I’ve known of therapist and author Nadia Smith for a long time, I’ve been inspired by her story and intrigued to experience her ‘woodland’ clinic deep in the woods in Herefordshire.
I got the opportunity when I was recommended to try a Tui Na Massage by a Chinese Doctor, I knew it was of the menu items in Nadia’s ‘toolbox’ so off on the train to South Wales I went. It’s not often you can say that arriving at the venue for a treatment is almost enough, but in this case it really is. Nadia’s lovely treatment room really does nestle in the woods and she has a wonderful wooden spiral deck to practice Qi Gong, (another of her areas of expertise).
Nadia Smith is the author of the book “How did I get These?” It follows her painful journey of self-realisation at trying to understand why she developed osteoarthritis, which led to two metal hip resurfacings. Nadia is half Asian, half Belgian, married forty years and in her sixties. She is a Qualified health and fitness instructor and in 1990 trained as a Qi Gong instructor. She continued developing her career to become a holistic practitioner with an emphasis on traditional Chinese healing methods.
Nadia’s belief in Traditional Chinese Medicine is that the internal organs house our emotions, which makes sense as our solar plexus has a large network of nerves connecting the viscera to our brain. Emotions are felt there first, affecting the core or psoas muscles which directly connect to our “fight, flight or freeze” reflex. Depending on the circumstances we react instinctively; our neo-cortex or rational brain then decides the next step.
For example, if we have suffered severe criticism as children and circumstances prevent us from running away, the fear freezes us and tightens our core muscles. We set up a coping mechanism to deal with this, and fear becomes a trapped emotion which unexpressed causes “freeze” patterns within the body, which in traditional Chinese medicine relates to kidney and lower back issues.
I asked Nadia for a Tui Na massage but she explained that she would probably do much more than that. Indeed she did! The massage itself was wonderful, she calls it’s the rock n roll of massage. It is an intense, deep and powerful massage done over clothing, (fortunately I was wearing light cotton clothes) , working on the acupuncture points to stimulate the flow of the body’s energy channels. Like acupuncture it can release the body’s natural endorphins, inducing pain relief and the ‘feel good’ factor
But Nadia works intuitively too. She taught me to basics of Spontaneous Qi Gong and the basics of the Trauma Release Exercise which I can only begin to imagine is incredible for people suffering from PTSD in any form. This is one of her areas of expertise and she is passionate about it.
She asked me what was going on in my life emotionally too and we explored a few areas where I felt blocked, she called upon her ‘team’ – Angels perhaps, who seemed to know exactly how to guide her to intrusively help me! It was a most extraordinary and quite emotional end to a massage!
Nadia offered lots of wisdom and guidance along the way (especially reminders about getting out into nature) and I left feeling rejuvenated and healed. She contacted me a few days later to see how I was feeling, and I realised as I answered her text, something small but very important had ‘shifted’ in me – I’m hugely grateful!
Nadia offers regular classes, workshops and individually tailored sessions, book out your diary…get in the car, or book your train ticket to Newport…..it’s worth it…You’re worth it!