**"An Essential Part of My Self-Care Routine"**

*Wendy C, 40s, Newark — Paramedic*

*Class: Yoga Tune Up (online via Zoom), 2020*

TESTIMONIAL

"As a paramedic working shifts on the frontline, I work in challenging circumstances — even more so now due to Covid-19. My weekly Yoga Tune Up class with Susannah is an essential part of my self-care routine.

The Zoom classes work really well for me and I try to join the group session when shifts allow, as I feel more connected that way. Having access to the replay if I miss my usual class is also really helpful.

The sessions not only help with the physical aches and strains but with the emotional stress too. After class I feel relaxed, refreshed and more able to cope with the week ahead.

Susannah's experience, knowledge and skills — combining yoga, self-massage, relaxation breathing and the Tune Up balls — are exceptional. I find it particularly useful working with the Coregeous ball on the thoracic spine, chest and abdomen. It eases my back, opens up the intercostal muscles and ribs to help me breathe better, and helps me manage stress and genuinely relax — and it can be done in a short five-minute session when I'm tired before or after a shift.

I would greatly recommend joining one of Susannah's sessions. I guarantee you will not look back and you will feel better in yourself — both physically and mentally. Susannah is very friendly, supportive and will always go out of her way to make you welcome, whatever your circumstances."

*— Wendy C, Paramedic, 2020*

## 4. TEACHER'S NOTE

Wendy wrote this during the first year of the Covid pandemic, when she was working on the frontline as a paramedic. The context matters: this is someone whose nervous system was under sustained, serious pressure — shift work, physical demands, emotional exposure, and the particular strain of frontline healthcare during a crisis. That's not everyday stress. That's a body and mind running on high alert for extended periods.

What Wendy describes is exactly what Yoga Tune Up is designed to address at that level. The Coregeous ball work she mentions — on the thoracic spine, chest, abdomen and intercostal muscles — directly targets the breathing musculature that tightens under chronic stress and threat. When we're in a prolonged stress response, the diaphragm and the muscles between the ribs become restricted, which keeps the body locked in a shallow, guarded breathing pattern. Releasing that tissue is one of the most direct routes into the parasympathetic nervous system — the rest and recover state — which is why five minutes with the Coregeous ball before or after a shift can have such a noticeable effect.

The fact that Wendy could access this online, fit it around unpredictable shift patterns, and use the replay when she missed a live session speaks to something I feel strongly about: self-care tools need to be accessible and realistic for the life you're actually living, not the life you wish you had. For shift workers, carers, parents and anyone whose schedule doesn't follow a neat routine, that flexibility is everything.

Since this testimonial was written, online classes and the nervous system focus at the heart of this work have become even more central to my practice. Working with the breath and the body's stress response — whether in person in Newark or online — is now the thread running through everything I do.

Yoga Tune Up classes Newark, online yoga classes, yoga for shift workers, Yoga Tune Up for NHS staff, self-care for frontline workers, Coregeous ball, intercostal release, thoracic spine release, stress and shift work, emotional stress and the body, yoga replay classes, flexible online classes Trauma care

holistic therapy Newark, Susannah Nelson, massage therapy Nottinghamshire, bodywork Newark, wellness Newark, Yoga Tune Up Newark, fascia therapy, somatic therapy Nottinghamshire, nervous system therapy Nottinghamshire, online yoga Nottinghamshire, online wellness classes

**"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*

---

## 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.