Kathryn Mitchell, Soft Tissue Therapist

A little anatomy and a lovely London day out! 🍂

What a gorgeous late September day for a work trip to London!

A little time out to geek out at BODY WORLDS: The Anatomy of Happiness exhibition, followed by a peaceful picnic and stroll through Kensington Gardens, soaking up the early autumn colours.

As a Soft Tissue Therapist, seeing the human body up close in all its incredible 3D detail was such a valuable learning experience. No matter how many anatomy books I have studied, 2D pages don’t do justice to the complexity of all the structures or the fascinating, interconnected relationships between them.

The added theme of ‘happiness’ brought another wonderful layer to the experience, exploring how we experience it through the body's systems and reinforcing the biopsychosocial approach that underpins much of my work: recognising the individual as whole, not just the area of discomfort, and providing bespoke care.

I came away feeling inspired, grateful and even more fascinated by the amazing human body!

With thanks to the kind souls, no longer here, who generously donated their bodies to science, making experiences like this possible and allowing people like me to keep learning, growing and developing my understanding of the bodies I work with every day.

FAQ – What made you want to become a Soft Tissue Therapist?

I had been a qualified Nursery Nurse for nearly 30 years when I finally decided to walk away in 2018. Whilst I thoroughly loved my job, I had had multiple roles in that time - from working with children with special educational needs and disabilities, to senior roles, family support work and being an NVQ assessor, but I had always envisaged it would be my career for life.

By a pure twist of fate, two therapists—independent of each other—both suggested that my love of running, combined with the people skills I had acquired in childcare, could be easily transferable to becoming a Soft Tissue Therapist. This was not something I had ever considered doing, so I went with an open mind to an ‘Introduction to Massage’ weekend at the London School of Sports Massage in July 2017. I really enjoyed it and could see how my love of helping people and existing skill set could work. I still felt very unsure about such a big change though, so with a gentle nudge from those around me, I put my big girl pants on and signed up to retrain in the autumn. It’s fair to say that it felt HUGE and scary at the time (life begins at the end of your comfort zone)!

The rest, as they say, is history though. I spent 2017-2018 juggling my full-time job as an Early Years Practitioner with being a Mum and trying to complete 100 practice hours, multiple anatomy and physiology assignments and case studies. We very sadly lost my lovely Dad during this time too, but that only made me even more determined to finish what I started.

I began my career as a Soft Tissue Therapist in 2019 and then, like many others, I had to stop again due to a global pandemic! Fortunately for me, I had my former profession to fall back on, and I temporarily returned to working with children with additional needs as a bank staff member, alongside working as a Soft Tissue Therapist when Covid restrictions allowed.

Since my initial retraining, I’ve gone on to qualify in Pregnancy Massage, Hot Stone Therapy, and Mental Health Awareness for Massage Therapists. More recently, I completed a Professional Certificate in Advanced Clinical Massage and undertook training in Advanced Myofascial Release, Kinesiology Taping and Running Gait Analysis—among many other things!

I enjoy working collaboratively with individuals, with minor and chronic musculoskeletal injuries or pain. I also enjoy working with anyone who feels they would like to move with greater ease or who would like to reduce their stress levels and tension through regular treatments. I equally love working with women who are pregnant and individuals training for sporting events and challenges throughout the year.

From my very first steps as a newly qualified Soft Tissue Therapist, I have always aimed to create a welcoming, safe, accepting, and calming space for all and continue to love helping people in the same way I used to as a Nursery Nurse (I just help big people, not small people these days😊).

Fascia. It’s everywhere. But what do we know about it?

Since completing my Myofascial Release training in June, I’ve been meaning to share a little more about fascia and fascial techniques based on current thinking (without getting too geeky about things!). So, here we go…

• Fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds every part of the entire body including cells, organs, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and the brain

• Myofascia is the term used to describe the fascia that surrounds and weaves through the entire structure of a muscle blending and connecting it with other soft tissues

• Fascia consists of collagen fibres for strength, elastin fibres for stretch and a gel type substance known as ‘ground substance’. It is fascia that provides shape and support to your body and allows tissues to slide and glide during movement

• Different types of fascia, include: superficial, deep, cranial and visceral fascia

• Maintaining a fixed posture over a period (e.g sitting, driving) and individual habits (e.g sitting with legs to one side, sleep positions), physical injuries, trauma and inflammatory responses may all affect the condition of fascia

• As fascia surrounds the entire body, restrictions in one area due to the above, can affect fascia elsewhere (and not where you may potentially experience pain or restricted movement)

So why Myofascial techniques?

Fascia is richly innervated with sensory receptors that respond to different types of pain, touch and pressure stimuli. Under optimal conditions, the body may respond to the type, duration and quality of touch applied through myofascial techniques, potentially allowing it to switch from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic system (‘fight or flight’ to ‘rest and digest’) during treatment. This may result in a reported reduction in pain and increase in movement afterwards. However, like all ‘techniques’ this will be influenced by many, many factors within a treatment, including a client’s physical and emotional comfort (including their sense of security), the therapeutic alliance and their perceptions around the quality and type of touch they are receiving.

What does it involve?

• Fascial techniques are applied skin-on-skin with no (or very minimal) massage medium. The techniques may feel slower and ‘stiller’ than others, requiring the therapist to tune in and ‘listen’ to what they are feeling and being guided by the response in the tissues. There is no set time on how long this may take, it is led by the individual response in the tissues

• Myofascial work can be useful where deeper massage techniques are not appropriate or contraindicated, a few examples include elderly clients, chronic pain conditions, sensory sensitivities, injuries

In summary, myofascial techniques offer another valuable tool within the massage therapist’s toolkit, potentially helping the body ease into and restore movement, while reducing the experience of pain through the client’s perception of touch and its influence on the nervous system.

It’s always lovely receiving reviews like these; it’s one of the many reasons I do what I do! 💛

For me, quality care is more than providing a service. It’s about taking the time to truly listen and understand your individual needs, so that together we can create a safe, appropriate and effective treatment plan — one that can be modified and reviewed along the way to ensure it continues to be right for you.

No two people who come to see me are the same, and that’s why an individualised approach matters.

Hearing that this care and attention makes a difference is humbling, rewarding and means a lot, thank you🙏🏻!

A nice little reminder from the North London School of Sports Massage...Treatments (especially 'Sports' or 'Deep' Massage) do not need to be painful to be effective and beneficial😊

A great way to spend a Sunday morning🙂

Remembering my feet after a great sunny, Saturday event! ☀️

I really enjoyed running round and round for the day on my own little running adventure on Saturday and was very grateful to give the arches of my feet a little hug with some warm stones and a massage afterwards. (Just to reassure you — the stones are thoroughly cleaned between each use!)

Our feet really are amazing structures, yet we often don’t give them the respect and attention they deserve. We spend a lot of time on them especially when running or walking. 🏃‍♀️🚶‍♀️

The three arches of the foot — medial, lateral and transverse — all play an important role throughout the gait cycle, helping with shock absorption and propulsion and providing support and stability. It’s no wonder that feet can start to feel sore or achy after countless steps over the course of a day.👣

If you’re regularly on your feet, a keen walker or runner, or spend your working day in rigid or heavy work shoes, your feet may well benefit from some dedicated attention. A foot massage with integrated warm stones that works into the soft tissues of the plantar and dorsal surfaces can be a great way to help them feel cared for and refreshed.

Please don’t ever hesitate to ask if you feel your feet could do with some attention.
They carry you through your whole day and often deserve a little TLC too!