Mary Monro BSc (Hons) Ost, MSc Paed Ost, FSCCO
Mary is a cranial osteopath with over 25 years of clinical experience. After a career in marketing, she qualified as an osteopath in 1999, drawn by the desire to do work that genuinely helped people. She practised in Bath for two decades before moving to Edinburgh in 2020, where she quickly fell in love with the city, the Scottish landscape and Scotland’s amazing wildlife.
Mary enjoys variety. An ideal day for her might involve seeing a newborn baby, a child, a couple of older people, and some working-age patients. It is a great day if patients have been doing well and are feeling better. And it is particularly special if a patient has got back to doing something they love after weeks, months or even years of being unable to do it.
What is cranial osteopathy — and could it help you?
Cranial osteopathy is a subtle, gentle form of osteopathy that works with the whole body, not just the head. This gentle but effective treatment is well suited to babies, children, pregnant women, and older people. It is also useful for complicated long-standing problems – an effective way of engaging the body’s own healing mechanisms to unpick the tapestry of issues that have built up over time.
People often ask how it works. Mary’s favourite explanation: a cranial osteopath is like the conductor of an orchestra. She didn’t write the music and isn’t playing an instrument — but she’s helping the many different players in your body to work harmoniously and find its most healthy expression. If you prefer something more scientific, think of it as being like a human MRI scanner, aligning and resonating with the body’s electro-magnetic frequencies to help damaged or stressed tissues come back into balance.
That’s not all of it, of course, because the metaphors don’t adequately explain the role of our social, mental and emotional health in our physical symptoms, or how listening and reassurance can help us to feel better.
Treating the whole person
Mary takes time to listen. She knows that two people with the same lower back pain can have completely different stories behind it. Exploring your unique story, through careful listening and questioning, helps build shared decision-making on the goals of treatment and the treatment plan, and allows Mary to give personalised advice on self-care. Patients describe her as calm, reassuring, supportive and a great listener.
Her approach matters especially when pain or loss of function has led to stress and anxiety. Or the other way round – when stress and anxiety have led to pain or loss of function. Through a combination of listening, discussion and hands on treatment, the patient’s relationship with stress shifts, making it easier to cope with and opening the door to better health.
Babies and children
Mary is registered with Scotland’s PVG scheme, meaning she is approved to treat children and vulnerable adults. She sees newborns through to teenagers, and welcomes families dealing with challenges arising from birth, growth and development, illness and injury. And treating an unsettled baby with cranial osteopathy doesn’t just help to relax the baby — it can transform the whole household.
Performers and musicians
Mary has additional training in working with performers, including vocal massage, managing anxiety and hypermobility. She regards them as athletes, with similar mental and physical demands. Whether you’re dealing with a repetitive strain injury specific to your instrument (including the voice), the physical toll of back-to-back performances, or the stress of a high-pressure career, she understands the demands of performance life.
About Mary
Mary is a Fellow and Faculty of the Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy (SCCO) and holds an MSc in Paediatric Osteopathy. She has also studied Biodynamic Osteopathy with Dr James Jealous.
Outside the clinic, she’s a published author — her memoir Stranger in My Heart (Unbound, 2018) tells of her father’s heroics in the Far East in WWII, and her historical novel A Bitter Equation is due in March 2027. She’s currently planning a crime fiction series. She enjoys travelling, gardening, photographing Scotland’s wildlife and landscapes, and taking advantage of Edinburgh’s cultural life.
You can book an appointment with Mary here.