Feeling is hard. My aim is to make it simple
I’m a passionate and persistent champion of embodiment. As a bodyworker, all my work is aimed at supporting people to find health and happiness by connecting to the body. Whatever has happened to you, whatever your belief systems on energy and souls, there is the simple fact of the body. By developing skills to connect to the fleshy space bounded by the skin, my offering is that we can build a container to hold anything that life throws at us.
All the tools I share are rooted in science
My worldview has been deeply informed by the AIDs epidemic and the activism that emerged in the 80’s and 90’s and continues to this day. In the early days of AIDs dynamics around health advocacy and alternative medicine were life and death realities. A big shift in me occurred at this time, in my late 20’s and early 30’s; from hopeful versions of eastern philosophy and energy models, to seeking an evidence base and asking ‘Can you prove that?’
There’s a long history in alternative medicine of optimistic thinking and over-claiming. I take it very seriously every time I teach and treat people who have been through overwhelming events, or who live with persistent pain or debilitating anxiety. There is not much room for lazy, fluffy thinking when working with trauma, pain and anxiety.
There have been revolutions in how we understand pain and trauma over the past decade and many old myths have been debunked and replaced by exciting models that celebrate complexity. My clinical practice has got much simpler as my experience has grown and I studied trauma and pain more deeply. I work hard to base all my interventions in science based models and embrace embodied cognition and complexity as philosophical approaches.
It starts with learning how to feel
Being good at the feeling business helps us bridge the apparent gap between mind and body.
Feeling is such a beautiful word in English. It has a dual meaning including simple descriptive words for sensations such as hot, tight, quiet and including complex emotional states such as joy, fear, suffering.
Biology and stories mutually create each other and ongoingly influence each other. The initial focus of all the tools I share is finding safety and learning to appreciate and regulate overactive protective reflexes that can hijack our functioning. This quickly moves into exploring and reframing the concepts and beliefs we hold in response to shifts in our biological states.
The words we use and the stories we tell ourselves are not casual. They have a downward driving force on how we experience our physiological states. Which is fantastic – it means that here is so much we can play with to find our way to greater health and wellbeing.
Learn with me: With all my offerings, my goals are: keep it simple, learn to feel safe by engaging the body more, support people to find agency, creativity and connection.
My books
My four graphic books on pain, trauma, anxiety and touch have been a great success and really helped me clarify my thinking and style of teaching. You can read more about the books and purchase them here >>
TRE courses and professional training
The psychology of trauma is complex, the physiology is relatively simple. In trauma old parts of the brain are fixed in defence cascades of ‘fight-or-flight’ or ‘freeze’. TRE®, Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises, are a safe, simple set of exercises that trigger a natural tremor reflex in the body to re-boot overprotective reflexes. You can explore all the courses here >>
Biodynamic craniosacral therapy professional training
The upcoming two-year courses in London and Galway are suitable for existing health professionals considering adding a new modality to their work as well as individuals wanting to start a career in an exciting and evolving body therapy science. You can find out more here >>
One-to-one in-Person or online sessions
After many years living in Geneva I am back in London full time. I’m offering in-person sessions from Angel, Islington, as well as online sessions two to three times a month, depending on my teaching schedule. You can find out more and book here >>
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Upcoming Trainings with Steve Haines:
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST)
The Art of Touch Two Year Trainings:
London 2026: starts March 2026
Galway: starts Oct 2025
Prague: starts Oct 2025
The Art of Touch Intro Events:
Galway (evening): Jun 19, Sep 18
Galway Seminar 1: Oct 1-5
London (evening): Sep 11, Nov 27, Feb 5
Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®)
TRE Intro Days:
London: Jul 21, Sep 22, Nov 3
TRE 1 Year Trainings:
London 2026: More info coming soon…
