Meet Our Team – Mette’s Institute
Mette Sorensen
Ahren (Ren)
Ahren (Ren) is a gifted and Intuitive Bodyworker & Facilitator who honours the connection between the physical, energetic, psycho-emotional & spiritual aspects of the embodied experience.He weaves ancient wisdom with modern healing modalities to provide a safe space for clients and students to cultivate & integrate their awesomeness into their lives.
The core of his offerings flow from over two decades of dedicated personal inquiry and professional practice.In his twenties, he was blessed to spend 7 years immersed in the practice and study of Ka Huna Bodywork at High Spirits and he is deeply grateful for the incredible foundations he was able to develop in the early years of his journey.
After developing firm roots in Hawaiian Style Bodywork, he has continued his explorations in the healing arts. He is a qualified Zenthai Shiatsu Therapist, and has studied various other healing modalities such as Mayan Abdominal Therapy and Emotional Anatomy.
In the past decade he has been exploring his interest in Orthobionomy & Craniosacral Therapies, and most recently has begun dabbling in Da Xuan Daoist Cultivation practices.
Ren is a passionate & gifted facilitator who believes that the best bodyworkers are the ones who have done the work on themselves. Based on what he has seen, he is convinced that it is through developing foundations of good technique & proficiency in practice, that the magic of the healing process anchors into the therapeutic context.
He is honoured by the invitation to join the team at High Spirits and share in the emergent journey once again.
Neikah Verlinden
Neikah Verlinden, driven by a profound passion for inspiring optimal mental, emotional, and physical health, as well as fostering radical transformation in the human experience, is a born health enthusiast. Early on, Neikah recognized the importance of an holistic and robust approach to well-being as the foundation for a happy and fulfilling life.
With a lifelong dedication to studying and practicing bodywork, movement, vibrational healing, breath work and nutrition, Neikah offers a comprehensive approach in her role as a Heartworks Lomi Lomi and KaHuna bodyworker, facilitator, and trainer.
Her deep affection for KaHuna bodywork, with it’s ritualistic and transformative processes, enables Neikah to guide clients and students on journey’s of self-discovery and personal mastery.
Currently serving as a facilitator at High Spirits Retreat Centre for Mette’s Institute of Personal Development and Bodywork, Neikah seamlessly integrates all her acquired knowledge into an expanded practice.
In Neikah’s words, “I like to think of KaHuna Bodywork as journey…from the moment you start contemplating a KaHuna session, your session has begun. Similarly, the moment you consider training in KaHuna Bodywork, your training journey has commenced”.
Dawn Albinger
Dawn Albinger is an award winning actress, a gifted Ka huna body worker, an experienced retreat facilitator and a purveyor of rare and antiquarian books. in 2000 she co-founded the women in contemporary performance network Magdalena Australia, and was artistic director of the 2003 International Magdalena Australia Festival, Theatre-Women-Travelling. She has taught drama, theatre, and performance at Griffith and Edith Cowan Universities, and gender studies at the Australian Catholic University. She is now co-director of Ladyfinger, a contemporary performance company that is ‘hand made’ by women, gives voice to the female imaginary, and is perceptual, exploratory and sensory in nature.
Since 2006 she has co-facilitated Spirit of Woman Retreat with Mette Sorensen and is deeply committed to the work of helping women unfold their full potential to the benefit of themselves, their families, and their communities.
Since 2010, while making theatre, writing, publishing, running women‘s retreats and massaging, Dawn has also been co-proprietor of Archives Fine Books, Brisbane’s premiere second-hand and antiquarian bookstore.
Duncan Crosby
Since 2005 actualizing a heartfelt calling into helping others, Duncan completed a Diploma of Remedial/Sports massage at Nature Care College in Sydney.
Also a Shamanic practitioner using Kahuna bodywork and ceremony steeped with a deep connection to the elements, it was through these very channels that inspired him to assist others to manifest their dreams and goals.
With a rich knowledge in traditional Hawaiian healing methods and philosophies has allowed Duncan to now share this as a course facilitator at Mette’s Institute.
Over the years working with other experienced practitioners, professional sport teams, and elite professional individuals has given him a vast knowledge of the bio-mechanics of the body, as well as a holistic healing of the soul.
With a rich background and knowledge in serving up wholesome and clean organic food as a retreat specialist chef, Duncan will also tantalise your taste buds and nourish your bellies.
Jacquelyn Smith
I am Jacque, Kahuna Bodyworker, Facilitator and Teacher and I am blessed to call High Spirits Retreat my spiritual home.
One of my biggest passions is supporting others to see and feel the magic and power that is within. Kahuna is much more than just a massage, it is a soul to soul dance where I meet you, breathe with you, connect deeply with your body and listen to the messages within. Through bringing touch, breath and awareness to all parts of you; body, mind, heart and soul; I am your guide as you heal yourself one touch, one breathe, one heartbeat at a time.
I look forward to meeting you and sharing with you on your journey of personal discovery at Mette’s Institute.
Tara Atkinson
Tara‘s passion interest is the holistic understanding of the Mind Body Connection and how to benefit from this knowledge to achieve optimal health and happiness. Her mission is to provide transformational body work, and share personal development tools and life skills; that aid people in living a more stress free, satisfying & joy filled life. Tara’s massage style is deep yet gentle. Whether you choose a therapeutic, deep tissue or relaxation massage, you will walk away feeling relaxed, supported, loved, nurtured and free.
