ShanTherapy

ShanTherapy Hi! I'm Shan Withnell and I help heart-centred female entrepreneurs (40+) ditch self-doubt, show up

I help you quickly uncover and heal the primary cause(s) of your self doubt, uncertainty and overwhelm. Once you have clarity and confidence and can plan and prioritise the important things in your business and life, I will support you through the inevitable challenges that always arise shortly after a big life upgrade. I guide you to tap into your intuition and connect with your body, so you can

stay level-headed under pressure and handle day-to-day life with ease. I am an Advanced Rapid Transformational Therapy, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Soul Coach. I am an experienced practitioner with 30 years practicing many modalities including remedial massage and intuitive healing.

"Why is it every time I arrange to do something for myself, somebody needs something? I've had it!"That's what she said ...
05/06/2026

"Why is it every time I arrange to do something for myself, somebody needs something? I've had it!"

That's what she said on our very first call.

And you know what? I hear some version of that all the time.

You've become the hub of everything. At home, at work, in every group chat and family WhatsApp. Indispensable. Relied on. Taken for granted.

And you are OVER it.

You're not asking for much. Maybe just one night a month. One book club. One walk. One hour that's actually, genuinely yours.
I've been working on something, and I can't wait to share it with you.

It's called **The Turning** and it's coming soon.

If you're ready to stop being everything to everyone and start being something to yourself, stay close. More details coming very soon.

04/06/2026

Running around like a mad thing?
Pause...
Beathe... breathe again.
As you breathe out, make an audible noise. This let's your nervous system know that the stress is done. Carry on.
Have a great day!

If you’re struggling with fatigue, I know what that’s like. For well over a year now, I’ve been getting up in the middle...
03/06/2026

If you’re struggling with fatigue, I know what that’s like.

For well over a year now, I’ve been getting up in the middle of the night to attend classes and workshops, engage in practice sessions, have meetings with fellow students and peers, who are nearly all on the other side of the world. Timezones, when you live in Australia, are tricky.

After these long zoom calls, there’s a full day of activity – first my morning swim (as often as I can fit it in), then work (which occasionally ends at 10pm), and the evening calls - more meetings.

Sometimes I get home from my swim and just want to crawl back into bed. Or get off an early zoom call, and want to crawl back into bed.

My husband has become expert at sleepwalking to the lounge and resuming his sonorous snoring with barely a break between bed and sofa. (My office is in the corner of my bedroom.)

Anyway, the point of this story isn’t to whinge about my lack of sleep. It’s to share that I understand about working hard to get somewhere. And, that when you love what you’re doing, you don’t mind (too much) the sacrifices.

Because the reason I’m doing it? I want to show up as the best possible version of myself for the women I work with.

Women who feel disconnected from themselves. Who are quietly wondering how life got so full, and yet somehow so far from what they actually want. Women who are ready to put themselves at the centre of their own lives. Not by burning down everything they've worked so hard to build, but by finding their way back to who they are within it.

That's worth a few interrupted nights.

If you’re struggling with fatigue, I know what that’s like. For over a year now, I’ve been getting up in the middle of t...
03/06/2026

If you’re struggling with fatigue, I know what that’s like.

For over a year now, I’ve been getting up in the middle of the night to attend classes, engage in practice sessions, have meetings with fellow students and peers, who are nearly all on the other side of the world. Timezones, when you live in Australia, are tricky.

After these long zoom calls, there’s a full day of activity – first my morning swim (as often as I can fit it in), then work (which occasionally ends at 10pm), and the evening calls - more meetings.

Sometimes I get home from my swim and just want to crawl back into bed. Or get off an early zoom call, and want to crawl back into bed.

My husband has become expert at sleepwalking to the lounge and resuming his sonorous snoring with barely a break between bed and sofa. (My office is in the corner of my bedroom.)

Anyway, the point of this story isn’t to whinge about my lack of sleep. It’s to share that I understand about working hard to get somewhere. And, that when you love what you’re doing, you don’t mind (too much) the sacrifices.

