WHAT makes a good teacher? Passion? Commitment? Enthusiasm? The ability to inspire and encourage?
Penny Little is a good teacher. And I mean a GOOD teacher.
I have to confess to being less than enthusiastic about doing her short ceramics course for this issue’s Kate Does (sorry Penny!). A combination, for me, of lack of time but mostly lack of any perceived artistic ability was the reason for my somewhat lukewarm approach.
At the start of the course, Penny gave me a pencil and paper and suggested that I draw what I wanted to make. Five minutes later I was still staring out of the window with a blank sheet of paper in front of me and the words “I can’t do it” going around in my head. So, she did something wonderful. She took me out into her garden and suggested I choose something – a leaf or a seedhead. I chose a large, heavily-veined leaf. Then, she showed me how to roll out the clay and I pressed the leaf into it and cut around it. Next, she helped me carefully to peel back the leaf and there was a clear impression of it in the clay. I had made a tile. I was hooked. Good teacher.
You may recognise Penny Little’s name as the creator of exquisite lustre-glazed porcelain pieces that are on sale in the Bowie Gallery in Totnes. Now Penny is offering short courses, day courses and one-to-one sessions to share her love of ceramic. The courses are held in her lovely home in the centre of Totnes and as well as providing the clay and inspiration, she also provides homemade cake (what’s not to love?).
If you are interested in learning more about ceramics they are ideal but I’d also recommend them if you’re looking for something creative to do that is also quite meditative and therapeutic in nature. I found the feel of the cool clay in my hands and the sensation of pinching and smoothing it into shapes to be deeply satisfying.
Maybe the fact that Penny’s own journey with ceramic was a healing one helps to influence the feel of the course, too. She explained to me how, as a sensitive 11-year old girl she was sent to boarding school, far away from home. Like so many boarders, it was a traumatic and distressing experience and she struggled throughout her first year. Then her mother died suddenly after a short illness and Penny returned to boarding school the following year full of grief and loss. She described how a friend (blessings upon her, wherever she is now) encouraged her to sneak up to the art room late at night and how they opened up the big black bin of terracotta clay. As she squeezed and moulded the cool clay in her hands, Penny felt something shift inside her.
She and her friend returned to the art room every night, forming shapes and pots before pushing them back into the mass of clay at the end of the night. Although they were never caught, Penny is convinced the terracotta stains on her clothes must have given them away. The teachers never said anything and she describes that as “the kindest thing they ever did”.
After a career in PR, Penny returned to her love of ceramics in 2015. She began creating porcelain pinch pots at home, working with her head, heart and hands. Penny bought a kiln in 2016 and began firing her own pots. Her signature lustre glaze finishes developed as a result of trial and error and took a long time to perfect. She explained to me: “Once I discovered the gold and platinum and how to apply it, I was able to create work that represented who I am and what I wanted to say. That’s what clay does – whoever you are and whatever is happening in your life, it will speak for you through what you make; it’s just earth, water and fire and the results are always surprising and enlightening.”
Like all of us, Penny has experienced tough times over the last few years, coupled with personal challenges and her love of clay has helped her through. She began offering short courses this year to allow others to experience the joy of the cool clay and the alchemy of firing and glazes.
After forming my leaf tile, I went on to create two pinch pots and a coil pot (which gradually transformed from something resembling a moon crater to a passable plant pot). My finished pieces won’t win prizes for finesse but I really enjoyed making them and they are respectable enough not to be heading straight for the bin.
If you are looking for a way to express your creativity under the guidance of a warm and encouraging teacher, I would recommend it. Penny has new courses starting this Autumn and, whether or not you love your finished pieces, you may find yourself touched by the healing power of clay and glaze.
l For more information visit https://pennylittleceramics.com
Email: penny@pennylittle.com

The post Penny Little’s Ceramics Course appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

