Gill Tree - Managing Director

Gill Tree is a woman with a purpose. Her aim is to establish practices such as meditation, massage and aromatherapy as a way of life to promote good health, improved relationships and better quality of life for everyone.

Keen to attract others to her vision, she sees herself as a gentle persuader and occasional lobbyist. Indeed, her firm belief is that everyone on earth has a life purpose and if they can find the right kind of help or opportunity to discover their own unique meaning of life, most of them could, like her, be living much more fulfilling lives.

For Gill her turning point was in fact a crisis that became an opportunity to rewrite the script of her life. Having decided on a career in social work she followed the usual career path until 1989 when a journey to Kenya proved to be her wake-up call. After climbing Mount Kenya to almost 17,000 feet and disorientated by altitude sickness, she became lost for several days. Alone and frightened, Gill had to call upon all of her personal resources and on her beliefs. She discovered an inner strength that up until then has been untested. A strength that twelve years later she is still able to call upon, to take steps forward in living a true and authentic life where she is truly living her purpose. "It may sound clichéd, but once I returned home I really felt that I'd been brought back for a higher purpose”.

It took Gill five days of walking through a river, and following animal paths, negotiating waterfalls and relying on her sense of smell to warn of animals close by, to reach safety. At the beginning it was below freezing at night and having lost all her belongings down a waterfall, she shivered herself to sleep. Initially energised by the challenge, without food and walking and climbing twelve hours a day, she lost three stone and got more and more exhausted as time went on. "I could close my eyes and be asleep on my feet and I had to will myself to go on. It was close to Christmas and I made a decision I would not spend Christmas alone on that mountain. That gave me the determination to continue. In fact I was found by two very kind Kenyan men on Christmas eve!".

On her return to London, after a period of recovery and adjusting, Gill decided to take a good look at herself, her work and her ambitions. Realising that her time as a social worker had fuelled a genuine desire to work with people, she thought carefully about her abilities, talked to a lot of people and sought professional advice.

Prior to traveling in Kenya, Gill had undertaken a recognised course in Massage, which included anatomy and physiology. "I was instinctively drawn to train in Massage, but at that time purely as a hobby. As soon as I qualified, I started teaching introductory workshops at my local leisure centre, and invitations to teach kept coming my way. When I got back from Kenya I followed all these invitations. I call it following the whispers; something was pushing me in the direction of Massage teacher. It is interesting that many of my child-hood games were around being a teacher."

Gill, recognising that her purpose was not one of solely being a hands on therapist, chose to go on and train as a teacher with a view to teaching professional diploma courses in Massage.

Gill was further inspired by her travels in the Far East where the healing power of touch is a part of the culture and massage is practically a way of life. Deciding that she wanted as many people as possible to understand the value of massage, Gill took the decision in 1992 to establish "Essentials for Health" a school offering training courses in a range of massage techniques. "Having no prior business knowledge I have learnt the hard way, making many mistakes before Essentials for Health became financially successful. The route of self-employment also takes you down the road of self-development. You have to, learn quickly to survive!! My biggest lessons were in asking for help, listening to advice, delegating effectively to my colleagues as well as realising my self worth."

"It is encouraging to see massage now recognised as a truly effective treatment and, in particular, a key part of stress management. My vision is to transform the health, relationships and the lives of people not just in the UK but in as many places as possible, by showing individuals and groups how to use touch to facilitate communication and connection, relaxation and healing."

Her travels also awakened Gill's interest in the connection between mind and body, as well as a spiritual dimension. She firmly believes that massage and aromatherapy are two of the most effective holistic and complementary treatments. "By treating the whole person they promote a complete approach to good health. I have been particularly inspired by the principles of mind body medicine and was lucky enough to undertake a course with Deepak Chopra in 1997. He is one of the role models who have helped develop my beliefs."

Gill is enthusiastic about using role models to help stimulate personal growth. "Studying how highly successful individuals such as Deepak, and others such as Tony Robbins, Brandon Bays, Anita Roddick, has been hugely beneficial to my own development. I read inspiring self help books, and continually attend lectures, seminars and courses and I know that this approach has contributed to my achievements."

Dedicated to promote the healing power of touch, Gill has pioneered the way forward for Massage and Aromatherapy as a profession in the UK since 1992. In 1996 she brought the International Association of Infant Massage to the UK. In 2000 she introduced the Swedish Massage in Schools programme to this country.

The Massage 99 and Massage 2000 conferences were another outstanding achievement in raising the profile and standing of Massage Therapists whilst providing them with continuing professional development. With a new book out in the bookshops, this trend is set to continue!

A letter from Gill:

Fifteen years ago I walked out of the town hall at the London Borough of Waltham Forest for the last time in my role as Neighbourhood Development Officer and into my spare room/clinic and Essentials for Health office. Where has that time gone? I still pinch myself in awe of the fact that I own this wonderful company and am eternally grateful for the opportunities, freedom, growth, inspiration, friendship and joy the company provides. From the amazing team who dedicate themselves tirelessly to the development, growth and success of you, their students to you the people who choose to train with us because you value the quality, professionalism, inspiration and support that comes with our training.

One of the most important guiding principles in life is to play to our strengths. My natural ability lies in creating new things and coming up with new ideas. (finishing things however is not my strength!)  Some projects I am currently working on are a book about my experience of being lost on my own for five days in the African jungle, called “It’s a Jungle out There” (The quotes in this newsletter are African proverbs I researched for the book) our stress management courses (visit www.stressinwork.com) and a new one day workshop called “Make That Leap”.

I had to get lost in the African jungle on my own for five days in order for me to create Essentials for Health. I’m planning a similar challenge for you!! The experience allowed me to discover that deep in the core of our being we all have reserves of strength, courage, conviction and certainty. Simply accept they are there as surely as oxygen is in your blood and draw on them now. To accelerate the process,

come on my new workshop ‘Make that Leap’. Please see details on page ?

To view me speaking about my experience in the jungle log onto www.itsajungleouthere.com

The next fifteen years for Essentials for Health are going to be as equally exciting as the first fifteen. In 2010 we will be franchising the company to have a select number of franchisees around the UK and abroad. If that is part of your vision too I would love to hear from you.

I look forward to seeing you at our birthday party for a wonderful reunion or to meet for the very first time.

With huge thanks for being inspired to believe in the healing power of touch and with warmest wishes

Gill Tree

Managing Director

Author of “Total Massage” and “It’s a Jungle out There”