Amanda Massages Maternal Messenger

by Gaby Spinks

For my final article before I go on maternity leave I thought that meeting massage therapist Amanda Wells was just about perfect.

Amanda has been massaging friends for 12 years and qualified as a therapist 2 years ago. She's trained in a large range of practices including aromatherapy, stress management, Indian head massage, reflexology, diet & nutrition advice and, lucky for me, pregnancy massage.

We met in Amanda’s therapy room in her house where she explained, "There's nothing really available in Burngreave and I'd like to help change that. My dream is that I and other local therapists could have a local shop front where we could offer massage at a reasonable price for everyone. Some people think that massage is only for the middle classes, but it's not. It's not just stressed out executives that need de-stressing; being unemployed and pulled through the rigours of job seeking is stress enough for anyone."

Amanda has had a stall at the Abbeyfield Festival for the last couple of years offering Indian Head massages and back massages. Amanda also runs a 2 hour de-stress management session for small organisations. "We spend time doing various activities from comedy, relaxation and aerobic exercise to teach people to unwind. It's very easy to get caught up in the tensions of local politics and organisations."

We began my massage by talking through the various types of oils she uses, filling in a simple health questionnaire and chatting about my general feelings of well being.

The massage lasted about an hour and finished off with a face and head massage which was fantastic and I arose from her couch a new woman ready to face the world.

If anyone would like to get in touch with Amanda Wells please call her on 273 0976 or e-mail on amandajwells@aol.com

David is another local qualified relaxation therapist and works, giving massage and relaxation, at 'Peel'. Contact 07950 027 163.