Editor’s note: The open house originally reported for Saturday, Sept. 25, has been postponed to mid-October, date TBD.
By Connie Leinbach
The body is a map of our experiences and the three women of the Ocracoke Wellness Collective want to help islanders and visitors get more in touch with their bodies.
The women, who each have independent businesses inside the pool house of the Castle B&B at 155 Silver Lake Drive, are offering more than just spa services.
They are Kate McNally, Brooke German and Callie Davisson.
“This is a central space for wellness and mindfulness to happen,” said German, as the three recently talked about their vision.
While they are a collective, each woman has something different to offer since not every therapist is going to be the right fit for an individual.
“Someone may prefer Callie’s style of bodywork over mine, or if they don’t necessarily feel comfortable with a lot of touch, Brooke may be a better fit,” McNally said. “Either way, we all have our own unique qualities. I just love that there are different elements to what we’re offering.”
German offers non-invasive sound therapy with Tibetan singing bowls and other instruments.
“The sound does the work,” she said about what she does. “The sound and its vibrations literally slows the body and the mind down enabling the person to enter deep relaxation, which is the goal.”
When you enter that deep relaxation, the brain waves slow down, and that’s where the magic starts to happen, she said.
“When you get mentally and physically at that state, you’re giving the nervous system time to repair,” she said.
A lot of research shows, she said, that when you can get to that deep point of relaxation — when the brain basically becomes quiet — the body it wants to rejuvenate itself.
McNally offers massage therapy and herbal consultations, having recently received her certificate of completion from the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine for her Live Oak Tea & Botanicals business.
Like many locals who have more than one job, McNally also teaches yoga and performs at several local restaurants, as does German, who plays the cello and sings with her husband, Nick Derrick.
“Collectively, the three of us can kind of combine forces and maybe empower clients to facilitate a sense of wellbeing,” McNally said. “We give them the tools that they need to keep that going, as opposed to just having to invest a small fortune in seeing us every week.”
“Listening to your body is not really a thing that we learn,” McNally said.
So, the three want clients to stop and breathe, and have a dedication to taking care of yourself.
“I like to tell my clients that it took longer than an hour for this to happen,” Davisson said. “It’s going to take longer than one hour for it to undo.”
She specializes in “lomi lomi,” or Hawaiian style massage, which involves long strokes up and down the body; a lot of figure eights; stretching. “There’s just a lot of movement to it.”
She does Reiki and foot reflexology and plans to learn cranial-sacral.
McNally offers Swedish deep tissue with a little bit of trigger point and myofascial integrated.
Her specialty is Thai massage in which the client is fully clothed, on the floor and on a mat. “There’s no oil, and there’s a lot of rhythmic compression and gentle rocking and passive range of motion,” she said. “It’s almost like passive yoga.”
For services, each therapist has her own number from which to make appointments.
Kate McNally: 828-768-7800; Callie Davisson: 252-944-7974; Brooke German: 757-275-6897.