AS I write this it’s Bonfire Night and there are lots of bangs and fizzes going off outside my window. It feels a little premature to be talking about Christmas but even here in Totnes – where thankfully Christmas get underway a little later than in many other places – there’s no escaping the glitter and glass baubles which signal that the festive season is just around the corner.
So, for this issue’s Kate Does… the focus is a green Christmas.
I must confess to being a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas. It’s not the idea of it that I object to (after all, an excuse to party and eat chocolate is great) but I find myself becoming jaded with the brash commercialism of it all and exhortations to spend money we can’t afford on gifts we don’t want using resources we need to conserve.
A greener Christmas
However, lots of things have changed over the last couple of years. We’ve changed. The world has changed. Wouldn’t it be lovely if Christmas changed too? Instead of being a time of eating too much, spending to excess and falling out with our family, wouldn’t it be great if things became a bit greener and the whole shebang was altogether gentler on us and our planet?

What would a greener Christmas look like to you?

Shopping local
Buying from local suppliers is a great place to start because instead of your money trickling away into the tills of faceless corporate organisations, it stays local, helping to support small independent businesses and artisans who, like everyone, have struggled to make a living through the pandemic. If we value diversity and choice on our High Streets we need to support our local traders at this crucial time of year as much as we can. We’re fortunate in South Devon to have lots of lovely independent shops to choose from (and I can’t help thinking that a well-chosen gift from one of them – particularly if it’s something handmade – is likely to be well-received and may have greater longevity than something mass produced).
Christmas presence
If you don’t want to give ‘things’, why not give experiences, such as a lovely massage or treatment or afternoon tea? Again, you can choose to support local suppliers, many of whom do gift vouchers (flicking through the pages of Reconnect could give you some ideas). Some people choose to do a present amnesty at Christmas, which can be one way to relieve financial pressures and pressure on planetary resources, although probably more of an adult thing than something for children. A friend told me she values Christmas presence (friends and family turning up) way more than Christmas presents. I know it’s a bit cheesy but it’s kind of memorable and if it works for you, great.
Support local farmers
When it comes to food, buying local has great advantages too. If you’re on a tight budget, I realise it’s not always possible to buy everything locally, but check out the prices in independent shops before automatically heading for the supermarket. Farmers Markets and Farm Shops are great for fruit and veg and, even if you are shopping in the supermarket, buying seasonal and local will reduce the impact on the planet.
Gift wrap
What about present wrapping? I confess I’m no expert here. Gifts from me tend to be lumpy and inexpertly wrapped, with too much Sellotape (which ends up stuck all around the kitchen table because I can never find the tape dispenser). However, last year a friend gave me a present wrapped in brown paper, with strips of torn up Sari in place of ribbon. It looked amazing. Someone else gave me a gift wrapped in a piece of pretty cotton scarf tied at the top. Also fabulous. You don’t have to spend a fortune on wrapping paper (and if you go for shop-bought paper it’s best to avoid metallic and glossy foils because they are harder to recycle). If you’ve got old calendars or maps, these can look great, too.
Real vs artificial
I have two cats and this will be the first year that they’ve seen a Christmas tree, so wish me luck with that one! Personally I love a real tree even though I know I’ll be treading on stray pine needles for the rest of the year. Carbon calculations show that a replantable one is best (unless you live in a house with no garden like me), however even with my cut tree I figure that it will have absorbed as much carbon dioxide when growing than it will emit if it is burnt or left to decompose. If you have an artificial tree that you bring out every year that’s a pretty green option as it means you’re not buying anything. But, if you’re considering buying a new one maybe think again about an artificial tree because they are made using petro-chemicals and shipped half way around the world to get to your home. When it comes to Christmas lights LED use 95% less energy than traditional bulbs.
Look after yourself
It’s so easy to get caught up in the frenetic pace of Christmas that it’s easy to forget that it’s supposed to be fun and we need to care for our health and wellbeing. Maybe – if you can – schedule a treatment with one of our wonderful local therapists in the coming weeks. Or, if that’s not possible then make time to meet a friend for coffee or even just to have a relaxing bath. If we all take better care of ourselves, we stand a chance of enjoying the festive season rather than skidding to a halt on Boxing Day feeling frazzled and frayed around the edges.

