Mirimiri meaning "natural gift", is the holistic healing tradition or massage technique of the Maori people of New Zealand and incorporates a person's physical as well as spiritual element. I lived in NZ for many years and feel deeply connected to the land, its people and their traditions. Mirimiri is the best way to describe my work as a body therapist - in my work I follow a holistic treatment approach to meet my clients physical and mental needs.
>>> Can you tell us a bit more about you as the practitioner and owner of Mirimiri Body Therapy? I am a Remedial Massage Practitioner (Australian trained) with qualifications in a range of massage and natural therapies:
- Remedial and Therapeutic Massage
- Myofascial Release, Trigger Point Therapy and Sports Massage
- Manual Lymphatic Drainage
- Hot Stone Treatments and Reflexology for Relaxation
- Touch with intent
I also have degrees in Molecular Medicine and actively support the Australian research community. By default, I have a very inquisitive mind - the reason I studied science in the first place and then got hooked on complementary medicine. As a researcher I realised that answers can be found in different ways, not just by following the route most people take. My time as a researcher also taught me to always stay open-minded which lead me to exploring complementary medicine to maintain health and wellbeing. Today, I strongly believe that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body, and vice versa.
>>> What do you do if you are not at work? If you asked my family, they would probably describe me as a "body therapy nerd" as once you get me started, I can't stop talking about it anymore! So my business is both, my passion and my hobby. However, in my free time I try to practise what I preach and enjoy mindful exercises such as Yoga and QiGong, but also more challenging activities that get my heart pumping. I have got three lovely grown-up kids, two of them live in Germany where I am originally from, three cats and one husband. So pretty busy life, however if I get the chance I love nothing more than the solitude of a walk on one of the amazing Central Coast beaches in the early morning.
>>> What is so special about massage, in your opinion? We now know that the brain can change throughout our lives (scientific term: neuroplasticity) and this is what we practitioners aim to do with body work. When you receive a massage, the body has an hour or even more to rest and reset. The longer the body is in that parasympathetic ('Rest and Digest') mode, the more the brain expects to be in that mode. If you are constantly stressed out, our body expects that. Tapping into neuroplasticity is the power of body work!
>>> Re-establishing the Body-Mind-Connection through therapeutic touch - is this possible? Massage is THE place to start sensing and re-connecting with your body and learning to understand it. A caring, well-trained therapist can be your facilitator and teacher on your path to wellbeing as - more often than not -they can feel under their hands what might be going on with you. A massage will show you what feels tight or restricted, what areas feel good and what emotions might be coming up for you. Together with the therapist you can then develop a treament plan and work on your areas of concern. The mind is very powerful and we have so much more power over our body than we think we do, if we only let it happen.
