Waltham Abbey Health

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The Waltham Abbey Complementary Health Centre offers a range of Therapies and Services to promote health and well being. Many complementary therapies are also well known for the prevention of ill-health, relaxation and a feeling of enhanced well being.

Our team of 37 therapists and professionals are able to offer you the services all under one roof. You may book an appointment to identify the type of therapy that will be suitable for your needs. Most of our clients come from recommendations from those who have already had benefits from the therapies.

All complementary Therapies provided under one roof at reasonable fees.

CONTACT INFORMATION

	Address	34 Sun Street Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey EN9 1EJ
	Phone	01992 718711
	Email	Make an Enquiry Request an Appointment
	Website	http://www.walthamabbeyhealth.co.uk

SERVICES

◙ Acupuncture ◙ Reiki ◙ Reflexology ◙ Counselling ◙ Massage ◙ Chiropody ◙ Weight Loss and Slimming ◙ Yoga ◙ Pilates ◙ Stress Management ◙ Anger Management ◙ Homeopathy ◙ Hypnotherapy ◙ Osteopathy ◙ Physiotherapy ◙ Pain Management ◙ Homeopathy ◙ Hypnotherapy ◙ Osteopathy ◙ Physiotherapy ◙ Psychotherapy and many others

Introductory Special Offer - Full Body Massage Â£25

Acupuncture - Hypnotherapy - Psychotherapy - Life Coaching - Homeopathy - Aromatherapy - Bach - Chiropractic - Cognitive - Herbal Medicine - Indian - Massage Therapy - Meditation - NLP - Nutritional Therapy - Osteopathy - Pilates - Reflexology - Reiki - Yoga

About Us
The Waltham Abbey Complementary Health Centre (WACHC), originally a Primary Care Centre, is centrally situated on the main street (SUN STREET) of Waltham Abbey. It has ample public parking facilities at the front and rear of the Centre premises and is situated about a 15 minutes walk from the Rail Station.

We have refurbished the Primary Care Centre into a well equipped complementary health centre to provide various therapies and services under one roof at the most reasonable fees.

The centre is conveniently located and is well placed to offer help for any of the numerous problems encountered in life. Our friendly and relaxing centre offers a wide variety of one-to-one therapies, consultations, classes, treatments and group workshops that will help you feel stronger, happier and healthier.

We also offer private GP services, Travel Vaccinations, Botox Procedure, cosmetic teeth whitening service, non surgical nose procedure and a well equipped Meeting Room for holding group meetings for various purposes.

With our team of specialists, instructors and therapists you are in expert hands. They are dedicated to stop you suffering from pain, improving your quality of life and maintaining your health.

For your convenience the centre is open 6 days a week and for longer hours. To avoid disappointment, please contact us in advance to arrange a treatment of your choice.

At the Waltham Abbey Complementary Health Centre we aim to provide you with the very best in complementary medicine and more. We believe in involving you in your treatments and working with you to improve every aspect of your health and well being.

Testimonials
I live in London but happened to be in Waltham Abbey for the day last Saturday. I had been wanting a massage due to neck problems from using a computer at work. I saw the shop on the high street and enquired about prices and availability and booked a massage for later in the day.

I received a warm welcome from the professional receptionist, and thought the prices were very reasonable. A one-hour massage is just Â£30, which is incredible compared to the norm. The massage therapist, Tracy, was very experienced and also teaches massage in the region. The massage was fantastically deep and Tracy
really focused on the areas causing me the most concern (i.e. neck and shoulder), and gave a very personalised massage. I find that other massage therapists offer one standard massage, whereas Tracy adapted the massage to meet my particular needs.

I am planning to continue visiting the Waltham Abbey Health Centre even though I live in Greenwich, South East London! I found the customer service, treatment and feeling afterwards to be wonderful, and I hope to incorporate regular visits to the Centre into my life to improve it for the better.

Thank you very much!
-J. T.

Therapies

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is now becoming popular in various Western countries, especially as more people in our society dislike taking pills. No one really knows how acupuncture works. The body

Acupuncture is now becoming popular in various Western countries, especially as more people in our society dislike taking pills. No one really knows how acupuncture works. The body has 14 channels running over it. If needles are inserted into selected acupuncture points on these channels, the body is returned to a healthy condition by correction of the flow of vital energy called â€˜qiâ€™. The emphasis is on making the body healthy rather than curing the disease.
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Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy has nothing to do with what can be seen on stage where performers try to manipulate people into acting in silly ways. Unfortunately, much of the public knowledge of hypnosis is based on such shows which very often leads to a fear of hypnosis and a reluctance on the part of many people to seek for the help that hypnotherapy can give.

