Holiday Facilitators: Sally Ibbotson

Sally Ibbotson started her career in Complimentary Medicine in 1993, qualifying as a Massage Therapist with the Gerda Boysen Institute and as a Counsellor with the Centre for the Advancement in Counselling.  Seeking depth to her work and more of a spiritual dimension, she studied Shiatsu between the years of 1995 and 2001 and, on qualifying undertook post-graduate study which resulted in a Teacher qualification in Qigong. Qigong had been taught to undergraduate Shiatsu practitioners as a means to keeping our own energy intact whilst treating clients.

Sally studied Qigong under many Teachers and taught in the NHS. Specifically, she worked in the Therapies team at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London for 6 years where she taught Qigong as part of our pain management programme. During this time, she studied and qualified with Mark Peters in Birmingham. Mark is responsible for creating a rehabilitation pathway within the NHS which includes Qigong on site and in the community. 

In 2016, she moved into Palliative care at St Christopher’s Hospice in South London and set up weekly Qigong classes alongside my Shiatsu clinic there. These attracted both in-patients and out-patients.

Throughout the above history, she has been self-employed and running Shiatsu clinics and Qigong classes in the community. Before the Covid 19 pandemic, she also ran an annual 4 day Qigong retreat at Gaunt’s House in Dorset and regular London Workshops.  I also offer Qigong and Shiatsu at the Breast Cancer Haven in Fulham, South East London and at Open Age classes who are funded to address social isolation in the over 50s..

Sally is a regular attendee of Programmes at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland (and lives in the Findorn area now) and as a result of this self and spiritual development, her current style of Qigong has changed somewhat. She teaches from a passion for the Earth and all that she offers us. She incorporates integral imaging, affirmations alongside the traditional movements with the breath.