This is the story of how a foot massage morphed into a somatic session that brought me powerful and unexpected emotional insights. So, first off, I really love having my feet rubbed. Not sure why - just has always felt great and, let’s face it, my feet do a lot of work. Whenever I worked with other massage therapists in the past I always noticed I felt sad that they didn’t work on my feet for longer but this time I decided that I would ask André to only work on my feet.

We often think the moment a massage ends is the moment to stand up and carry on with the day. But what if those last few minutes of lying quietly on the table are actually part of the therapeutic process? At Olive Tree Therapies, I invite you to stay present for a moment after the hands leave the body. That pause helps your body fully land, supports the nervous system to integrate the work done, and cultivates what is called interoception - our inner sense of what is happenin

My name is Angel and I’m 30, I use they/them pronouns, and I’ve lived with chronic pain, out of control behaviours and bipolar disorder for years. Dissociation is part of how I’ve survived — shutting off from my emotions, from my body, from the world around me. There are still days when that’s my default. I still have very difficult moments. But the difference now is I have something to come back to. A relationship with my body that isn’t always terrifying.

Being a therapist can feel a little bit like being in a play at times. You can catch yourself giving your best performance to appear regulated, seemingly unaffected by what’s going on in the outside world or indeed within your insides. I take extra care in also trying to provide an environment where my clients can feel safe and held. A sort of magical sanctuary for the contemporary hyperaroused nervous systems of my community where nerves can have a chance to (temporarily) do

This is a post informed by PolyVagal theory (as developed by Dr. Stephen Porges) and based on Deb Dana’s concept of somatic glimmers. My journey into the world of noticing, collecting and cultivating glimmers is a fairly recent one. Glimmers, however, happen spontaneously for everyone, whether you notice them or not. A glimmer - as defined by Deb Dana - are:

A perspective on the use of touch in therapeutic settings. When is it ok to touch?