Hi, I'm Rachel.

Me in 10 seconds

Sensitive, loyal, diligent, curious.

I’m originally from England and now I live in Belgium with my partner Nic, and our cat, Lola.

I love making things more efficient - whether in business, movement or life.

Me in 1 minute

Born in London, raised and schooled on the south coast of England by the sea. Attended university in Norwich, UK and Colorado, US and returned to London after graduating to work for an NGO followed by a consultancy.

I met my partner, Nic, in 2013 and today we live together in Brussels, Belgium. After a couple more jobs in technology, I decided to strike out on my own as a freelancer in 2022 so I could combine different projects together.

The thing that drives me is to make things efficient. To me, this means reducing effort in everything I do so that I work/move/live smarter not harder.

I teach Clinical Somatic Education, a movement practice that helps improve self awareness and sensitivity in order to relieve chronic muscular pain and other health issues caused by our stressful lives. I also help people improve the efficiency of their business so they can enjoy a healthy work/life balance.

My story with chronic pain

I was active as a child, but in my early teens I started experiencing back pain and hip pain. I saw a doctor and a physio but nothing really helped. It came and went so I just got on.

I studied Geophysical Sciences at University, including a year abroad in the USA, where I discovered pilates and rock climbing and loved them both.

After my studies I moved back to London and got a taste of real desk work. Once I left the educational bubble, it got harder to maintain my activity levels. I continued to play netball and do pilates but my time at my desk was also increasing so I gradually noticed some more back pain here, some shoulder pain there.

One morning I woke up and I had a sharp pain in my right shoulder and couldn't easily lift it above my head. I got scared. I went to the doctor and they did loads of tests, but found nothing. They offered me a steroid injection, which I accepted and for 3 months had no pain. But it came back. And then my other shoulder started hurting too. I went back to the doctor and they had nothing more to say than "we could do it again, in both shoulders". I had the appointment booked but cancelled it a week before. The pain was unpleasant, but it was a sign. Something was not right and dealing only with the pain was not going to solve it.

I became a technology consultant where I was at my desk and behind my computer for several hours a day. I decided to do my own research into my pain so I trained as a Pilates Teacher to try and understand my body more. I enjoyed it, but it didn't work. By the time I left London to move to Brussels I was no longer doing pilates or rock climbing or playing netball. I was really frustrated and often worried about what my life would be like if movement was no longer easy and enjoyable.

Refusing to accept my fate, I continued searching and luckily, I discovered somatic movement. I learned to slow down, to pay attention to myself, to explore and be playful with movement - and to make change. This was it. I quickly chose to train as a practitioner to continue learning and help spread the word.

As an introvert, a strategist and an organiser I enjoy working at my computer. But we all heard that sitting is the new smoking - we are sedentary for long periods of time now, and desk jobs are often really stressful too. They can leave us feeling tense, stiff and sore. My somatic movement practice allows me to continue this computer work whilst also giving me a way to shake it off at the end of the day and go hiking, bouldering or to play netball - all of which I now do regularly.

Other hobbies include playing Irish music, learning languages, reading and going to the cinema.