state.”
There tends to be a misconception that Shiatsu is a form of massage but massage moves the whole body whereas Shiatsu focuses on freeing up specific areas where pressure may be building up. Unlike conventional osteopathy where the approach to the body can be quite forceful, Shiatsu and Cranial Sacral Therapy involves much gentler manipulation. But some might be sceptical of the effectiveness of these treatments because the physical pressure applied to the body is very subtle.
“Alex might appear to be doing nothing other than pressing a small point on my foot for ten minutes and then suddenly I’ll feel my left shoulder relax because she is addressing the corresponding pressure point. It’s more delicate than other treatments but the release is just as powerful as having your back kneaded or your joints clicked,” says Rhydian.
Alternative therapies such as Shiatsu and Cranial Sacral Therapy have also proved highly effective treatments for pregnant and post natal women. Alex helped one client to achieve a natural birth with her second child after having a caesarean with her first. She has also helped a number of women deal with the physical and psychological consequences of miscarriage.
Angela Groundwater, 37, a 3D artist from Hackney was in the initial pregnancy when she first consulted Alex with debilitating lower-back, hip and thigh pain. She says:
“By the time I went to see Alex I was at my wits end. I was very anxious about the pregnancy because I had had four miscarriages and the tension was just compounding the pain. I had previously been a very active person and exercised regularly. Suddenly I wasn’t even able to walk to the local shop.”
Angela’s GP referred her to a chiropractor but she not only found the treatment too vigorous but also completely ineffective. To make matters worse, he was very vague about what might be causing the pain and told her there wasn’t anything wrong.
“The chiropractor couldn’t identify what the problem was whereas Alex could. She could feel the imbalance in my body and the tension in my hips. She picked up on the subtleties of my body that the chiropractor didn’t. I was only living a couple of blocks away from the clinic where Alex worked but couldn’t walk there because the pain was so intense. But by the end of my fourth session with Alex, I was fully able to walk home.”
Alex gained a degree in Journalism from Cardiff University before working in sales and marketing. She began training in Shiatsu, Cranial Sacral Therapy, massage and Yoga in 1996 after becoming interested in Chinese medicine due to its ability to ease her asthma. “I’m fascinated with the body in that it is constantly unravelling itself. Everyone is unique and I’m always being presented with a different set of challenges and problems.”
Plans for Alex’s future include further training in Cranial Sacral Therapy and she hopes to work more with children. “Cranial therapy is an incredibly good system for unwinding very deeply-held patterns in the body caused by physical or mental trauma. The earlier you start treatment, the better chance you have at preventing patterns from forming in the body that can cause problems in the future.”
ARTICLE BY JOURNALIST LAURA MOSS
