Catherine Wilde (Wilde Harmony School of Massage)

Good massage is a skill you can learn, and Catherine Wilde has spent a fair while doing both halves of that: practising it and teaching it. She runs Wilde Harmony, a holistic centre in Chorlton, Manchester, and the Wilde Harmony School of Massage that sits alongside it, and she’ll be at the Guildhall in September.

Catherine has worked as a massage therapist for more than eight years, and picked up her craft in a handful of very different places, including Morocco, Bali, Fiji and Australia. That mix shows in how she talks about the work: touch, connection and healing, rather than a fixed routine you simply apply.

What Wilde Harmony offers

The Chorlton centre is a holistic space offering massage, facials and Reiki. On the treatment side, Catherine works across a range of styles, from deep tissue through to hot stones and warm bamboo, as well as pregnancy massage for those who want gentler, well-supported bodywork. It’s the kind of practice built around what a given body needs on the day, not a one-size approach.

The teaching side

The school runs practical, in-person courses, taught in a single day of roughly six to seven hours, and they’re aimed at people starting from scratch as much as at working therapists topping up their skills. The subjects range widely: hot stones, warm bamboo, deep tissue and pregnancy massage, alongside Indian head massage, natural lift face massage, Thai foot massage, acupressure chair massage and beauty facials. Courses lead to accredited diplomas, with recognition through bodies including the FHT, the Beauty Guild and the IPHM.

Why touch is worth taking seriously

There’s a reason massage keeps its place among all the newer wellbeing practices: safe, skilled, attentive touch is something people genuinely respond to. Catherine’s framing keeps that front and centre. A treatment is offered as a way to slow down, feel looked after and let some tension go, rather than as a cure for anything. If you’re curious about learning it yourself, her stand is a good place to ask what’s actually involved in training.

Something to try before you come

You don’t need any training to give your own hands a moment’s care. Once today, spend a minute slowly working the base of one thumb and the palm with the other hand, then swap. Go gently and pay attention to the spots that feel tight. It’s a small, grounding thing that brings you back into your body for a moment, which is the same quiet effect good bodywork trades on.

Catherine Wilde is one of over 70 readers, healers and stallholders at the Mind Body Spirit & Wellness Weekend, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026, at Stockport Masonic Guildhall. Her stall, like every session across the weekend, is included with entry.

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