New Year, New Prices, New Discount Offers!

New prices
As I mentioned in my last blog post my prices are going up a little. Just £2 a session to cover costs, so my rates are still lower than most of the other therapists I have seen advertised in this area.
45 mins (3/4 hr) = £22, 60 mins (1 hour) = £27,
75 mins (hour and a 1/4) = £32, 90 mins (hour and a 1/2) = £37,
105 mins (hour and 3/4) = £42, 120 mins (2 hours) = £47

However, essential oils can now be added to any treatment for FREE!
I am dropping the £2.50 extra charge. They are very high quality expensive oils, which is why I was charging extra for them, but I have this box full of potent and beautiful smelling oils with a limited shelf life and the majority of my clients are not making use of this wonderful therapeutic resource. I want to be sure all of you have the opportunity to add the many physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits of essential oils to your treatment if you wish, without being put off by the price.

Discounts
My previous discount system of % off turned out a bit complicated to calculate and remember, so I am changing to something simpler. I've also been asked to give some discount to people who can book 3 weekly appointments, so I have. Always happy to get feedback and suggestions. :O)

Discounts For Regular Appointments
For 5 appointments pre-booked and pre-paid in cash:
an appointment once a week = £20 off the total fee
an appointment every 2 weeks = £15 off the total fee
an appointment every 3 weeks = £10 off the total fee

So, for example, if you came for an hour session once a week for 5 weeks, without the discount this would be a total cost of £135, with the weekly discount of £20 off it would cost £105.

Discounts For Recommending a Friend
£5 off your next treatment when a friend has a treatment on your recommendation.

I've updated my side bar with my 2010 prices and am going to be out and about town today to replace my leaflets with updated ones. I'll try not to miss any, but I always make sure people know the cost before making an appointment anyway.

I've also made a new banner for the top of my blog page - what do you think?

Vouchers for the Holiday Season - special offer!

Are you running out of good present ideas for Christmas or other seasonal holidays?

Do you know someone who would really enjoy, appreciate and benefit from a treatment?

Do you sometimes find it difficult to find the right thing to give a special person?

For a thoughtful, special, quality gift...

- Buy a Holistyx voucher!

My prices are due to go up on the 1st of January by a couple of pounds a session. So, an hour session (eg reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Swedish Back Massage) will be £27 instead of £25, an hour and a 1/4 session (eg Swedish Full Body Massage) will be ££32 instead of £30, and an hour and a half session (eg an Aromatherapy Full Body Massage) will be £37 instead of £35. But as I still have in stock several vouchers printed up for £15, £20, £25, £30 and £35, I am doing an offer on these:

For any vouchers bought up to and including the end of December, if the voucher is redeemed against a treatment by the end of January, I'll charge 2009 prices. Ie a £25 voucher bought in December and used in January will be worth an hour session. If the voucher is redeemed later than that, I'll charge the £2 extra.

Either:

1. Send me a cheque (contact me for my home address) and I'll post a voucher first class in a festive envelope complete with my leaflet of information and contact details - either to you or directly to the person the gift is for.

2. Contact me and arrange to meet me to pay me in cash, and I will give the voucher directly to you.

If you prefer, I can also produce vouchers at 2010 prices.

Happy Holidays!

Information About Each Therapy I Provide

If you want to check out my page on Hot Frog you'll find I have written a bit about each of the therapies I provide. Or follow the links below to the therapy you are interested in.

Swedish Massage

Indian Head Massage

Reflexology

Aromatherapy

Summer Holiday

My availability is very limited in August.

However, do contact me if you'd like an appointment. We may be able to arrange something, and if not, at least you can make sure you get something scheduled early in September.

If you've been looking after children all summer you may need a de-stressing treatment by then!

