Torside
Health & Wellness
Glastonbury's Most Bespoke Cleanse and Detox Retreat
MEET THE TEAM
Pia Barratt BA MSc Dip.KA
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Torside Health & Wellness is the manifestation of Pia's dedication to achieve a practical, sustainable, enjoyable wellness doctrine. It is designed to be easily integrated in order to create and maintain a robust body and mind able to navigate the challenges of modern life.
Northamptonshire-born, Pia worked for many years in property and financial services. In her twenties Pia suffered for several years with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) after a bad virus. Frustrated with finding little effective help, she turned with an open mind to the holistic field. In doing so, she discovered Kinesiology and was astounded by how quickly and simply it effectively addressed her symptoms. During her healing journey she became aware that as she learnt more about what had been happening to her she was better able to manage her health herself - knowledge in healing is indeed power. She has since favoured a functional approach to medicine. In the years that followed, Pia learnt how to manage a modern lifestyle without allowing it to have a detrimental impact upon her health and is passionate about supporting the body to create durability without imposing radical or impractical restrictions upon it.
Pia is an advocate of treating the whole person; physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically in order to fully address health issues. She likes to work with her clients, encouraging them to better understand their bodies and take responsibility for their healing and wellbeing.
Pia became a Pilates instructor, having experienced the benefits of better bodily alignment and correct movement patterns. Soon after she qualified in Systematic Kinesiology and combines the two in order to provide a full-spectrum holistic health and wellness service, both being focused on the optimal functioning of the body. She has since qualified as a Colon Hydrotherapist with The Avalon School of Hydrotherapy.
Pia relocated to Glastonbury in Somerset. After restoring the house and grounds she realised that this was the perfect place to restore health. Torside Health & Wellness is an embodiment of Pia's enthusiasm for pragmatically applied natural healing methods and for encouraging the individual to better understand and maintain their own health.
Pia is a Professional Diplomate of the Kinesiology Association, a Founding Member of the Body Control Pilates Academy, a Member of the Body Control Association and a Member of the Society for the Pilates Method. She also holds diplomas in Nutrition and Anatomy and Physiology.
Pia chooses her team carefully. All are practitioners that she goes to herself for treatments and considers excellent in their fields...
Kate Mead
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Kate has been a homeopathic and craniosacral practitioner for nearly 20 years. She was the Director at the Contemporary College of Homeopathy for 10 years and has been a clinical practitioner at Ainsworths Homeopathic Pharmacy for over 15 years. Kate has a great interest in all aspects of women's health, from adolescence to fertility and menopause. She also specialises in treating digestive health and was featured in an article in The Times relating to her successful treatment of IBS/Crohn's.
Kate has a varied practice in terms of the conditions she treats and is interested in identifying the reasons our health becomes compromised. Finding and identifying the causes of compromised health is the initial key to healing and is an enlightening and empowering process.
As well as thoroughly looking into the experience and symptoms of physical health, Kate explores the importance of who we are as individuals, our thoughts, feelings, relationships and past and the role that they play in our health.
Oana Crisan
Oana has worked in holistic face and body massage for over twelve years. She has worked for some of the most prestigious spas across the UK, including the Bamford Haybarn Spa in the Cotswolds and the Old Course Hotel Kohler Water Spa in St. Andrew’s.
More recently Oana has worked at the renowned Face Gym in London’s Chelsea, which specialises in facial massage techniques that help to naturally tighten, tone and sculpt facial muscles, assist cranial drainage and alleviate jaw tension. Here, Oana built up a very strong clientele and received recognition for her skill in this field. She now splits her time between Face Gym at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds, Torside Health & Wellness and her private clients.
In addition to this work, Oana offers body massage. Her style incorporates shiatsu, acupressure and deep tissue. She likes to focus on areas which are not often fully treated in many massage therapies, such as the hips and ribcage. Oana also uses cupping where necessary and a range of Thai stretching techniques. She finishes her treatments with lymphatic drainage movements to help drain away toxins effectively.
