Louise brought a long-held dream to life when she opened The Body Matters in 2008. That dream was to create a friendly and informal centre of trained, screened and specialised therapists – providing the perfect balance of mind, body and soul.
Louise hasn’t always been a Wellness Therapist, Embodiment coach, and teacher of Meditation and Teacher of the Realisation Process (RP). In a former life, she trained and worked in IT, until an emotionally challenging year when she was diagnosed with depression, which led her to seek clinical hypnotherapy. During her treatment, Louise began to discover her own passion for wellbeing, and in 2003 she qualified as a clinical hypnotherapist but felt that she still wasn’t fulfilling her potential.
As an accomplished runner who has previously completed six marathons, Louise developed a strong interest in achieving a blissful balance between body and mind during her hypnotherapy training. She obtained additional qualifications as a sports massage therapist and personal trainer, before gaining essential experience at an established Essex clinic.
As well as owning The Body Matters, Louise works with a variety of UK based companies to help with the wellbeing of their staff and clients.
Louise had always been interested in meditation but didn’t know where to start. Meditation has been an important and integral part of her life since 2008: she even went to China for 3 months to live and study in a Monastery! Louise’s continued commitment to her own personal growth has led to an exploration into many different styles of meditation, teaching methods and insights into physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.
Through this, she has continued to explore so that she can understand her own being at a deep level, which enables her to work with clients at a level rivalled by few. With her methods embracing such a broad spectrum she can sometimes find it difficult to pinpoint exactly what she does, although the following labels have been mentioned by clients and peers: “Counsellor”, “Wellbeing Therapist”, “Personal Development Coach” and “Mentor” to name a few.
Louise is passionate about her lifelong work of revealing the side of ourselves that was never broken in the first place. She helps clear conscious and unconscious barriers, limiting beliefs and teaches useful tools, techniques and strategies to deal with stressful or uncomfortable situations in life whether at home or at work. She advocates empowering her clients by uncovering their own innate wholeness for balance, harmony, stability and unity.
Louise has a natural way of adapting her methods to each and every client. She is able to deeply listen to her clients and because of her depth of experience and unique blend of skills, clients are able to gain greater clarity and awareness into themselves and their own lives enabling them to understand their own journeys and processes. The result is that clients lead a life that is quality rich, vibrant life, with less stress, more joy and greater well-being.
How do I work? What do I do?
I teach how to attune to a deeper and more subtle part of your being. This is the part of you that has never been broken.
I’m not for everyone: because the work is subtle and takes practice and patience. It’s a journey. I do not teach quick fixes, nor do I want to put a plaster on the issue or problem. This is transformational at a very deep level. I work with the root cause of the issue. I am an experienced traveller on this path. I very much walk my talk, and that’s what I teach. Not from a book or a manual but from experience. I will support and hold your hand on the journey. My journey expands over 25 years.
For a long time, I have shied away from truly explaining what I do. And in some ways, maybe it’s not been totally clear even to me. But I am getting clarity. I like to explain in easy-to-understand ways. Another reason I haven’t explained is because of my fear of talking about the spiritual aspect of my work. I am not ‘woo woo’. I much prefer to talk and explain based on understanding and science, in simple easy-to-understand terms. That’s just how I am.
I've tried many different tools and techniques, some I still work with and some I have left behind.
My work has its foundation in ‘non-dual’. This means that it is subtle, very subtle. We can attune to (feel) a dimension of ourselves, that is physical matter, which is felt as muscle, bone, ligaments etc. Another dimension is energy, which can be felt as a pulsing, vibration. But there is an even more subtle dimension of our self that is consciousness (although still on the electromagnetic scale.) This part of ourselves is experienced as stillness and spaciousness. This is the part that has never been broken, that is whole.
What I do is to teach how to easily work through / release the things that hold us back in life. Generally, it is our trauma, our experiences that have been too overwhelming for us at some point in our lives.
