Profession: Medical Doctor, Audiologist, Wayapa Wuurrk Practioner

Qualifications: BSc (Hons), M Clin Aud, MD, Dip Wayapa Wuurrk

Special Interests: Clients with intellectual, physical and mental health challenges

Scope of Work: I mainly work with individuals in private sessions. I am currently renovating my facilities and looking to introduce small group sessions by the end of 2018. In partnership with one of my fellow practitioners, Stephanie May, I have submitted a proposal to conduct a Wayapa Wuurrk Workshop at the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association Conference in September 2018.

Wayapa in my life:

Wayapa Wuurrk has been a unifying practice for ideas and convictions that I have been working towards for a number of years including: connecting with nature, walking softly on the planet, caring for the environment, minimising consumerism and working co-operatively as a community.

What is unique about Wayapa is the movement practice which helps the mind focus on the elements of nature and our connection to biosphere. It is an active meditative practice, and therefore ideal for individuals who find it difficult to completely still themselves. Sara Lazar, a Harvard Neuroscientist, has demonstrated through brain scans that meditation not only reduces stress but literally changes the brain. She has documented increased gray matter in the sensory regions of meditators, likely due to the attention to breathing, sounds and experience of the moment.

The Wayapa movements encourage the same mindfulness. Additional findings included more gray matter in the frontal cortex which is associated with working memory and executive decision making. The movements of Wayapa also provide important exercise for holistic well-being. These movements not only cycle through the elements of life but provide balanced stretching across major muscle groups.