About Cecile

MASSAGE THERAPIST & FOUNDER • AWARENESS MASSAGE THERAPY

A health challenge has a way of bringing you back to your body. For me, my breast cancer diagnosis was that moment, a quiet but profound reminder that the body deserves the same care and attention we so often give to everything else in our lives.

Shortly after opening Awareness Massage Therapy, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I underwent surgery and radiotherapy, and I am now back in full health. But that experience changed me as a therapist in ways I hadn't anticipated, deepening my commitment to holistic, compassionate care, and strengthening my belief in treating the whole person, not just the presenting condition.

Raising awareness about breast cancer is now an integral part of my story, woven into my work as a therapist, and echoed in my paintings, where the themes of the body, vulnerability, and resilience are recurring threads.

I am originally from the Netherlands, where I trained as a graphic designer and spent many years working in the creative industry. In 2008 I moved to North Yorkshire, and it was here, in the landscapes and communities of this remarkable county, that my life began to quietly and profoundly transform.

I established an art gallery, café and wildlife garden, in the region, before going on to set up a charity boutique for a local cause (EDCCA), something that reflected my deep connection to the Easingwold community. This was followed by the opening of my own gallery studio, where I continue to work as a painter. My paintings explore the female body, its energy, movement, and presence. In many ways, my art and my massage practice speak the same language: both begin by listening carefully to what the body is expressing.

It was this lifelong fascination with the body, as both artist and observer, that eventually led me to massage therapy. And I have never looked back.

"Awareness, to me, means alertness, consciousness, and understanding — both my therapeutic awareness towards my client, and helping them discover the healing capacities of their own body."

The name Awareness is not accidental. It describes the way I work, deeply attentive to each client, listening to what the body is telling me before I even begin. And it describes what I hope to give you: a growing awareness of your own body's remarkable capacity to restore itself, when given the right support.

I am also a qualified mindfulness teacher, and the principles of mindful awareness quietly underpin the calm and respectful space I create for every client.

I trained with York Holistic Training in York, gaining a Level 3 diploma in Sports Massage alongside qualifications in Hot Stone Massage, Indian Head Massage, Deep Tissue Massage and Pregnancy Massage.

I am currently expanding my practice in two significant directions. I am training in Reflexology with York Holistic Training, and in Therapeutic Oncology Massage with specialist provider Jennifer Young Training. The oncology training carries particular personal resonance, equipping me with the specialist skills to offer safe, nurturing massage to clients who are living with, going through, or recovering from cancer treatment. Combined with my own experience of breast cancer, this makes me uniquely placed to offer care that is not only professionally grounded, but genuinely, personally understood.

Whether you come for sports maintenance, relief from muscular tension, deep therapeutic work, support through or beyond a cancer diagnosis, or simply to rest, my aim is always the same: to listen carefully to what your body is telling us, and to support its natural ability to heal, rebalance, and move more freely.

You are warmly welcome in my treatment room in Easingwold.