Olivia Ross is a beauty therapist, massage therapist, reflexologist, and Karuna Reiki healer at Manaaki Wellbeing.
Her approach as a holistic therapist is to provide a neutral, calm and safe space for each client to explore their individual needs by offering treatments like facials, skin rejuvenation, body therapies, and energy healing therapies.
How do you determine which treatment is most suitable for your client?
From a holistic viewpoint, it’s about working synergistically to support each client’s wellbeing through their interests and goals. Usually, it’s just a case of active listening, and other times I may be intuitively guided to suggest alternative treatments such as reflexology, or the BioPulse Detox Foot Spa. No one treatment is the same, as every client’s needs are specific to them – whether that be skin needs, body needs, health concerns, or emotional needs. Here at Manaaki Wellbeing our primary focus is to encompass holistic wellbeing on all levels, whether that be physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or all of the above.
Can you tell us about Karuna Reiki, and where this practice comes from?
Karuna Reiki means ‘an action that is taken to diminish the suffering of others’; it can also be defined as the reiki of compassion. Karuna Reiki is healing energy which assists us in awakening universal compassion and the wisdom in one’s soul. When combined with energy, our state of consciousness in compassion has a great transformational power. Karuna Reiki is derived from a collection of ‘additional symbols’ where some came along with attunement processes. Although many of the symbols used in Karuna Reiki are similar as those used in other systems and schools, the intention and attunement of Karuna Reiki is different, and the energies connected to it are unique to the system.
What first drew you to this practice?
The concept of compassion, unconditional love, and spiritual evolution. I was initially influenced by a former spa teacher at Elite International School of Beauty & Spa Therapies, who introduced me to her reiki master. She recognised my enthusiasm for holistic wellbeing and suggested that I would make a great reiki healer. As an empath, I knew this was something I wanted to be able to offer to all of my clients as my personal gift, regardless of what treatment they’d booked.
What are the healing properties of Karuna Reiki?
Karuna Reiki techniques assist in healing or facilitating of: addictive behaviours; allergies; anxiety; chakra balancing; chemotherapy; developing healthy habits; karmic issues; mental focus and grounding; physical injuries and emergencies; resistance to healing; and spiritual growth. What Karuna Reiki does for us, in part, is help our energy system become more fully activated.
Reiki treatments are wonderful to give and have taught me many lessons, such as the value of trust. I have learned when giving a treatment it is best to just let the energy flow on its own and not try to control it. Reiki has consciousness of its own and knows where to go and what to do.
The most rewarding part of your job?
That’s easy! It is the pure satisfaction of serving others. It’s giving that one person an entire 60-, 90-, or 120-minute treatment of undivided time and attention. Of giving complete focus to them, their needs, their wishes, their goals, and an often-well-deserved time out from the hustle and bustle of their everyday lives. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