Somewhere between wakefulness and sleep is the state of consciousness that hypnotherapists use. That trance like state is similar to the one that occurs spontaneously in sleepwalking or daydreaming. Most people will experience hypnosis as a state in which they become more aware of their inner being, their emotions and state of mind so as to make it possible to work and transform those emotions and states which may have become a problem. You will not lose consciousness or awareness, but become able to gain a different perspective on what has been troubling you.

Most people talk and act as if the conscious mind is the prime mover behind our behaviour and regard the unconscious mind as something vague, that they are not really aware of. In fact, the unconscious mind is always working, monitoring and affecting all the physical and psychological functions of the mind and the body, from blood pressure and hormone levels to states of hunger and fatigue, even when we are asleep. The sum of what we have learned and experienced is also stored within the unconscious mind, and our memory holds far more than we can usually remember at a conscious level

Through accessing that unconscious mind, hypnotherapy can help you learn how to react differently to certain situations and help you to understand better the development mechanism of your mind. For example, if you have to prepare for an exam and feel nervous about it, you can learn how to access and strengthen your ability to relax and apply that to the situation of passing an exam. Once you know how to do that, then it becomes easier to "decide" how you would like to feel and react in a given situation.

It also is possible with hypnotherapy to access memories and past events which are still having a detrimental impact on the present. By understanding better what happened and how patterns of behaviour and feelings were created, then it becomes possible to transform how those memories affect us in our life. You can't erase and forget the past, but you can learn to feel differently about it.
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Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, treatment of psychological distress with techniques that rely heavily on verbal and emotional communication and other symbolic behaviour.

Psychotherapy differs in two ways from the informal help one person gives another. First, it is conducted by a psychotherapist who is specially trained and licensed or otherwise culturally sanctioned. Second, psychotherapy is guided by theories about the sources of distress and the methods needed to alleviate it. Because communication is the primary means of healing in most forms of psychotherapy, the relationship between the therapist and patient, or client, is much more important than in other medical treatments. The therapist's personality influences the patient and may be used quite deliberately to achieve therapeutic ends.

Attempts to ameliorate emotional and mental disorders through psychological means date from ancient times. Throughout most of history these efforts have been grounded in religious and magical beliefs. Attempts to base psychotherapeutic practices on scientific principles date from the mid-18th century, when the Austrian doctor Franz Anton Mesmer used a form of suggestion called animal magnetism. Neuroses were treated in the 19th century with such physical agents as water or painful electrical currents, both of which also depended for effectiveness on the use of suggestion. Hypnotism as a method of suggestion for alleviating certain psychological disturbances reached its height late in the 19th century, as practised by the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot at the SalpÃªtriÃ¨re Hospital in Paris.
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Life Coaching

Life-coaching is a means of bridging the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. It often involves clarifying those two first.

Life-coaching works through a dynamic partnership focussed entirely on the client and the client's agenda. Our lives have become so complex, opportunities so plentiful, that exploring what's important to us as individuals and our own unique situation is the quickest and often the only way to know exactly what to change and how to change it. And to identify and move beyond those things that are holding us back from the lives we really want.

In life-coaching, people experience significant shifts in their lives. They become clearer on who they are and what they need in their lives to be fulfilled. Living the life that's truly right for them, it all becomes easier, more joyful. They also get to do, be or have more of what they want or need in every conceivable area. Better than this, they do so more quickly and easily, with more enjoyment and far less stress. They go from being driven by need to inspired by their goals or life. And they create the conditions to easily sustain this easier, happier way of living.
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Homeopathy

Homoeopathy is a system of prescribing which uses plants, minerals, and some animal remedies, prescribed on the principle that "Like cures like". This is called the simile principle. The word "homoeopathy" is derived from the Greek words "homoios" meaning like or similar, and "pathos" meaning suffering.

" Let like be cured by like"

This exploits the property of some medicinal substances to stimulate the natural healing energy of the individual. The activity of this healing process is demonstrated by the symptoms of an illness, and a remedy is chosen which has been found when taken by healthy volunteers to cause symptoms similar to that illness.

