Qualifications:
- Care-giver for the elderly, end of life care, and disability support Horse “whisperer”
- Gentling Way practitioner,
- ConTact CARE Practitioner,
- Equine and Human (I also joyfully work with dogs and cats)
- Connective tissue massage (my own hybrid combination of GW and ConTact CARE principles)
- Bachelor of Psychology
- Masters of Child and Family Psychology (honours)
Her Story
I have a life history in seeking true wellbeing. I was brought up in an evangelical church and willingly assented to a devoted Christian patriarchal faith until age 27. Since then (now nearing 38) I have let it go and painstakingly continue to weed out the remains. These days my mantra is to go where life thrives & trust in my own wisdom.
I have been able to combine food, movement and bodywork to bring healing to my own anxiety, abdominal pain, constipation, back pain, chronic fatigue and mild uterine prolapse. And to find a life where I earn my living doing a vocation rather than just a job.
I have spent the past ten years learning who I am and would have become in the absence of spiritual coercion and fear.
This journey began in 2017 when I was trying to make a living doing food preparation. I was floundering. I’d recently burned out after moving cities for a job I disliked. Having quit…I was attempting to reinvent my life. Or just find myself.
Finding Heather’s Gentling Way was a step in the right direction. It began with Heather asking me to offer my catering services in exchange for learning. I did not yet know that I could heal with my hands. It was an unexpected discovery, for one who had expected to move into talk therapy.
Heather is my aunt. I am very thankful for the wisdom and technical healing skills I learned from her. Heather did not ask for years of institutionalisation, or the right pieces of paper – as my psych degree demanded.
She believes in the wisdom gained through living. I will be forever grateful for her command to just do the work. Don’t play the not-good-enough-game. I was desperate enough and confident enough in my lineage, that I did start. Also, for the sense of rightness, contentment and presence I experienced when working on someone. This was unlike anything I’d experienced before. I still had to cook and clean on the side for a while. But my practice has grown.
By chance, I discovered ConTact C.A.R.E., a remarkable modality for addressing just about anything. At its basic core, we work with pressure. We find and release the trapped trauma signature (felt as pressure, density, stagnation) from bone, in order to bring the body back into proper alignment and function. I use these modalities together or separately, depending on the purpose for which individuals come to my clinic.
I currently live north of Auckland in a cosy tiny house of my own design. My passion is horses and my connection with my own horse is very special to me. My practice is called “Restore Flow”. In my work, I combine releasing the traumatic imprint of injuries in bones, with unwinding scar tissue, moving lymph, muscular tension and encouraging subtlety in the fascia. I am currently developing a new protocol for unwinding the emotional entanglement found in physical blockages. A worthy use for my psych degree!
Keren Donaldson
Contacts:
0276188500
restoreflow@outlook.com
Instagram: @restoreflow
Facebook: Restore Flow: Abdominal, Sacral Therapy and ConTact CARE