If I say “holistic and medical therapy”, what do you think about?

Strange smelling incense? Yoga? The ‘om’ sound? Hippies?

What about ground-breaking healing techniques? 

Mental health help? 

All round physical and emotional balance and care?

The new Luma Practice in Eccles is doing things a little different than you might expect. Alternative approaches to wellness are hot topics right now, but Luma isn’t jumping on any bandwagon. The Luma practice has its own unique and fully inclusive approach to helping others in a holistic way. That’s what their open day was all about on Sunday 1 October. 

Bustling with activity, there was something for everyone. Crystals, crafts, hair and make-up, candles, jewellery, salt lamps, all sorts of stalls and treatments were available on the ground floor and the local people of Eccles were there to find out more.

Upstairs in this three storey ex-doctors practice and you get a sense of what the excitement is all about. Door after door of treatment rooms hosting a myriad of treatments, all to help with holistic wellness. 

In one room, the sound of Tibetan singing bowls can be heard. Crystal bowls which when struck produce sound and are played by moving a small mallet around the rim of the bowl – otherwise known as a ‘sound bath’. Recent studies in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine suggests this technique helps with stress, fatigue and depression. The feeling of calm and peace in the room was almost tangible.

Not so long ago though, the whole building was abandoned and run down. Looking at the change in each room compared to how it used to be, it’s clear a lot of hard work and dedication has been put into the place. The transformation and the very atmosphere of the building now a world away from where it once was.

The owner Leanne Claire of Monton was on hand to show visitors around shared some of her plans:

“This place was a mess,” says Leanne, “A lot of people don’t realise it’s been stood empty for about 17 years, I would pass by and look at it, I just knew I had to do something with it some day”.

That day arrived for Leanne around two years ago: “It was completely trashed and dated. It needed a lot of love put into it.”

Leanne Claire, Luma Practice Owner

“The open and wellness day is aimed at letting local people of Eccles, Monton and surrounding areas come and see the transformation of the building. I also wanted to bring local Salford businesses in a similar industry together to help promote themselves, as we’re going through a recession it’s hard for people to be making profit. We’ve also featured and encouraged new local businesses to be here. It’s amazing to see new businesses launch especially in the current climate. It’s been so well received and it’s going so well for everybody.’’

Leanne

So why was this such an important venture for Leanne to achieve?

“The practice is extremely important for me. I’ve struggled with my mental health, like everybody, and after coming through a relationship breakdown I was left alone with two children but little practical support. I had no help and couldn’t afford nursery fees, but to be honest, I didn’t want to have to pay someone to pick up my kids. So I created a business 5 years ago that helped me provide for my kids and also pick them up from school. It expanded quickly, month on month and for years I’d been drawn to this building. With my business going the way it was, it finally became an option for me. So I took it.”

The first floor corridor gives plenty of space for more therapies with a number of rooms providing a safe and inviting space for those accessing treatments there. Services include various types of medical massage such as sports, deep tissue treatments focussing on specific health conditions; reiki massage, reflexology and hot stones.

What’s interesting are the newer and perhaps lesser known therapies, such as cupping, hatha yoga, and a brand new modality that helps transform limiting beliefs trapped in the subconscious called Belief Coding™. 

Up to the second floor a Swedish style sauna room, next to a fully kitted out cold water therapy room, inclusive of a freestanding bath filled with icy water for anyone wishing to try it (under supervision of course). Next, a kitchen with a hatch opening onto what is known as the ‘retreat’ room, fitted with a number of chaise longues. The idea here being that after your treatment you can take some time to relax and process your healing experience. 

Fully immersive retreat days are also in the pipeline according to Leanne, as well as twice monthly ‘Moon Meetings’, networking events, and personal trainer ‘boot camp’ style classes. Crystal workshops for kids, hosted by kids will also be going ahead soon and Leanne says that community involvement is hugely important too. In fact,  she says couldn’t have done half of what she has if it wasn’t for the support from some of the immediate local residents, especially Carl and Vicky who became friends during the renovation.

Jenny, a local body art business owner from Eccles who had a stall at the open day says:

“Luma is so important to this area as we continue to live through the mental health pandemic following lockdowns, which I believe can be eased by the therapeutic approach to self care that Luma offers our community”.

Jenny, local business owner

Others echo this sentiment. Caroline, a resident of Peel Green said: “Mental health after covid is really bad. People who never thought they’d have problems like that are getting anxious going places where there are a lot of people. If Luma [practice] can start to help people with things like that then it’s a really good thing. People need to be around other people. That’s partly why I came today, and to see what it’s all about. It looks great.’

Leanne has her own views on this:

“Since COVID, there has been a whole shift on how people look at life. Mental health issues are increasing, yet there is less support. Holistic support through the NHS for mental health is virtually non-existent, yet we can help ourselves by treating ourselves. Self care is one of the main things that can improve mental health symptoms for things like depression, anxiety. So I’ve created this centre as a place people can come, have a treatment that is affordable and be able to relax and use different treatments to work towards improving their mental health. Massage is great for touch and comfort and also effective for pain management. So if someone is constantly at the GP for a bad back instead of masking that with pain killers, I want to get it out there – I’m a medically trained massage therapist and we do a lot in the practice that can help long term pain management, we can really change your life. We have clients that have been on medication for 6 years, received one or two sessions and have been able to greatly reduce or completely stop medication with no more pain, better sleep and therefore improved mental health.”

Local mother of three Pauline said: “I’m glad we have such a good space in the community. It’s a place of sanity, a place to relax and de-stress after a long shift, night shift, long days of training, going to school, looking after family. I will call it a haven. It’s healthy, it will work wonders for people going through emotional, psychological distress, back pains, muscle pains, stiffness. It’s a therapeutic place for people to come to.”

Leanne added: “I’m not just a massage therapist using my hands. I use my ears and my heart to help clients with their mental health battles too. I’ve helped clients leave toxic relationships, talked them through mental health crises and been told by clients I’ve saved lives. As a team and as a practice, we are tackling the complete wellness of those local to Eccles, Monton and everywhere in between.”