This system of therapeutics was discovered by Hahnemann at the end of the eighteenth century. He found that cinchona bark, which was used to treat swamp fever (now known as malaria), when taken by him produced the same symptoms as the disease. Here was a strange phenomenon, a remedy which was an effective treatment for a disease inducing the symptoms of that disease when given to a healthy person. He decided to experiment further. He took further doses himself, and gave some to his family. He found in every case that symptoms of swamp fever occurred on taking the cinchona bark, which stopped on ceasing to take it.

He now began to determine and record the effect of a large number of substances on the human body. He gathered together a band of helpers to whom he gave remedies, interrogating them daily on sensations experienced .He called this a proving. He was thus able to produce a materia medica consisting of symptoms produced in healthy volunteers. This materia medica represented a vast collection of very accurate observations. These pictures, when matched with the symptoms of a sick person, enabled him to identify the remedy which would cure the patient. He found when actually treating patients that a small material dose of the substance would produce an aggravation of symptoms before it cured. He then started to dilute the remedies, and vigorously shaking them (succussing) between dilutions. This produced a cure without the aggravation. He also found that a remedy so treated was more powerful as a curative, and so he called the process potentisation.

Homoeopathy is still based on this principle when used today, 200 years later then Hahnemann's time. It is very different from conventional medicine and is frequently misunderstood and denigrated. In conventional medicine we are taught to think in terms of disease and pathological states, changes from the normal physiological state wrought by outside factors such as infection trauma and stress, and also conditions arising from allergy or even autoimmunity. In order to treat such disease states we try to make a diagnosis based on symptoms and physical signs. This may enable us to find a cause for which there is a specific treatment or failing this, to treat the patient's complaints by symptomatic measures. Although there has been an increasing emphasis on treating the patient as a whole, medicine is in actual fact becoming increasingly fragmented and specialised, and there are few treatments which cure the patient as a whole.

If we look more closely at the patient, we find that although symptoms of a disease fall into a variety of categories which are more or less well defined, there are also other symptoms present. These vary from case to case, and are unique to that person. Thus no one case, even of a well defined disease like chickenpox, or pneumonia, exactly resembles another, any more than two individuals are ever absolutely identical. In other words the symptoms and signs of the disease are modified by the reaction of the patient.

The basis of homoeopathy is that the most successful remedy for any given occasion will be the one whose symptomatology presents the clearest and closest resemblance to the symptom complex of the sick person in question.

That is: let like be treated by like. Examples of this are as follows:-

The effects of peeling an onion are very similar to the symptoms of a cold or hay fever, and the remedy prepared from onion is used to treat colds and hay fever where the symptoms are similar.

The symptoms and signs of arsenic poisoning are very similar to those of certain cases of gastro-enteritis, and the remedy arsenicum album is used to treat these cases, with success.

So the first and fundamental principle of homoeopathy is the selection and use of a similar remedy.

The second and more controversial issue is the use of remedies in apparently very small quantities. This in itself is not homoeopathy but a refining of the basic method worked out by Hahnemann. Recent research has indicated that during potentisation an imprint of the molecular structure of the remedy is left in the liquid ,and this is therapeutically active.

Further research has shown that homoeopathic remedies are more successful than placebo and in some cases than conventional treatment in certain illnesses. It is believed that the natural healing process of the organism is stimulated by the remedy.

In spite of the general scepticism of many conventional medical practitioners homoeopathy works and has a place in modern therapeutics. It is prescribable on the NHS, and has been used by the Royal Family for many years.

Homoeopathic treatment can aid recovery in many conditions where a medical practitioner might wish to avoid the use of allopathic medicines. Since it stimulates the natural healing process there is less likelihood of recurrence of the condition, and homoeopathic treatment leads to an improvement in general health. There are applications for the use of homoeopathy in some conditions which are difficult to treat by conventional means. Remedies may afford relief to sufferers who find side effects of some drugs too unpleasant. Homoeopathic remedies can be used together with allopathic drugs and other conventional treatment quite safely and effectively, they are without side effects and can be used in pregnancy, for young infants, and the elderly; they are inexpensive and treatment is cost-effective.

