January 2026 ♥ St Monans ~ Good morning on Sunday 10th January 2026. If you are reading this, thank you for being here. I truly hope this new year brings you softness and strength, clarity and connection and as Father Patrick said at morning mass at St James RC church in St Andrews on New Year's Day "a little of what you like". This made my heart smile as he shared that this message came from his Mother regarding New Year's Day and my Mum uses a similar phrase of enjoying "a little of what you fancy" so maybe it's an Irish Mothers well wish/catchphrase :) If this e-newsletter with updates on my therapy and yoga/barre class offerings is not relevant to you please feel free to unsubscribe. ~ Barre class at beautiful Crail Community Hall resumes on Tuesday 13 JANUARY 2026 with the rescheduled missed class from 09/12/25 due to dangerously flooded roads. If you paid for a 4 week block in December 2025 this is class 4 of 4. Please join me, also drop-ins are welcome. NO CLASS on Tuesday 20/01/26 *NEW 4 WEEK BLOCK* resumes on Tuesday 27/01/26 and includes Tuesdays 03/02/26, 10/02/26 and 17/02/26 8 places available £36 | 4 classes and £10 | drop in (1 class) Email me to book your place In Barre class we practice in a small group, high vibration energy moving and breathing through ballet inspired exercise sets to strengthen and condition legs, gluteals (bottom), arms, core, posture, balance, heart and lungs and frame of mind. No dancing happens in Barre class! Complementing this class experience is the physical space with a smooth, clean wooden floor, high ceilings, my professional Harlequin ballet Bares made of beech wood and aluminium to allow us alignment. Each class begins with a dynamic standing warm up to prepare the body and closes with deep releasing stretches and pure grade doTERRA essential oils. Ladies & gents from 16 to 106 years are welcome, teens, athletes, golfers, runners, those reconditioning following injuries and surgeries and some preparing for active holidays skiing, golfing, hiking, wine tasting! I share booking details below. ~ Massage Treatments in St Monans, East Neuk of Fife Be nourished with a 60-minute or 90-minute massage treatment - a pause for self-care, to soothe physical, postural and mental aches and pains; to get biofeedback from your body-mind; to let go, decompress and heal with a treatment designed specifically for you from my 21 years experience and 5 diplomas in bodywork and professional accreditation with the Sports Massage Association UK Using Ishga massage oils - organic and vegan, made in Isle of Lewis, Scotland with Hebridean seaweed extracts and essential oils in a humble yet peaceful space infused with Ishga Sonas candle warming aromas of orange, frankincense, Scots pine, cedarwood and cinnamon laying on a luxury heated blanket on my original massage plinth handmade using leather and wood by a carpenter in Dublin circa 2004. December 2025 brought a privilege of me meeting and treating family members of my clients - in the form of adult children visiting for Christmas, spouses and siblings receiving gifted treatments. It was special to meet and nourish you all in this tiny neuk of planet earth. Flu and seasonal illness have been circulating widely and apparently norovirus (winter vomiting bug) also which is always alarming and very uneasy for me in close contact with others. January 2026 brings a lot of client cancellations and rescheduling of appointments which guides me to plan forward and take a longer break in January 2027. If you are in the sick bay - get well soon wishes. I appreciate your honesty. See you on the other side. I share available massage appointment times with you below. My availability may look sparse! For regular clients your massage appointments are already booked in for you. By February 2026 academic semester 2 will be underway at the University of St Andrews where I am a (part-time) 'associate lecturer in foundation human biology' teaching students biology and physiology on the Medical Sciences (International Pre-Med) program. This means until June my time becomes tightly organised - I run out of time! and need an assistant/wingman/woman. I won't be very responsive Mondays to Wednesdays. My therapy appointments will happen on Thursday mornings and Fridays all day. Please do reach out with your preferred day/time for treatment as on 'fully booked' dates an available appointment may arise that can be yours. The 2026 price increase I mentioned - I will update in February 2026. I really hoped to have clarity in December 2025 about a clinic collaboration in St Andrews which would inform this but I am still waiting. I can share as a *footnote below some of the expenses and overheads that are involved in me practicing as a massage therapist. I know some of you also run businesses so may relate. While it is true my 'home clinic' is me opening my massage plinth in my home rising costs are still involved in the reality of the world we inhabit. As always if you feel in any way unwell with an infectious bug - cold, flu, COVID, strep throat, the plague - please, please reschedule your appointment to a future date when you feel well again. You will never be charged for an appointment that you do not receive. ~ Take care easing into this new year, Alice x *some of my costs: - ~£400/year - professional indemnity insurance, professional body membership (Sports Massage Association UK), first aid certification updating
- £300/year for my website host Zibster
- £58.05 (+ VAT + delivery) per 500 mls of Ishga massage oil
- ~£20-30 per 15 mls of doTERRA pure grades essential oils
- laundry of towels at Pipeland laundry services, St Andrews and other miscellaneous items
- £1,100 CPD fees for 3-days intensive in London - self funded
My professional indemnity insurance fee increased x 4 times post pandemic and my Ishga products increase in price biannually - so x 5 times in the past 2.5 years. Energy bill with OVO increased. I won’t compromise on the premium grade products I use or scrimp on not having my space as toasty and warm and welcoming as possible for my clients. These are non-negotiables in terms of quality as I believe they both contribute to the healing impact of a treatment experience and for the nervous system. I could use a much cheaper massage oil to save on cost but I won't cheat on this.** I share current fees for massage treatments at local establishments also: Old Course hotel spa, St Andrews 50 mins | £165 80 mins | £210 Fairmont hotel spa, St Andrews 50 mins | £115 80 mins | £145 35 mins | £85 Sports Massage at Stuart Bartons 45 mins | £67 – where typically only the problem area will be worked on A local physiotherapist 60 mins | £75 | 
