Behind the Balance: Meet Galway’s Wellness Experts
Galway is home to some incredible individuals who have made wellness their business. We found out what staying well means for them.
Laura Burke: Finding Passion in Fitness
Portraits by Siobhan Coyne.
For personal trainer Laura Burke, life didn’t always look how it does now.
She says, “I wasn’t into sports or fitness in school. It was in my twenties that I remember a friend of mine saying, ‘Come to this gym class with me, Laura. You will love it.’ I went and I hated every minute of it,” Laura, who qualified as a personal trainer in 2019, says with a laugh. “It was a circuit-style strength and conditioning class and, of course, I was in bits after. I left thinking, ‘I am never doing that again,’ but it was in the days after it I realised… ‘Oh God, I feel better.’”
For Laura, that feeling became a driving force, and fitness became her anchor. Now, she is passionate about building her online community for women, showing them that fitness does not have to feel like hard work.
“Fitness has been such a constant in my life since then because of how it makes me feel. That is always the communication between me and my clients as well: work on how you feel and you will want this in your life because it does make such an impact.”
Living in Galway, Laura is passionate about helping clients all over Ireland prioritise themselves and their own wellness. “It’s about finding a gap for yourself. The one thing I always say to people, and it’s a line I live by: ‘The plan you enjoy is the plan you’ll do.’ It’s just about adapting these workouts to work for your lifestyle.”
Yoga Mara: Creating an Empowering Yoga Community
Yoga Mara was founded by Galway sisters Rachel and Hannah Healy to bring balance and calm back into people’s lives through meditation, mindful movement and breathwork. Through online and in-person classes, as well as blissful escapes, they aim to empower their community to feel less stressed and more present.
Reflecting on their early days, Hannah says, “Both Rachel and I have lived in Australia and New Zealand and it was at that point we discovered our love for yoga. It was a case of ‘no matter where we travelled, we could always fit a yoga mat’. I could have my few minutes to stretch out my body and find calm among the chaos. And we just realised that so many people were in a ‘go, go, go’ state and something needed to change. For us, it was all about making yoga and meditation accessible, regardless of whether you have been doing it for ten years or if it’s your first class.”
Rachel adds, “What I loved about my yoga practice was that there was strength in it, but it was also soft in its way. I loved that because at that point I would have been so hard on myself. It is a reminder to slow down and be gentle with yourself, and there is strength in that softness. That was the message I really wanted to bring to people when we launched in 2018. My mind and my body benefited so much more from this than if I had gone a different route.”
“We did our first retreat in a beautiful place called Ballyconneely and, ever since, our community has grown and continues to grow. There is something so sacred and magical about the west of Ireland.”
Darina Joyce: Using Natural Healing to Help People in Pain
Portrait by Nathalie Marquez Courtney.
Darina Joyce is an acupuncturist and healer with a clinic in Oranmore.
She says, “When I was young, my mum was very progressive. She used to bring us for acupuncture, so we grew up thinking this was the norm and this was how other people would treat illness. In my work now, I love to be able to give comfort to people in pain. It is in giving you receive, and I have met some beautiful people over the years.”
“My dad had cancer 15 years ago and I am thankful for the comfort I was able to offer him, I would do acupuncture, I would do Japanese flow, I would do hypnosis and I would do massage. There is a place for it.”
“I live in a beautiful spot in Oranmore, so my own wellness is my walks in the woods and swimming. I am so blessed where I live, I just love it.”
“I had my practice in the city centre for years, but I broke my back when I was pregnant with my first daughter. It was in that relearning to walk and everything that I moved to Oranmore and built a practice at home. “When people come to me, it would take maybe an hour or two to see what part of the body is the catalyst for the problems. Nowadays, I am as busy as ever, although I leave a lot of time between clients because I want them to feel heard.”
For Darina, in everything her work and wellness has taught her, “There is nothing more important than love. There is so much fear and anger and hurt right now, but where there is darkness, think about light.”
Dr. Clare Dilis: Blending Medicine, Nature and Openness
Dr Clare Dilis is a GP, medical herbalist and author of Uprooted Medicine.
She looks back on how her journey into a more holistic approach began. “For me, it was realising that for a lot of my patients there was no suitable medicine, or it didn’t work for them. There were a lot of things my patients weren’t thriving on.”
“Herbal medicine is collaborative. All medical problems have a whole raft of influences. In current research, they talk about psycho-immuno-hormonal-genetic influences and environmental influences as well. To think that there is one medical component to address all of that is unrealistic. I realised after several years of practice that this makes more sense. It’s a different kind of sense, and I have seen the results. My patients would have fired me years ago if I didn’t,” she laughs.
“Without becoming involved in herbal medicine, I would probably still be living in London amongst concrete. I have nothing bad to say about England, but I would much rather live in Galway. The landscape, the sea, the mountains, the music, the language; all of that has enhanced my life.”
“For me, wellness is half an hour of yoga in the morning, making good food and my meals a priority, and a variety of exercise. And choir, music and playing the bodhrán. And sardines…they are the perfect food. Oily fish and essential fatty acids, all for a euro!”
“The biggest thing when it comes to embracing herbal medicine is to overcome a deeply ingrained prejudice and have an open mind.”
Green Earth Organics: Fresh, Local Food Right to Your Door
Kenneth and Jenny Keavey started Green Earth Organics’ box delivery scheme in 2006, farming on 40 acres of organically-certified land. They also dedicate an additional ten acres to wildlife biodiversity, native woodland forestry and re-clover grassland.
“From the beginning, everything Jenny and I did was about growing food without chemicals,” says Kenneth. “We wanted to bring our children up naturally, showing them where their food came from, how it was produced, and we wanted to do that in a way that kept the land and biodiversity safe.”
“The biggest challenge always is the cost. You see it in conventional food production right across the country, where the bottom line is supermarkets sell fruit and vegetables below the cost of production, and they frequently go back to the grower looking for cost savings. As a result, it is very difficult to subsist.”
“But we have a very loyal customer base, and we certainly wouldn’t be here without them. There is huge support out there and I think people feel very passionate about local food production. Something we have learned is you cannot talk about it too much, and that has really helped us as a farm and a business.”
Delivered straight to your inbox every month.
