Alexandra Shave

Alex is a highly recommended and insightful integrative therapist specialising in Myofascial Release techniques and holistic health coaching.


She left her police officer career over 16 years ago. She moved to the UK in 2007 and has dedicated herself to supporting others with movement and mobility and becoming the healthiest version of themselves ever since


Alex holds a bachelor’s degree (2012) in Health Sciences, BSc (Hons), specialising in Remedial Massage & Neuromuscular Therapy. She is also certified in mentoring, health coaching, Ayurvedic massage, Reiki I/II, counselling skills L2, and Infertility counselling, and she is a great yoga fanatic.


Her private practice is at Cheltenham Holistic Health Centre (www.chhc.com), where she uses her specialist training to skilfully and mindfully help people to get better. With a nurturing and intuitive touch, she is taking a holistic approach to any treatment.

 

Whether you're experiencing discomfort, pain, anxiety, fatigue, or stress due to physical or emotional trauma, injury, or neuromusculoskeletal issues, Alex is here to help you get back to doing the things you love and want to do in life.

 

Special interests:

 

-       Anxiety, Stress, Fatigue

-       Chronic pain

-       Women’s Health

-       Emotional injury 

-       TMJ and jaw problems

 

Alex has over fifteen years of experience helping people transform their lives.


She has studied with and learned from some of the most renowned coaches, teachers, yoga instructors, and spiritual healers. These teachers have shared their wisdom with her, which comes to life in all her work. Alex lived in The Netherlands, Spain, and Thailand, and together with her husband and their two children, they settled back into her husband’s hometown here in Cheltenham.


She uses a selection of the following tools to personalise your treatment.

 

·   Myofascial Release techniques (50+)

·   Interoceptive awareness (self of self)

·   Proprioceptive awareness (sense of self in space)

·   Breathe

·   Muscle Energy Technique (MET)

·   Strain Counterstrain techniques

·   Trigger point technique

·   Positional Release

·   Craniosacral techniques

·   Visceral mobilisation

·   Nutritional intake suggestions

·   Stretching

·   Self-care

Alex is a Gold member of the SMA and fully insured through Balens.

 

Alex loves rocky beaches, strong coffee with MTC oil and ghee, and a sense of freedom in everything.

 

She believes that; you taking charge of your health is the most beneficial thing you can do for yourself.

The story of a lotus flower

The lotus flower may appear fragile on the surface, but it is flexible and robust, securely anchored under the water's surface. 
The flower immaculately emerges from the mud and the murky water, representing purification.
The flawless bud opens each day at the break of dawn and blooms without prejudice or pretence. 
The lotus flower is like an awakened mind that grows naturally toward the warmth and light of truth, love and compassion. 
 (adapted from Nina Shadi)

More about Alex and her story...

Alex's story:

2007 - It had been a big year; I had resigned from my police officer job in The Netherlands; I had travelled to India; fallen in love in Thailand; moved home to the UK; and was now studying at a university in London.

Antony (my Thailand love) and I spent the long summer break in Bali. Out of personal and professional interest, I visited Bumi Sehat in Ubud, a natural birth clinic that a wonderful Filipino/American lady, Robin, had set up years before. The centre allows local women to bring their babies into this world safely and gently.

With the first year of my health sciences degree in the pocket, I was thrilled they were happy for me to help in the clinic. I assisted Bobbi, an acupuncturist who treated about fifty patients daily in her semi-outdoor, multi-bed clinic. I also had the opportunity to treat some patients with musculoskeletal issues independently.

With permission, I entered a room where a lady was birthing one afternoon. The room was part of the clinic, which wasn't more than a simple building with a couple of rooms. This one smelled of sweet incense, was darkened, and filled with four women gently chanting this newborn into the world. There was warm air, a sense of trust, and a certain softness in the room I had not felt before. I recognised the Sanskrit song they sang, but their pronunciation was different. We welcomed a baby girl into the world most lovingly and graciously within the hour. I felt touched, humbled, and grateful to be there and for life itself in this moment of awe.

It must have only been a few weeks after Antony said, "We've travelled the world and lived in different countries, but what we haven't done is the biggest transformation possible". I knew he was asking me if I wanted a baby, which I thought was hilarious. We'd agreed not to have children as I had always believed having children wasn't for me. Additionally, I didn't think I was fertile.

Nevertheless, Ant's question had planted a seed, so I went to see Bobbi, and when she said it would be difficult at age 39, it somehow surprised me. She suggested doing a few things and putting some needles in to support the process.

With many alternative therapies in Ubud, I went for hydro colonic irrigation, a crazy 10-day broth fast. I upped my yoga practice (after my fast) before returning home to the UK.

Back home, there were no doubts about wanting to get pregnant. The only thing that held me back was the gynaecologist telling me to wait 'trying' and heal first from two necessary colposcopies. It gave me time to take supplements, chart my cycles, eat healthier food, exercise, and continue my yoga practice. We felt thrilled and scared when we saw two lines appearing in the third month of 'trying'.

As part of the degree, it was fortunate that the topic of reproduction came up. I, circumstances considered, felt motivated to learn all about it to the degree that my peers noticed and started asking questions.

Living in Brighton – with its accepting nature of an alternative approach to health – a midwife helped me arrange a home birth and a birthing pool. I went full term without health issues and started contracting at 40 weeks +5.

Three days (and nights) later, I held my baby girl in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm and a cut on my tummy. My baby girl was gorgeous and healthy, and I felt very grateful. She had just turned me into a mum. I also felt hurt and traumatised. I felt misunderstood, judged, and mistreated by some nurses. I blamed myself and my body for being unable to do 'it'.

I struggled to have a baby and go to London for my lectures and gave up going until September of the following year. Two years later, when I was heavily pregnant with our second baby, I finally started writing my dissertation -researching the influence of obesity on fertility.

Before giving birth, I had a chance to share my birth story with a 2nd-timers-NCT-group that a wonderful lady led. She listened to me and said: "Your body did exactly what it needed to do. It protected you and your baby. You didn't feel safe enough to bring this baby into the world. Your body contracted and wouldn't let go". Tears ran down my cheeks as I felt acknowledged for my old pain.

This closure helped me trust myself and my body to naturally give birth to my boy. It is this trust that I carry with me. It allows me to check in, listen, adapt and flow wherever life's plan takes me. It has given me direction, strength and resilience; it helps me support others when they need to find their way back to health.

We are all here to empower and hold each other's hands and backs.

So much love,

AleX

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