Oana is also a qualified Yoga Trapeze trainer. This is a prop-based inversion form of yoga that has therapeutic benefits, particularly for stubborn back pain whilst being fun and freeing, giving a weightless sensation. This method helps to improve flexibility and works the core, upper body, and posterior chain.
Oana has an ITEC Level 3 in Holistic Massage and an NVQ Level 2 in Facial Massage as well as Face Gym’s high level in house training.
Fiona Bruce
Fiona has worked within the holistic therapeutic field for over thirty-five years. In 1988 she became a teacher in special diet cuisine both for the catering industry and for private individuals.
She helped to establish the first and largest vegan restaurant in the UK which specialised in sugar free, wheat free and dairy free diets which ran successfully from 1983 to 1995. Since then, she has been the resident colon hydrotherapist at the Fisher King Centre in Glastonbury, the longest standing residential cleansing retreat in the UK. This has given Fiona a keen understanding of how colonics aid digestive efficiency. She is passionately inspired by this line of therapeutic work and has since founded The Avalon School of Hydrotherapy. Fiona is also a qualified reflexologist.
Qualifications:
Colon Hydro-Therapist (Chi Centre, Maidenhead)
F.A.E.T.C. (South Mendip District Council)
Tallulah Rendall
Tallulah empowers people through Qi Gong and Sound Meditation to connect to their creative expression and lead happier, healthier and more embodied lives. Having learnt to maintain her health through a mix of Chinese medicine, Acupuncture and Nutrition plus training in Qi Gong and Sound Therapy, Tallulah became inspired to support the wellbeing of others. This led to the creation of her singing and creative facilitation workshops and retreats, Sound Meditations and one-to-one Sound Therapy sessions.
Matt Fellows
Matt’s studies have taken him around the World, but he always comes home to his home town of Glastonbury. Glastonbury itself is said to be situated on a Ley line or meridian. The ancient Britons believed that the Earth, like the body, has lines of energy that run through it and across it. They built various structures, such as stone circles, along their length to mark out where they lay. Glastonbury, the ancient Isle of Avalon, is thought to exist on such a line, and is sometimes thought to be a kind of acupuncture point of the earth.
The ancient Chinese also held similar beliefs and called them 'dragon lines'. They took this notion further and discovered that there are similar passages of energy that run around and through the body. It is these pathways or meridians that an acupuncturist seeks to utilise during a treatment.
Matt is trained to the highest level and gained an honours degree at The London College of Traditional Acupuncture. He is a member of the British Acupuncture Council and continues to study frequently and partake in various forms of continual professional development.
Kantinan Oakley
Kantinan offers Thai Deep Tissue Massage, Tok Sen Massage and Traditional Thai Massage. Her massages are focused on reducing muscular pain and tension, relieving pain and stress and improving circulation.
She has many years of experience in both England and Thailand. Her qualifications include:
Thai Traditional Massage Course
Aromatherapy Massages Course at Thai Traditional Medical service Society, Pathumthani Thailand
Traditional Thai Massage Acupoint Tapping Training/Thai Hammer Massage From Nuad Tok Sen Baan Por Cro Dao, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Spa Therapist Massage at Mahaboon’s Thai Massage School,
Rachasima, Thailand
IVTCT Level 3 Certificate in Thai Massage at Fami Hair and Beauty Institute, England.
Rhiannon Christie
Rhiannon believes that touch is the most instinctive form of healing there is. Her love for shiatsu comes from this simple and beautiful truth, that touch is an innate expectation of our human experience.
Shiatsu is an ancient body work therapy developed in Japan with the wisdom of Chinese 5 element theory - the body’s relationship with the Elements and Chi (the body’s energy current).
Understanding the body as a whole; energetically, physically and emotionally means that the Shiatsu therapist has the ability to deeply listen to your body, to its strengths and its weaknesses.