Homoeopathy is indicated in the treatment of many conditions:

in the initial treatment of acute infections, of the upper and lower respiratory tract, and skin.
for chronic conditions such as skin disease, arthritis, postviral fatigue.
for recurrent conditions-upper respiratory tract infections, glue ear, rhinitis, bronchitis, cystitis, vaginitis.
in the treatment of hormone related diseases-PMT, endometriosis, and menopausal problems.
for psychosomatic problems, stress related illnesses, including headaches, migraine, backache and muscular tension.
for allergies
for depression and anxiety.

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Aromatherapy

The art of applying essential oils to suit individual needs. The oils work directly on the chemistry of the body, via the skin and bloodstream.

Essential oils are extracts that contain the substances that give plants their smell. They are produced by tiny glands in the petals, leaves, stems, bark and wood of many plants and trees. In nature, they are released slowly, but when heated or crushed, their oil glands burst, releasing the plant's aroma more strongly.

It isn't known exactly when or where the art of aromatherapy began. It is thought that Chinese knowledge of medicinal oils may have reached the west by way of the Egyptians, Greeks and Roman. The first recorded use of plants in Britain was in the 13th century and from then on, manufacture increase and th
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Bach Flower Remedies

The term 'Flower Remedy' refers to the products developed by Dr Edward Bach, a London bacteriologist and homoeopath. 'Flower Essences' are products devised by various people following on from Dr Bach's work.

Dr Bach became disillusioned with the side effects of drug therapies and turned his research to the healing power of nature. He believed that illness was a result of mental or emotional balance and that the unique energetic property of a plant could be used to rectify an imbalance and restore the awareness of 'wholeness'. Using the homoeopathic law of potentisation, he reasoned that the healing effects of plants might also be contained in the morning dew found on their flowers.

Dr Bach believed that harmful emotions were the main cause of disease and he classified the various emotions into seven main categories. These seven categories were then divided further into 38 negative feelings. Each negative emotion is associated with a particular plant. He also developed a compound of five flowers called Rescue Remedy to be used in emergency situations or for trauma.
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Chiropractic

Chiropractic - from the Greek Chiropraktikos meaning "effective treatment by hand".

Chiropractic medicine was originally practiced in the late 19th Century by Daniel Palmer, a schoolteacher turned healer. Palmer's interest in healing lay in the cause of illness and he devoted much time to studying other cultures and races to see how they approached the problem. He was fascinated to learn that the ancient Egyptians had used spinal manipulation on displaced vertebrae to give relief from a wide variety of ailments. Palmer became increasingly interested in this, and began to develop his own methods of manipulation. After a number of successful treatments, he set up the first training institute to promote and further develop chiropractic medicine
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Cognitive and Behaviour Therapies

Cognitive and Behaviour Therapies are the most studied and widely evaluated of the different psychotherapeutic approaches. As well as being recognised by the medical profession as useful for treating many emotional and lifestyle problems, they are also widely available in private, voluntary and government funded counselling agencies. They are the basis behind such services as marriage guidance, bereavement, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse counselling.
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Herbal Medicine

As a form of treatment that is said to be as old as mankind itself, it is interesting to notice that this most ancient form of medicine is coming back to challenge the most sophisticated system of medicine in the world's history. Today, the World Health Organisation estimates that, worldwide, herbal medicine is three to four times more commonly practised than conventional medicine.

It can be said that the origins of modern medicine, with its heavy reliance on drug prescription to treat specific diseases, lie in herbal medicine. Some of the best modern drugs are purified products of herbs, and in worldwide use.

Primitive tribes still use their traditional knowledge of plants and their healing properties and, in early civilisations, food and medicine were closely linked together, as many plants were eaten for their health-giving properties.

Much of Britain's knowledge about the use of herbs can be traced back to ancient Egypt where the priests kept that knowledge. A papyrus from the city of Thebes dating back from1500 BC lists hundreds of medicinal herbs, including many that are still in use today.

The ancient Greeks and Romans also were practitioners of herbal medicine and much of their knowledge has been passed on as their armies conquered the world and military doctors took the plants and their uses with them. Two more cultures which have always relied very heavily on herbal medicine are the Chinese and the Indians and, to this day, China herbs play a vital part in health care.

In Britain, from the Dark Ages well into medieval times, herbals were painstakingly hand-copied in the monasteries, each of which had its own physic garden for growing herbs to treat both monks and local people. In rural areas, particularly in the west and Wales, the Druids are believed to have had an oral tradition of herbal medicine, mixing medicine with mysticism and rituals.

