{"id":1977,"date":"2024-04-26T11:23:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T23:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kapitichamber.org.nz\/?p=1977"},"modified":"2024-04-26T11:32:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T23:32:30","slug":"a-passion-for-wellbeing-new-zealand-native-oils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kapitichamber.org.nz\/a-passion-for-wellbeing-new-zealand-native-oils\/","title":{"rendered":"A Passion for Wellbeing – New Zealand Native Oils"},"content":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s a beautiful spot that celebrates its natural surroundings with timber cladding, lots of greenery, and the shop\u2019s water feature embracing you with the peaceful sound of running water as you step through the door. And it\u2019s all here because Maria Brocklebank followed her passion for understanding traditional plant medicine practices.<\/p>\n
The products themselves are gorgeous, but the experience of shopping in this purpose-built haven is a sensory delight that represents Maria\u2019s own holistic health journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpirituality and meditation is so powerful for healing and feeling good. I have always intuitively felt that. So when I found myself in the depths of depression after going through cancer treatment in my early 40s, I knew it was the mental that needed the most fixing, not the physical.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As a young girl, Maria says she was always interested in making things and experimenting with blending natural ingredients, which she\u2019d bottle up and give to family and friends. But a career in IT took flight first, so it wasn\u2019t until Maria had become a mother, survived cancer, and relocated with her cabinet-maker husband to start a native plant nursery in K\u0101piti that she decided it was time to explore that intriguing pathway.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong the way I did take some skincare and aromatherapy classes, following the things that captured my attention. I felt drawn to it. When we opened the nursery, I ended up having to do a lot of research for the native plants, which opened up the fascinating world of traditional plant medicine with a New Zealand lens, and I was hooked.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At the same time, Maria and her husband Gary were learning about his ancestors, with his great-great-great-grandmother being one of the last full-blooded Moriori. Through this research, they learned of the similarities between traditional plant medicine practices including rongo\u0101. When it came time to formalise NZ Native Oils<\/a> as a retail business, the couple sought permission to use the recognisable Moriori symbol as part of their brand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a wonderful connection that we uncovered through Gary\u2019s family, which was an uncanny spiritual connection to my own journey. I think if you can show what you\u2019re doing is true and done with respect, and that I can be authentic about the way I am sharing it, it comes down to \u2026 I am a proud person of this land, and I utilise its incredible natural benefits for others to enjoy and find relief.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n