Discounts for booking a course of treatments

A regular Holistyx treatment will ensure you continue to feel the many benefits, whether that is reduced stress levels, a better nights sleep, improved circulation, being more relaxed, more energised, having less feelings of anxiety or depression and more feelings of wellbeing, being more alert and able to concentrate, improved workout performance, relief from stiff sore muscles, or better health from a boosted immune system (other benefits of massage) . Experts estimate that 80 percent to 90 percent of disease is stress-related, so going for a stress-busting treatment is not just a luxury or a self-indulgence, its an investment.

With reflexology, it is recommended to have a course of 5 treatments on a weekly basis to obtain maximum benefit. With any of the massage therapies also, a weekly treatment is a wonderful gift to yourself to look after your health and wellbeing in a thoroughly enjoyable way!

To encourage you to try the benefits of a weekly or fortnightly treatment, I am offering:

20% off for a course of 5 weekly full treatments
(or 5 treatments booked at whatever interval within a 5 week period)

10% off for a course of 5 fortnightly full treatments
(or 5 treatments booked at whatever interval within a 10 week period)

Sessions must be booked and paid for cash in advance.

Only one discount offer at a time.

Easy way to get a 25% DISCOUNT! - recommend a friend!

A lot of people prefer to go to a therapist that has been recommended to them. That way, they feel more confident that they will feel comfortable with the therapist, and that they will receive a good quality treatment that gives them what they are looking for and is worth their time and money. That is why most therapy businesses grow more by word of mouth than by advertising.

So, if you have enjoyed a Holistyx treatment, please recommend me to people you know, and give them my phone number. As a thankyou, (and an incentive!) if someone books with me and tells me it was because of your recommendation I will give you a 25% discount off your next treatment session of an hour or longer.

My prices are already at the low end of the scale for the treatments I offer in comparison to other therapists, but with 25% off they become incredibly low.

An hour session, usually £25, becomes only £18.75!
An hour and a 1/4 session, usually £30 becomes only 22.50!
An hour and a 1/2 session, usually £35 becomes only 26.25!

So don't miss an opportunity to benefit everyone:

• you will be helping the person you recommend me to, introducing them to a therapist you know does a good job
• you will be helping me, introducing me to potential new clients that otherwise may not have heard of me, or considered coming to me for treatment
• and last but not least, you will be rewarded by getting the same quality treatment for a remarkable bargain price!

Only one discount offer at a time.

Location

I thought it would be useful to provide details on the location of the clinic where I hire a room -
Healing Hands, The Bridge Clinic, 14 Owen Road, Lancaster, LA1 2AR.

Here it is, marked on a map, and what the front of the shop looks like -









Can you see the skeleton in the window?!

If you've driven into Lancaster from Morecambe you might have noticed it on your left just before you cross the Lune River over Skerton Bridge.

Directions

Driving - From Morecambe is straightforward From Lancaster you just need to go over the Greyhound Bridge, circle round to your right into Morecambe Road, past Our Ladies High School and Ryelands Park, and right again into Owen Road, and there is car parking on your right, where there is a bay of shops directly opposite the clinic.

Bus - The clinic is right on a main bus route between Lancaster and Morecambe.

Walking - You can walk there over the Skerton Bridge, or the rather nicer Millenium Bridge from Quay Road which takes you straight into Lune Street, which comes out on Owen Road and the clinic is just across the road on your left.

Train - You can see the train station on the map. Either walk from there - or walk to the bus station which is just off the near side of Cable Street, and get a bus from there.

If you need any more help working out how to get there,
try using multimap. You get a choice of 4 different types of map, you can zoom in and out, and if you look at the tabs across the top, there is even an option to 'get directions' from the location of your choice!

Or of course, feel free to contact me. :O)

A busy day!

