Dr Zoë Pirie
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” Rumi
I’ve always been curious and particularly fascinated in people, which led me to study psychology at Sheffield University and complete a certificate in Counselling. Then a serious back injury in 1994 changed my life. The positive outcome was that the trauma and subsequent chronic pain led me to Shiatsu and Chi Gung, which I started practicing simply for my own health and happiness.
In 1994, I began a 3 year Diploma in Shiatsu with the British School of Shiatsu-Do (UK) and began teaching Traditional Chinese Medicine Do-In exercise classes in 1995. I passed the rigorous national Shiatsu Society UK Assessment to achieve membership status (MRSS) in 1999. I attend regular CPD events, including 4 years of the Shiatsu College Post Graduate Diploma in the early 2000s. I feel blessed that for over 25 years, I’ve studied and worked with so many inspirational Shiatsu teachers, all over the world.
I also trained as a Reiki and Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner in England and while living for 11 years in Germany, became a Yoga Teacher for both children and adults. My Zen Yoga training in Yoga with Dynamic Mindfulness blended Yoga with meditation and Buddhism.
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” Rumi
I’ve practiced meditation since the early 1990s, am qualified as a Mindful Meditation teacher and incorporate mindfulness into all of my treatments and courses. I’ve also completed Mindfulness Level 1 (Being Present) and Level 2 (Compassion) with the highly respected Mindfulness Association. I’m hoping to teach the 8 week Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) in Spring 2021.
I know I’m very lucky to find pleasure in my work. I find the people it connects me with fascinating and genuinely enjoy practicing and working together. We can learn something from every single person we meet and believe that we should find out what that is before we move on.
My body reminds me to move and stretch every day to ease aches and pains and prevent illness. I also need to pause and tune in regularly to my mind and heart to stay as balanced and positive as possible. I try to remember to practice mindfulness in daily life and make time for formal meditation and know this is not always easy! However, the benefits of mindful movement and calm stillness keep motivating me to carry on.
I hope I can help you make time for yourself and your well being. Warm wishes until then, Zoë 🙏🏼
Oliver Pirie
“A recipe has no soul, you as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.” Thomas Keller
I grew up in East Germany and was 16 years old when the wall came down. I qualified as a chef in 1990 and have extra training in catering with whole foods. As soon as possible, I joined my love of travelling with my career and have since worked in catering, usually for large scale events, all over the world. I am particularly interested in special diets such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, low sugar and carbs etc.
I always thought we should get essential nutrients from our food and never took vitamins or other supplements. In recent years, however, after much research, I have learned that the soil quality in our land and cleanliness of our waters have significantly disintegrated. Mass production and long distant transport of goods further reduces their potential to provide the nutrition we need. I have therefore found the best quality supplements and have been surprised and impressed with the many health benefits my family and I have noticed. I offer advice about these supplements and run guided detoxes and metabolic resets to many customers in England, Germany and further afield.
I am passionate about helping people improve their health through their diet, recommending cooking techniques, healthy recipes, regular detoxes and high quality supplements etc. I run cooking sessions in our weekend workshops, cater for our retreats and am really enjoying working 1-2-1 with customers.