Whatever you are doing this Christmas, however, whether your celebration is a traditional one or an unconventional one, whether you are spending it alone or with family or friends, whether you’ve got your lights up already or you’re facing the season with a degree of trepidation, on behalf of all of us at Reconnect, may I wish you a Merry (green) Christmas and a Happy (healthy) New Year.

The post Kate does… a green Christmas appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

AS a former business coach, since 2008, Bee Greenway found that people often presented with the same problems again and again. It was all to do with a lack of confidence and self-worth, sometimes also a loss of purpose and meaning. Often, she felt powerless to help them. That was until how own crisis of confidence about getting older and losing her place within the BBC where she’d worked for many years took her to a ‘Heal Your Life’ workshop.

She’d encountered the principles pioneered by Louise Hay previously when she’d tried to read her book years before. However, she’d dismissed them as being “too American” and nearly didn’t make it past day one of the workshop for the same reasons. Something made Bee persist, however, and she admits now that the workshop was a pivotal point in her life. She was so inspired by what she learned that she went on to train as a Heal Your Life coach and now uses these techniques as the basis for her Greenway Life Coaching Practice.

I saw Bee at Ola Chiropractic in Totnes on a beautiful sunny afternoon in May. We began by doing a simple breathing exercise and then Bee asked me what I wanted to work on. I described a situation in my life that was making me feel upset, angry, anxious and very very stressed. She asked me questions about it – how would I feel if the conclusions I’ve draw about the situation weren’t true, if I did know what to do in this situation how would I act at this point in time?

It was not like counselling, there was no in-depth discussion about how I felt about the situation or what might have caused it. Instead, we explored how I might be able to think differently about it. Bee suggested a couple of techniques devised by Louise Hay to help with the mindset shift. The first was to look in the mirror and speak to my reflection “I really love and approve of you”. Difficult to do that without noticing my mismatched eyes and oversquare chin!

Next we talked about affirmations. Bee mentioned some that I might use (“I deserve love”, “I forgive myself totally”) but recommended that I find my own words that truly resonate with me. She explained that words like these help to create new neural pathways in our brain and pointed out that this seemingly simple process has profound healing potential.

I have always admired Louise Hay and believe that coaching based around her methods has a lot to offer. Many of her ideas are very simple but experience has taught me that simple techniques are often the most profound when applied consistently. Bee’s aim is to help people become “better resourced so they don’t need me” using Louise Hay’s tried and trusted methods. I like the idea of becoming self-empowered and self-resourced. For some people eight sessions are enough to give them all the skills they need. I had just one session and I came away with some new ways of thinking and a couple of simple self-help techniques.

Bee is accredited by the International Coaching Federation. She charges £45 per session and works via Zoom and face-to-face. Contact her on 07771 911710 or visit www.greenwaylife.co.uk or call 07971 101332 or visit www. devonthaimassage.com

The post Kate does… Life Coaching with Bee Greenway appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

THERE is something blissful about being in the hands of a highly experienced practitioner and this issue’s Kate Does, with Emma Cayless, was a fantastic introduction to the dynamic body workout and relaxation treatment that is Thai Massage. Emma first trained in Thai Massage 20 years ago in Sydney. Since then, she has completed a number of different courses around the world, including Osteo Thai (Thai Massage with Osteopathic techniques) at The Sunshine House Greece, in France and Thailand. In 2013, she began training other practitioners and is preparing to teach her next beginners’ Thai Massage course this autumn. Alongside a friend who is a Yoga teacher, she also runs Thai Massage and Yoga retreats in Portugal and Italy (and hopes to run them again soon once Covid restrictions are lifted). In 2019, Emma completed her own Yoga teacher training in India. At the start of our session, Emma explained that Thai Massage resembles the Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine systems and has similarities to Yoga, but that it also stands alone as its own practice. Thai Massage helps with the release of blocked or unwanted energy, tension and stress from the body. The technique is sometimes referred to as “lazy person’s Yoga”, a description that made me smile as my intentions with Yoga have always far exceeded my attendance at any classes. Yup, this is the treatment for me!

