10/02/2025
Why I became a Massage Therapist, Aromatherapist and Holistic Counsellor
I became interested in holistic health when I was 19 years old, after experiencing many years of chronic digestive problems, skin issues, chronic pain, sleep issues, and fatigue.
As I began researching food and nutrition, herbs, and essential oils my passion grew. However, I knew this wasn't the complete picture. We also need to work on the body and nervous system, and address the emotions and psyche.
When I was 22 years old, I started working for Endeavour College of Natural Health as a student admin officer and advisor. I knew I was in the right place and it was time to do more study, and I was having difficulty choosing because of my varied interests. I was drawn to Holistic Counselling, Massage, Aromatherapy and Naturopathy.
At the time I had chronic pain in my right shoulder and so I started receiving massages. After just 1 month the pain was gone and with continued treatment, the pain did not return.
After a few massages, my body began to relax more and more, as I learned to trust receiving therapeutic touch. As I was lying on the massage table one day after receiving a relaxation massage, it occurred to me that it was the first time I actually felt deeply relaxed in my life!
Soon, I was experiencing very deep relaxation states, including deep Theta / meditative states. My body benefited from regular massages - not just for releasing tension and pain, but also managing stress, and releasing feel good hormones - serotonin and oxytocin.
It wasn't long before I decided to study both massage and aromatherapy at the same time, realising I could make people feel good for a living! How sweet is that?!
Essential oils are great for mood, support for different emotions, grounding, letting go, as well as the physiological benefits for tight muscles, hormones, digestion, sleep, etc.
I am so grateful to be able to help people by relieving pain, tension, stress and anxiety, as well as for emotional support. I am most grateful to all of my clients that have supported my business over the years.
I am new to the Sunshine Coast, and I'm thankful to have clients here who appreciate my work, and to hear that it makes a difference to their lives. I look forward to supporting a whole lot more of you!
As I worked on many bodies over the years, I could clearly see that we tend to hold tension and stress in the body not just generally from work and activities, but also from emotions that have gotten stuck - at the time we didn't allow them to flow through fully.
This lead me to study five element acupressure as a way to release energy blocks from the meridians and bring balance. I often include some acupoints with massage as they are needed.
Later on, I also realised I had anxiety, and complex PTSD.
I was not content to go through life experiencing anxiety on a daily basis. So I went searching for more answers and discovered that chronic stress / abuse / trauma in childhood leads to poor health outcomes later on, and conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain, digestion issues, sleep issues, etc. Basically all of my symptoms were a symptom of unhealed trauma.
I studied a Diploma in Holistic Counselling which in addition to giving me knowledge based on the latest science, exposed me to many helpful modalities: Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), Family Constellations, Structural Constellations, Emotional Freedom Technique, and so much more.
I worked with a few practitioners of Holistic Counselling, as well as an embodiment meditation teacher, diving deep into my core wounds and trauma. As I worked directly with the energies in my nervous system, safely - little bits at a time, gradually my inner experience shifted and the anxiety left. My health improved a lot. I also came more into life, wanting to experience so much more - not limited by anxiety or trauma anymore.
Later, I delved into the world of breathwork, and for many years I have also been doing kundalini yoga and hatha yoga, which have been immensely supportive. Holistic health is about addressing the issue through mind, emotions, body and soul. It is also about preventative care - encouraging good health for life.
Welcome to my Holistic Massage Therapy clinic. Perhaps you will come for bodywork, or maybe at some time you will come to address some deeper issues that lead to physical issues. Either way I am here to support you, so that your body can heal itself, naturally, and you can feel better and better everyday.
Much love and blessings,
Bella Aurora Starr
