Review: Anamaya
Anamaya is discreetly located in one of the prettiest streets in Kensington. A Health Clinic rather than a run-of-the-mill beauty spa, the light yet homely premises are something to a host of alternative treatments.
I must to be honest from the offset: I just don’t know how I feel about these sorts of sessions. While I readily believe that out outward appearance is heavily affected by our inner life, some of the therapies seem a bit far flung and intangible, their descriptions veering precariously towards mumbo-jumbo. Nevertheless, I decided to throw myself into the deep end and try Energy Healing with global practitioner, Paul Lennard.
Paul is a smiley, bald and really rather normal chap, and not necessarily the sort of person you’d expect to be dealing in bodily energy (he came to the career late, he told me, himself once having been a bona fide sceptic too). He operates out of the top floor of the clinic, which is beautifully appointed in muted colours, with the standard ocean waves soundtrack playing in the corner.
In very simple terms, the idea behind Energy Healing is that the cells in your body hold on to the effects of past traumas, long after your mind forgets. This can lead to twists and knots which disrupt the flow of energy around your body, affecting you both mentally and physically.
While I lay fully flat on the therapy table, Paul ran his hands over my body – not quite touching it – to decipher my problem areas. He then applies varying amounts of pressure to said areas, working to remove the twists and knots and other nasties.
Now I consider myself to be generally happy person, but I have to concede that my muscles were incredibly tight. Paul explained that this is because although I’m a sensitive person, my mind forces myself to move on very quicky, whereas my body holds onto the consequences. In terms of character analysis, he’s spot on.
He was able to pinpoint the age at which an upsetting event occurred in my life, and could even name members of my family. Pretty spooky.
Identifying the areas of energy congestion, he performed an action which can only be described as combing the air above my limbs to remove the negative energy. I don’t know whether it is the power of suggestion, but I swear I could feel a tingling sensation in my limbs which ran in parallel with his combing.
At the risk of falling into mumbo jumbo territory myself, it really did feel as if years’ worth of thoughts and anxieties were leaving my body. My muscles became very twitchy, very heavy and ultimately, very relaxed.
Paul claims that Energy Healing can solve a host of problems, even – he believes – cancer. That’s rather a bold statement, but I could definitely detect the effects of one session, and felt more at ease than I have done in a long time. And I didn’t even think I was particularly stressed.
With therapies ranging from Craniosacral Therapy to Homeopathy, it’s worth paying a visit if you have even the tiniest inclination. The clinic itself is a lovely space, with staff who are welcoming and wholly unpretentious.
A friend commented that I had a bit of a ‘zing’ about me after my treatment, so I guess the inner/outer connection is stronger that you might imagine. I’m not a convert just yet, but Anamaya has certainly made me curious…
ANAMAYA, 1 Adam & Eve Mews, Kensington, W8 6UG. www.anamaya.co.uk
I must to be honest from the offset: I just don’t know how I feel about these sorts of sessions. While I readily believe that out outward appearance is heavily affected by our inner life, some of the therapies seem a bit far flung and intangible, their descriptions veering precariously towards mumbo-jumbo. Nevertheless, I decided to throw myself into the deep end and try Energy Healing with global practitioner, Paul Lennard.
Paul is a smiley, bald and really rather normal chap, and not necessarily the sort of person you’d expect to be dealing in bodily energy (he came to the career late, he told me, himself once having been a bona fide sceptic too). He operates out of the top floor of the clinic, which is beautifully appointed in muted colours, with the standard ocean waves soundtrack playing in the corner.
In very simple terms, the idea behind Energy Healing is that the cells in your body hold on to the effects of past traumas, long after your mind forgets. This can lead to twists and knots which disrupt the flow of energy around your body, affecting you both mentally and physically.
While I lay fully flat on the therapy table, Paul ran his hands over my body – not quite touching it – to decipher my problem areas. He then applies varying amounts of pressure to said areas, working to remove the twists and knots and other nasties.
Now I consider myself to be generally happy person, but I have to concede that my muscles were incredibly tight. Paul explained that this is because although I’m a sensitive person, my mind forces myself to move on very quicky, whereas my body holds onto the consequences. In terms of character analysis, he’s spot on.
He was able to pinpoint the age at which an upsetting event occurred in my life, and could even name members of my family. Pretty spooky.
Identifying the areas of energy congestion, he performed an action which can only be described as combing the air above my limbs to remove the negative energy. I don’t know whether it is the power of suggestion, but I swear I could feel a tingling sensation in my limbs which ran in parallel with his combing.
At the risk of falling into mumbo jumbo territory myself, it really did feel as if years’ worth of thoughts and anxieties were leaving my body. My muscles became very twitchy, very heavy and ultimately, very relaxed.
Paul claims that Energy Healing can solve a host of problems, even – he believes – cancer. That’s rather a bold statement, but I could definitely detect the effects of one session, and felt more at ease than I have done in a long time. And I didn’t even think I was particularly stressed.
With therapies ranging from Craniosacral Therapy to Homeopathy, it’s worth paying a visit if you have even the tiniest inclination. The clinic itself is a lovely space, with staff who are welcoming and wholly unpretentious.
A friend commented that I had a bit of a ‘zing’ about me after my treatment, so I guess the inner/outer connection is stronger that you might imagine. I’m not a convert just yet, but Anamaya has certainly made me curious…
ANAMAYA, 1 Adam & Eve Mews, Kensington, W8 6UG. www.anamaya.co.uk