Emma practises at The Practice Rooms in Exeter, a beautiful space at the very heart of the city, in a historic building close to the castle. With its large rooms, big windows and simple décor, the space is relaxing and peaceful, despite being only minutes from the main high street. Treatments take place on futon mattresses on the floor and last between one and two hours, depending which you choose. The massage reminded me of Shiatsu. Rather than simply lying on my back or front as a passive receiver of the treatment, I was encouraged to engage actively in a process of stretching, gentle rocking and breathwork. Along with the use of acupressure, this is designed to encourage the release of unhelpful patterns and postures in the body, as well as supporting a shift in energy and improving circulation.

The main difference between Thai Massage and Shiatsu is the way the practitioner uses their whole body – including their feet – to encourage the flow of energy and the release of tight muscles. Treatments vary depending on the needs of the client so no two sessions are the same and as one move flows into the next, it almost comes to resemble a dance. Whereas some massage leaves me feeling like I need to sleep afterwards, this one left me feeling energised and somehow lighter in my body. Aching joints felt easier and I felt deeply relaxed. I can see why this is promoted as a treatment for a whole range of issues including injuries, muscle pain, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, migraines and sleeping disorders. It increases the flow of blood, lymph and breath and supports the release of toxins and waste from the body. I still have the remnants of a frozen shoulder, which has left me with painful adhesions in my upper arm and I found the arm and shoulder stretches – while not always the most restful – wonderfully mobillising and releasing. I can imagine that a series of massages over a period of time would make a profound difference.

Emma is running her 12-day beginners’ Thai Massage course at The Estuary Clinic in Topsham over four weekends in Autumn, starting in September. Experience in massage is beneficial but not essential and practitioners will also need to complete Anatomy and Physiology (level 3) before practising professionally. The course is APNT (Association of Physical and Natural Therapists) accredited and successful completion includes APNT membership and 12-months insurance.

• For more information email Emma at: exeterthaimassage@gmail.com or call 07971 101332 or visit www.devonthaimassage.com

The post Kate does… Thai Massage with Emma Cayless appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

LIKE so many of our practitioners, Teresa Wicksteed has had to adapt to these challenging times. No longer able to hold face-to-face Sound Healing sessions in her sea-facing Yurt, she began offering Distant Healing during the first lockdown. It was something she’d learned during her training at the UK College of Sound Healing in 2016 but never really practiced. However, at the request of a client, she agreed to do a session. It went well and since then more and more people have requested it, with Teresa offering the service at no charge in recognition both of her own probationary period and her clients’ many financial constraints.
As we entered lockdown three, I booked a Distant Healing session with Teresa.
It seemed a little strange to lie down in my sitting room to receive healing from someone I couldn’t see or hear. We’d spoken on the phone beforehand and I’d told Teresa of the problems I was facing – some of them physical but many of them emotional. We agreed what time the healing would start and she advised me to lie down and relax. She told me that she would intuitively choose crystals to support me and place them in formation to align with my chakras and the energy field around my body.
I rarely lie and do nothing and it felt rather alien to do so (although my cats loved it!). I tried to open my mind to Teresa’s positive healing intent and imagine it flowing into my body and mind. The temptation to try and “feel” something during the healing was strong, but mostly I just felt relaxed. My fingers were a bit tingly and at one point I felt my left shoulder become very cold (I’ve had a frozen shoulder for the last 2 years and it felt a bit like a cold compress or cold water flowing through the area). Afterwards I allowed myself to rest and cuddle my cats.
The next day I experienced something of a healing crisis – I felt achy, nauseous and exhausted and my body felt heavy. I spoke to Teresa on the phone and she explained that some people are particularly sensitive to distant healing and can actually have a bigger reaction than they would to hands-on healing. I recalled having similar symptoms following a Reiki attunement many years earlier. She said that healing can bring to the surface things that need to come out of our body, leading to unpleasant physical symptoms that later disperse.
As much as I’d like it to be otherwise, over the years I’ve come to realise that healing is not something that normally happens quickly or dramatically and that often you may feel worse before you feel better. So, I have no sudden life-changing improvements to report. My shoulder feels slightly more mobile, my emotions feel slightly more balanced. In my daily journalling yesterday and today, I wrote with absolute clarity about what I need to do to improve my overall wellbeing and I have already acted on some of these insights.
In these times of negativity and challenge, it felt soothing to me to know that someone was holding me with positive intent, chanting and singing my name and invoking higher powers to support and heal me. Teresa has offered me further sessions to support me with some of the issues we discussed. Right now, all of us need to do everything we can to stay well and grounded and I am full of appreciation and admiration for this work. My only regret is that I didn’t get to spend time in her beautiful Yurt by the sea.

