The Gazette 15/11/1999

THERE are so many different complementary therapies these days, it's easy to become confused about what they are and what they do.

But at Sherfield-on-Loddon Village Hall on Friday you can find out more about - all sorts of therapies during a ladies health and beauty evening from 7pm.

At the event you can even experience natural healing therapies as well as talking to 22 health and beauty specialists.
There will be help and advice on facials, nail care, aromatherapy, magnotherapy, reflexology, sugaring, jewellery, Reiki healing, feng shui, semi-permanent makeup, Epil Pro permanent hair removal, homoeopathy, Indian head massage, baby massage and more.
The event has been organised by beauty therapist Charlotte Nightingale of Sherfield-on-Loddon, who works from home under the name Nu Age Glamour.
Natural products and gifts will be on sale too and part of the proceeds will go to local charities.
One of the therapists who will be on hand to offer advice will be Christine who practises
Reiki, hypnotherapy and Journey work in Basingstoke.
Christine, 41, of Holbein Close, Black Dam, Basingstoke, was originally a chef in Kenya before coming to England and becoming a qualified hypnotherapist and Reiki healer.
"I ran a restaurant in Kenya and I guess I thought there must be more to life than helping people get drunker and fatter!"
"People started coming to me and asking me to solve their problems for them - in fact, all my life they have done that.. I'm just that kind of person.
"When I came to this country I thought I had better learn some tools to do that, because I couldn't develop in Kenya in the area of healing.
"I started out when I first came to this country and did Reiki, but the one I really used was hypnotherapy."
Reiki is a gentle and safe form of healing, which is used to reduce or eliminate physical pain, balance emotions, and stimulate the body's metabolism and detoxification system.
It works by channelling the Reiki energy through the practitioners hands to find its own course within the patient.
Christine said: "If a child falls and grazes its knee, anybody who puts their hand on that knee is going to do some good. But by working with somebody using Reiki I'm able to channel a much stronger form of energy than the normal person.
"When it connects with that person, that person's energy gets balanced out by my energy and because it has its own intelligence it goes where it's needed."
Hypnotherapy has proven very successful at helping people quit smoking, overcome fears of flying, and feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.
"Hypnotherapy allows a person to access their unconscious mind and in the unconscious mind is where all the experiences they have had are seated," said Christine.
The last type of therapy Christine practises - and probably the most difficult to explain and understand - is "The Journey".
It is a natural healing process devised by an American called Brandon Bays, which she has taught so far to 48 other therapists, including Christine.
Christine became a Journey Therapist after trying it herself to successfully clear a skin condition she had suffered for 15 years.
"What we are able to do is assist someone to participate in their own healing process. So if someone came to me and they were seeing their doctor, I would work alongside their doctor to see what is the emotional condition behind the physical problem, which would probably mean it's easier for the body to heal itself," explained Christine.