Her massage & stress management coaching service specialises in Hawaiian massage and healing philosophy, Faster EFT and other emotional healing techniques where the focus is on helping her clients heal Emotional & Stress related issues.
She studied at Mette’s Institute and is a Level 7 KaHuna Trained Practitioner. Her Faster EFT Training is with The Skills to Change Institute. She is also a Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Heartworks Massage Instructor.
Nadine Martens
Meet Nadine, a passionate body therapist with a deep love and curiosity for life and the human experience.
With over 15 years of experience in holistic bodywork, Nadine’s journey into healing began in 2004 in Germany with the study of Shin Tai Bodywork, sparking a lifelong commitment to personal growth. Since moving to Australia in 2007, Nadine has completed all seven levels of Ka Huna Massage, Level 1 and 2 Heartworks Lomi Lomi and ili ili hot stone massage training, which she has facilitated in Brisbane since 2020. Currently, Nadine is studying Visionary Cranio Sacral Therapy.
“After completing my first KaHuna training, I knew I had arrived home. This form of bodywork provides a space for wholehearted connectedness, a space to return to the essence of who we truly are, inviting įoy and creativity to blossom. It is a deep honouring of the body and soul…I call myself lucky to have had many amazing teachers along the way who have guided and supported my desire for self-inquiry and growth in such a profound way that I can now share open-heartedly with others.”
Nadine is passionate about creating and holding space for people to open up to the possibility of deep transformation, providing an experience that becomes a heartfelt prayer of reverence and connection. She feels privileged and honoured to be able to witness clients and students stepping through limitations into more freedom in their bodies, hearts and minds.
With a long interest in Daoist training methods for self-cultivation, Nadine has been training under the lineage of the Ba Men Daxuan tradition in recent years.
Nadine is the mother of three beautiful children. She is caring, calm, and down-to-earth. She runs her own Hawaiian Bodywork home clinic in Brisbane and works as part of a team at the Kahuna Hub on the Sunshine Coast.
Nadine joined our team at High Spirits Retreat in 2022 as a co-facilitator and chef de cuisine.
Welcome to a journey of self-care and deep connection with Nadine. Aloha
Lawrence Mitchell
Passionate about helping people leaders unlock their full potential, Lawrence’s journey has led him through diverse roles in large public corporations, medium-sized private enterprises, fast-growth startups, and small businesses across the UK, America, and Asia. He brings an entrepreneurial spirit to the table, relishing the opportunity to assist business owners and visionaries in turning their concepts into reality.
Lawrence was Chief Marketing Officer for 9 years for a division of the RELX Group, and was part of the Leadership Team that saw the business transform from a declining, trade magazine business into a $4bn data, analytics and software business. It was whilst working for the RELX Group in London that Lawrence developed an interest in holistic wellbeing, initially from a self leadership perspective, and then through a recognition that the only way to successfully and sustainably transform a business was by supporting people to build resilience to better cope with the inevitable pressures, challenges and change.
In 2014, Lawrence took on the role of Chief Wellbeing Officer and developed the award winning ‘Living Well Programme’ that has since gone on to impact the lives of 13k employees working in 50 locations around the world.
Since moving to Australia in 2016, Lawrence’s focus has been on three areas: Leadership Development, Wellbeing at Work and Holistic Marketing.
Lorin Thorp
Lorin’s journey into the deeper discoveries of the body began in 2005, studying functional movement and the Pilates Method. Her curiosity grew and in 2009 as she began a Bachelors of Health Science, graduating as a Naturopath in 2016. Along this journey she also took several trips to India and across the globe to expand her cultural awareness and complete her Yoga teacher training. Since completing her higher education, Lorin has continued her love of learning, returning to where it all begins, in the womb. Lorin supports mothers and their birthing companions through a childbirth education program called hypnobirthing, as she wholeheartedly believes that all birthing women deserve to welcome their baby into the world calmly, informed and empowered.
Since discovering the magic and flow of Ka Huna, Lorin has returned to Mette’s Institute of Personal Development to complete higher levels of the bodywork to deepen her understanding of how to support her clients holistically. Her passion for learning has since extended to learning Heartworks Lomi Lomi to where she now finds herself ever expanding as a team member, facilitating on courses at High Spirits Retreat as well as running Heartworks Lomi Lomi level 1 trainings Australia wide.
Lorin is greatly passionate about the energetics of the body, using the Australian Bush Flowers as one of the tools in her tool box to support emotional and physical well-being.
Lorin believes in the complementary nature of all of the work that she does, always
offering a holistic and individual approach.
Julian Eyre Simcocks
Julian began his journey into massage quite unexpectedly in 2014. After attending his first KaHuna Massage training, purely for personal development purposes, he returned home a changed man! Realising massage, more specifically Hawaiian Massage and it‘s healing philosophy were to become a major part of his life, & life’s work. He brings to the table deep & soft tissue techniques, along with a gentle & nurturing massage style.
At High Spirits Julian has many hats! From being in the temple to cooking delicious food, holding space and so much more. He supports in so many ways. Also with his great sense of humour and easy nature, he creates an easy and fresh environment to learn and to relax in.
“It’s a good day, if you’ve learnt something!”
