My story: how I became a holistic therapist (from Spain to Sri Lanka to Dubai)

For 24 articles I’ve been writing to you from my studio in Arabian Ranches, talking about Reiki, aromatherapy, lymphatic drainage, holistic baths, repressed emotions, fertility, sleep, postpartum. But I’ve rarely told you who I am — who is on the other side of the hands when you come for a session. In August, while Dubai breathes more slowly and many of you are returning from summer, I’d like to share my story. How from a very different life — because I wasn’t born a therapist, I come from another world — I came to dedicate my life to this. How Sri Lanka changed me. How Dubai became my home. And, above all, why I do what I do every day in my studio. If you’ve made it this far on the blog, you deserve to know who I am.

The studio in Arabian Ranches: mid-morning natural light is one of the moments I love most. Most of my professional life unfolds here.

How it all started: the question behind the change

I didn’t begin in the holistic world. Like most of my clients, I arrived late — and not out of curiosity, but out of personal need.

For years I lived a life that, from the outside, looked perfectly coherent. I worked a lot, travelled, met expectations, did what I was supposed to. Until at one moment — it wasn’t a spectacular fall or a movie drama — I started to feel what many of you know: energy not coming back, sleeping badly, living behind glass, always “doing” but rarely “feeling”. My body was asking me for something and I didn’t know how to listen.

The first time I received Reiki was almost by chance. A friend dragged me. I went sceptical, with that polite “I’ll try it just not to be rude” attitude. Lying on that table, an hour later, I cried without knowing why. It wasn’t dramatic — it was as if something I had been holding tight inside for years opened very slowly. I left that room different. Not mystical, not enlightened — different. As if a small piece had returned to its place.

That night I slept better than in months. The next day I looked up the person who had given me that session and asked if she could teach me.

The early years: learning not to know

My first years of training were slow. I trained in traditional Reiki (the three levels) patiently, without rush. I also learnt holistic massage and manual lymphatic drainage with teachers who helped me understand that hands are a conversation, not a technique. I studied Bach Flowers for the subtle depth they bring. Later I specialised in clinical aromatherapy, because I was fascinated by how a plant molecule can accompany what the soul feels.

But the most important thing of that stage wasn’t the courses. It was learning not to know. Not to arrive with a solution before listening. To allow the other person’s body to speak to me. To trust silence. This, I tell you honestly, isn’t learnt in courses — it’s learnt by practising with respect over years. And by making mistakes too. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve seen them, I’ve corrected them. It still happens.

During those years I accompanied many people — from women in grief, to difficult postpartum periods, to exhausted executives, to teenagers with anxiety. Each one taught me something different. Every body is a world and that’s what continues to enamour me with this work after more than a decade.

Sri Lanka: the place that changed me

There was a time when I felt I needed to leave my familiar zone to grow as a therapist. Spain had given me a lot, but I wanted to contrast my practice with other traditions, other ways of understanding the body, other cultures of care.

Sri Lanka appeared almost by itself. What was supposed to be a trip of a few months became a significant stage of my life. There I continued working with Reiki — I attended local residents and Western travellers who came seeking a deep pause. The care culture in Sri Lanka is very different to ours: slower, more circular, less transactional. I learnt to hold longer silences, to trust more in what moves without words, to respect the body’s rhythm over the clock’s.

There they also taught me a lot about plants. About how older women generation after generation have worked with oils, herbs, baths and waters to support other women. I learnt things no academic course had transmitted to me — not because they’re secret, but because they can only be learnt by living them.

When I finally closed that stage, I did so with the clear sense that I had matured as a therapist. I was no longer the girl who had cried on that first Reiki table in Spain. I was a woman with hands that knew what they were doing — and, more importantly, knew when not to do.

Dubai: the decision that changed my life

5 years ago I arrived in Dubai. It wasn’t a planned decision as it might seem — it was a combination of personal circumstances, intuition and a clear feeling that there was something here for me.

I confess the first months were strange. Dubai is a city of brutal contrasts: luxury and exhaustion, efficiency and loneliness, women with powerful professional lives but sometimes without a real network of care. I quickly saw what many needed — a space where they could lay down the armour. Where they didn’t have to be “strong” for an hour. Where the body received attention without performance being at stake.

I started small. Accompanying some women who came through word of mouth. Reiki sessions at their homes at first, until I could open my own studio in Arabian Ranches — the space you see today in the blog photos. A quiet place, far from the noise of the city, where time inside runs differently to time outside.

In these 5 years I’ve seen how Dubai is for many women an intense but short stage — they spend 3, 5, 7 years here and then continue their journey. But that stage, well lived, can be very rich. My work is to be here, hold, accompany — so that time in Dubai is integrative and not just survival.

Studio details: rose quartz, Tibetan singing bowl, essential oils, candle and raw linen. Small things that hold a specific atmosphere — the one that protects what happens inside the room.

My clients: what I see, what I learn

I work mainly with women, although I also see some men and couples. Ages range from 25 to 65 years old. Nationalities are as diverse as the city itself: Spanish, Latin American, British, French, Lebanese, Indian, South African, Australian, Gulf locals.

