About Claire.

I have spent a lifetime studying the impact of human movement as the key to being healthy and happy. I'm a UK Qualified Physio, and have worked at the highest clinical levels of Physiotherapy both within the NHS and privately for over 20 years. But being energised and moving freely didn't come naturally to me.

As a young girl I wasn’t a runner. I knew I was hyper-mobile in all my joints meaning I had no power for sprinting, and no postural strength for long-distance. I am told I was a slow learner, I had difficulty crawling and poor hand coordination and as a baby I held my breath turning blue much to the concern of my Mum.

As a young girl I had flat feet, banana bendy legs and hyperextending elbows among other things, not exactly a great physical start in life.

Despite this, I still loved being active, but I was always cautious of rough and tumble play, but over time I gained strength around my joints through cycling and non contact school team sports. With determination I practiced enough to be picked for the netball and hockey team because of my general fitness- but I was still useless at shooting goals!

I realised that the fitter I was the better my body functioned and the happier I felt. My joints were less achy and my circulation improved lessening the severity of Raynaud's and I wasn’t kept awake at night with restless and tingling legs (common problems for those with hyper mobility syndrome). I found I could also engage in relationships and study more effectively, though I remained the student who “worked really hard for average results” and always had the labels of dyslexia and ADHD

As my interest in physical movement grew it was an obvious choice for me to study Physiotherapy. It was at university that I realised what a dysfunctional body I had been given!  I am at the extreme end of flexibility on the stiff-flexible scale with a rheumatological diagnosis of Ehlers Danlos syndrome which includes a few other problems too.

This answered a lot of questions about why I struggled with physical activities and where these symptoms came from- but it was also a major blow to my confidence and motivation. Fortunately I turned this challenge into an opportunity. I was not willing to end up in chronic pain, dependent and depressed, so I set about applying the physiotherapy skills I was gaining to work on myself.

It was at university that I started running as a cheap way to exercise and relieve the stress of academic work. 

"As my fitness and ability grew I became curious about distance"

During those years I found a sense of freedom that I have only felt when running in the natural world. As my fitness and ability grew I became curious about distance.  Going further with each run was both a challenge to succeed and opportunity to discover more about myself. So my passion for endurance sports was born.

I entered events as a way of running in remote places over distances that needed the support of aid stations and transport. With unexpected success from early races I began to push myself, questioning what could my body do and how far could it go. 

Through ultra distance trail running I have learned the disciplines of efficiency, self-management and determination. That listening to self and being kind empowers it to perform far beyond expectations. Each trail run was an opportunity to gain greater mastery over myself, and though I didn’t realise it at the time, it equipped me for life.

My running also informed my professional studies as I loved exploring the capacity of the human body, and how crucial optimal movement is to life. I believe life can only be fully experienced and enjoyed when movement is unrestricted. From every cell to the whole organism the ability to move is crucial for a well-lived life. I am passionate about helping people to experience life in the fullest way possible, to have the best mental, emotional and energetic health which are all dependent on physical movement.

In my professional journey I gained experience in the different areas of medicine, specialising in musculoskeletal health, completed a post gradate masters, and progressed from positions as a senior Physiotherapist to Orthopaedic Specialist in a Consultant role.

Working within the UK Health Service I gained the experience and confidence to recognise and accurately diagnose physical problems. I saw the connection between mental and social dysfunction and the physical manifestations of pain, dysfunction and disease. I have worked with and learned from a variety of specialised surgeons, physicians, general practitioners, naturopaths and therapists. In private practice I have worked with young offenders, climbers, children and athletes.

Along the way, I have deepened and broadened my knowledge, attending numerous postgraduate medical courses and gaining competence in requesting investigations, referrals and diagnostic tests. I have spent many years trawling through research papers, listening to, and working with specialists to gain the qualifications that reflect my depth and breadth of medical, therapeutic and academic knowledge.

I am grateful for this experience, but I came to recognise this knowledge was not sufficient. My pursuit of self-improvement and personal satisfaction was not quenched with one size fits all approach that I was taught at university and within the NHS.

As I began to explore why I will still battling uphill to reach my goals I came to discover the science of personalised health. I began to understand the impact that genetics and epigenetics have on health and how through accurate assessment it was possible to understand the unique health needs of every individual, and the importance and impact that both mental and physical health have on our well being - not as separate disciplines but as interconnected systems.

Having moved to New Zealand in 2013 I stepped out further from conventional physiotherapy to build a business that puts personalisation at the centre of health, providing answers for leading a balanced, healthy and energising life.

In a short time I have become known for giving hope to individuals who thought there was no answer to their situation - be that burnout, pain or injury as well as providing a health framework that transforms lives from surviving to thriving.

My interest in personalised health has enabled me to work with organisations such as I Precision Health Alliance to educate health professionals around the globe in personalised health.

I feel privileged to spend my time teaching and facilitating lifestyle medicine, enabling individuals to know how their unique body works and what it uniquely needs to thrive.

When we don’t nourish ourselves with movement, food, sleep, connections or have purpose we go flat and slowly die. I am lucky my body taught me this from an early age and it’s a joy to lead others to discover their unique biological code and help them understand their needs. We can all dance, walk, cycle, climb, swim and play no matter our age.

So there you go, thats me.