Tutors

Andy Thomas.

Andy Thomas started his working life as an engineering apprentice at Rolls Royce in Derby. He worked in business consultancy for 3 years. After 8 years at R R he then joined an engineering company as General Manager . After a move shortly after, to another smaller engineering company, at which he stayed for 2 years, he realised that he wished to take control of his own destiny. He set up his own engineering company with another engineer and together they built a substantial business employing 25 people after 3 years. He sold his shares in the company after 4 years to set up a series of retail business and after 4 years of retailing realised that he wanted to do something to help humanity. It was then that he began studying osteopathy . He learned massage, Touch for Health and spent a few years, after commencing in full time practice in 1984, working with people with many other disciplines such as Rolfers, practitioners of the Feldenkrais method and Judith Aston of Aston Patterning. In combination with a growing love of yoga and tai chi, he began to include these disciplines in his dealings with patients.

FMM was born around 1990 and this coincided with meeting Phaedra Cobb  who began to use the methods, with the same level of success. Andy’s way of working is typified by the overwhelming desire to discover the reason for things. This has been his abiding theme throughout his life and has created a willingness to delve deeply into the way the human mind works, how the body fails, why fascia contracts, why humans can be apparently working well and then seize up - a thousand questions are always in his mind with each patient who presents. It is this questing, the constant desire to discover HOW and WHY which have led him to be given the gift of this special knowledge. He believes that all knowledge belongs to man and is not private property but that all such knowledge of humans is sacred and requires to be treated as such, with great respect and integrity. This is very much part of his teaching and FMM reflects this attitude .

His specialism has evolved to be working with those who have suffered serious accidents, often in vehicles and with sports people who are striving to attain national, international or Olympic standard of performance.

His great desire is now to pass on this understanding and to see others benefit from this universal wisdom .

Kevin Green

 Kevin began his work in fmm with entry to the Shanti Yoga School Ltd foundation course and so loved this that he decided to join the fmm learners with a long term view to giving up his current employment and eventually entering practise. However, life intervened and after his second year of fmm training he could see that this was what he really wanted to do--but at that moment could not see how he would be able to give up his employment and begin treating people as a way earning his living. Then at one point during his final year he decided to jump off the cliff and start--he is now successfully treating patients in his own clinic and passing on his own unique discoveries to those who begin fmm training.

Kate Irving. Kate was already a therapist and joined the yoga teachers training programme and then fmm training and found herself being propelled at considerable speed through the fmm training because she found that her existing knowledge and her way of working just dovetailed so well with fmm --she is now joyfully undertaking fmm tutoring for the first and second year students as is Kevin.

Penny Wilson entered practice several years ago and has since moved to work in Christchurch but occasionally returns to Nottingham to help the process. Her history began as a patient who had had some poor diagnoses made and fmm restored her to normal function--first she trained in yoga and then fmm.

While Kevin , Kate and Penny  are trusted associates they know that the journey is long and that learning continues to take place. During the workshops we all encounter some situations with some patients where we all need to learn something --none of us knows it all and whilst the founder could still claim to know most he feels himself to be rapidly being caught up !!

 Tutoring is a team effort . The atmosphere is relaxed and casual and learning is allowed to take place in the absence of pressure to perform. This is our way and it seems to work.