Testimonial from Graham Jarvis
Having known Chris for some time from his Yoga teaching, prior to my first Ayurvedic Massage, I knew I was in a safe pair of hands (or feet in this case). I visited Chris’ family home, and was led to a specially prepared room which had a wonderful aroma of incense and heated oils. The room felt very warm and comfortable, with relaxing music to set the scene and a rope from wall to wall to aid Chris’ balance during the massage. Chris has an amazing ability to relax you very quickly, and any initial nervousness soon dissolves away once the massage begins and the hot oils start to take effect, soaking in to your body, applied by Chris’ feet. After a while you just become so relaxed that it becomes an effort to move and at the end you just feel like falling off into a deep sleep right there, instead of getting dressed and driving home! Every part of your body feels revived, and you just cannot wait until the next one; they can become very addictive.
Fully recommended.
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Testimonial from the late Mila Goldie
As a practitioner of Eastern Arts such as yoga, tai-chi, meditation, reiki and Indian massage, Chris has been very serious and creative. The vast background of his activities has been no doubt helped by his contacts with various Indian masters and frequent visits to India. I particularly benefited from Indian foot massage which consists of a very deep effulge of muscles over the body, strengthening and cleansing various organs in the body and helping blood circulations. While performing the massage, Chris is totally focused, and in the meditative state. The person receiving is massaged with genuine aromatic, specifically Indian oils, which induces very deep relaxation. This is a truly meditative experience, which works on both the physical and spiritual level. I can greatly recommend experiencing this special treat.
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Testimonial from Michael Hewens
I was initially a bit apprehensive about having an ayurvedic massage with the therapist using his feet, but I needn’t have worried. I cannot recommend Chris highly enough. When you enter his treatment room you are in India – the heat, smell of spices and the whole environment makes you feel transported immediately as if you are in Kerala, where these treatments come from. Chris uses his feet to gently massage your body, while you lie naked (if you wish) on a towel-covered futon, while he keeps balanced holding a rope on the ceiling (this is not as precarious as it sounds!). His techniques are authentic (he trained in Kerala) and encompass acupressure, Reiki, and ayurvedic foot and hand massage with the warm aromatic oils infused with spices from India and herbs. A two hour session is mind-blowing and totally relaxing. His head massage is amazing, and his foot massaging technique is an art-form. He also has great idiosyncratic touches – like, at the end, briefly reading from a book of Indian teachings.
I have never felt so totally relaxed – going to Chris at the Wellington Centre in Hastings is something I look forward to. He has great attention to detail, has total commitment and has incomparable professional approaches and skills..
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Testimonial from Charlotte Birch
At the bottom of Chris’s garden you will find a very elegant shed, lovingly crafted with wood and reclaimed windows and painted in a soothing shade of green. Built on his allotment patch, this warm and aromatic shed provides the perfect place to go and plant seeds of wellbeing and to reconnect with a deep sense of peace. I booked myself in for a Yoga class and a massage on a wintery Friday afternoon. We started with some Yoga floor work. This was a flowing series of postures and poses which felt natural and immensely satisfying – just what my body had been craving in the cold winter months. It was an opportunity to really quieten the mind with deep breathing and allow the body to go with the flow and surrender of Yana Yoga. Chris’s massage with his feet was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. He uses a system of ropes and pulleys to balance his weight. It was both deeply relaxing and rejuvenating. I found it raised my awareness to areas of tension in my body I had not even been conscious of. One of the highlights for me was the guided meditation. Chris expertly guided me out of the realm of thought and body to explore the potential of the mind and its ability to transport us to another aspect of our being that we visit too rarely. I felt like a character in a Marc Chagall painting, floating in colour above towns and spires into the outer reaches of the universe to a very light and higher place. Only to come back down gently to earth and feel cleansed and refreshed with a big smile on my face. It was the most blissful few hours I’ve spent in months. Thank you!
MEDITATION TESTIMONIALS
Having nearly completed the first six weeks meditation course I am totally addicted!
I have always been able to use a deep breathing technique for relaxation, as taught in yoga classes, and thought that meditation was very similar.
I hadn’t expected the meditation classes to give so much more.
I need the ‘comfort ‘ of the classes at the moment but hope eventually to be accomplished enough to meditate on my own.
It is positively changing my way of ‘thinking’ . Thank you Chris.
J.H.
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It was some years since I had last seriously attended any meditation course and I came to Chris’s class with my expectation somewhat clouded by my previous foray into meditation at the Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green. There were similarities and of course differences but most important was the experience of that inner calm and peace that envelops you.
Chris has his own suite of chants and mantras that resonant with the natural rhythms of the body. Remembering these and repeating them is probably the most challenging part of his meditation. You quickly learn that the importance is not so much the exact replication of what he is giving you but rather adapting them in your own unique way and allowing your body to lapse into that realm of inner peace and calm. A million and one thoughts will rush through your mind but with Chris’s support you will learn to push these to one side and you will slowly acquire the ability to listen to your body’s natural rhythms as you acquire that stillness and peace which we all miss in our modern busy lives.
R.C.