My first career was in contemporary dance and during gruelling tour schedules there were a lot of aching muscles which often lead to injury. I found myself compelled to find a way to prevent this from happening, so I went to train with The Holos Massage School and qualified in 1996. I continued with my professional dance career whilst treating fellow colleagues part time.

After various dancing contracts including the Richard Alston Dance Company, my last contract was with Rambert Dance Company under the direction of Christopher Bruce and then in 2003 I retired and went on to take my Sports Massage / Personal Training qualification with Premier International. I moved to Leeds and set up a practice at both Neal’s Yard Remedies and The Orchard which I kept for 3 years whilst also teaching dance part time at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

During my time there I also treated dancers from Phoenix Dance Theatre, and it was also at this time that I completed my pregnancy massage diploma with Well Mother (Suzanne Yates), my Pre/Post Natal Gym qualification with Focus Training, and gave birth to my son. By this point I was becoming really intrigued with the way the body copes with stress and strain in a variety of individuals and was finding that my treatments were very successful for a lot of people, in more ways than just for injury prevention.

On moving back to London I decided to concentrate all my efforts on making this a real business and hence, The Massage Base was born! I worked for 18 months at Back to Health Chiropractic Clinic under Dr Paul McCrossin before moving to Essex. At this time I then completed my Level 5 Sports Massage Diploma with the North London School of Sports Massage (NLSSM), and started work with Chelmsford Chiropractic Clinic under Dr Dicken Read. More than ever I am fascinated with the complexity of the human body and believe that if you can tap into it the response can be amazing. With what I’ve already acquired and with ongoing training and development I will continue to give my clients relief from a variety of musculoskeletal stress and strain whilst at the same time providing them with a friendly professional environment where they can relax and recuperate.

I am a member of the Association of Physical and Natural Therapy (APNT), British Complimentary Medical Association (BCMA) and Sports Massage Association (SMA).

Look after yourself, don’t wait for the warning signs!

Sam

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