Rebecca’s healing hands

MANY of us would lunge at the opportunity to have just a fleeting glance into what our future holds. What would we do with the knowledge of what this look into the future brings us? Rebecca Aldred strongly resisted and even condemned the words of someone whom she now believes was a genuine fortune teller. The English-born massage therapist shared her experience with a particular palm reader in her home country: “I have always loved going to fortune tellers and palm readers. I recall that one day at Camden Market in London, there was this one palm reader who told me that in the future I would do something with my hands. He said that I had healing hands. Well, I thought that he was utter rubbish and I got so angry because I really wanted to get into acting. With these people you never know who’s genuine and who is an imposter.

“However, on the day that I was being initiated into the reiki life force and receiving the healing energy it dawned on me that this is exactly what the palm reader was referring to in his reading.  So there I was fishing to remember what else he had said about me,” Rebecca laughed. “Since about age six I thought I’d be an actress, but was always dabbling in other stuff. I always liked to give massages to friends but theatre was my real passion. I came from a very theatrical family. I was the youngest in the family and was always the one acting things out, I was acting in the Nativity play at church and other activities of that nature.” At six, Rebecca came to Trinidad, where she attended several primary schools before attending Providence Girls’ Secondary. She left ten years after her arrival to attend Oakham Boarding School in England. After writing Cambridge Advanced Level Examinations, Rebecca went to The Drama Centre of London where she was formally trained, but was dissatisfied with the opportunities afforded to her in the English drama circuit.

“To find work as an actress is not very easy in England. I did some acting in England but because it was basically on the fringes I wasn’t earning enough money to support myself. I really love it —it’s not about the money. I would like to get involved in the local acting scene in the near future,” Rebecca said in her distinctive English accent. Rebecca has introduced a rare type of massage therapy to Trinidad and Tobago. “I have been trained in many types of massages and therapy, however, the stone therapy is the ultimate because it involves thermo-therapy which helps in the circulation of blood throughout the body as well as detoxifying. Your organs are actually doing a workout while your body is stationary. The difference in temperature between the hot and cold stones results in the body doing work internally to regulate the temperature. Plus the stones have healing energies of their own, they have been around for eons,” she pointed out.

Rebecca was trained by Jane Scrizer who was actually taught by the person who conceived this form of therapy over a decade ago based on native American customs. The therapy begins with a spinal layout of both hot and cold stones. As one lays on these stones the relief begins as any tension in the back leaves the area almost instantly. She then places many types of stones of different temperatures along the main “chakras” (spiral points) of the body and by moving her hands in a clockwise spiral in time with the client’s breathing pattern. According to Rebecca, “this serves to completely relax the body.” The masseur then carries out several complex motions with her hot and cold basalt and marble stones all over the client’s body. “Each stone has a specific task, the pillow stones, the toe stones, the hand stones, the chakra stones, the grandmother and the grandfather stones are all essential to the process. In particular the third-eye stone which is placed on the forehead serves to dissipate all the negative neural energy,” the learned masseur said.

The process ends with the fanning or “smudging” of burning sage over the body to remove all the negative energy from the body. All this done to the sound of native American music. “You see I’m just a people person, I really enjoy dealing with people on a one-to-one basis and this opens opportunities to interact in such a manner with a wide range of people. My interests go beyond just the therapy as a result, I have a great interest in counselling and psychology because if a client comes in, the therapy would affect not only body and spirit but the mind as well. Basically, the treatment would be tailor-made to fit the specific needs of that client.”

Since she was born in England to an English father and was raised in Trinidad for a significant part of her life by her Trinidadian mother, the question — where does Rebecca call home? naturally arises“I’m going to be here in Trinidad, I love it here. The pace of life here is completely different. It is much slower and more relaxed. I love being with my family and experiencing the tropical climate and the beaches are beautiful. When I’m in Trinidad I’m surrounded by nature with the trees and the hills around. The country has a lot to offer so I plan to go on hikes and activities of that nature in order to capitalise on it,” said a smiling Rebecca, who refers to herself as half-Trini, half-English.

She laughed when asked if she was married or had children, then replied, “No, no children and I’m not married but I treat my sibling’s children like my own.” With good fortune and a deep desire to help others, don’t doubt that we will be seeing Rebecca appearing in our local theatrical productions as well as bringing relief to the stressed out among us with her healing hands.