MANDARIN ORIENTAL HYDE PARK, LONDON: Creating a hub of wellbeing

We talk to therapist Kate Thomson about how a new resident practitioner programme at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London is providing a multidisciplinary approach to wellbeing

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London has been at the forefront of innovation in spa and wellness since its launch in 2000. Since an extensive renovation in 2018, the spa has continued to adapt to the fast-paced world of wellness while meeting the increased health and wellbeing demands of the luxury traveller.

“During the last 18 months we have been creating an urban hub for wellness practitioners,” explains Jamie Pagan, senior director of spa and wellness. “The ambition was to provide our guests and members with a fully customisable treatment programme and a multidisciplinary approach delivered by world-class practitioners.”

Pagan and his team have hand-picked leading experts to focus on mind, body, nutrition and beauty, including facialist Nichola Joss; naturopath, acupuncturist and yoga teacher Francy Lema; therapist and coach Andrew Johnson; physiotherapist Heshmat Nasiri; nutritionist Gloria Masithela; and craniosacral specialist Kate Thomson. TCM practitioner Professor Song Ke, Japanese reiki specialist Rika Tanaka and reiki expert Shaylini all draw on eastern traditional healing modalities.

“The in-residence programme is ever-evolving and intended to develop organically, most recently supporting the creation of urban residential retreats combining multiple disciplines into cohesive residential experiences,” says Pagan.

Team development

The initiative launched at the same time as a series of one-day retreat programmes that focus on inner and outer wellbeing. These can include a range of personal consultations, yoga, Pilates, fitness elements, a Movementum class, chakra meditation, crystal healing and two-hour Mandarin Oriental treatment sessions.

Nutritional options can include healthy meals, juices and snacks. This innovative programme is intended to expand the wellness offering and provide additional benefits to the existing team. “We wanted to create a professional development path for our existing experienced Mandarin Spa therapists to support specialisation and greater individual exposure within the spa environment,” says Pagan.

Meet the therapist

When European Spa visited Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, we met Kate Thomson, a craniosacral therapist and myofascial release practitioner whose highly personalised and restorative treatments deliver deep relaxation.

A practitioner for over ten years, Thomson has worked with pregnant women, babies, children, adults and the elderly. She has a private practice in Brighton and visits Mandarin Oriental once a week to see her clients there.

Craniosacral specialist Kate Thomson

“My therapies are patient-centred and I often combine them or use them individually to provide a treatment that is specifically tailored to their needs and conditions,” she explains.

Thomson regards herself as a facilitator to her patients’ wellbeing using a range of skills to help focus and stimulate the body’s own healing ability. She has treated a wide range of problems such as pregnancy pain, shock, trauma, learning difficulties, Aspergers, autism, ADHD, abuse, bullying and loss of relationships.

Thomson employs myofascial release and holistic massage with craniosacral therapy, a light-touch treatment that seeks to match the very slow rhythm of the flow of cerebro-spinal fluid in the brain and spinal cord, to feel restrictions and help them release.

“Often the cranio-sacral system can help to soften and release the tension in the fascia, stimulating the blood flow in the skin, the muscles and the lymphatic system, encouraging increased vitality,”she says.

Kate Thomson at work with a client

Her work involves responding to the direct physical and emotional needs of clients in the moment. As her clients at Mandarin Oriental travel a lot, much attention paid to help them with jet lag or overstimulation from long periods spent on the phone or computer.

“At Mandarin Oriental my work also involves massage to release any tight muscles from sitting or a lot or standing,” she adds. “I like my clients to find peace, physically, emotionally and mentally.”

Thomson believes treatments that address the psyche as well as the body will become more and more important. “There has been and still is a lot of change,” she says, “I think humans find change exhausting or they fear it, so treatments and practitioners who are safe, experienced and can understand and empathise with these fears are increasingly important.”

www.touchwork.co.uk | www.mandarinoriental.com