About Raka
Training & approach
Background
I came to my work through interests in human mind and behaviour. After high school I studied philosophy and psychology and worked in research exploring unusual perceptions, like faceblindness and synaesthesia. To manage stress while at university, I learnt to meditate and practiced different movement styles. I became more invested in learning about emotional health and body awareness, and about spiritual traditions and practices. Over time these interests took many fruitful directions.
I trained in counselling skills in 2010 and worked as volunteer counsellor. I began to learn how childhood experiences impact adulthood, and how the body holds memories and impressions. I completed my professional training in craniosacral therapy in 2017, and continue ongoing studies in this field. This work showed me how to connect with a whole person through the medium of touch and body sensitivity. I also trained in coaching in 2021, and appreciate the interplay of embodiment and insight in our personal development. I am a student of Buddhist dharma which is a significant influence and resource for me.
I see the body as a gateway to the whole person. It is not just an interesting object, cleverly put together but unfortunately causing problems. It is a mirror, and a map, of each unique life. Connecting with the body sensitively, with careful touch for example, can reveal the deeper aspects of a person: what they have been through, what they are holding, and what is trying to emerge. We can work anatomically, tracking injuries and physical impacts of past events, and we can also reach into other layers of experience: memories, emotions, thought patterns, strengths and gifts. My training in coaching and counselling skills is helpful here in meeting different layers of our experience underneath physical symptoms.
Good rapport is essential in any support relationship, and I place real value on dialogue and expression in my work with people. Sessions with me can be deeply relaxing and quiet, and they can also be active, with movement and words. They are not something that is simply done to you; your awareness, your words, and your presence are all part of the process.
We are amidst a crisis of embodiment, wherein we have have forgotten how to live in and with the body. We feel nothing or we feel too much, we go numb, collapse or we can’t stop at all. There are middle places between these extremes where the body becomes an ally and a guide to a feeling-thinking-knowing way of living, joined up and not so disconnected.