A STALYBRIDGE holistic wellbeing business is doing more than making sure people’s bodies are in good condition – as is much about the mind and the soul.
Based at The Bella Leigh Company, on Stamford Street, Oceansage Therapy has been such a hit in the community and further afield, local girl Danielle Wheeler has stepped away from the corporate world she was part of to go at it full-time.
After juggling jobs, including 70 hour working weeks as she built her business and worked in the Civil Service for more than three years, she left after 17 years to dedicate her time and energy into improving people’s wellbeing in her beautiful studio.
“Oceansage Therapy caters to nourishing mind, body and soul,” said Danielle. “It’s not just a case of coming in for a massage for the physical elements. It’s also where you can nourish the mind and the soul as well, find that inner peace and balance within.”
Hearing the words Reiki, Chakras, Sound healing and many people may be doubtful.
Reiki is a healing technique that is said to ‘channel universal life force energy through the body.
It is said to reduce anxiety and stress significantly and helps heal from within as energy is seen as like WiFi – people can’t see it, but it is there and works.
And lived experience has taught her they can have a real impact on people and played a huge part in its success – which is where Olive comes in.
Danielle added: “I was on my own self-healing journey, navigating post break-up several years ago and was learning to find myself again.
“I’d always been spiritual in a sense, but never expanded, just somewhat believed that there’s something else.
“I saw a lot about Reiki and chakras on socials, to which I was drawn too and wanted to learn more about it.
“When I did my research, I thought, ‘Reiki can offer that self-love healing as well, that at the time was what I was searching for inside.’
“That’s when I realised, ‘I want to do that for myself.’ I qualified in both Level 1 and 2.
“However – a few months after, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer – Olive.
“We call it Olive because the tumour was the size of an olive and it took that fear away that sometimes attaches to the word cancer.
“At the time, just at the back end of COVID, I’d give Reiki to mum at home and I could see the difference, mostly in reducing her anxiety.
“I knew it had helped me, but that was the first time I was doing it for someone else and she was able to deal with the news as well as going into surgery.
“When visiting Christie’s for radiotherapy, I noticed pamphlets explaining how Reiki was an accredited complementary therapy and can help patients and families.
“That’s when I thought, ‘If I’ve helped myself and if I can help my mum, maybe I can help other people as well?’ That’s where the seed was planted.”
After that, Danielle also trained in lymphatic massage, again to help towards her mum’s recovery. Lymphatic Drainage Massage can help with swelling, post cancer surgery, post-surgery, the removal of lymph nodes, boost the immune system and detox the body and reduce water retention.
Having two complimentary treatments under her belt, Danielle took the plunge and worked weekends at her friend’s sister’s salon and then mobile, she never intended for it to become a business.
However, as demand for her treatments was increasing, she invested in more holistic therapies and decided she wanted a base and her own studio – that is where she found Oceansage’s home at The Bella-Leigh Company.
She added: “When I opened my studio, I wanted it to be where the treatments go hand in hand for mind, body and soul.
“So, each treatment is designed to help those three aspects of us. I also wanted to create a space where people intime will go from ‘having an appointment at Oceansage,’ to, ‘Just going to see Dan for an hour or so.’
“I wanted to making having time out for our own self-care the norm. Just like we do when having our hair cut or nails done.
“Self-care once was a luxury, but in this day and age it’s a necessity.”
When asked what separates Oceansage from other holistic businesses, Danielle said: ‘Myself and my business are so unique in that, I bring the spiritual aspect into it as well.
“I work intuitively and include little touches like always saging before and after each client, providing a fresh rose (self-Love rose) for every client and an affirmation card at the end of every session.
“Not because I need too, but because I want too. I understand how coming somewhere new for example is daunting, so this is like a gift from their higher self for showing up for themselves and prioritising their own self-care.
“I pride my brand on not only will clients have successful outcomes, but ultimately a brand that’s built by simply being my true self and having the ability to connect to others.
“I didn’t want it to be solely focused on just helping physically, which in itself is great, I wanted to create a calming space where the environment feels safe, where people can be themselves, relax and ultimately, they can switch off from the outside.
“My studio is where my clients’ mind, body and soul can heal itself’.
“I offer therapies for muscle repair/recovery – Swedish massage, Pregnancy Massage, Reflexology, Dry cupping, Neck, back and shoulders – but at Oceansage, all treatments are intuitively led, including my spiritual therapies such as Reiki and sound healing.
“Those two combined are incredibly powerful and complement each other.
“The vibrations and frequency that sound bowls emit, naturally slows the brainwaves down.”
Danielle has also been trained by the UK’s leading scar specialist and also offers C-Section aftercare, which she said would like more people to be aware of this form of aftercare.
”There is actually no aftercare advice available for mum’s that have had C-Sections,” she told The Correspondent.
“It’s major surgery still and yet there’s nowhere signposted for mums to go to, to show how to care for their scar and help guide them as they recover from C-Section.
“So many women suffer from feeling numbing sensations to tightness in their abdomen still, yet if signposted from the start, I can help them to understand why this happens and ultimately help towards the prevention of this in the first place.”
As Oceansage Therapy became more established, Danielle eventually had a decision to make – now she has left her job and is going at it full-time.
She said: “While being a civil servant, I slowly dropped one day, then two days, just so I could balance it.
“Then I went part time and I started to see there was a demand.
“I started doing evenings as well, because I know a lot of people like myself, if you’re working during the day, you might not always have weekends and the days off.
“For almost 18 months, I’ve been doing my day job, logging off, changing and then working from my studio.”
Oceansage Therapy has been a success, largely based around Danielle’s lived experience and approach to clients.
And three words dominate the approach to people, just be yourself.
She said: “Like with mum’s Olive, I can relate and I can resonate with people who may be going through similar or be that loved one who is supporting in the background.
“I’m not here to fix anyone, I just want to share my knowledge, passion and skills to those who need it and I feel like because I’ve always just been myself and I don’t try and be anything other than just being me, that’s why Oceansage is successful.
Oceansage Therapy is based at The Bella Leigh Company on Stamford Street, Stalybridge.
You can find it at https://www.oceansagetherapy.co.uk and on all social media platforms.
You can call Oceansage at 07387 146387 or email oceansagetherapy@yahoo.com.