A Shiatsu collective in the heart of Brunswick

We are a team of shiatsu practitioners bringing this healing therapy to you by appointment.

If you can’t find a time online that works, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Meet the Team

Sarah Mackie Shiatsu Practitioner Portrait

  • (She/Her)
    Qualified Shiatsu, Qigong & Yoga practitioner

    Special interest in women’s health across all stages - from menstrual health to fertility and preconception care, through pregnancy, to postpartum and menopause.

    With further training in baby & children’s shiatsu, working with trauma, and traditional Japanese moxibustion.

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    Through my decades of practicing and then teaching yoga and qigong, I’ve been constantly curious to learn more about holistic ways of health care. I found my way to shiatsu through this persistent interest in Eastern Medicine.

    Shiatsu incorporates a manual therapeutic treatment that can leave your mind, body and soul feeling recalibrated and I love to see this connection in people. It also offers other tools (ie. cupping, guasha, moxa), as well as dietary or lifestyle guidance to assist this process on and off the futon.

    Sustainability is one of my key life values and shiatsu is a practise that is sustainable for me and the people who come into my care. I encourage using the body wisely to gently lean in and feel, and listen, rather than pressing with force. I meet your body and Qi where it is at.

    I tend towards a Zen flowing style and stretching approach to my treatments. However also integrate acupressure point work, sotai, tapping along with moxa, cupping or guasha where appropriate and desired. Food and movement are also two key areas of interest so we can find take home ways to support your primary goals, using my knowledge of qigong, yoga, somatic movement therapy and embodied ways of moving.

    I’m personally in the season of postpartum and parenting, and looking forward to connecting back with the Eve community and all new clients to Brunswick Shiatsu. This collective has been a dream since pre-pandemic and pregnancy/baby so I’m excited to see the space come alive with all our practitioners and clients.

    The collective is centered around creating a welcoming, respectful and safe space for you to come as you are. We’ll work together to address your primary concerns, whilst also looking at any potential underlying causes, and creating a rejuvenating treatment for you. I find there are often things that can seem unexplainable, or you might have tried everything with no success yet and with the application of East Asian Medical theory suddenly things can make total sense which creates a space or pattern to work with.

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    Training & Certification:

    • Traditional Japanese Moxibustion Therapy with Paul Movsession, 2022

    • Developmental Shiatsu for Babies - Advanced, with Karin Kalbantner-Wernicke, 2021

    • Developmental Shiatsu for Babies - Foundations, with Karin Kalbantner-Wernicke, 2021

    • Modern Qigong, Nicole Lee, 2020

    • Working with Trauma and Chronic Conditions, Bill Palmer and Terésa Hadland, 2020

    • Grad. Diploma of Shiatsu & Oriental Therapies, Australian Shiatsu College, 2020

    • Embodied Yin Yoga (50 hr), 2019

    • MyoFascial Fertility & Yin Yoga (100 hr), MPYT, 2018

    • Somatic Movement Therapy Module, Dr Scott Lyons, 2018

    • Embodied Flow Yoga Module, Tara Judelle, 2016

    • Understudy Qigong, Private Tutor, 2011-2013

    • Prenatal Yoga (48hr), Bliss Baby, 2011

    • Certificate IV Yoga Teaching (500hrs), Byron Yoga Centre, 2011

    • BFA (2009)

  • (She/Her)

    Jana Higgs is a Shiatsu and Oriental Therapies Facilitator and Yoga Teacher with over a decade of experience working and teaching in the wellness industry. She holds a Diploma in Shiatsu and Oriental Therapies and an Advanced Diploma in Yoga Teaching.

    After sustaining a chronic back injury in 2007, Jana turned to yoga and traditional Chinese medicine, adopting their practices and restoring her health. When integrating Asana (postures), pranayama (breath) and meditation into her daily life, Jana found immense physical, mental and emotional benefits, eventually leading to teacher training at The Australian Academy of Yoga Learning in Melbourne and later the Australian Shiatsu College.

