Heal, recharge, revive
Alternative healing is becoming more and more mainstream. UNO looks at three thriving Bay businesses focusing on innovative therapies to help people heal and transform their wellbeing.
Alternative healing is becoming more and more mainstream. UNO looks at three thriving Bay businesses focusing on innovative therapies to help people heal and transform their wellbeing.
Massage at Hands On Healing.
Into the light
Burnout led Ange Ellison to discover holistic healing – now she’s helping others with Red Light Therapy.
Ange Ellison knows firsthand how frustrating it can be to feel unheard by conventional medicine. That’s what led her to explore alternative therapies, and ultimately, to create Gaia Wellness in Pāpāmoa. Specialising in Red Light Therapy, Ange helps people dealing with chronic pain, exhaustion, and skin concerns find relief in a space designed for effortless self-care. From full-body red light therapy and infrared sauna and ice baths to Power Plate technology, Gaia Wellness offers science-backed treatments aimed at restoring energy and promoting recovery. We sat down with Ange to learn more about how it works and why her clients keep coming back.
How did you get into alternative therapies?
I used to try to do it all – attempting to be ‘superwoman’, constantly juggling all the things. But over time, I realised it isn’t sustainable in the long run. The conventional medical system told me that feeling completely exhausted 24/7 was just part of being a full-time working mum. While I had always known about alternative and holistic therapies, I was led to believe they were ineffective or ‘woo-woo’. But in the end it was these therapies that truly helped me, and they continue to support me to this day.
What are the benefits of Red Light Therapy and how does it work?
The benefits of Red Light Therapy are extensive. Some of the main reasons people try it are for recovery, skin issues, body and bone aches, and because they are desperate to find relief after being told by conventional medicine to “suck it up“ and live with it.
The simple way Red Light Therapy works is that our cells need energy and light to help us function, but modern lifestyles often deprive them of this. The wavelengths of Red Light Therapy deliver this energy to our cells, allowing the body to prioritise its use where it’s needed most. While this is amazing, it can sometimes be frustrating for clients who want it to target a specific issue, but the body determines another priority.
Describe your typical client.
We have a variety of clients — young, not-so-young, sporty, mums, corporates, male, female. It suits everyone except those who are pregnant, as there is no research confirming its safety during pregnancy. One of my clients initially came for tennis elbow treatment but now returns three times a week, simply to enjoy 20 minutes of uninterrupted relaxation.
What are your most FAQs?
What do I wear in the Red Light Therapy? The more skin exposed, the better, but comfort is key. You have the room to yourself, so you can go naked if you’re comfortable or wear underwear.
Why does it smell so good in here? That could be me! Or the diffuser in the chill-out space, the essential oils for the sauna, or the diffuser in the entrance.
What made you open this? My experiences led me to create a space where self-care is effortless. Once you reach burnout, it’s a long and hard road back. I wanted a place where people can just turn up, with everything provided, so they don’t have to think about what to bring.
Are there any side effects?
More energy, better sleep, tiredness if your body needs rest, improved skin, reduced pain, and decreased inflammation.
How much does a typical session cost?
A one-off session at Gaia is $60. Our Red Light Therapy is full-body. We offer concessions and memberships for more cost-effective options.
Healing hands
Rachel Hyatt’s FaceUp therapy blends massage, myofascial release, and lymphatic drainage for transformative results.
With 15 years of experience as a therapeutic massage therapist, Rachel Hyatt has always been passionate about helping people feel their best. But after discovering the FaceUp method, her approach to treatment changed entirely.
Combining techniques like myofascial release and lymphatic drainage, FaceUp works holistically to ease tension, reduce stress, and refresh the face. We caught up with Rachel to learn more about this innovative therapy and the impact it’s having on her clients.
How did you get into alternative therapies?
I’ve been a therapeutic massage therapist for around 15 years, working alongside different chiropractic clinics in Tauranga. I saw Olga’s (FaceUp method) work online and thought, “Wow, I want to train in this technique.” I completed her FaceUp training in November 2023, and it completely transformed my approach to treating people.
What are the benefits, and how does it work?
FaceUp is an algorithm of different techniques, including lymphatic drainage, myofascial release, and massage. It works physically, spiritually, and mentally, releasing tension, stagnation, and stress from the face. Clients leave feeling depuffed, less stressed, lifted, and tension-free.
Describe your typical client. Does it suit certain people and why?
Anyone can benefit from it — men and women alike.
What are your most FAQs?
How can I get rid of jaw pain, elevens (frown lines), forehead wrinkles, double chin, headaches, and a tight neck?
FaceUp helps to alleviate these issues by targeting tension and improving circulation in the face and neck. I also do buccal massage, which is inside the mouth, for jaw pain and joint issues.
Are there any side effects?
No.
How much does a typical session cost?
$250.
Go with the flow
Flowology’s Karen Gemmell helps clients restore balance and vitality through Flowpresso’s deeply relaxing therapy.
After facing burnout and menopausal symptoms, Karen Gemmell discovered the power of Flowpresso therapy — and it changed everything. Inspired by her personal results, she trained in the technique and co-founded Flowology Wellness, helping others access its deeply restorative benefits. Known for enhancing lymphatic function, Flowpresso combines compression, deep pressure and heat, to support relaxation, recovery and rejuvenation.
Whether clients seek stress relief, better sleep, or overall wellbeing, Karen’s approach to holistic health offers a path to balance and renewal. We spoke with her to find out how Flowpresso works and why people are embracing this cutting-edge therapy.
