From Patient to Practitioner

Carolyn is a highly qualified Soft Tissue Therapist, Trainee Osteopath and Senior Yoga Teacher with over 20 years experience. Her approach blends a unique combination of powerful, yet gentle soft tissue techniques with functional movement. By working with the body’s innate systems, Carolyn works in partnership with you and your body to help relax and release stiff or stuck tissues, clear down old compensatory movement patterns, promoting fluidity and ease in daily activities.

My journey into movement and manual therapy began with my own body’s story. At 13 years old, I had major abdominal surgery that left me with an 11-inch scar around my right side. By 1997, I was experiencing compensatory movement patterns and right-side weakness, my first introduction to how the body adapts after surgery.

A yoga class recommended to build core strength opened my eyes to movement as a tool for recovery. Two further surgeries in 2001 & 2002, led me to continue exploring how the body could relearn and restore balance. Despite years of practicing dynamic Ashtanga yoga, I was dealing with shoulder issues, elbow problems, and persistent tightness. In 2005, I met a Scaravelli inspired yoga teacher who showed me how to identify and address these compensatory patterns. This was my first real understanding that restrictions in one area often stem from adaptations elsewhere.

In 2007, Gary Carter introduced me to Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains, a framework that finally connected the dots between my surgical history and ongoing movement challenges. This sparked my professional education journey.

I completed my 500hour yoga teaching diploma in 2008, then spent three years in Beijing studying meditation, qigong, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Returning to fascial studies on my return to the UK, I trained in Anatomy Trains, completed Gary Carter’s 18month myofascial anatomy course and participated in hands-on dissection work to deepen my understanding of the body’s interconnected systems.

A period of chronic pain in 2018 further refined my understanding of persistent pain patterns and the importance of gentle, patient-centered approaches.

Now training as an Osteopath to deepen my knowledge, I combine decades of personal insight with evidence-based movement and manual therapy techniques. Having navigated my own recovery journey, I understand the gap between being medically cleared and actually feeling like your body works properly again. My experience has taught me that recovery isn’t about returning to how you were before surgery, it’s about helping your body adapt and function optimally with its new story.