    Jana currently works as a Hatha and Yin yoga teacher and Shiatsu practitioner. She offers Shiatsu treatments incorporating palm palpating, acupoints, stretches, sotai, barefoot Shiatsu and classical Shiatsu (finger pressure along meridian lines). Additional therapies such as cupping, moxibustion and guasha are also used throughout treatments when appropriate.

    The modality of Shiatsu coupled with Jana’s extensive yogic knowledge helps people address physical and energetic blocks, assisting the body to rejuvenate and release while restoring and balancing Qi.

    Through an incredibly nurturing space, Jana brings people back into connection with their bodies ensuring they feel safe, seen and supported in their well-being journey. Many of Jana’s clients comment on how compassionate and heart centred her work is. She puts people at ease while holding a loving and gentle space.

    Jana’s ongoing professional development includes trauma-informed care as well as chronic and mental health support. She treats in an LGBTQIA+ friendly space and celebrates people of all different backgrounds, genders, sexualities and cultures.

  • She/Her

    Shiatsu & Oriental Therapies

    I am passionate about helping others find a sustainable health routine that suits their lifestyle. I achieve this through listening to what the body needs, nurturing the body through treatments, bringing awareness back into the body and giving self-help homework such as stretches, diet, and minor lifestyle changes that are achievable for people with busy lifestyles.

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    As a migrant in Australia, I faced numerous challenges when starting a new life in Australia. I was unaware of the toll it took on my body as stress silently affected me. However, in 2017, I found solace in Shiatsu and oriental therapies. These healing practices have relieved my stress, restored balance to my body, and revitalized my overall health. I learnt to be more attentive to how my daily diet and lifestyle choices impact my body. I eventually realised that some of the ailments I believed to be recent actually began during my childhood, but I was unaware of the recurring pattern.

    Through Shiatsu, I figured out how to easily incorporate quick and simple health routines into my busy schedule and lifestyle. This has allowed me to enjoy better health and well-being. I’m passionate about sharing what I learned from my own experience with others and hope it will benefit them too.

    I understand and appreciate the diversity among my clients, recognising the variations in their culture, perspectives, values, diet, and lifestyles. This understanding guides me as I customise my treatments and advice to suit their individual needs. Many of my clients have praised my ability to

    target specific areas that they hadn’t even realised were problematic. They especially love how refreshed and revitalised they feel after their sessions.

    I approach my clients with compassion and understanding, ensuring that they feel safe, nurtured, and supported throughout their treatments. Creating a non-judgmental space in the clinic is incredibly important to me. Here, clients can take the time they need to connect with their bodies, reflect on their health and well-being honestly, and let go of self-critical thoughts like “I should have” or “I shouldn’t have” I firmly believe that this space allows clients to view their health in a new light and discover a well-being approach that truly suits them and their preferred lifestyles.

Our Values

  • We are grateful to work and live on the sacred lands of the Wurundjeri woi worrong people of the Kulin nation. We acknowledge the living wisdom of this land, and pay respects to and stand in solidarity with traditional custodians in their campaign for human rights, land back and decolonisation. In a commitment to paying the rent, we contribute to local First Nations owned and led organisations.

  • We honour and pay respects to the lineages of East Asian Medicine and Shiatsu, acknowledging the ancient roots and the living traditions that continue to thrive, as well as the teachers and practitioners who have come before us.

    We respect the privilege to be practicing an indigenous medicine from a culture that is not our own.

    We recognise that spiritual practices are not ours to own, misuse or appropriate, and that it is our responsibility to practice and share with humility.

  • The collective is centred around creating a welcoming, respectful & safe space for you to come as you are. We deeply value your trust in sharing with us. Privacy & confidentiality are upheld by each practitioner, as well as with secure digital filing system.

  • Materials sourced second hand or from sustainable sources.

    Our clinic’s carbon footprint is offset with Greenfleet. They plant legally protected native forests which reduce the impacts of climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere. These forests also improve soil and water quality, and restore habitat for koalas and other native and endangered wildlife.