How did you get into alternative therapies?
In 2019, after experiencing significant burnout and menopausal symptoms, I was introduced to lymphatic specialist and Flowpresso creator, Desiree De Spong. The therapy had a profound impact on my health, and when it officially launched in February 2020, I trained as a Flowpresso technician and co-founded Flowology Wellness with Desiree.
Karen Gemmell.
What are the benefits, and how does it work?
Flowpresso delivers a sensation similar to a gentle full-body embrace, combining compression, deep pressure hugs, and thermodynamic heat. It fosters beneficial flow, activating the body’s natural healing mode to calm the mind, promote relaxation, and enhance lymphatic function. It helps reduce stress, fatigue, fluid retention and inflammation while restoring energy and improving sleep.
Describe your typical client.
Flowpresso is ideal for those seeking a holistic, non-invasive wellness approach. It benefits busy professionals, exhausted parents, menopausal women, frequent travelers, those with ongoing conditions, and athletes seeking muscle recovery.
What are your most FAQs?
What should I wear to a Flowpresso session?
Loose, comfortable clothing such as long sleeves, full-length pants, and socks.
How many sessions are recommended?
Typically, three to six sessions for noticeable benefits, with regular sessions for optimal long-term wellness.
Why should I support mind and body flow?
Enhancing natural lymphatic, mind, and body flow has wide-ranging benefits for long-term health, such as boosting detoxification, immune function and autonomic balance.
Are there any side effects?
Some people may experience mild detox symptoms like headaches or fatigue, but these are temporary.
How much does a typical session cost?
$85 for a 40-minute therapy session.
Under pressure
A revolutionary sensory therapy is bringing clients a deep sense of wellbeing and inner peace.
A revolutionary sensory therapy is bringing clients a deep sense of wellbeing and inner peace.
Words Monique Balvert-O’Connor
Desiree De Spong loves how her working life is strongly focussed on offering people the chance to be wrapped up and supported, to feel warm, relaxed, calm and even healed.
All that is possible thanks to Desiree’s knowledge of the body’s lymphatic system and her associated desire to help facilitate life-changing results for a variety of people.
The Tauranga woman is a lymphatic specialist and developer and designer of Flowpresso®. Flowpresso, Desiree explains, is a sensory therapy system designed to reset the body’s physiology to support healing and general health.
The system is a result of Desiree’s desire to combine holistic therapy with scientific rigour, driven by a conviction that lymphatic therapy offers “a missing link in health”.
Essentially, Desiree tells, Flowpresso the product is a special bodysuit – one that comprises individual chambers that inflate in sequence and cover the legs, abdomen, arms and torso. It is non-invasive natural therapy, with reclining clients remaining clothed while enjoying a sensory treatment based on compression, thermodynamic heat and deep pressure (“pressure of a good kind”). Hence the feeling of being wrapped up, hugged and calmed.
Among those endorsing the suit is our constabulary. A research study, which involved 135 first responder candidates, showed the suit improved sleep by 92 percent, reduced stress by 63 percent and reduced anxiety by 55 percent. The WBOP Police became early adopters – that was two years ago – and remain users. Following their lead were other first responders, such as nurses and firefighters – people dealing with community stress and then their own. Referrals also come from counsellors, psychologists and others within the health field.
So, what’s the magic behind this suit? Flowpresso’s purpose is to release toxins, switch off the body’s fight-or-flight mechanisms, and encourage a rest and repair state, which is the optimum state required for a body’s healing process. Time in the suit once per week for three weeks is recommended.
For Desiree, Flowpresso is the realisation of her dream to create an evidence-based therapy that helps with mental health and sleep crisis.
It’s a field that’s a far cry from what she did in her “past life”: She worked in IT and finance for the NZ Fire Service.
“I made the change as I wanted to be involved in something that helped people. I became spellbound when I attended workshops in lymphatics. It was like a lightning bolt moment, as I saw lymphatics as the missing
link in health,” says Desiree, who went on to train in the USA and Australia.
She’s been a lymphatic specialist for two decades now, constantly building upon what she can offer. Flowpresso is a relatively new development, resulting from extensive worldwide study of existing technologies and their efficacy. This keen entrepreneur soon realised she would need to design an effective device and develop an initial prototype.
The first Flowpresso suit was manufactured only four years ago. Updates and refinements followed and the full Flowpresso system was launched in February 2020 with support from NZ Trade and Enterprise.
Close to 500,000 sessions per year are going on in the world now, Desiree tells. Exports are predominantly to the USA, Australia and the outskirts of Europe. In the USA alone, the suits are used in about 240 clinics and donned by those in law enforcement there too. Desiree has been hosted on a couple of occasions at the NZ Embassy in the USA to speak to those involved in defence, homeland security, law enforcement and firefighting.
Back home, Desiree and fellow wellbeing advocate Karen Gemmell, own Neuro Bar (with Tauranga, Te Puna and Matamata clinics) where Flowpresso therapy is available. Other clinics have purchased the suits, so Flowpresso is available in various locations nationwide.
Creating something pivotal in facilitating people to experience positive change in their lives is the best thing ever, Desiree says. "It's heart-touching and I’m elated. Users talk about how relaxed they feel after a session – some hadn’t necessarily realised how stressed they were. People say they’ve noticed improved sleep quality and energy, and a decreased stress response. Many feel they’ve been hugged all over.”
“Among other things, hugs release the feel-good hormone, but a lot of people don’t have access to hugs. And as the saying goes, we need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance, and 12 for growth,” Desiree smiles.