If you think Rachael Delaney looks familiar, you're probably right.

Regular viewers of Emmerdale may have seen her sipping a G&T in The Woolpack, or reaching for a jar of chutney in the village shop.

She has also appeared in Channel 4's Hollyoaks, films and commercials, and this month she'll be seen in a major TV drama about the Great Train Robbery, largely filmed in Bradford.

Rachael, of Queensbury, started acting as a child, appearing in shows at Bingley Arts Centre, and returned to it professionally five years ago.

When the mother-of-two isn't treading the boards or appearing in front of the camera she's a busy holistic therapist, helping people improve health and wellbeing using natural complimentary therapies.

Rachael, 32, has opened Pure Holistic Therapies at H Beauty, offering a range of treatments from reiki to warm candle massage.

Clients recline on a pink floral chaise longue before entering the treatment room which, with sooth-ing music and soft lighting, is an oasis of calm.

Rachael has a degree in marketing and qualified as a holistic therapist ten years ago. After training at Keighley College she worked from home and operated a mobile service.

Using organic plant extracts and aromatherapy oils, she administers holistic therapies to help heal the mind, body and spirit. Ancient techniques work on a range of conditions including stress, aches and pains, hormonal problems, low energy, pregnancy and skin complaints.

"I enjoy the process of treating clients. Healing has a calming effect on the practitioner too, " says Rachael.

"I love that people are always pleased to receive an holistic treatment, you get an immediate response. A client can come in with the troubles of the world on their shoulders and when they leave they float down the stairs.

"When you're in a relaxed state it affects the mind, body and spirit. We live such busy lives and stress levels can build without us realising. That can come out in all sorts of ways, and can be a killer."

Rachael is looking to work with businesses, offering workplace massages for employees. Her treatments include hot stone body massage, aromatherapy facials, reflexology, Indian head massage, hopi ear candling and reiki.

"People are more accepting of these kind of therapies now - they have been around for thousands of years, " she says. "The focus is on our universal energy, unblocking negative energies and helping with relaxation.

"I had a lady in who kept getting a pain on the left side of her neck. I could sense the warmth from it so I knew there was a problem there, " she says. "We tend to hold tension in our necks and backs.

"Some clients have been to osteopaths and when they come to me they say they've never felt so good. I advise holistic therapies alongside other treatments they're having - they can go hand-in-hand."

Through reflexology, Rachael picks up on health problems in other areas of the body. Reflexology is an ancient technique stimulating pressure points on the feet to rebalance the body's energy system.

"By massaging the feet with my fingers and thumb, tension is released from the reflex areas on the feet, improving circulation and bringing the body back into balance, " says Rachael. "I can pick up things like back pain and sinus problems from pressing points on the feet."

Other treatments include reiki - a Japanese technique based on the idea that a "life force energy" flows through us. The technique, involving "laying on hands" to restore balance and harmony, is recommended for conditions such as back pain, emotional problems, headaches, high blood pressure, insominia and sciatica. Thermal auricular therapy, known as hopi ear candles, induce a revitalising heat upon the head and ears, drawing out impurities and treating disorders.

Leg and foot massages and oil scrubs have been popular in hot weather - soothing tired feet and relieving muscular tension.

Rachael also offers pre and post-natal massage and an oncology mas-sage for people in treatment for cancer, or with a history of the disease.

She plans to introduce hot bamboo massage. "It's good for deep tissue massage, " says Rachael. "The therapist rolls a bamboo cane over the muscle, kneading muscles to release tension and promote circulation."

Rachael is holding her first pamper day on Saturday, September 14. The session includes a glass of bubbly, cupcakes, a 'mini express manicure/eyebrow shape' and a back, neck and shoulder massage.

Her clients include cast members from Emmerdale - during my visit actress Kelli Hollis, who plays Ali Spencer, calls in for a treatment.

Rachael is a regular supporting actor on the Yorkshire soap and was in last autumn's 40th anniversary live episode.

"It was really exciting - it was all shot on location. I was one of the Dingles' wedding guests and wore a big flashy hat, " she says.

"It can be a hectic schedule, when I arrive on set I don't know if I'm going to be there for four hours or 12.

I love it though, and everyone is so friendly."

Rachael is due on set the following day. She's been told she's going to be in the vets' surgery holding an animal, but doesn't yet know what ani-mal.

In A Robber's Tale - one of two dramas marking the 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery, to be shown on BBC1 this month - Rachael plays Buster Edwards' wife, June. She joins a starry cast including Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent, Tim Piggot-Smith, Robert Glenister and James Fox.

The two films, A Robber's Tale and A Copper's Tale by the writer of hit TV drama Broadchurch, Chris Chibnall, tell the story from the perspective of heist leader Bruce Reynolds and the police team assembled to bring the gang to justice.

Bradford locations included City Hall, textile manufacturers Bulmer & Lumb in Buttershaw, the Bradford Club, the Fountain Cafe in the Oastler Centre and Oxenhope Railway Station.

"It was a fantastic experience mak-ing a film with such a big cast, " says Rachael, who is mother to eight-year-old Keira and Zara, four.

"There's a lot of hanging around on film and TV sets, but when the action starts it's exciting."