Introducing Kate O’ Brien to BelleVIVE. Kate is a Dietitian, Spa & Skincare Specialist, and Author who will be sharing “Lessons from Lockdown” to our exclusive BelleVIVE community. Watch this space, as Kate will be introducing renowned global healers in the industry in her series of interviews in “Lessons from Lockdown”.
About Kate: Born and educated in Galway, Ireland, Kate followed her dream of moving to Hong Kong and worked for medical publications and as a freelance journalist for Asia Spa magazine, slowly and organically immersing herself in the growing spa and wellness scene that at that time was at the forefront of the global Spa industry. Her growing love of skincare and wellness formed the foundations for her role as a Spa and Wellness professional. Kate returned to Ireland in 2014 after close to 20 years embracing Asia’s timeless cultures. She is a qualified dietitian with a post-graduate diploma in Cosmetic Science and through her career in London, Dublin, Singapore and Hong Kong, she has become a respected writer on lifestyle, skincare and spa culture. Kate has written 9 books, her most recent, GLOW: Your Complete Four Week Plan for healthy radiant skin was published in 2018. Kate writes with various magazines including Conde Nast Traveller and Tatler UK (Spa), Asia Spa, Wander magazine (US), Vacations & Travel(Australia) and The Gloss magazine with the Irish Times (Ireland). She is founding judge of the prestigious annual Asia Spa awards and judge of the Australian Association of Travel Writers Awards.
Kate shares, “Over the years I have been fortunate enough to spend time with some of the world’s leading healers, therapists and wisdom keepers. I have learned a lot, much of which is coming to the fore during these challenging times. Here, in the first of an occasional series of interviews, these wise folk offer trusted advice that might just help us all deal with life as we now know it.”
First up is intuitive therapist Roger Moore who has been on the wellness scene in the UK and Asia for over 30 years. A multidisciplinary therapist, he has studied under the most respected Masters and shamans in both the Western and Eastern schools of wellness and seamlessly blends his knowledge with hands-on manual therapies and profound spiritual philosophy, in a uniquely grounded approach that helps his clients realise the happiness and joy in life.
Now home in the UK, Moore was living in Phuket during the 2004 tsunami that stole the lives of a few close friends. He devoted months to helping families of victims come to terms with their losses and through all of this witnessed amazing human sacrifice and compassion. He believes that the horrific tragedy brought out the best in people. “This virus can do the same. For me this is a wake up call – a forced meditation on the self and we need to make the most of it. I believe that if this didn’t happen we would not have a planet to inhabit in 20 years time –as it just couldn’t continue to sustain the excessive lives we were leading. Once we get over the fear, we can learn a big lesson.”
Small Things
His advice is to approach these times through the eyes of learning. “Small things make for great results, so ask yourself what small changes you can make, every day, to make this world a better place in the aftermath of the virus and for future generations. To be alive now is a very humbling experience. We have the time to do those things we always said we never had time for. We have no more excuses. It’s like the universe is telling us that we have been complaining for too long about the lack of time.”
Weeding the negativity
Along with many others, Moore is spending time in his garden. “We need to dig deep and get our hands dirty to separate the weeds from the plants. “Let’s use this time to pull out the weeds in our own lives too – clearing the negative thoughts than can rule our minds. Dig deep, pull out the rotting roots, discard them as you do garden weeds, leaving space for our dreams and aspirations to flourish and as we become better human beings, we will once again start to see the joy in life. What is holding us back?”
Our environment is cleaning up too, with fewer planes flying, dolphins once again frolicking along our coastlines, the sky is bluer and clearer, birds are happily singing and scientists are telling us that the ozone layer is beginning its deep repair. “Everything as been reset: It almost seems like the earth is needing this time to heal and this time, we are helping her.”
In the words of ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (a quote that has got me through many challenging periods in my own life), ‘this too shall pass.’ “Yes, it will pass,” Moore adds, “and when we come out the other side, the outcome will be for the better. It has to be. After all, no light can shine as bright as one in the darkness – and this is what we have the opportunity to do now. Be patient, work on yourself and know that the impact we have on one another is our greatest gift.”
Kate O’Brien’s new book “GLOW ” is now available.
For more information visit kateobrienwellness @kateobrienwellness
