Hello, I'm Helen

I work intuitively and let the body lead. Bodies have so much to say, and we should all take more time to stop and listen.

From traffic engineer to therapist

My life changed in 2011, when I lost both my parents in close succession and decided to sell the family business, where I had worked for many years as a traffic engineer, trainer and eventually a director. I had always been interested in complementary therapies and saw it as a chance to train and try something new.

Over the years my work grew and became more and more focused on women, and on fertility in particular. And as I move through the seasons of my own life, alongside those around me, I've found myself supporting clients through menopause, neurodiversity and cancer too.

Courses such as Fertility Massage Therapy and Holistic Pelvic Care were amazing and mind-blowing, and I love sharing everything I've learnt with my clients.

I work intuitively and allow the body to release in the way it needs. My own body responds to the energy shifting in all sorts of ways, including hiccups, yawning and watering eyes, so please don't be alarmed!

Five years, and a lot of learning

I have a strong interest in fertility, having been on our own five-year fertility journey. I looked at the whole picture while trying to conceive our beautiful daughter, and I love to help other couples do the same.

Before we even started IVF I had done everything I reasonably could, including acupuncture, Reproflexology and EFT. After our first IVF didn't work, I wasn't willing to try again without further testing. £2,700 later, we had some answers. I had wanted those tests before our first round, but the consultant didn't think they were needed at that point.

With the results, the clinic were ready to prescribe the full works, but that wouldn't have been covered on an NHS-funded round. (I was secretly pleased, as I wanted my conception and pregnancy to be as natural as possible.) We had an embryo in the freezer to use under NHS funding.

After a lot of research and reading, I made changes to my diet and supplements, used acupuncture on myself, and kept going for Reproflexology, even though my nearest therapist was over an hour away. The frozen cycle worked, and our daughter arrived nine months later.

I know how long, lonely and exhausting the journey can be, and even though that season has passed for me, fertility support will always be a part of Holistic Woman.

It didn't even have a name

Somehow, over the years, Gentle Release Therapy emerged from the way I was working. It wasn't something I'd set out to create, and I certainly didn't imagine I'd end up teaching it to practitioners around the world. You never know what the universe has in store for you next!

As I worked, my body began to "react" during treatments, and I came to see these reactions as a sign of energy shifting. They showed me where there were blocks and when things had cleared. By 2017 clients were asking if there were books about it, and to be honest, at that point it didn't even have a name!

I decided to train a few friends, to check it wasn't just me these techniques worked for. Three of them (a nurse, a biology teacher and a longstanding client) could feel the reactions too, and they went on to practise on friends and family.

Gentle Release has well and truly taken off. I now teach practitioners in the UK and internationally, and I've created EnerQi Facial Rejuvenation, which brings Gentle Release together with a facial.

If you'd like to learn Gentle Release yourself, you can find out more at gentlereleasetherapy.com.

I trained in reflexology in 2011 and have since trained in clinical acupuncture, Reproflexology®, Womb and Fertility Massage Therapy™ and Holistic Pelvic Care™.

I'm a member of the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT), the Association of Reflexologists (AoR), the Complementary Medical Association (CMA) and ThinkTree, and I'm fully insured.