Rhiannon is Level 4 qualified in Shiatsu and offers a grounded treatment that helps the body to regain its balance through the listening touch. She also offers an excellent deep tissue massage that incorporates areas often missed in massage such as the hands, feet and chest.
Miranda Bruce AGSMD
Miranda trained at the School of Clinical Iridology and Applied Nutrition. She has been practicing Iridology for eleven years, chiefly with clients at the Fisher King Cleansing Retreat Centre in Glastonbury. She takes photographs of both irises and provides you with a written report on her findings.
Iridology gives a constitutional picture for your lifespan. It will pick up weakness in the connective tissue in an area but not disease.
For example, in the digestive area it can tell you if you have developed low stomach acid and in the circulatory system if any deposits are building up within the arteries.
Tegwyn Hyndman
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Discovering..Remembering..Celebrating.. Who we are.. What we are.. and Where we are..
Tegwyn has over 20 years experience working as a Holistic Therapist. Offering Deep Tissue Massage / Bodywork, Shamanic Soul Growth Sessions, Reiki / Hands on Healing. She is also a practising Rebirther / Breath worker & Councillor.
Tegwyn has experienced a rich life with much loss and challenge and from within her own healing transformation journey she has come through with a love , integrity and dedication in providing safe places, healing & holding touch and offering journeys for profound discovery and remembering of Soul perspective & integration of our wounding thus bringing a deeper peace & understanding.
Evan Curwen
Evan is a 'wellbeing warrior' and on a mission to empower humanity to live life at their highest potential.
They are passionate about helping people to improve their wellbeing through holistic services.
As a trained mindfulness teacher, breathwork facilitator, reiki practitioner and inner child healing specialist, they promote the importance of developing awareness along with love, acceptance and compassion towards ourselves whilst understanding and communicating our needs and boundaries, as they feel these are the fundamental steps to healing, building self esteem and improving wellbeing.
Barbara Fiennes
Barbara trained as a Nutritional Therapist (BANT registered) after witnessing a loved one who was suffering with a crippling auto-immune illness come back to health through the power of food-as-medicine.
Barbara trained at the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London and seeks to impart her knowledge about the invaluable role of food and diet in our health. She finds much joy in helping people who are struggling with illnesses or chronic conditions through giving them the tools to bring their bodies back to full wellness using the right diet and/or supplements.
Emma Stow
Through astrology, sacred land, music and soul connection Emma has explored human nature and our deeper relationships with Earth, stars and the living Universe. Her own healing from illness gave her a passion for healing and spiritual empowerment through awareness, soul alignment and love.
After 20 years of private sessions as an astrologer and healer she developed her own way to facilitate soul connection and healing using the physical and emotional body’s innate ability to do so.
Emma has been running soul retreats in the UK and USA since 2009. She is the author of Revolution of Being – a guidebook to living in times of change and has completed two speaking tours of the USA.
Emma offers sacred walks in the Avalon landscape having been a Guardian of the Mysteries there since 2007. She also offers guided meditations and lessons in astrology and sacred land.
Lauren Bray
Lauren has worked in the spa and wellness industry for over 15 years including the Four Seasons, the Dorchester Collection and around the world on cruise ships and superyachts. Her interest in holistic therapies has led her to specialise in crystal healing massage techniques. These treatments work with the energy pathways/meridians and chakras. Lauren uses hot crystals and stones, aromatherapy oils and herbal poultices to give a truly unique and healing experience in her treatments.
Qualifications:
BTEC National Diploma in Beauty Therapy Sciences including Anatomy and Physiology
Diploma in Pregnancy Massage
Hot and Cold Stone Therapy
Herbal Poultice Massage
Rachel Gawen
Rachel is a yoga teacher (RYT 500 hours Yoga Alliance) and believes passionately that yoga has something to offer everyone.