I wasn't sure how successful my taster treatments would be at the Complementary Health Fair on Saturday. Well, I needn't have worried, I was rushed off my feet! I sure was tired by the end of the day, but it was wonderful to be so busy, and in a short space of time take people from feeling tense, achey, stressed, anxious, or just a bit blah, to feeling released, relaxed, or in the words of one client, 'like a different person' afterwards! My apologies to anyone who I didn't have time to give a treatment, and to anyone who would have liked to have a chat but didn't manage to catch me between tasters (which were running back to back most of the afternoon). Please feel free to give me a ring or drop me an email if you had anything you wanted to ask me, as well as for anyone who wants to make an appointment for a treatment. If you haven't got one of my leaflets with my contact details, my email is on my profile page and is Holistyx(AT)googlemail.com. Replace the (AT) with the @ sign (sharing it this way is supposed to mean I get less spam!)

The day started off quiet - I had my treatment couch set up ready and my information out for when the fair opened at 10.... but only a trickle of people through the doors at first, and other stallholders coming round or a chat. Then, my very first prospective client at 10.40, turned out to have a medical condition which meant I could not treat her without doctors permission! It was such a disappointment for both of us. She only wanted a hand or foot massage 'taster', but I had been advised by the Federation of Holistic Therapists that even when doing that, we have to stick to the same professional cautions as we do when offering a full treatment. The same happened again later with a pregnant lady. So my regrets again to both of you if you are reading.

I was surprised at how many people wanted a foot rub and a bit of reflexology from me, when there were about 4 or 5 of us offering reflexology in the room, including people on either side of my couch. I wonder if it as becuase I emphasized the foot rub part?? Saturday afternoon in town after a mornings shopping, lots of achey feet! Mind you, when I did my first client wanting the back rub part of Indian Head Massage, at 2.15, I got a crowd of people watching, and more people booked in for back or head. I was told so afterwards. I had noticed a couple of people watching but was too absorbed in what I was doing to realise how many there were!

Right, time to get ready for an appointment...

Ceri

Lancaster Complementary Health Fair

Are you free on Saturday 14th March? Put the Lancaster Complementary Health Fair in your diary - its only £1.50 to come and look round! More details - including a list of the healing traditions and therapies represented can be found at -
The Lancaster Steiner School website

Please come and say hello if you are at all interested in the therapies I offer. :O)

Its an opportunity to meet me, have a chat, and find out a bit more about what I do or perhaps ask any questions you may have. Then perhaps you might like to try one of my taster sessions? As a treat in itself, or as a try-out to see if you'd like to come to me for a full treatment?

I'm still working out exactly what I'll be offering. Its a public space, and I want people to feel comfortable enough to really relax - so don't worry there won't be any stripping off needed! The sessions will be about 15 minutes, of which about 10 would be the actual treatment. I am currently thinking -

1. Arms and Hands, seated, perhaps using a mix of techniques from Swedish Massage, Aromatherapy Massage, AND Indian Head Massage, with a choice of Aromatherapy oil blends.
2. Feet, using the couch - either a foot rub, or some Reflexology.
3. Back - Indian Head Massage style (which is traditionally done fully clothed) either seated leaning forward onto the couch, or lying face down on the couch, if preferred.
4. Neck and Head - either Indian Head massage style, sat up.

I'll blog it up if I change my mind or pin it down more!

Welcome / Intro!

Welcome to the Holistyx blog! If you are visiting while there is still not much here to see yet, please bear with me as I find my way around. :O)

I've been speaking to Julia Russell about a Complementary Health Fair she and Karin Olsson are organising on behalf of, and as a fund raiser for, Lancaster Steiner School. They've held them at the Friends Meeting House before. There is a new venue this year of the Ashton Hall - the one round the back of the Town Hall not the Memorial Folly up at Williamsons Park like I initially thought! Its on Saturday 14th March, 10am-5pm, and there are going to be lots of different healing traditions and therapies represented there, taster sessions, talks, and a healthy cafe (the Steiner people do the best). I'm ringing Julia back in the morning to say YES I do want a table + chair and couch-space so I can offer tasters to people.

I am now thinking about everything I will need to take with me... good job I have a few weeks to get my head round it and a load of stuff printed... I'm not short of leaflets though, I had a thousand printed a few weeks ago - but I now need to get them stickered with my new location details and a few other bits of info that I now want to add on - like the URL of this blog!