About Onie

I established KnotStressed following the birth of my eldest daughter, Freya, in 2003. During my pregnancy with Freya and her birth, I found massage, exercise, breathing and relaxation techniques, and discussion to be a great relief and comfort.

There were very few places offering pregnancy massage and birth preparation support in Edinburgh at the time. So, I started KnotStressed to be able to offer pregnant women, their partners and children support during pregnancy and the postnatal period. 

Since then, KnotStressed has expanded, alongside my interests and my experiences with my children (I now have a second daughter, Mairin, who was born in 2009).

You can see from our website the range of treatments and courses we currently offer, not just to pregnant women and families, but to non-pregnant clients as well.  

I particularly enjoy facilitating the baby courses for new parents. I believe that massage can be a wonderful, fun and creative experience for young children - and as a parent an ideal way to help relieve 'baby ailments' such as colic, as well as promote better sleep as part of the bedtime and storytime routine!  

I love working with fellow therapists and am enjoying delivering the Massage Training Courses to practitioners to enable others to embark on this wonderfully empowering way of working with women, their partners and families.

I am really delighted that Frances Paulo has agreed to partner with me through KnotStressed. I am looking forward to further developing KnotStressed with Frances. We have lots of fun ideas! 

I am particularly excited about encouraging more people to experience the luxurious and deeply relaxing Eastern Massage Treatments that Frances specialises in. If you haven't tried Ayurveda, you really should..I can honestly say I have been dreaming of Ayurvedic Massage ever since first enjoying one! 

Qualifications and Experience 

Swedish Massage and On-site Acupressure Massage Qualifications from the Scottish Massage Schools.

APNT certified Diploma in Massage During Pregnancy from WellMother 

I.P.T.I registered qualification in Indian Head Massage

I am a Certified Infant Massage Instructor with the International Association of Infant Massage. 

I have also trained in HypnoBirthing with the HypnoBirthing Institute

I have completed a number of training courses with Ronnie Allan, who co-ran the Carole Osborne-Sheets Pregnancy Massage Course for many years in the UK. My training with Ronnie includes: Pregnancy Massage, Postnatal Massage, Massage During Childbirth, Hands Free, Advanced Hands Free and Slavic Massage.

During 2010, I have undertaken extensive tutor-training with Ronnie Allan in preparation for me taking over his Master Classes for therapists in Pregnancy/Postnatal/Hands Free and Advanced Hands Free from January 2011.

I have enjoyed additional tutorials in Shiastu Birth Focus Points and an 'Integrating Baby-Shiatsu course for Baby Massage instructors' with Tamsin Grainger, Head of the Shiatsu School Edinburgh.

I have undertaken a tutorial with Soma Osteopathy owner David Lasnet in techniques for working with pregnant and postnatal women.

I am a certified Baby Signing Facilitator having trained through the Baby Signing Training Programme. I have also completed Stage 1 British Sign Language.

I have attended the Nurturing Birth and Postnatal Doula training programme. I have also recently attending a Wysewomen CPD Workshop  'Intelligent Tea Drinking' about how to be an effective birth support and appear to do something, whilst doing very little at all (just holding the space in peace).

I am also an accredited Massage in Schools Programme instructor. I have an Enhanced Disclosure Scotland check and full insurance to work with school children and youth groups.

I am a registered member of the Association of Complementary Therapists (ACTh), and Embody for You.

My background and previous careers, prior to KnotStressed, were in Zoology and Biological Sciences, Resource Management and Conservation, Environmental Education, Event Management, Marketing and Publishing.

About Frances

 I have always had a keen interest in a holistic approach to health and well-being and my enthusiasm for complementary therapies just keeps growing!  I was particularly drawn to Reflexology and this inspired me to train as a holistic therapist myself.  I qualified in Swedish and Deep Tissue Massage and then went on to explore a variety of different therapies, including Ayurveda, before fully qualifying in Reflexology.

I am really passionate about Eastern holistic methods that seek to bring a person's body back into balance and maintain good health. I have found my studies and training in Ayurveda to be fascinating and greatly beneficial and this has become a special area of interest. I thoroughly recommend anyone to try these treatments and I currently offer Ayurvedic Back, Foot and Pregnancy Massage treatments.

As a holistic therapist I am not only looking to improve the health of our clients but also their overall well being; emotionally, physically and their state of mind aiming to treat the cause of a condition rather than simply addressing the symptoms.

I place great importance on the ability to truly listen and respond to every client's particular needs and concerns, and to adapting treatments to suit each individual client.  I always strive to promote the re-balance and revitalisation of my clients.

I am extremely pleased to be working in partnership with Onie as I have always enjoyed working with people and she is such a wonderful therapist.  I have a BA (Hons) in Spanish and varied experience working in people orientated fields.   In addition to my interest in holistic health, I enjoy practising Hatha yoga, travelling, eating out and of course going for treatments myself!

Qualifications and Further Training

• Diploma Reflexology - Scottish Massage Schools (May 2011)
• Traditional Ayurvedic Foot Massage Workshop - Ayurveda Pura Academy (January 2011)
• Pregnancy Massage Workshop – Ronnie Allan Masterclass (December 2010)
• Diploma in Clinical Aromatherapy - Scottish Massage Schools 
• Certificate Ayurveda and Pregnancy -  Ayurveda Pura Academy (November 2010)
• Hands Free Massage Advanced Workshop - Ronnie Allan Masterclass (October 2010)
• Postnatal Massage Workshop - Ronnie Allan Masterclass (August 2010) 
• Certificate in Thermo-Auricular Therapy - CYH Training (April 2010)
• First Aid at Work - St Andrew's Ambulance Association (January 2010)
• Certificate Pregnancy Massage - Inspire Massage Workshops (December 2009)
• Certificate Hands Free Massage - Inspire Massage Workshops (December 2009)
• Certificate Ayurvedic Back Massage - Inspire Massage Workshops (November 2009)
• Certificate Indian Head Massage - Inspire Massage Workshops (May 2009)
• Diploma Swedish Massage – Scottish Massage Schools (December 2008)

I am a registered member of the Association of Complementary Therapists (ACTh) and the Scottish Massage Therapists Organisation http://www.scotmass.co.uk

T.A.Th: www.thermo-auricular.com