Her classes are designed to allow students to find strength, space, release and balance both physically, mentally and spiritually, through physical asana practice, pranayama (breathing techniques) and guided meditation. Each class is planned with the student in mind and can be adapted to meet specific needs, whether that be dynamic, heat creating asana or a more restorative, slow-paced and relaxing practice. The poses are held for around 3-5 breaths to allow students to find their optimum alignment and tune in to their sensations. Her teachings are rooted in Hatha yoga and she draws heavily on the teachings of the Indian sage Patanjali and his yoga sutras and also on the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita to help her students connect with their Self and the wider world.
She is also trained in Yin Yoga, a style of yoga that involves long holds in various seated and reclined poses to access deeper layers of fascia and a quieting of the mind, reaching areas of the body often not reached with a typical yang style of yoga practice or fitness regime. On an energetic level, Yin yoga improves energy flow and enhances the flow of chi in the organs.
Rachel also offers Yoga Nidra, either as a complement to the physical practice or as a practice on its own. Yoga Nidra is an ancient technique where the practitioner enters a deep state of conscious relaxation. It's a systematic practice of moving awareness from our external world, to our internal world, leading us into a state of harmonious, restful being, from here we can heal, restore, and awaken to our true, blissful, and eternal self.
Beth Weightman
Beth has been working in and exploring holistic health for the past 23 years.
She first trained in Ayurvedic medicine and massage in India in 2000. She then qualified in Holistic therapies (Swedish massage, Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Anatomy and Physiology) back in England at Brighton College in 2001.
She has also studied Cranio-sacral therapy (2003) and qualified as a yoga teacher in 2007.
Most recently she obtained an honours degree in 5-Element Acupuncture from The Acupuncture Academy in Leamington Spa.
She is a member of the British Acupuncture Council and Federation of Holistic Therapists.
Beth is passionate about weaving all her knowledge together, working with each person to create a treatment which is tailored specifically and thoughtfully to them; meeting them where they are and honouring who they are.
She is particularly experienced in and inspired by retreat work, having worked as a therapist at and managed a retreat in Sri Lanka for 7 years, before settling in Glastonbury and becoming involved in running retreats in England. It is a privilege to witness and be part of the transformation that happens when a person comes to a retreat. It is magical.
Victoria Hilton
Victoria has worked in the fitness industry since 2009 in both London and Somerset. She offers an intelligent, empowering and holistic approach to fitness and addresses each body as a whole systematic being. Her teaching style is informative with the aim of imparting knowledge and confidence into her clients. Her qualifications include:
Mat Pilates- Beginner, Improver, Advanced (REP, NVQ, OCR, FIA) • Gym Instructor (REP, NVQ, OCR, FIA) Future Fit • Pregnancy Pilates; Modern Pilates • Pilates Equipment Training; Studio Apprenticeship • Level 3 Personal Training; Premier • NASM: National Academy of Sports Medicine International PT bridging course • Nutritional advice; Precision Nutrition • Dance- Ballet, Contemporary Modern Dance and Tap; Grade 5 • Barre; Body Barre London • Yoga Teacher Training (200hrs); Shanti Power Yoga • Thai Massage; Yoga Haven London • Doula; Birth Bliss Academy • Reiki; Goddess House, Glastonbury • Spiritual Counselling (Level 5 Diploma); Holistic Healing College • TRE Workshop; Deborah Maddison, Healing Space training provider and breath work practitioner.
Our toiletries are made exclusively for us by this boutique apothecary which specialises in organic, conscientiously wild-harvested local botanicals. Founded in Glastonbury in 2012, Herbs of Avalon draws upon traditional wisdom and modern knowledge, selecting the best natural ingredients to create beautiful new synergies to bring healing to the body and mind.
Disclaimer: the team at Torside Health & Wellness Ltd are holistic practitioners. If you are unwell or experiencing symptoms that concern you please seek the advice of a doctor.