Finding Purpose Through Struggles: My Journey to becoming a massage therapist, Personal Trainer & Abuelita's Founder

Why Abuelita’s Exists

In today's fast-paced world, the importance of proactive wellbeing cannot be overstated. As the pressures of modern life mount and stress becomes a daily companion, it’s easy to push through — until something gives. Burnout, chronic pain, disconnection… the body and mind eventually call for attention. Abuelita’s Wellbeing was born in response to that call.

My Experience

For years, I lived in survival mode. Exhausted. Overstimulated. Disconnected from my own body. Doctors had few answers — just fragments of care and long waiting lists.

I began to feel the emotional and mental toll: isolation, confusion, shame, and the quiet grief of not being able to function the way I used to, or to be like my peers. And yet, despite it all, a small part of me still whispered: this can’t be it.

Understanding it — Beyond the Physical

Anxiety, depression, fatigue, chronic pain, eating disorders are not always visible. They don’t wear a cast or show up on scans. But it shapes every hour of your day — how you sleep, how you eat, how you show up for work or loved ones.

It clouds your thinking. It chips away at your confidence.

And too often, it’s misunderstood — reduced to stress, dismissed as "melodramatic", or managed with medication alone.

But pain is a signal — a complex conversation between body, mind, and nervous system. What I needed was not just symptom relief, but a new relationship to my body — one based on trust, presence, and support.

The Struggle and the Breakthrough

The turning point came slowly. I started experimenting with gentle movement, massage, and other therapies. I built tiny daily rituals — things that made me feel even slightly more me.

I found practitioners who listened — who didn’t just treat a symptom, but acknowledged the whole picture. And something shifted.

That was the breakthrough: realising that feeling better is possible, but it doesn’t happen in isolation, and it doesn’t happen in a system that treats the body like a machine.

I needed community. I needed continuity. I needed to feel seen.

Why I Chose to Help Others

That’s when the idea began to form: what if I could offer the kind of care I wish I’d had?

What if healing spaces could feel human, personal, safe, and collaborative?

My own pain became the reason I trained as a massage therapist. Not just to touch muscles, but to listen with my hands. To help others feel more at home in their own bodies.

Empathy became my superpower — because I know what it’s like to feel lost, to feel like no one gets it, to carry pain that has no name.

A Personal and Professional Journey

My path toward becoming a therapist was shaped by lived experience. I trained as a massage therapist after experiencing relief and started to feel embodied, and then recently as a Personal Trainer, in my pursuit of getting a stronger body. Having experienced PT sessions myself, I felt like I was training to die. And it was not getting better. So I had to understand why that is. Some other pieces of the puzzle were missing. The deeper I went into my healing, the better I became at holding space for others, but also discovering more about my "whys".

Before Abuelita's, I worked as a childminder for some wonderful projects supporting refugee women and their children. Each step reminded me that healing is not just physical — it's relational, social, even political. And it does not start with you, but with where you are coming from. Your genetics, too.

The Power of Community

Community has been everything. A chosen family. Then slowly, after I opened the doors of Abuelita's, my community grew and found so many more like-minded people. I've met other practitioners in Hackney, and I realised how many of us had similar stories — and a shared desire to create something better.

Abuelita’s became our answer.

Now, we are a collective of therapists and wellbeing professionals who live and work in Hackney. We come from all over the world, and somehow, we found each other here, drawn by the same longing for care, connection, and belonging.

Together, we’ve created a space that honours the wisdom of the body, the power of presence, and the healing that happens in safe relationships.

A Vision for the Future

Abuelita’s started small — just me, a massage table, and a big vision. Today, we are a non-profit studio supporting not only private clients, but also refugee women who are living with PTSD, chronic illness, and the long shadow of displacement.

We offer therapies for people navigating chronic pain, mental health, burnout, menopause, postnatal recovery, and more. And we partner with businesses who want to support their team’s wellbeing in a way that also gives back.

But this is only the beginning.

We dream of offering digital resources, group programmes, and one day, a whole wellbeing curriculum rooted in nervous system regulation and long-term care.

From Struggle to Purpose — And an Invitation

Looking back, I never imagined that my struggles would become my teacher. But it showed me what matters: care, softness, presence, and community.

It led me here.

And if you’re reading this and carrying your own invisible load — I want you to know: You are not alone.

Final Thoughts

Your story matters. And whether you’re at the beginning of your journey or somewhere in the middle, or just looking to relax and prevent the unwanted, there’s a space for you here.

This blog will be a space where we share gentle tools, honest reflections, and helpful guidance for real-life healing. We’ll talk about chronic stress, nervous system regulation, holistic therapies, and how to care for yourself through life’s transitions — grief, motherhood, burnout, menopause, and more.

And we want to hear from you, too.

If there’s something you’re curious about, drop us a message. This is your space as much as ours. We’re listening.