Teresa offers a first hour appointment free. For more information email: teresa@teresawicksteed.co.ukRough

The post Kate does… Distant Sound Healing appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

I’M sure I’m not alone in experiencing feelings of serenity and calm as something of a rarity these days. So, I was surprised (and really pleased) to feel calmness spread through my body an hour or so after my latest Kate Does session.
I have to confess at the outset to being a bit of a wimp about acupuncture. I’ve had it a number of times and, while the experience of being needled is never exactly painful, I’ve always found the freeing up of blocked energy to cause discomfort, ranging from a sharp sensation to a dull ache. And, I’ve always been a bit apprehensive as the needles go in because I don’t know what the sensation will be at that particular point on my body.
So, it was with rather a sense of duty that I trudged up the stairs at the Arcturus Clinic in Totnes to meet up with Sally Daynes. In her white dress and cowboy boots (God, I love cowboy boots), Sally was not what I expected. Neither was the stuff on her table, which included a beautiful quartz sound healing triangle and rose quartz facial tools.
Sally explained that she uses much finer needles than most acupuncturists (immediate Brownie Points) and that she incorporates sound healing to intensify the healing effects and soothe any difficult emotions that arise. She’s also a naturopath and Indian Head Massage practitioner. Being in the midst of some extremely stressful life events (shocker, I know), I asked if the session could focus on relaxation and stress-relief and increasing my ability to cope. And, with my hand on my heart, I can tell you that it did. Afterwards, I felt like I’d emerged from a particularly fabulous Yoga Nidra session and that nothing and no-one could faze me.
My feelings of serenity were tested to destruction later that same day by a whole series of rather horrible events, which I won’t bore you with here. And, while I ended the day in a far less serene state than I started, I felt like the session gave me an added level of resilience that allowed me to navigate these events without becoming utterly overwhelmed. It also lessened a number of ongoing physical symptoms.
Sally recently relocated to the South West from London where she ran a private acupuncture practice. Her personal journey into this work was inspired by her grandfather, who was a missionary doctor in South Africa and her father, a painter, who engendered an interest in holistic healing. Sally studied biomedicine for a year before training as an acupuncturist.
Like all of us, she acknowledges that these are extraordinarily testing times. But, she says: “This is the perfect time for reflection and healing. Our senses have never been so un-bombarded and, in this space, subtle energies can come to the surface as well as more profound healings. Acupuncture is a perfect way to work with these energies.”
Sally treats people of all ages and is happy to have an informal conversation on the phone. Initial sessions are offered at a reduced price of £35 for 1.5 hours with follow up sessions costing £45.