The crucial difference between medical herbalists and today's orthodox doctor is, firstly, that the herbalist looks at the patient as a whole, while conventional doctors look for symptoms which enable them to diagnose and treat diseases. They see the person as the carrier of a disease, whilst the herbalist regards the patient as a diseased person, requiring a holistic treatment. Secondly, the medical herbalist is using whole plants or plant products containing active constituents, while doctors use these constituents in refined and isolated forms or synthetics.

As medical herbalists have become more scientifically minded in their research, so a new word has been coined to described their work: phytotherapy, from the Greek words phyton, meaning 'plant', and therapeuein, 'to take care of, to heal'.

A medical herbalist will treat the patient as an individual, with individual weaknesses and needs. He/She is likely to enquire about lifestyle, diet, stresses and look for any imbalance and disharmony, seeking the cause of the illness. Each treatment is tailored to specific and varying requirements.
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Indian Head Massage (IHM)

Indian Head Massage is a treatment based on old Ayurvedic techniques involving work on the upper back, shoulders, neck, scalp and face. A variety of massage movements are used to relieve accumulated tension, stimulate circulation and restore joint movement. IHM is also used to aid the condition and health of the hair, particularly when combined with the use of natural organic oils.Indian Head Massage is used by practitioners to help reduce stress and fatigue, increase mental clarity, and relax and rejuvenate the receiver. A treatment will last between 20 minutes to one hour.
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Massage Therapy

Massage is a systematic, therapeutic stroking and kneading of the soft tissues of the body. The word is derived from the Greek 'masso', to knead and the Arabic 'mass', to press gently. It has been used as a form of therapy for thousands of years and touch is the most instinctive response to pain. Touch is an essential requirement for healthy development in early life and research has shown the babies who have received massage from their mothers have increased weight gain, increased nerve and brain cell development and better hormonal functioning and cell activity. Earliest records of the use of massage as a therapy come from China over 5,000 years ago. The use of massage in the West became more popular in the 16th Century when a French doctor, Ambroise Pare incorporated a more anatomical and physiological approach. A Swede, Per Henrik Ling, developed a system of massage and gymnastics in the early 19th Century which became what we now know as Swedish Massage. There are many different types of massage that have been developed; some approaches focus on the physical effects that the massage techniques have on the body, whilst others focus attention on the flow of 'energy' within the body. All types of massage can have an effect on the skin, muscles, blood vessels, lymph, nerves and some of the internal organs.
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Meditation - what is it?

Meditation is a safe and simple way to help you move towards balance and harmony and is often used as a path towards knowledge of the Self. It is a practice that is perhaps as old as mankind and can be used as an aid in dealing with stress and illnesses.

A state of meditation happens when your attention is focused upon the experience of the moment and is often reached by the use of techniques to calm the mind and body. There are several forms of meditation, most of which can be grouped into two basic approaches:

Focused or concentrative meditation
Mindfulness

Whilst the first brings a narrowing of the attention upon a particular subject such as an image, a mantra or other symbols, the second tends to be more like observing the flow of experiences and sensations without interfering with them. Some practices are a mix of those two approaches. Focused meditation can be likened to looking through a microscope, it helps us go deeper into the experience, whilst a state of mindfulness can be more like gazing through a window, noticing everything that passes and our own experiences in relation to what is being observed. Both approaches can be combined with great effects.

With the practice of meditation, you can learn how to relax and how to direct your attention for the purpose of exploring your Self and learning about your own emotional and mental responses. It is a useful tool in the quest for understanding, self knowledge and spiritual development. Meditation should only be taught by an experienced and knowledgeable teacher who will be able to guide you in your inner journey, thus helping you to understand better what you may encounter and how to work with it.

When in meditation, the mind is in a state of restful alertness whilst the body becomes more relaxed, thus allowing for a natural healing and harmonising to take place. The benefits of meditation can be found on three levels: physical, psychological and spiritual.

Physical benefits: It has been shown that the regular use of meditation can strengthen the immune system, making it better able to resist infections. Physiological problems that are stress related, or influenced by stress, can also be helped as the meditator learns to cope better and to respond more positively to the stressful situation

Psychological benefits: Meditation can help most people feel more relaxed and better able to cope with life's events. It can promote a more aware attitude, leading to a recognition of the choices one has in life. This can help the meditator to realise that life is not something that just happens to us, but something that is to be embraced and where the person has power.

