To make an appointment or subscribe to my monthly-ish newsletter - pop a message to nat@natashamathis.com
or 64 27 6282547
beginnings
Massage
My massage journey was a little like becoming a yoga teacher - a happy accident. For years Dan had offered massage through the yoga studios I ran and kept encouraging me to learn. Doing formal training while running a busy studio didn't work out so I apprenticed to him and found that my knowledge of anatomy from teaching yoga was as handy as my ability to notice what was going on in a body. I didn't fall in love with massage until I moved home to Napier, I admit and when an opportunity to massage for a local spa arrived, I was still a bit apprehensive. Making the transition from yoga being centre stage to massage, took a little bit of time and a lot of encouragement from the people under my hands.
I've nicknamed the massages 'Little Feather' suggested by a dear friend. Rather than elbows and thumbs, they are slow, deep, whole hand massages that have a healing/nurturing aspect to them. As I'm writing this I am about to begin offering foot scrubs and face masks to add a touch of luxury, trialing a locally produced range I am in the midst of falling for. These offerings are not for tane/men as their bodies respond differently to this kind of touch. Don't be fooled, the tension still melts away, it's just done slowly and gives the body a chance to integrate along the way.
Yoga
Crafting
My massage journey was a little like becoming a yoga teacher - a happy accident. For years Dan had offered massage through the yoga studios I ran and kept encouraging me to learn. Doing formal training while running a busy studio didn't work out so I apprenticed to him and found that my knowledge of anatomy from teaching yoga was as handy as my ability to notice what was going on in a body. I didn't fall in love with massage until I moved home to Napier, I admit and when an opportunity to massage for a local spa arrived, I was still a bit apprehensive. Making the transition from yoga being centre stage to massage, took a little bit of time and a lot of encouragement from the people under my hands.
I've nicknamed the massages 'Little Feather' suggested by a dear friend. Rather than elbows and thumbs, they are slow, deep, whole hand massages that have a healing/nurturing aspect to them. As I'm writing this I am about to begin offering foot scrubs and face masks to add a touch of luxury, trialing a locally produced range I am in the midst of falling for. These offerings are not for tane/men as their bodies respond differently to this kind of touch. Don't be fooled, the tension still melts away, it's just done slowly and gives the body a chance to integrate along the way.
Yoga
In 1993, I found my way to the Massey University Meditation Society, unaware that before we meditated we would do some stretches that have now become synonymous with yoga. I couldn't touch my toes, my knees started out around my ears in anything vaguely cross legged, and I discovered that my spine didn't bend much at all. Somehow a love of yoga was born.
In 2005 a friend who managed a gym asked if I could teach the Sunday yoga class.
'No,' I replied with some incredulity. I had no training and didn't see myself as anywhere near flexible enough to be a teacher.
'I'll put the playlist together for you.' Was her reply and that's how teaching began.
I realised that not being the most flexible in the room was an advantage. I had, had to pull the poses apart to be able to do them, working out what was preventing me from moving. I had a background in anatomy so things made sense. Most of all, I discovered, as the worst of the nerves stopped, that I love teaching.
In 2006 I opened my first yoga studio.
4000 hours of teaching later, I went to India for the first time to do formal training.
In 2023, 10,000+ hours on, it was time for a huge change. I closed the doors of my yoga studio to move home to Napier, and decided to find other ways of teaching. I landed at Hello Sunshine Studio and settled in to three classes a week. The offerings on YouTube slowly shifted to be more reflective of my at home practice and, just recently the beautiful Be Different Studio opened where I offer a low sensory prayer/meditation evening called Earth Prayers.
Soul Chats
I still have the original tea pot from when I started pouring tea. Zing was the name of my original yoga studio, named after someone said that I add Zing to people’s lives. Life coaching and the like was just getting going in Aotearoa New Zealand at the time and while I wasn’t into the cheer leading version, I was into creating a space for people to talk about ideas, to work out the next stages of life, all with a touch of the yoga world view that there is more to life. Getting people to connect with their own deeper wisdom, their knowing, their dreams for their future, their beloveds and what’s important to them is a great honour.
I still have the original tea pot from when I started pouring tea. Zing was the name of my original yoga studio, named after someone said that I add Zing to people’s lives. Life coaching and the like was just getting going in Aotearoa New Zealand at the time and while I wasn’t into the cheer leading version, I was into creating a space for people to talk about ideas, to work out the next stages of life, all with a touch of the yoga world view that there is more to life. Getting people to connect with their own deeper wisdom, their knowing, their dreams for their future, their beloveds and what’s important to them is a great honour.
The tarot cards have been an accompaniment since the very start, sometimes taking centre stage and other times sitting to the side for if we need them. Those 78 pieces of cardboard don't mess about and often cut to the heart of a matter. I started working with them in 1993 and they still fascinate me. How do they do what they do? Goodness knows. I only know they can be uncanny in what they reveal.
My mother equated a straight row of stitches with learning my times tables and it was essential to be able to do both. I was a 1975 baby so I grew up when it was still cheaper to sew from scratch than it was to buy clothes so I could measure my growth by how high up the measuring counter I reached in the local fabric stores. Mum could turn out whatever she eyed that she liked given a pattern. If it wasn't the sewing machine going, it was her hands full of knitting - cigarette burning in the ashtray beside her and numerous cups of tea.
Mum died in 1985 and it was left to my older sister to continue my clothing education. I discovered op-shops and walked into one in Napier to be greeted by a purple haired woman in doc martin boots wearing a dress over tights. Something about her and that look stuck. I was to meet her at University many moons later and we would flat together, often laughing at how she had been an icon of my youth.
From Stevie Nicks inspired crushed velvet, to goth, to big men's white shirts over tights and boots, hippy skirts to what to do with a pair of jeans, I slowly found my way to my own way of doing things. As I did this, my crafting grew, my stash grew and now my creativity dances in a room of colour and texture. Buttons and vintage ties, little scraps asking to be pieced together, hours of fun and creation have become Hearth and Soul Handcrafts.
The humble yoga mat bag is the mainstay; made from thrifted, gifted, off cuts and all-sorts, they are the most popular thing I make.
It's a delight to 'go to work' in my craft room which is a haven of colour and texture.