• Contact Sally on 07368 320792 or at www.acupuncturehealth. co.uk

The post Kate does…Acupuncture with Sally Daynes appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

I must confess to feeling a bit apprehensive about this issue’s Kate Does… I’ve been following Carmella B’Hahn’s journey into TRE (Tension and Trauma Release) with interest. It fascinates me the idea that humans share the same shaking/tremoring reflex that animals use in the wild to release trauma.

At the start of our session, Carmella explained that the body shows “a startling intelligence about what needs to be released and how” but that “we have pathologized the shaking reflex to make it into something wrong”. She described shaking as “the completion of the trauma cycle” and said that in her 25 years as a grief guide, she has noticed that for some people there are places in grief that words cannot reach, and neither can symbology or deep inner work.

Trauma can become lodged in the body. I have certainly experienced that for myself – a frozen shoulder that has occurred twice at times of prolonged stress, deep aching inside my hips that I associate with loss and grief and a tendency to lose my voice when I don’t feel heard. The idea that my body knows how to let go of trapped emotion feels appealing but I went along to the session wondering how on earth Carmella would get me to trigger my own tremor reflex. I envisioned myself lying on the floor, immobile as a statue, apologising profusely for not being able to do it. Or, worse still, I imagined feeling embarrassed as my body twitched and shook beyond my control.

Carmella’s warm, calming demeanour helped to dispel these fears almost immediately and her assertion that “you can’t get this wrong” put me at my ease. She explained that we would begin with some exercises designed to fatigue the muscles a little before lying on the mat to induce tremoring. I told her that, as much as I was fascinated by this therapy and keen to try it, I couldn’t really cope with the idea of a huge release of trauma at this point in my life. I needed to be able to hold things together and not “fall apart” just now.

My body seemed to hear and respond to my request. As I lay on the mat, I began to experience a gentle kind of fluttering in the tops of my legs, like the beating of butterfly wings. It built slowly and gently, never feeling unpleasant or out of control. Carmella, who was there to provide support and reassurance throughout, suggested I move my hands around to different parts of my body to see what would happen. At various points – particularly when my hands were on my throat and abdomen – the tremoring became stronger and more pronounced.

Each short session of tremoring (there were three) was interspersed with a period of rest and integration. That evening when I went home, I felt profoundly tired and slept better than I have done for some time.

As someone who lives almost entirely inside her head and takes her body very much for granted, I’m not really accustomed to thinking of my body as having its own intelligence and knowing what it needs to do to heal itself. However, I really like the idea of supporting it to do that. Carmella explained that TRE is a self-help tool that people can use throughout their life. She recommends four sessions to fully understand the process and how to use it to the best effect. I have already booked my next session.

• Carmella practices at Heartwood, Bowden House Community near Totnes. For more information about TRE contact her on 01803 867005 or email: carmella@heartofrelating.com and visit www.heartofrelating.com

The post Kate does… TRE (Tension And Trauma Release) appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

RARELY have I so wished I was an accomplished practitioner instead of a bumbling novice than when I attended Natalie Austin’s Vinyasa Yoga class at the Chapel House Studios in Totnes. Also called Power yoga, Vinyasa is a dynamic, active style of yoga that is designed to build strength and stamina, increase fitness and improve posture and circulation. Natalie has been doing yoga for 20 years and began teaching it eight years ago. She is a warm, friendly and inspiring teacher. The thing that really struck me about Vinyasa Yoga is how beautiful it is when done well (probably slightly less beautiful the way I did it but I have to applaud myself for trying). When you see the classic photo at sunrise of a yoga practitioner holding a powerful pose with legs and arms outstretched, I suspect that is a form of Vinyasa. What I loved about Natalie’s class was the fact that there was such a broad mix of ages. I would hazard a guess that there were people in their 60s and 70s in the class, alongside younger people. Natalie urged us to listen to our bodies at all times and only take them as far as they wanted to go. She thoughtfully brought round blocks and even a hair tie for me at various points during the session. At times I felt my whole body shaking with the effort of holding a pose. But afterwards, despite the usual protests from muscles that were unaccustomed to being used in that way, I felt my body tingling and somehow more alive than it had been at the start. Natalie had also invited me to attend a Yin Yoga session as she said this would provide “a complete contrast”. It certainly did that. These classes take place by candlelight and the pace is slow and deliberate with a focus on stretching, balancing and realignment. Each pose is held for up to five minutes which can feel a bit daunting. But what it does is allow your mind and body to relax and soften into the pose. As someone who experiences tightness in the hips and glutes, often linked to stress, several of the poses in this class I found fantastic including one that bizarrely was called The Pigeon. Natalie’s charming mix of accomplished teaching, mellifluous Scottish accent and genuine warmth makes for a fantastic yoga class. I loved it and so did my glutes. l For more information contact: natalie@loveyogatree.co.uk, call 07516 720246 or visit website www.loveyogatree.co.uk

