20 Years of Soul Space!

I could not be more grateful for having had a job that has allowed me to support my daughter and I over the years. A small business of one, that has paid the bills (just!), but also let me work hours around her infant, nursery, primary and secondary schools, as well as her college. As she has just finished her A Levels this month, and is planning to leave home for university in September, it is a time to reflect on how important being able to do that, has been for us both.

This business has allowed me to be there for absolutely everything for her growing up. I also feel blessed that I have been able to do a job that I genuinely enjoy as much (if not more!) than I did 20 years ago when I first qualified.

Thank you to every tutor and trainer who has taught and guided me over the years, along with other therapists who I trained with, who have become firm friends. Thanks to the other therapists too, who I have done treatment swaps with, and become friends with, where we have kept each other going! Those sessions have been invaluable. We have to keep ourselves well, to be able to give fabulous energy to our clients – so thank you for looking after me, and giving me your love and care. Therapists really do appreciate having therapy! We know how important it is to look after ourselves, and the true value of the treatments given, and the energy provided.

Thanks to my wonderful family – I would not have been able to work to support us in Molly’s early years (following my divorce), without my fantastic mum and dad, my lovely sister and my local neighbours back then. It was a really difficult time, and I wouldn’t have got through it without all of you having my back, and helping me with Molly when she was so small. You have continued to always be there for us, and I will be eternally grateful for having you in our lives.

Thanks to my good friends, who have always been there to remind me why I do what I do, and to keep me positive and on track, when some situations have been so difficult along the way. Working full-time as a single parent can be very challenging – but having folk around that truly care for us makes all the difference – and we know how very fortunate we are to have people that have cared enough to support us, and Soul Space, for many, many years now. You all know who you are! The friends that stand by you in your hardest times are the best, and are very precious indeed.

Molly has been the most amazing kid – she has obviously been with me through all of this, so deserves the biggest thanks of all. I was actually heavily pregnant with her when I trained in Baby Massage back in 2004! Here’s a cute photo of her after a Baby Massage session back then – amazingly she has given me permission to share it!

She has always understood that I have to work long hours (many evenings and weekends too), but has always known it was so I could support us both, and still have time with her in between - after school hours and during holidays - so that I could always be there. She turned 18 last year, and we have the best relationship, which I know is partly due to me having a job that has allowed me to be a full-time mum, as well as running a full-time business. This, along with the two-way love, trust and respect that any good friendship or relationship needs to thrive. I will miss her dreadfully when she leaves for university, but I am also super excited for her, as she starts her next adventure up north!

Thanks to my website man, and my accountant too. The former keeps my website up to date and my monthly blog posted, which in turn keeps me high in the search engine results, so that new folk can find me! The latter keeps the business on track, and makes sure I pay all the company bills that I have to pay on time! I hope I have mentioned everyone. Thanks to all those clients who have taken the time to write reviews for me too – it is hugely appreciated!

What an incredible world therapy work is. I never tire of learning about the body. Learning about people. Learning about caring and making a difference. Learning about how we all deal with things, and being there to help guide clients in times of trouble. I genuinely don’t ever wake up and think ‘not work today’ and am truly blessed to have clients that I don’t just care about from a therapy perspective – I really do like them all as people too. It is one of those rare jobs where friends become clients, and clients become friends. There is a real honesty about therapy work, which makes it precious and endlessly fulfilling.

The best results come when people trust you enough to just be themselves, and allow you to learn about their lives and their health, in such a way that you know exactly what they need each time, when they come for therapy treatment. After this many years, the work becomes instinctive, not just learned. I’m still constantly thrilled though, when I manage to work out a tight muscle, or make a client smile or laugh when they had arrived in tears, or get some mobility back into a stiff joint, or just to listen when they need to talk, or to just let them rest and sleep, knowing that giving them that safe space to be, is sometimes enough. I have always seen this job as a privilege and a gift.

I am lucky enough to have worked with newborn babies, right up to my eldest client who was 96! To work with different people every day, from different backgrounds, who have varied family situations, from a wide range of professions, and who each have their own individual needs is so interesting! I learn from them, and they learn from me.

To see what challenges clients can (and have) overcome, is humbling too. Some of the things some of my clients have been through in their lives, have shown me just how strong human beings can be. To get through such difficult times and reach out for help and support is inspiring. I am their therapist and here to help them. I am so proud of all of them for who they are. What they don’t realise is that many times, they have helped me too, just by being themselves, and by being vulnerable and open. Therapy work is just fabulous!

Working with Essential Oils every day is another gift. I have been able to be dead lazy with my skincare routine since doing this job! Working with beautiful products works wonders for my skin, and we are rarely ill in this house, with all the fabulous properties that these beautiful natural products contain. New clients often say they knew which house was ours before they got here, as they could smell the aromas from the street outside! How lovely that is. I feel very lucky to do this job!

When clients give positive feedback it is the nicest feeling in the world too. Knowing you are spending your work time doing something to make others feel better is a real joy. I really struggled with that in the Covid months when we weren’t allowed to work – I loved my job before Covid – but by god, it gave me a renewed sense of gratitude when we were eventually allowed to re-open our clinic doors. I missed my clients massively, and realised then that being able to help people, was a huge part of my reason for getting up in the mornings! We all need a purpose in life, and I’m glad this is a large part of mine.

I have been lucky enough to train at various training centres in the UK since 2003, as well as ITM in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2009, which was an incredible experience that I still remember with such fondness now. A group of strangers, and a fab tutor, brought together on a wonderful course, now friends for life. Learning therapies is always a positive thing – you meet the most lovely people, working in a non-competitive, considerate and caring profession. It’s always an enjoyable experience.

Although I am qualified in many therapies already, I still have a few on my ‘to learn’ list. I would love at some point to learn ‘Acupuncture’, and I have been thinking about an ‘Oncology Massage’ course too, to help ladies during and following breast cancer treatment, as this has affected many of my friends, and many of my clients too over the years. If you are a client, and there are any courses you would like me to look into, do let me know! It is always good to keep learning however long you have been in business, and it’s been a little while now since my last course (Hot Stone Massage Therapy), so I’m ready for another one!

I truly hope I can continue to do this job for many years to come. It’s a joy and a privilege. Not everyone feels like that after 20 years in one career. I did 12 years as a graphic designer, print buyer and production manager in my first career which I also enjoyed immensely, but I have definitely found my calling with Aromatherapy Massage – I just love it, and can’t imagine doing anything else.

Thanks SO much again to everyone who has played a part in building or supporting Soul Space over the last 20 years. It really does mean the absolute world, and I love you all to bits!

The Importance of PRIDE

I usually use my June blog to remind people how important PRIDE Month is, but this year my business anniversary and important ‘thankyous’ have taken priority.

So - I just want to end this month with a message please, to never stop fighting for equal rights for everyone. We are all human, whoever we love, whatever god we pray to, whatever the colour of our skin. Whoever we identify as and whoever we want to be. Whoever we choose to have in our life, and however we choose to live it. Life is SO short… why waste a single second of it hating or judging someone else for something that doesn’t affect your life in any way at all?