There are patterns I see again and again:

• Women with powerful professional lives and chronic exhaustion accumulated over years
• Women in life transitions: country changes, separations, perimenopause, postpartum, seeking pregnancy
• Women accompanying grief — for parents, siblings, projects, previous versions of themselves
• Women who have tried everything and are ready for something more subtle
• Young women with anxiety beginning to learn how to inhabit their body

I learn from each one. My real knowledge doesn’t come from courses — it comes from thousands of hours listening, touching, observing. From what the body says when the mind quiets. From what appears in sessions that wasn’t in the initial conversation. That’s why this work never wears out: each session teaches me something new.

Why I do what I do

Sometimes people ask me: “but does this really change anything? isn’t it just a nice moment?”

My honest answer: it doesn’t always change “something big”, I’m not a mystic, I don’t promise radical transformations. But I do see, again and again, what well-done work brings:

• Women sleeping better after months of insomnia
• Chronic tension that moves after years stuck
• Emotional processes that were blocked and start to flow
• Nervous systems that go from “constant survival” to “real rest”
• Important decisions that take clarity after a deep session
• Women reconnecting with their body after years of treating it like a machine

I do it because I saw how Reiki changed me when I was in that difficult moment. And because I know, from within, what it’s worth to have a space where another woman holds you without asking anything of you — where you can cry, be silent, sleep or process without having to give explanations.

I want to offer that to other women. That’s what I do every day in my studio.

My commitment to you

If you decide to come to a session with me, this is what I promise you:

1. I’ll listen without rush. The first session includes open conversation without a clock — I need to understand who you are before touching you.
2. I’ll be honest about what I can and can’t do. I won’t sell you sessions you don’t need. If your case needs a psychologist, doctor or physiotherapist, I’ll tell you clearly and help you find a professional.
3. I’ll adapt each session to you, I won’t apply a generic formula. Every body is different every day.
4. I won’t promise miracles. I’ll promise serious work, full presence, and a safe space where your body can do what it needs.
5. I’ll respect your absolute confidentiality. What happens in the room stays in the room.
6. I’ll treat you with dignity regardless of your situation, age, body, life moment or beliefs.

Book a first session here — new clients receive 10% off. If you have questions before booking, you can also write to me and we’ll chat without commitment.

The chakras and the energy bodies

The 7 main chakras

Chakras are the body’s energy centres — wheels of energy located along the spine that regulate different dimensions of our life:

• Muladhara (root) — base of the spine. Safety, grounding, connection with the earth.
• Svadhisthana (sacral) — below the navel. Creativity, sensuality, pleasure.
• Manipura (solar plexus) — above the navel. Personal power, will, confidence.
• Anahata (heart) — centre of the chest. Love, compassion, emotional openness.
• Vishuddha (throat) — throat. Communication, expression, personal truth.
• Ajna (third eye) — between the eyebrows. Intuition, inner wisdom, subtle perception.
• Sahasrara (crown) — crown of the head. Spirituality, connection with the divine, higher consciousness.

The five energy bodies

We are beings made up of several interrelated layers or subtle bodies:

• Physical body — the material vehicle we inhabit.
• Energy (or etheric) body — the energetic network through which prana, the vital energy, flows.
• Emotional body — where feelings and affective reactions reside.
• Mental body — thoughts, beliefs, mental processes.
• Spiritual body — the connection with the transcendent and our deepest essence.

In every session we work across all these planes at once, because an imbalance in one usually reflects in the others.

About my treatments at Arabian Ranches

If you’d like to go deeper into any of the topics covered in this article, at my Arabian Ranches studio I offer several treatments: Reiki with chakra balancing, therapeutic and aromatherapy massages, manual lymphatic drainage, Bach Flower therapy and personalised essential oil formulas, among others.

📋 See the full list and up-to-date pricing at Treatments.

✨ First visit: includes a free 15-minute initial consultation to understand your case and tailor the treatment. New clients also receive a 10% discount on their first treatment.

Book your session here or contact me if you have any prior questions.

Frequently asked questions about me and my practice

Do you speak Arabic?

No. My sessions are in Spanish or English. For Arabic-speaking clients, we usually work in English and the body understands the rest. I can recommend Arabic-speaking therapists in Dubai if you need.

Do you see men?

Do you work with pregnant women?

Yes, from the second trimester with specific protocols (Reiki, adapted lymphatic drainage, pregnancy-safe aromatherapy). In the first trimester I prefer very gentle accompaniment and only if there’s a clear need.

What is your official training?

I have certifications in traditional Reiki (three levels including master level), holistic massage, manual lymphatic drainage, Bach Flowers and clinical aromatherapy. I can share specific certifications with you if you come to an in-person session.

Thank you for reading me this far. If you’ve felt that something I tell resonates with you, I invite you to come and meet the studio. First sessions are always special — and many women have told me afterwards that it changed how they see themselves. I can’t promise you that, but I can promise you my time, my presence and my care during a full hour with you.

With warmth,
Rosana

← Back to blog · Book a session · What is Reiki · Manual lymphatic drainage · Clinical aromatherapy · Bach Flower remedies · The studio · All blog articles