The post Kate does… Yoga with Natalie appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

The post The benefits of blogging appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.

I GET to do some pretty weird things in my job but sitting naked inside a space age pod and being blasted with ozone has got to be one of the weirdest. I feel a bit like Woody Allen in Sleeper. I am at the Ozone Therapy Spa in Torquay having a treatment with Ozone Therapist and Natural Health Coach, Tony Be. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. Tony has got to be one of the most inspiring therapists I have ever met. Within minutes I am completely captivated by his story of having spent the last 20 years travelling the world learning about nutrition and the treatment of disease. Being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the age of 14 sparked his interest in finding out about anything that might help. A cancer diagnosis eight years ago took Tony into new territory to find new treatments to complement Western medicine. Tony is adamant that it is not either/ or but both that interest him. He has studied nutrition, shiatsu and yoga, and written a book called 9 Steps to Optimising your Health and Happiness, with a foreword by New York Times best-selling author, Raymond Aaron. Most extraordinary of all, in his home in Torquay he has created one of only three ozone spas in the whole of the UK. The other two are in Harley Street and Hampshire. And the Torquay spa came even before Harley Street. When I arrive he offers me a glass of Hydrogen water. As I drink it he tells me that since 2007 there have been 600 peer-reviewed studies into the benefits of hydrogen, which is the smallest molecule in the universe and renowned for its extraordinary antioxidant properties. It has been shown to be effective in treating everything from inflammation in the body to sepsis. He also extols the virtues of C60 which is the only supplement he now recommends to his clients. C60 increases the length of the telomeres which are responsible for controlling ageing in our body. In trials, rats given C60 live twice as long as those without. It is, apparently, a favourite with celebrities and, if taken for 12 months, trials have shown that the telomeres of an average 60 year old resemble those of someone 15 years younger. I learn all of this before we even go into the spa, which is deceptively located in a cabin in Tony’s rather beautiful garden. The ozone therapy treatment takes place inside a state of the art piece of kit called a HOCATT. You sit inside it with only your head sticking out of the top and it simultaneously delivers 10 different therapies, including Ozone therapy, electrotherapy, photon light therapy and CO2 therapy. It feels a bit like being inside a steam room but with the addition of tingling on your feet. Ozone detoxifies the body and breaks down heavy metals. There are virtually no pathogens or abnormal body cells that are resistant to ozone. It stimulates the metabolism and boosts the immune system, soothing inflammation and pain. Also for aches and pains, Tony offers electro magnetic therapy on yet another piece of state of the art equipment. You lie on the couch which has powerful magnets above you and below you. A pulse is emitted – akin to a giant TENS machine – targeting areas of pain in your body. The levels can be adjusted to suit your body. I experienced just 1% at first, rising to around 10% and it was enough. So, how did I feel after all of this? I felt deliciously light in both body and mood. I felt less achy. And I felt hugely inspired to find out more. This is quite some facility to have right here in South Devon and I, for one, will be opening my mind to the apparently amazing potential of hydrogen therapies and ozone. For more information visit theozonespa.co.uk

The post Kate does… Ozone Therapy appeared first on Reconnect Magazine.