Whatever life offers you, (or throws at you), there’s one thing you need more than anything else…
The space to really listen to yourself in a way that is relaxed, embodied and authentic. This is not about listening to teachers, experts, self-help books or social media. And it’s not about listening to the constant stream of thoughts, doubts and wishful thinking that the everyday mind is full of. It’s about the insights that come when you allow yourself to let go of all that and connect at a deeper, more open and more compassionate level with your own embodied self.
My aim is to help you do that
To learn to listen to yourself in a different way. For example, you can get a sense of it right now by simply bringing your awareness to your spine. What happens when you do? What part of your spine are you drawn to? If it helps, imagine as you breathe in that your breath is gently touching the spine. What happens to the rest of your body, your breathing, your sense of yourself, when you give your spine a little of this open, friendly kind of attention?
Thinking that stays in your head will not do this.
It’s about learning how to bring your body into the conversation. Listening to yourself like this, being open to the feelings and intuitions that are there to guide you to effective action, is the most important life skill of them all. When you listen this way, you find yourself doing things with less effort and your life starting to make more sense. This mindful sense of self-connection changes how you connect with others, and with the creative challenges of work and family life. There are many ways to do it – my job is to help you find yours.
Have a look at how it’s helped a few of the people I’ve worked with. To find out how it could help you, see Contact page for details.
I had the luck to attend Nick Pole’s book presentation ‘Words that Touch’ in Athens, and that inspired me to have a Shiatsu session with him before he left Athens.
During this one-session experience, I felt his absolute Presence for me, from the very first, to the last moment of our session.
In a very subtle, caring, attentive and delicate way, he managed to draw out to the surface, little by little, well-kept feelings, inner desires, and fears, at the very moment they were being expressed in the body, in different ways. It was an amazing journey into my deepest hidden energies and it helped me tremendously! I feel grateful!
Dimitra Zirou
Filmmaker, Prof. of Photography, T’ai Chi instructor
I’m a writer. Writing a novel is an emotional rollercoaster, a marathon not a sprint. It is solitary and requires energy and stamina. As a writer I greatly appreciate the way Nick uses words. His questions seek to address what may lie beyond my words and open up to me new paths of enquiry. The experience is of being profoundly listened to and of having someone walk alongside me who is curious about my personal and professional journey through life. The result is a deeper understanding of myself, not simply as a writer, but as a human being. After a session with Nick I always return to my writing reinvigorated and with a greater sense of relaxation, clarity and perspective.
Victoria Blake
is the author of eight books which include crime, true crime and historical fiction. Her most recent book, Titian’s Boatman (2017), is set partly in Renaissance Venice and partly in 21st century London and New York. She blogs about writers and writing on her website.
When I read Words That Touch, I felt I connected to something very powerful, so I was very excited to experience how this would be experienced in a session and felt in the body, so I just wanted to tell you how deeply it has affected me.
While we were in dialogue, I really had no sense of time (I was honestly shocked when you told me afterwards that we’d spent 90 minutes talking), and on reflection, I’m still astonished at how still my ‘busy’ mind became. Our dialogue really did connect me with a level of subtle awareness I have rarely experienced in other bodywork forms, and the work we did there has definitely shifted something, and made me aware of sensations in a different way. I can see such potential for this beautiful approach to be integrated with bodywork.
Pieter Maritz
Holistic Massage Therapist, London
It’s no exaggeration to say that my life changed from the very first session I had with Nick Pole. It proved the catalyst for a marked shift in the way I interact with my physical self. I’ve been a client of Nick’s for several years now. During each session he creates an environment of focused awareness where the body is able to lead the mind to a place of stillness – a place in which profound self-healing occurs. My perceptions of what is possible have expanded significantly as a result. Nick’s methodology of handing his clients the tools for their own recovery and health make him without a doubt, one of the most effective healers I’ve encountered.
Michael Reece
Writer / Illustrator. Author of ‘Paths To Enlightenment’.
Nick has the sensitivity to know when to ‘hold space’ for me and when to make interventions which are totally appropriate, always respectful and just right. What I’m learning from him is how to listen to my body and let it speak for itself – and that gives me a sense of opening inside. It feels like I’m becoming more alive to myself.
Cathy Foster
Sailing Olympian and World Champion turned Life Coach www.cathyfoster.co.uk
I have been coming to see Nick for over 10 years about once a month and life has changed immensely in that time. Nick listens deeply, is fully present and is someone who I completely trust, and that has allowed deep healing and change to take place.
Susan Marmot
Homeopath and Three Principles practitioner. www.susanmarmot.co.uk
Nick not only knows how to listen – quite a feat in today’s impatient, noisy world – but he inspires you to listen to how your body and mind are profoundly connected, and with his subtle enquires, helps to create images that can lead directly to self-healing.
I have taken to heart the listening experience from Nick while analyzing stories from writers, directors and producers, not all of whom have grasped this skill, and without which, slows the creative, and often healing, process of writing stories.
Clare Downs
Is a script analyst, consulting worldwide for over 30 years to filmmakers, film funds, professional training workshops, film school students and friends.
More about One-to-One Sessions
Sessions are about two hours long and the charge for your first introductory one is £75.
So what actually happens in a session?
Each session starts with a conversation about what you want to deal with. A few good questions – combined with some simple mindfulness and focusing techniques – help you to get beyond your normal ways of thinking about a problem and clarify what you really need. Once we’ve agreed on that, the bodywork part of the session begins. You’ll feel pressure that can vary from the lightest touch to something quite strong and deep. The overall effect is profoundly relaxing, and the mind shifts into a more meditative mode, where useful ideas and insights can often occur to you. Afterwards, we return to the conversation we started to find out what’s shifted in your sense of the issue you want to deal with. I’ll also give you some feedback on what your energy channels were saying and how this fits with what’s going on in your life. Finally, we’ll take some time to agree on practical steps you can take to reinforce the changes that you’ve made.
Is it a kind of massage?
No. In a treatment you wear loose, comfortable clothing and the purpose of touch is to influence the way your “Qi” flows through your whole energy field.
Can you say a bit more about ‘Qi’?
“Qi” (pronounced chee) is the Chinese word which is often translated as “life energy” but probably shouldn’t be translated at all. In Chinese philosophy, Qi is the stuff that everything is made of, from the densest matter to the movement of a thought – it’s all Qi at different levels of vibration.
Research
The three methods I work with – Shiatsu, Clean Language and Mindfulness – have all been shown by university research studies to have positive effects.
For a video in which hospital doctors talk about the positive benefits of Shiatsu, go to: Shiatsu in Hospitals
For clinical research on Mindfulness, see the Oxford Mindfulness Centre’s website.