Another aspect of what I teach is to feel into the fascia (tension) in the body that holds the trauma. Fascia is thought to be the link between the mind and the body.
I teach how to inhabit your body, not just be aware of it. Being aware of your body uses your thinking mind. I teach you how to be present and feel more alive in your body.
Is it talking therapy?
Yes and no. At times it is appropriate to share (but only if you want to.) And there is a certain amount of importance in truly being seen and truly being heard in a way that maybe you have never been seen or heard before. And yet, sometimes you won’t need or want to, because even though you are learning to soften the fascia yourself, emotions, memories, and thoughts won’t come to you to share.
Is the work a hands-on treatment? It can be although mostly it isn’t.
Can it be done online? Yes. Can it be done in person? Yes.
My main way of working is using the Realisation Process (RP). I qualified in it after my experience of it had been astounding. It was what I had been searching for in my life. It helped me heal from an autoimmune disease, it has helped me (and continues to help me) overcome my ‘stuff’ whatever that is. Nothing unusual, things like lack of confidence, anger, fear, grief, imposter syndrome etc
I continue to work with clients whom I have helped with OCD, headaches, stress, anxiety, weight issues and the list goes on.
Not heard of RP? Its not surprising, it’s relatively new. Developed by Dr. Judith Blackstone Ph.D over 40 years ago. It is gaining popularity in the USA (and slowly over the rest of the world.)
Q&A with Louise Reader
What are your qualifications?
I am a Sports Massage Therapist, Personal Trainer, Clinical Hypnotherapist, a fully certified Realization Process (RP) Teacher and a Realisation Process Trauma Repair Therapist. I also teach a variety of meditation styles. These titles really do not do justice to how I actually work. I have quite a diverse skill set, mainly because of my wide range of interests and hobbies, which have led me to some really interesting workshops and courses. Some might say that some of the things I have done are spiritual, but for me, it has been my passion to understand myself at a deep level so that I can lead a more joyous, authentic and fulfilling life. The outcome of all this has enabled me to help guide my clients so that they can find their own true sense of themselves, with improved relationships not only with themselves but with others too.
Why do people come to you?
I have a high number of recommendations from my existing clients. The range of reasons why people book in can vary from physical pain to emotional issues or problems. Some book in because they want to be truly listened to, to talk to someone independent of their ‘world’ to get a different perspective, others want to discover more about themselves to help them lead a more content, balanced, peaceful and joyful life. Some want spiritual or personal growth or want to find the freedom within, to unfold into wholeness to embody and find a way to reconnect to joy and the meaning of life in a way that brings more meaning and is more fulfilling and rewarding.
I guide clients on a path that I have travelled, and one that I continue to travel. I am an experienced companion.
Do you have any specialisms?
No. I love the challenge of figuring out how I will work with each client, what is best for them and what are their needs. No two clients are the same, and therefore they receive different treatment. I enjoy the variety. I also have the benefit of working within a great team.
What are the typical complaints your treatments can help with?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are unhappy, unsettled, not at peace with themselves or their world. This can lead to a variety of health issues that can be brought about because of stress. Many do not know the exact cause, sometimes it can be because of a variety of reasons. I help them find their innate qualities to bring back joy and balance into their lives.
What complaints can you help with that many people find surprising?
For many years now, I have been working with the mind/body connection and yet it never fails to amaze me the depth of what and how we hold ‘things’ within. I have seen first-hand and experienced directly the connection between the mind and the body. Incredibly, I am now able to resolve the tension in the body without touch. I am able to work with the client that can resolve their psychological patterns in their mind and in their body, leading to resolution of what could be holding them back from life.
Can you tell us a surprising fact about your role as a therapist?
How important it is to be heard, truly heard and listened to in a confidential, safe, spacious environment by someone who has the training and compassion to help bring you to wholeness, to help you uncover your own strengths, desires and needs. That is when true healing takes place.
