It was the most unusual, extraordinary and organic process.

And it required a lot of risk taking, trust and experimentation.

 

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Seven years ago, I graduated with a Masters in Interactive Media and I was also working as a web and graphic designer.

I was truly burned out after the course and decided to take two months time off in India.

India was a colourful, spiritual and rich experience and made me realize I was ready for something brand new in terms of my work and contribution.

 

 

 

On my way back, I met my best friend, Miriam Kaush.

She happened to be a massage therapist with a true passion for what she did. Her eyes lit up when she talked about offering care through touch to others, which was so powerful and inspirational to me to see.

I knew I wanted to move away from the pixels and screens, and felt a genuine connection with working with conscious touch and direct human connection.

 

 

 

Miriam taught me a few basic Swedish massage sequences and I started practicing on my flatmate at that time. I then began to practice on close friends and friends of friends.

 

 

 

I simply followed the joy it brought me and nothing stopped me from offering comfort through touch.

 

 

 

For the first two years I worked purely intuitively and merged massage and meditation. I had no fancy set up, only an IKEA bed and a soundtrack of whale sounds that a friend give me. But I had purpoise and lots of enthusiasm.

I had great feedback from people and it encouraged me to keep showing up to do my work.

 

 

 

I was waiting to find my perfect massage course, not a dry anatomical, doctor like course, but a course full of empathy, sensitivity and depth.

 

 

 

 

While participating in a spiritual festival in Sweden; sitting around the fire, someone demonstrated a very short sequence from the Alchemy of Touch Massage. It was called "rocking the spine" and from the moment I experienced it, I knew I wanted to learn more.

 

 

 

 

I embarked on a second trip to India, and did an intensive Alchemy of Touch Re-balancing Massage with the founders, Tapesh and Anouk Paradiso.  I returned to Scotland and while watching the snow fall, the inspiration to call my venture "Holiday Within" came.

 

 

 

Holiday Within made sense to me because this is what I actually offer: time out, time to restore, be nurtured, befriend your body and restore from the inside out. 

 

There is no tropical place you need to escape to, just receive a  massage for one hour of your time to feel completely different.

 

 

 

Continuous learning and refining what I offer is one of my main values, alongside kindness.

 

And being a good listener, of words as well as bodies.

 

 

 

{ I have trained once more with Alchemy of Touch, then learned Japanese Face Massage in Spain. }

 

{ Recently, I completed  the highest level training in the UK in Holistic and Deep Tissue Massage with Jing Academy.  }

 

{ And I also learned Reiki Energy Healing to bring into the sessions. }

 

 

 

So, what’s my superpower?

>>> I am a highly sensitive and attuned massage therapist. I work with soft and deep tissue. I also integrate meditation and massage.

 

When I don't massage you will find me latino dancing, going on meditation retreats, taking power naps with my cat Elly and cooking.

 

 

- Andra Dobrescu xo

Founder and Massage Therapist at Holiday Within Massage and Meditation