Moving On Up

Fiona Cook, Director of Training reflects on where we have been, and where we are now, as we expand upstairs to bright new spaces on the 3rd floor at 22 Drumsheugh Gardens.

Have you heard that, we at Physis Scotland, have moved up in the world? On one level we would be surprised if you hadn’t as it was all over social media, but maybe you haven’t?

When we first moved into Drumsheugh Gardens in the elegant West End of Edinburgh five years ago, we chose to locate ourselves in the lower ground floor – not quite the basement but close! There were many reasons for this, not least having our own entrance, but it just seemed right and so we set about making a home for our business, but more importantly our students and colleagues. It hardly seems possible that five years have passed during which we also all had to navigate COVID where we could not even use our beautiful home to teach. However, five years has gone by, and we have now outgrown our original home. We need more space for larger groups, more rooms to rent for therapy rooms and to further grow what we have already planted, fed and nourished in terms of our original business seed.

So, we are now in the glorious top floor of our building which is providing extra space, extra light and not to mention the opportunity to get fitter if we choose, to climb the elegant staircase to our new premises. And for those of us who find walking up 87 stairs challenging, there is also a lift.  The move itself involved a furniture removal company, whose wonderful employees needed a bit more than therapy after they carried all our furniture up four floors, new blinds, deep cleaning of existing furniture, dry cleaning of throws, purchase of new furniture, pictures and nick naks. Then putting it altogether to create our new space which we believe is even better than before! It is a stunning space and well worth the climb.

Looking forward into the next five years reminds me to look back and account for where we have been and who, in terms of friends and colleagues have been instrumental in the creation of Physis Scotland whether they know it or not. We have decided to honour a few of the people who have taught us and been key in the encouragement and growth of Fifi and Fi by naming rooms in our new space after them. So, we now have the Ayres Room which is the larger training room named after the lovely Alison Ayres TSTA who was our teacher and supervisor, one of the therapy/break out spaces the Widdowson Room after the famous Dr Mark Widdowson TSTA who taught us both and the other therapy/break out space, the Clarkson Room after the wise Barbara Clarkson TSTA who we inherited the business from six years go. We have a plaque in the Library Room, a further training space perhaps obviously named for one of its purposes, which says ‘Only look back to see how far you have come’. Fi and I would definitely not be where we are without these people teaching us, encouraging us and helping us achieve. So, we say thankyou.

Most of our year groups have started back for a new academic year and are enjoying the new spaces and we are enjoying telling them about our forefathers. We have definitely left the basement behind and are enjoying the dizzy heights of where we are going to be for the next five years which is very much onwards and upwards!