Spiritual benefits: To tell someone what to believe is to take away their freedom. Meditation is a personal journey towards understanding and knowledge of Self and of the Source. It is an exploration that has the potential to reveal the secrets of life. Meditation will help you find your own answers... and many more questions.
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An Introduction to NLP

NLP has been described by one of its co-founders as "an attitude of mind leaving behind it a trail of techniques".

It is usually this "trail of techniques" which people have heard of if they have heard of NLP at all. The "Fast Phobia Relief Process" that takes only twenty minutes or relieving panic attacks in ten using "Collapsing Anchors". Both of these claims are true.

Although not exclusively used for therapy and personal growth, NLP started its development over twenty years ago when John Grinder, a linguistics professor and Richard Bandler, a gestalt therapist, modelled the therapeutic skills of Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls. They became particularly interested in "how" the great and the good are successful. This was an immense shift in emphasis in terms of modelling success in any field.

Even today, most "How To" books merely tell you "What To". Look at the shelves of any bookshop and you will see a proliferation of books on "How To"... relieve stress, recover from abusive relationships, give up smoking, become a millionaire. A good look between the covers reveals lots and lots of "what to do" but very seldom will you find anything written about "How To" do it. This is what NLP has added to the party. And because it is not about "what to do" there is little if any ideology attached to it. And this, of course, causes some people problems.

To reduce it to its simplest elements, NLP has three "legs": Outcome, Sensory Acuity and Flexibility.
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Nutritional Therapy is not just about healthy eating. It is a form of complementary medicine in which a practitioner will work with a patient or client, helping their body rid itself of stressful substances, providing raw materials, and improving the assimilation of food in order to aid physical repair. In a recent survey of 300 people treated by a nutritional therapist, it was found that 85% of headache/migraine sufferers, 82% of people with digestive problems, 70% of people with hormone-related problems, 55% of chronic fatigue sufferers and 54% of people with skin problems reported a definite, lasting improvement, usually within two months(1).
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Osteopathy

A system of therapeutics, based on the normalising of the body and its functions on the principle that health depends on the maintenance of proper relationships among the various parts of the body. According to osteopathic theory, defects in the musculo-skeletal system-the muscles, bones, and joints-influence the natural function of internal organs. To correct structural abnormalities, osteopathic therapy, or treatment with the hands or by mechanical means, is used (including massage to relax stiff muscles, stretching to help joint mobility, and manipulation and high-velocity thrust techniques which can restore easy movement to the body). Using these techniques, the osteopath will endeavour to remove the abnormalities and thus re-establish the normal functioning of the body's activities.

Osteopathic medicine holds that true health involves complete physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than merely the absence of disease. The body is viewed as having a capacity for health that the osteopath can help the individual fulfil. He or she must therefore treat the whole patient, considering such factors as nutrition and mental habits in addition to the physical symptoms.

The fundamental principles of osteopathic medicine were formulated in 1874 by the American doctor Andrew Taylor Still. Still organised the first osteopathic medical school at Kirksville, Missouri, in 1892. According to Still, all diseases are caused by obstruction of arteries or nerves because of the pressure of maladjusted bones, especially of the vertebrae of the spinal column. He therefore maintained that most ailments can be prevented or cured by techniques of spinal manipulation.

Osteopaths are generally consulted to treat problems of the musculo-skeletal structure such as back pain, and many doctors refer patients to them for such treatments. It can also be used to ease pain during pregnancy, for asthma, constipation and pre-menstrual syndrome.
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Pilates

Pilates was developed during the 1st World War by Dr Joseph Pilates - he was a German interned by the British who used his time to teach his fellow internees exercise techniques that could be done with limited space and props, yet would aid recovery for injuries and ill health. After the war he emigrated to New York where, along with his wife Clara, he opened an exercise studio and began to promote his method. The studio was soon attracting the cream of New York's ballet and dance circles, who found the Pilates technique invaluable for rehabilitation after injury, as well as a useful addition to their own skills.

The central philosophy of the method is to strengthen the core postural muscles and develop balanced alignment through the use of slow, controlled movements and breathing. It has eight major principles: Centering; Alignment; Co-ordination; Concentration; Relaxation; Breathing; Stamina and Flowing Movements.

