An actress friend recommended Niamh to me, because I wanted more of a connection with my physical body - rather than with my head and thoughts. After three months of weekly sessions, I can honestly say that I feel very different. It’s much easier to engage with (and enjoy) life in the moment, instead of overthinking everything. Very liberating - and a lot of fun!

 

Hattie Edmonds Writer

I had 2 surgeons tell me I need back surgery to fix my herniated disk in my lower back. I had seen chiropractor, osteopaths, 5 different physiotherapists, pain healers and more with no success. I had been suffering chronic pain for over a year and and finally found 2 people that helped me fix my back. One was a great physio who gave me the right exercises and the other was Niamh who basically taught me how to walk properly again. She showed me how a lifetime of  bad walking habits was causing my pain and gave me a really simple and clear understanding of what a healthy structure looks like and and taught me how to hold myself properly and walk properly. The physiotherapists exercised helped me but Niamh gave me the understanding necessary to have a healthy structure for the rest of my life.

Marek Hollands

I have been seeing Niamh for the past 6 months on a regular basis. The discoveries I have made during this time have been life changing and left me enjoying the wonderful possibilities that we as people have . All through most of my life my body has been something I have been in conflict with and felt was limited. When I was young I was told I had Scoliosis ( a slight curvature in the spine). The idea I wasn’t straight had a negative impact on me- such as walking and sitting, I was always wondering if I was walking weirdly with rather than just walking and not really thinking. This has an impact on my confidence in social situations. The amount of mental energy this took was exhausting.

The work with Niamh isn’t just physical, it has spiritual and mindful nature to it. During my first sessions Niamh mimicked back to me what people saw from me when I entered- my body would apologise on my behalf for being in the room- even though I had no reason to apologise. This straight honest insight was a revelation and began my journey to being back in my body.

We have worked on every are of my body- shoulders, spine, pelvis, feet, legs. I have a clear understanding of how each parts moves and works in relation to each other - without the need to muscular force, mental tension. My body now feels lighter and moves in a flow rather than a staccato motion. My emotions now flow through my body and the limits I placed on my body were mostly areas of fear and anxiety that I stored in my body.

After one of my sessions with Niamh, I was due at work in 40 minutes i felt so at ease in my body and didn’t want to lose or revert slightly back to habit- that I ended up walking the 4 miles to work and every step on that walk a discovery and delight. It was the first time I felt in my body and felt at ease in the world and felt proud of my body and wanted to show it off and get use to it.


I thought changes would be hard work and take long time to achieve. All my body needed was encouragement and patience and the changes in my body have been vast and quick. I feel like a flower that has been given water and sun and nature has taken its course.

Niamh has a plan for the session but uses her intuition and works with what is in front of her and the results speak for themselves. I don’t think the words in this piece come close to saying how thankful I am to Niamh for helping me on this journey. I would describe as ‘ The Human Whisperer

"The workshop helped me to recover a sense of space in my body that I forgot I had. There are a lot of workshops that are quite general and are very good too but it's rare that one can get to the core of things so incisively and expertly" 
Eleanor Tiernan, comedian and actor

One-on-one with Niamh McKernan:

I realized a little later than (perhaps) most actors that movement is of the essence when performing. I couldn't have wished for a better teacher to teach me the basics and essentials than Niahm. She is extremely knowledgeable, skilled and professional.

Niahm taught how to break my own patterns, urged me to ask myself vital questions and encouraged me to find my own method. It's one thing to understand your profession to a T but another to communicate your knowledge and skills - Niahm does both in an infallible way.

Through her one-on-one movement sessions, I learned so much about myself not only as an actor but also as a person, and that in turn has made me a more creative and empowered performer.

As a movement director Niamh has a sensitivity and fine touch that I have not experienced before or since. She allows the performer to find their essence through mining strengths and wiping away extraneous habits. She is also highly skilled at assisting a performer to embody different characters through subtle but clear shifts in physicality, thus clarifying story and adding depth to a performance.

The work itself is exhilarating, liberating and rigorous. I would highly recommend her to anyone creating performance that has an emphasis on physical storytelling or characterisation. I would equally recommend her to those who simply desire to find a sense of grounding and contact with the physical self in any walk of life.

Imogen Butler Cole - Director - The WHATWORKS

Niamh really feels and understands movement. As a musician I have found her work to be both constructive and liberating for body and mind. It has enriched me as a musician and person.

Leslie Boulin Violinist at Quatuor Zaide

Niamh's understanding of movement is embodied and visceral yet playful and light and it doesn't apply only to the body: her intuition extends to deeper, broader, more subtle movements, like where the class is on the verge of going next. Niamh has an innate talent to flow with movement in the most surprising and creative way. And as she often says with disarming simplicity: everything is movement.

Simon Blackhall

ANIMA Life Coaching Founder

Elisa De Grey  Actor and Yoga teacher

'I am very excited about working with Niamh.  She's uniquely intuitive, and with her deep-seated understanding of the body, is able to unravel its secrets and then apply them to my life. My experience with her thus far has been both revelatory and practical. She is helping me to understand old blocks that I have been carting around with me for decades.  Shedding these blocks is not for the faint hearted, but because of Niamh's gentle, sensitive approach a new way seems entirely possible. I have never met anyone quite like her.