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ABOUT ME
My name is Suzi and I am the massage therapist behind Revive Massage Therapy. I completed my Level 5 diploma in Soft Tissue Therapy with the Oxford School of Sports Massage in February 2022. This is how I got here.
I have always been an active person with a sense of adventure, along with a deep love for animals. I grew up in Devon where I spent my childhood messing around with horses and dogs and exploring the wildness of Dartmoor both on foot and horseback.
In 1997 I graduated from Coventry University, having pursued my love of horses academically, with a BA Hons in Equine Studies. My studies included equine anatomy and physiology, nutrition and sports science which piqued my interest in how bodies respond to training and how they recover from injury.
My first post graduate job was working for a rural insurer, assessing horse and pet claims. During this time I kept up horse riding as a hobby until I had an accident in 2000 which resulted in a spinal injury. I required physiotherapy to help me recover and I took an active interest in the help I received. My accident left me feeling anxious about movement and I worried about the damage my body had suffered. I now understand that this fear impeded my recovery and kept me sedentary longer than it should have done.
A year after my accident I had become quite unfit and was struggling mentally. A group at work set up a team to run the Stratford Race for Life so I started the Couch to 5km program. I was found that rather than cause me more back pain, increasing my activity and strength improved my pain and mental health significantly. I completed the Race for Life running continuously, something I thought I never would be able to do. The more I ran, the stronger and more mobile I felt, and the fear and persistent pain reduced.
I carried on running and in 2010 I ran the London Marathon, which was an incredible experience. I became addicted to long distance running and what my body was able to do with the right training.
I have completed over 20 marathons, two ultras and a few half marathons. I now focus on trail running as I love to explore the countryside During this time, I turned to manual therapy to help with niggles and my occasional flare ups of back pain. I found massage, joint mobilisations and releases made such a difference to my pain experience. The therapist found and treated areas of tension which made a huge difference to how I felt and moved. I started to wonder if I might be able to gain the skills to be able to help others in a similar way. When the opportunity came, I enrolled on a soft tissue therapy course with the Oxford School of Sports Massage and loved it. So here I am, hoping to help people the way I have been helped myself.
My hobbies include trail running, hiking in wild places, such as Snowdonia and the Lakes, mountain biking over Bredon and occasional horse riding. I have a Border Terrier who often comes on adventures with me.
I look forward to meeting you soon.