Finding Shiatsu
Hi, I'm Louise. I discovered Shiatsu almost by accident — and yet it felt immediately like something I had been searching for, even though I didn’t know it existed.
At the time my back had been causing me a lot of trouble, and pregnancy had made it much worse. By halfway through I was constantly rotating between sitting, standing, and lying down just to stay comfortable. I explored a number of things to try and help — osteopathy, chiropractic work, yoga, Pilates — and while some of them eased things for a while, it always felt like the deeper issue was still there underneath.
When my daughter Kaia was about nine months old, I came across a Shiatsu tent at a festival. I didn’t really know what Shiatsu was, but something about it intrigued me, and I decided to try a session.
From the very first stretch and touch, something in my body recognised it. “It felt like my body had been waiting for this.
”There was an immediate sense of “ah — this is what I needed.”
Not in a dramatic way, just a quiet knowing in my body that this felt right.
Before that, there had often been a small worry in the background — wondering whether I might be making things worse or pushing my body the wrong way. But during that session there was a different feeling altogether. A kind of unspoken trust that my body could soften and respond safely.
At one point she was working on my feet and my eyes just started leaking — not crying, just a quiet release that seemed to come from somewhere deeper than words.
I left that session feeling something I hadn’t felt in a long time: like myself again.
Looking back now, I realise I hadn’t really been in my body before that. I had been moving through life almost on autopilot — doing what needed to be done, getting on with things, but not really listening to what my body was saying.
When it hurt, I felt frustrated with it rather than curious about what it might be trying to tell me.
Shiatsu was the first experience that helped me slow down enough to reconnect with my body — and to realise it had been communicating with me all along.
Training & Deepening
the Practice
After that first experience, Shiatsu stayed with me.
Even as life moved on, there was a sense that something important had shifted — and a growing curiosity about what had happened in that session and why it had affected me so deeply.
When we later moved to Wales, I continued receiving Shiatsu treatments and gradually became more interested in learning the work myself.
I began with a foundation course in Cardiff, and later trained at the Bristol School of Shiatsu, completing the three-year diploma.
Training in Bristol was much more than learning techniques. It was a deeply relational training where we explored how the body holds experience — not only physical tension, but stress, emotion, and the many things we carry without always realising it.
Again and again I saw how things that couldn’t easily be spoken about could still shift through touch and attentive presence.
Sometimes words help us process what we’ve been through. But other times the body needs a different kind of listening.
One of my teachers described it simply:
what happens in relationship often needs relationship to heal.
That understanding shaped how I see Shiatsu.
It’s not just a technique applied to a body. It’s a way of meeting someone — through touch, attention, and presence — so the body has space to release, reorganise, and come back into balance.
Shiatsu has helped me release and process things I didn’t even realise I had been carrying. It has also helped me return to myself when life becomes heavy — bringing clarity, perspective, and a renewed sense of aliveness.
That experience continues to shape how I practise today.
How I Work
The way I practise Shiatsu has been shaped not only by my training, but also by my own ongoing experience of receiving it.
Shiatsu continues to be something I return to regularly. It’s a space where I can slow down, notice what my body is holding, and reconnect with myself again — especially when life gets busy or overwhelming. I still get caught up in things like everyone else, and having that time to pause and listen to my body has become incredibly valuable to me.
Over time, this has shaped how I work with others: not as someone who has all the answers, but as someone who understands how powerful it can be to have the space to simply notice what your body is saying, without judgement.
At its heart, Shiatsu is a conversation with the body.
Rather than following a fixed routine, I listen through my hands and respond to what your body is showing in the moment. What we talk about at the start of a session can also guide the work — not as something to analyse or diagnose, but as part of the wider picture your body is expressing.
Movement, stretches, and shifts often happen naturally during a session — sometimes gently and quietly, other times with a little more energy or expression.
Every session unfolds a little differently.
People arrive in many different states — tired, overwhelmed, curious, tense, or simply needing space to pause. Others come as part of regular self-care, wanting to support their body before tension builds up — a bit like an MOT for the body.
The work meets you where you are.
The way I practise Shiatsu has been shaped not only by my training, but also by my own ongoing experience of receiving it.
Clients often tell me they feel deeply supported during sessions, and many are surprised by the sensations they begin to notice in their body once they have the time and space to pay attention.
Sometimes sessions bring quiet relaxation; other times they bring laughter, release, or unexpected shifts.
People often leave feeling lighter, clearer, or more like themselves again — and sometimes with the sense that something has started to move that will continue to unfold after the session.
Shiatsu doesn’t force the body to change. Instead it creates the conditions where change can happen naturally.
My aim is to create a space where you can feel safe enough to explore what your body is telling you — and where it has the time it needs to settle, respond, and find its own way forward.
If something in this resonates with you, Shiatsu might be a supportive place to start.
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you come. Sometimes simply giving yourself the time and space to pause, reconnect with your body, and see what unfolds can be the most powerful step.
If you’d like to experience that for yourself, you’re very welcome to book a session.
Sessions take place at The Wellness Hub in Narberth and are accessible from across Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.