After more than two decades in medicine, former Eastern Bay GP Astra Vasa has stepped away from conventional general practice and taken her career in a very different direction.

Vasa, who practised locally for most of her GP career as Astrid de Jong and more recently as Astrid van der Meer, has established Astra Vasa’s Divine Co-Creations from her home in Ōhope. The practice offers what she describes as neuro-somatic integration and biofield alignment.

Neuro-somatic integration focuses on the relationship between the nervous system, physical sensations, thoughts and emotions, while Vasa describes biofield alignment as working with a person's energy field to help release stress and “stuck energy”.

Originally from the Netherlands, Vasa first studied psychology before turning to medicine, graduating in 2006.

She had initially hoped to become a paediatrician but decided general practice would provide a better balance with family life.

Vasa moved to New Zealand with her family in 2014 and began working at Med Central in Whakatāne, before moving to The Doctors Kopeopeo, where she worked for around 10 years.

About two-and-a-half years ago, she reached a point where she felt she could no longer continue working in the same way.

“At some point I said, I'm not doing this anymore.”

Her change in direction followed significant changes in her personal life and an increasing interest in meditation and other holistic practices.

Vasa attended a mindful medicine course and began meditating daily, something she described as life-changing. She later completed a Reiki course and learned from an Ayurveda practitioner and other teachers.

Her new practice brings together elements of those approaches with her background in psychology and medicine.

She said she does not describe herself as a healer.

“I don't think anybody can heal anybody else.”

Instead, she sees herself as someone who provides a space for clients to explore their own experiences.

A typical session begins with a conversation about the habits, experiences or patterns a client wants to explore, before they may move to a treatment table.

Vasa works with neuro-somatic tracking, using her hands to identify patterns of physical tension and areas where “stuck energy” is held in the body’s major nerve plexuses and energy tracks.

She said the aim was to explore the physical tension, stress, emotions and beliefs a person may be holding and “get stuck energy moving again”.

Throughout the session, she uses questioning and conversation to encourage clients to explore underlying experiences and patterns.

“I'm sharing my knowledge and they take on whatever they want to take on and take home with them.”

Vasa is no longer a registered practising doctor and says that her services are complementary to mainstream medicine.

She does not provide medical diagnoses, prescribe medication or offer conventional medical treatment, with clients directed to their GP for those services.

She said her medical background continues to influence the way she approaches her work through her knowledge of anatomy, hormones and the body's different systems.

She established the practice at her Ōhope home because she wanted to combine work she enjoyed with a better work-life balance.

Ultimately, Vasa hopes people who come to her practice leave feeling they have greater agency over the direction of their lives.

“I hope that they take away that they are the creator of their own lives and that they don't have to be stuck in a certain way of living that is actually not healthy.”

“A lot of people are in such a fast-paced society that we live in that they actually forget that we're here to live and not to survive.”

Vasa is restarting her outdoor community meditation events this week with “The Mid-Week Somatic Down-Regulation”, held at Mahy Reserve in Ōhope at 12.30pm on Wednesdays, with koha appreciated.

Her work is currently extending to supporting health professionals experiencing stress and burnout. 'I am working as a sovereign peer mentor with my clients'.

More information is available at Astra Vasa’s Divine Co-Creations.