A new wellness centre in town has been spreading love to women since its grand opening on Valentine's Day.
The Maliya Wellness Centre for Women is founder Lori Bean's vision for women's health care that was around 11 years in the making, complete with practitioners in massage therapy, acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, yoga, psychiatry, nursing and more.
After enduring years of chronic pain from a car accident, dissatisfaction in her career and other aspects of her life — Bean said she knew she had to make a change.
A search on WebMD to diagnose her pain is what kick-started it.
But what initially began as research into her physical health, turned into something else when she came across the word 'soul' in her search.
"I started to think maybe it's not just my physical body but my soul that needs alignment," Bean said. "People get sick when they're not living their authentic lives, whether it's through a crappy relationship, a crappy job or just something toxic — they can get ill."
The next day, she was on a flight to Arizona to go on a soul retreat.
"You saw all these amazing practitioners and they helped you with this intimate connection with yourself, your truth, your path and your health — all these things," Bean said.
"It changed my life forever."
Together with her sister, Alyssa Rabin — the centre's wellness specialist and business administrator — their goal is to provide a level of care catered solely to the needs of women.
"My pain and illness really just came from me not getting the care that I needed," Bean said. "So, my goal is to change the way we care for women."
Rabin compares the difference in levels of care needed for men and women to the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by American author and relationship counsellor John Gray.
"Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, we need different things," Rabin said. "Don't get me wrong, some might overlap or be similar, but the majority of whom we have seen here really need the nurturing."
Maliya is also unique in that, with a client's permission, and at the consent of their practitioners, they're able to work together with Rabin to create a care plan to suit each person based on their individual needs
"We're trying to build a concept of collaboration," said Rabin. "If you're coming in and seeing a functional medicine specialist, and the doctor says, 'Well, you have this going on, I think you need to go and see an acupuncturist,' you can do that down the hall and your acupuncturist already has a good understanding of your needs.
"You have to run around to all these places to see different practitioners to get help and care. Here you can literally get it all in one place instead of having to tell your story over and over."
The sisters said they believe there's been a recent shift in consciousness when it comes to self care and wellness, in both men and women, and especially among millennials.
The name Maliya, Bean said, means sea of rebelliousness.
"I see it as women rising up in a time where we're all saying, 'We're over it. We need to rise up together and advocate for each other.' So, that's what we're trying to do."
The centre offers yoga classes which will be available for drop-in after the centre celebrates three months of operation.
They will also be running workshops and programs regularly with the first, a financial wellness event, beginning this weekend.
For more information visit maliya.ca.
