Susannah Nelson
Highest Professional Standards

I am the Performance Director of the Olympic Canoeing Programme and was previously a Great Britain Team Coach and former GB Athlete. As the Performance Director, I directly employ 50 High Performance Coaches and 15 Sports Science and Medicine practitioners including physiotherapists. I have been receiving treatment, on a regular basis, from Susannah for over 20 years.

myofascial release head neck shoulders

**"She Listens to Your History and Focuses on What Will Give You Most Benefit"**

*Paul C, Doncaster — client since c.2008*

*Ironman Athlete, Coach & Business Owner | Treatment: sports massage, deep tissue, myofascial release, breathwork, Yoga Tune Up*

TESTIMONIAL

"I have used Susannah's massage therapy for over ten years. Initially it was for sports massage and deep tissue work on my legs, to help recover from marathon training. Later, her myofascial release work was fantastic on my head, neck and shoulders — and helping me become more aware of how my breathing affects my nervous system and stress response was sometimes the only way to ease the build-up of tension resulting from running my business.

Thankfully, it's now just back to my legs and back for run and cycling recovery for Ironman training and competition.

I like the specificity of Susannah's therapy, and that she has a wide variety of treatment styles and tools to draw upon. She listens to your history and focuses on what will give you most benefit, rather than simply going through a standard routine.

She has personalised some great self-massage strategies using Yoga Tune Up balls, which are much more specific and effective than a foam roller — and so much more portable. So I recover quicker and can train harder."

*— Paul, 49, Ironman Athlete, Coach and Business Owner, August 2018*

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## 4. TEACHER'S NOTE

Paul's testimonial captures something I see regularly in high-performing clients: the body doesn't distinguish between physical and mental load. Paul was training hard and running a business simultaneously — two very different demands that were landing in the same nervous system and the same tissue.

What's particularly interesting about Paul's story is the arc. He came to me initially for straightforward sports massage and leg recovery — the classic athlete brief. But over time it became clear that the tension accumulating in his head, neck and shoulders wasn't coming from training at all. It was the business stress expressing itself physically, and the only way to shift it was to work at the level of the nervous system: breathwork, myofascial release around the thorax and neck, and building Paul's own awareness of how his breathing patterns were affecting his stress response.

That awareness is something Paul now carries independently. Once you understand the relationship between breath, nervous system state and physical tension, you have a tool you can use anywhere — which is exactly the kind of self-sufficiency I aim for with every client.

The Yoga Tune Up ball work I introduced gave Paul targeted, portable recovery tools specific to his training demands — far more precise than a foam roller for the areas that matter most in run and cycling training. The fact that he's now back to focusing purely on performance recovery for Ironman is a good sign: the underlying stress patterns have settled, and the body is doing what it's built to do.

Paul travels from Doncaster, and sessions are also available online for clients who aren't local to Newark.

Paul is an Ironman athlete and business owner who has trained with Susannah for over ten years. Read how myofascial release, breathwork and Yoga Tune Up therapy balls transformed his recovery — and his stress levels.