In recent years, with the growth of mind/body awareness, Pilates has grown and now attracts people from many walks of life - sportsmen and women, celebrities and the general public. A variety of videos are available, however it is generally recommended that beginners should initially attend a class in order to learn correct alignment before commencing with home exercise. Pilates can be taught on a one-to-one basis, or in small classes of between 8 and 12 - this ensures that the teacher is able to focus on individual needs.

The benefits to the body of Pilates have been well researched, and it is often recommended by the medical profession for chronic backache and RSI injuries. Many teachers of the discipline are former dancers with a good working knowledge of muscles and injuries, or physiotherapists who see it as a way to empower people with the means to help themselves recover from injury or pain.
Pilates professionals also recommend it for first time exercisers, the elderly, those suffering from ME and people who in general wish to improve their physical and mental well being.
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Reflexology

Reflexology is a form of complementary medicine and involves a method of treatment using massage to reflex areas found in the feet and the hands. Most commonly, the feet are used as the areas to be treated.

It is said to have originated in China some 5000 years ago, when pressure therapy where used to correct energy fields in the body. It was not until around 1913 that the therapy was introduced to the west by an American ear, nose and throat consultant, Dr William Fitzgerald.

In the feet, there are reflex areas corresponding to all the parts of the body and these areas are arranged in such a way as to form a map of the body in the feet with the right foot corresponding to the right side of the body and the left foot to the left side of the body. Thus, it becomes possible to treat the whole body and the treat the body as a whole. This latter point is an important factor of a natural therapy and allows not only symptoms to be treated but also their causes.

It is thought that illness occurs when 'energy channels' in the body are blocked, causing damage to one area of another. Massage is aimed at destroying these blocks, allowing energy to flow freely again and so to heal the damage.

Reflexology does not claim to be a "cure all", but numerous different disorders seem to be responding well to this natural therapy. These disorders include such things as migraine, sinus problems, hormonal imbalances, breathing difficulties, digestive problems, circulatory problems, back problems, tension and stress.
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Reiki Healing

Reiki is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life (Rei) Energy (Ki). It is a spiritual healing discipline and has its roots in ancient Buddhist teachings. The founder of Reiki, Dr Mikao Usui, spent many years seeking the knowledge of healing and found information on Reiki in Sanskrit texts. He received information on Reiki through a vision when meditating on a Japanese mountain.

Reiki is the vital life energy which flows through all living things and which can be activated for the purpose of healing. Reiki practitioners believe that everyone has the ability to connect to their own healing energy and use it for the purposes of strengthening the Ki (or life energy) of others. The Reiki therapist channels the Ki through his or her hands to the recipient, activating the body's natural ability to heal itself. When a person's Ki is strong and flowing freely, the body and mind are in a positive state of health. However, the vital energy may become weak or blocked, and this may lead to symptoms on a physical or emotional level.

A Reiki practitioner will have received 'attunements' to open their healing channels. The guidelines for the practise of Reiki are concerned with ethics and behaviour and include living in harmony with others, taking responsibility for one's own health and happiness, helping others, and being positive about all things.
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Yoga

Yoga is an ancient Indian practice using physical postures to obtain a harmony of mind, body and spirit. It is not a religion, but the discipline of breathing and concentration during practice will bring tranquility and awareness to the mind. Whilst Yoga is now taking many different forms, regular practice of any may bring about benefits, which include:

increased oxygenation of the blood
Muscle toning throughout the body
a clearer and more relaxed mind
improved posture
improved circulation of blood and lymph
regulation of bodily functions.

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Acupressure, Acupuncture, Alexander Technique, Allergy Testing / Treatments, Aromatherapy, Beauty Therapy, Bowen Therapy, Chinese Massage, Chiropractic, Colonic Irrigation, Colour Therapy, Counselling, Craniosacral Therapy, Cupping, Ear Candling, EFT, Energy Healing, Herbalists, Holistic Massage, Hypnotherapist, Indian Head Massage, Infant Massage, Kinesiology, Life Coaching, Lymphatic Drainage, Meditation, Natural Fertility Management, Naturopaths, NLP, Nutrition, Osteopathy, Personal Trainers, Physiotherapy, Pilates, Podiatrists, Pregnancy Massage, Psychotherapy, Qigong, Reflexology, Reiki, Shiatsu, Sound Therapy, Spiritual Healing, Sports Injury Therapy, Sports Massage, Stone Therapy Massage, Swedish Relaxation Massage, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Weight Loss, Womens Health, Yoga