The Wren Clinic

Our historic home

admin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:08:50 +0000

Is attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, the King’s Architect, but was possibly designed by Robert Hooke, Surveyor to the City of London – the first person to demonstrate an artificial lung, blood transfusion and the modern model of memory.

St Dunstan’s in the East

St Dunstan’s in the East was built following the Great Fire of London. A church was first built on this site in Saxon times, and was restored by St Dunstan in 950. The mediaeval church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666, which started only four streets away in Pudding Lane. St Dunstans was rebuilt between 1697 and 1702. Only the tower remains of the ‘Wren’ church.

The body of the church was demolished and rebuilt by David Laing in 1817 in the gothic revival style.

St Dunstan’s was badly damaged in 1941 during the Blitz of World War II. The restored tower also retains a consecrated chapel in which services can be held. The walls of the nave were left standing, within which the City Corporation have created a beautiful garden with seating and a fountain for visitors.

St Dunstan

St Dunstan was born near Glastonbury early in the tenth century and lived during a period of monastic revival after the defeat of the Danes. While a Benedictine monk at Glastonbury, he became skilled in the crafts, particularly metalwork, which may explain why the Goldsmiths’ Company chose him as its patron saint. Besides being an accomplished musician and illuminator, Dunstan was also reputed to have been interested in science, concocting brews liable to explode! This possibly gave rise to the legend of his meeting with the devil, whose nose he is said to have seized with a pair of tongs.

Hence the tongs borne by sculptured angels over the altar of the Chapel of Ease on Idol Lane. St Dunstan was made Abbot of Glastonbury in 940 and from 960 when he became Archbishop of Canterbury, he exercised great influence over King Edgar and his court. He was canonised shortly after his death in Canterbury in 988.

Did you know that we are a charity?

admin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:04:29 +0000

The Wren Clinic was established in 1990 with support from The All Hallows House Foundation Development Trust.

Any profits go to The All Hallows House Foundation for Education, Prevention and Research into Holistic Care (Registered Charity no. 1003809).

The Foundation is affiliated to All Hallows by the Tower Church and its Business Houses Council, which share the aim of enhancing the well-being of people living and working in the City.

The Trustees of the Foundation are Dr Graham Wilson, Jemma Lawley and Valeria Ferreira.

First Aid courses (HSE/OFQUAL approved)

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:16:03 +0000

We are now offering HSE/OFQUAL -approved “Emergency First-Aid at Work” courses from the Wren each month. For more details visit our trainer’s website: http://www.first-aid-course.info.

Dates ahead are (all Fridays):

25th January 2013
1st March 2013
12th April 2013

We are also able to offer in-house courses for companies wanting to ensure that adequate first-aid cover is available for their staff. If you have four or more people needing training, this is often a cost-effective solution. Contact Graham Wilson on 07785 222380 or through the courses website.

Are you a physiotherapist looking for a new home for your practice?

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:04:42 +0000

THIS ADVERTISEMENT APPEARED ON LINKEDIN ON 18 AUGUST 2012

We are a small charity, based in a unique converted Wren church, right in the heart of the City of London. Over 22yrs old, we provide a base for a variety of conventional and complementary health practitioners. Our clients almost all work, or live close to, the City and we have arrangements with some City firms for the provision of subsidized healthcare.

This is obviously a very substantial (and lucrative) market on which to base your practice. Many of our practitioners attend one or two days a week and then also operate from elsewhere, but some are based entirely out of this clinic.

We are a community, and our ethos is one of collaboration – in terms of giving and receiving referrals, sharing in the management of the clinic and its marketing, and supporting peers in our own and each others professional development.

We are keen to be able to offer physiotherapy services in our catchment area, and are looking for one or two, self-employed practitioners, who would like to operate from here.

We have recently invested considerably in redecoration, and are about to do so too with our website. However, to get an impression of the Clinic do visit http://www.wrenclinic.co.uk. If you are interested and would like to arrange a visit, call Reception on 0207 283 8908. Alternatively, you’re welcome to contact me via LinkedIn or the Wren on info@wrenclinic.co.uk

Thank you, Graham

What Andy Murray teaches us about self-doubt and its role in our success or failure

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 07:49:52 +0000

A fascinating article by Dr Raj Persaud illustrating the difference between a lack of self-confidence and an abundance of self-doubt.

“Andy Murray’s historic victory appears founded on a mental rather than a physical transformation. Commentators, plus the tennis star himself, have been discussing how his previously hindering self-doubt appears to have been finally conquered.

Many attribute this new self-confidence to his recent Olympic gold medal victory over Roger Federer. It was positive feedback: confirmation of the ability we all knew he had, but did he?

Yet this just deepens the psychological enigma at the heart of this result. The cure for self-doubt appears a confidence-enhancing triumph – but you can’t win until you overcome your self-doubt.”

Read more here: Dr Raj Persaud in the Huffington Post

People: We Should Stop Icing!

Noah — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:55:20 +0000

Ready to slay a sacred cow? Here goes. You should stop icing. We were wrong. I know. I’ve even been guilty of advocated for short icing stints on this blog. I was wrong. For the past year, I’ve been engaged in a personal moral debate about icing that in retrospect, seems silly if not out right obvious. We should not ice. For the last year, I’ve advocated for no icing with every athlete with whom I’ve helped either post-surgery or post-injury. The outcomes have been nothing short of stunning.

Study shows frequent massage sessions boost biological benefits

Noah — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:57:56 +0000

Massage is purported to have an array of benefits, including alleviating symptoms of depression, anxiety, back pain, asthma, fatigue, and even HIV. A new study shows there are sustained, cumulative beneficial effects of repeated massage therapy. The effects persist for several days to a week, and differ depending on the frequency of sessions. Results . . . → Read More: Study shows frequent massage sessions boost biological benefits

Yoga proves to reduce depression in pregnant women, boost maternal bonding

Noah — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:55:59 +0000

Yoga continues to grow in popularity but in the United States, many classes concentrate on yoga as “exercise,” omitting the practice of being fully present in the moment and aware, authors say. Meanwhile, mindfulness yoga – which combines meditative focus with physical poses – has proven to be a powerful method to fight stress and boost energy. For the U-M research study, women who showed signs of depression and who were between 12-26 weeks pregnant participated in 90-minute mindfulness yoga sessions that focused on poses for the pregnant body, as well as support in the awareness of how their bodies were changing to help their babies grow.

Five Time Olympic Athlete Amy Acuff Uses Rolfing® Bodywork to Prepare for the 2012 Olympics

Noah — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:53:47 +0000

“The use of alternative therapies such as acupuncture, Pilates, and Rolfing has been instrumental,” says Acuff, who received her pre-med degree from UCLA and studied acupuncture at the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin (AOMA). “I don’t think I would be where I am without all of these modalities.” Erin Aldrich, 2000 U. S. Olympic high jumper introduced Acuff to Certified Advanced Rolfer and Rolf Movement Practitioner Brian Beard. Acuff says Rolfing and her other training modalities helped her win the 2004 Olympic bronze medal. “I value Rolfing for performance enhancement and injury prevention, so issues do not crop up as readily,” says Acuff.

NIH video reveals the science behind yoga

Noah — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:51:32 +0000

video featuring research on how yoga works, the safety of yoga and whether yoga can help treat certain health problems is being released by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For example, there is a growing body of evidence that yoga may be beneficial for low-back pain. However, yoga has not been found helpful for treating asthma, and studies investigating yoga for arthritis have had mixed results.