Nikhila - Biographical Sketch

I run a full time practice. My clients are mainly professional people of all ages and abilities. The youngest person I work with started at five months old, the eldest eighty-eight, and I also sometimes work with horses and dogs.

I enjoy helping people find their way through meeting the challenges that pain, injury and disease bring – and inevitably of life in general. My own journey has led me to understand that it is possible to effect a re-organization of the body/mind; and that doing so brings about a healing of the whole person enabling them to achieve greater fulfillment of their potential as human beings. My current interests and training studies lie in discovering how somatic methods such as the Feldenkrais Method can help people heal emotional trauma.

My journey with the Feldenkrais Method began in 1995 in India. I had gone there with the idea of studying with some of the great yogis and becoming a yoga teacher. Within 2 weeks of my arrival, however, I was introduced the work of Dr Feldenkrais, and to an enlightened spiritual master, which little did I realize would alter the course of my life.

I suffered from chronic neck and back pain at the time, and my teacher showed me one simple lesson that I could do alone, which helped me so much that I wanted to train in the method - and here I am, several years later...

I grew up in Cornwall, and as a youngster, I rode horses a great deal. I enjoyed it a lot... and I frequently fell off (and was proud of it at the time) The resulting injuries crept up on me as I got older. At first, I ran, I weight-lifted, I stretched - anything physical to keep the stiffness and soreness at bay - but it was with great relief that I found the gentle, self-respecting way of Feldenkrais. I learned that there were realms of wisdom in my body/mind that I could tap into and heal (and, by the way, I've had the X-rays, my neck now only shows normal-for-my-age wear-and-tear).

My other qualifications include the British Horse Society Assistant Instructor certificate; National Diploma in Business Studies, and I worked for ten years, mostly in the yachting business, as a chef. I have completed over thirty thousand miles at sea.

I enjoy Tai Chi, Chi Kung and ShinTaiDo as well as Yoga, swimming, meditation and a form of dance meditation called Latihan - and just plain and simple walking, every day if I can. I find that the practice of simply being present, in myself is the key to having the best quality of life - and I enjoy helping others discover this for themselves too. I find working with body movement and function a powerful, rich and fundamental medium.