Kia Ora, my name is Cherie and I am the founder of Bayside Ka Huna Massage here in the beautiful Redlands on Quandamooka Country.
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my story & passions
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I am a Mother, a Wife, an Island girl by birth and an Earth girl by heart. I am a creative who is passionate about natural living and the art of traditional massage and healing practices.
My adult life has led me on many an adventure, travelling, working, studying, parenting - experiencing the richness of life.
I have have had a privileged upbringing, growing up on the Chatham Islands, 860 km east of New Zealand.
My Maori ancestors, being a resilient bunch, weathered huge seas and great storms to arrive and survive there.
Today, I continue to carry that connection to island and ancestry close to my heart.
When I am not massaging, gardening, yogi-ing, crafting or camping, I can be found in the kitchen baking and creating!
My qualifications & experience:
Life has led me down many interesting roads. My younger adult life has been an expansive, outward experience. Travelling, learning new skills, social play, creativity and dance… finding what makes me feel alive and connected in this world.
I grew up in a wild and organic environment so those qualities are ingrained in me as a person. It seems only natural that I would develop skills to support a holistic lifestyle.
Cooking and catering is where I began a working life which soon led to a passion of a ‘food as medicine’ approach. This led me to work in whole foods café’s and catering on yoga/massage training retreats.
A remedial massage diploma in the late 90’s led to an interest in other body work forms and yoga teaching.
Study and travel in India, Thailand, N.Z and Australia has added various tools to my belt.
The mid 00’s I embarked on the Ka Huna journey with Mette at High Spirits retreat, completing 6 of 7 levels. Working at Sydney’s Ka Huna centre and catering/supporting on the training retreats helped to solidify and develop my practice. Now, after 15 years practicing and the gathering of additional skills and insights my Ka Huna offerings are an authentic offering from my heart. Bringing the dance and fluidity of Ka Huna to you as my client, is the facilitation I offer so that you may experience your own magical healing.
In recent years, I completed a 9 month Zen Thai Shiatsu practitioner programme with Gwynn Williams from Nindery Healing Centre, Sunny Coast. This form has given me a more therapeutic view of how we work with the body. ZTS addresses structural needs via osteopathic techniques, energetic and psychological balancing via meridians and 5 element theory. Dynamic stretches and releases via Thai massage. It is a practice that takes some fine tuning and listening deeply in order to respond to clients needs. I invite you to come play!
Training and passions aside - The experience of trauma, loss/grief and the dis-regulation of my nervous system has led to a path of discovery and learning as well. The behaviours and health issues that have emerged because of this have led me to navigate my own healing journey. When one is faced with crippling physical and mental pain, one has to look deeper to find answers.
My interests lay with how we can better regulate and soothe the nervous system. How we can release the samskaras - old stories, behaviours and conditioning from our systems. Conscious movement and breathwork are
powerful tools that can open up pathways for healing and change.
Acknowledging our shadow self with understanding and compassion; and becoming curious and proactive about our health can soften the impact on our nervous system, easing the stress that overshadows mental and physical dis-ease.
My offerings of body work and nurturing come from skills learnt but also the experience and growth of my own healing journey.
I look forward to meeting and sharing a session with you soon.