Because the reason I’m doing it? I want to show up as the best possible version of myself for the women I work with.

Women who feel disconnected from themselves. Who are quietly wondering how life got so full, and yet somehow so far from what they actually want. Women who are ready to put themselves at the centre of their own lives. Not by burning down everything they've worked so hard to build, but by finding their way back to who they are within it.

That's worth a few interrupted nights.

In my pre-baby fantasy, I was going to have a water birth, with Adiemus (and maybe some Enya) playing in the background,...
19/05/2026

In my pre-baby fantasy, I was going to have a water birth, with Adiemus (and maybe some Enya) playing in the background, my husband helping, and everything was going to go swimmingly.

I'd read all the books, attended all the classes and had been massaging my perineum for weeks so that I wouldn't tear!

I had halva to hand as my energy snack and raspberry leaf tea to help my labour.

I was going to be a full-on earth mother, with all the accompanying accoutrements.

Like so many others, it wasn't like that at all!

It was an emergency caesarian, after multiple medical failures. (The hospital changed a lot of their systems afterwards.) It was traumatic for me, my baby, and my amazing husband who faught tirelessly for us through the very long and dangerous process.

Twice more I had caesarians. Those were planned, and came with their own complications. Thankfully, I had three healthy babies.

What nobody told me before though, was in how many ways my body would be adversely affected by those surgeries.

I attended a webinar about the connection between C-Section scars and back pain this morning which confirmed what I had been thinking for many years.

Your whole body is interconnected. A scar in one place can cause a myriad of symptoms elsewhere. You could have a scar on your shoulder that's causing pain down your arm. A scar on your knee that's causing numbness elsewhere.

A scar can have impacts beyond just the physical. It might have very real psychological and emotional effects as well.

I've been treating scars for my clients for many years, as part of what I do when I'm giving a massage. It was good to know I've been on the right track!

If you've got a scar that you feel might be having an impact, remember to tell your massage therapist about it! The work doesn't need to be painful or rough - in case you've been worried about that. It can be incredibly gentle and definitely healing, on many levels.

Months of 2, 3, 4 and 5am zoom calls, 7pm-midnight zoom calls, and more, several times a week, are nearing the end (for ...
18/05/2026

Months of 2, 3, 4 and 5am zoom calls, 7pm-midnight zoom calls, and more, several times a week, are nearing the end (for now).
Eight or so weeks to go.

It's all been so that I'm a better coach and better hypnotherapist, to deliver truly world-class service to my wonderful clients.

Much as I love learning (and will keep on learning) I'll be glad to get (most of) my nights back!

After my swim this morning, I indulged in an infra-red sauna, gifted by my husband for Mother's Day. Thought I'd read my book in there, but couldn't see well enough.

What a wonderful blessing that turned out to be.

Forty-five minutes sitting with myself in the warm, red solitude. Bliss!
Highly recommend. 💝

15/05/2026

Sometimes life looks great on the outside. All put together. Well organised.

Then, in a moment, it feels like you've lost the plot!

But I think that's often what midlife really is.
Moments of confusion that knock us off balance. Times where we question ourselves, our direction, even what we want anymore.

Reconnecting with our desires, energy, enthusiasm and vitality can take many paths, and it isn't always neat or easy.

It's an exploration.
A big experiment.

And we don't always get it right. Maybe that's part of the adventure.

While we're rebalancing and working out what we really want for this next chapter, it's important to be gentle with ourselves.

We don't have to have it all figured out overnight.

14/05/2026

After years of working with women, I've noticed something.

The woman who holds it all together is often the one most disconnected from herself.

It doesn't happen all at once. It's one small accommodation at a time. A compromise here. A "maybe later" there. A want quietly put aside because this isn't the right moment.

Until one day she realises she doesn't actually know what she wants any more.

I wrote more about this over on Substack this week in a story that you might recognise yourself in.

If you've ever sat somewhere and thought, "I genuinely don't know what I want", even about something small, this one's for you.

Address

Bayview
Sydney, NSW
2104

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 6am
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4am

Telephone

+61421446861

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