by Alison Williamson BSc, Cst

     When I began my journey as a therapist I found my diary was filling with ‘fertility’ clients. I worked with couples who were looking for support with everything from pre-conception to assisted conception and adoption. My focus in the past few years shifted away from boosting fertility towards promoting vitality, and since studying Fertility Massage there has been another move towards exploring the themes around menstruation and how that can have an affect on a woman’s fertility or generally vitality.

     My curiosity is around educating girls before their menarche (first period), to shine a light on the potential power of the menstrual cycle, and to see what affect that would have on issues such as endometriosis, polysystic ovary syndrome, infertility or general depletion.

by Natalie Cook P.T

     Pain, according to the International Association for the Study of Pain is “an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage” [1] Simply stated – pain is an entirely subjective experience, and can no longer be seen as merely a response to tissue damage. Despite attempts to capture this experience of pain in a measurable, objective way – the subjective experience of pain remains the most relevant factor.

     Chronic pain is pain that continues for longer than the expected healing time – usually more than 3 months, and in many who seek help, for many years. However, it’s not only the persistent and ongoing nature of it that makes chronic pain emotionally and physically draining. It’s the unpredictability of it, the worsening and spreading of it, the pain in response to things that “shouldn’t” hurt. It’s the manifestation of the “dark side of bioplasticity” (Moseley and Butler) [2].