Who Am I?

I am originally from Germany and arrived in Australia in 1998 and I have called this my home ever since. I had a clinic in Singleton, NSW but have now progressed to be a fully virtual Naturopath so that I can reach more people.

My passion is supporting families to work towards greater health as a whole. Whether it is working through the rocky ground of learning and behavioural difficulties and mental health, or improving immunity against preventable diseases.

When I am not working you can find me cooking, hanging out with my family & friends and traveling.  My happy place is being in the mountains but I also love the beach.  One of my favourite pastimes is reading a book and I have one attached to my hip all of the time.  I have even been known to go for dinner or coffee by myself just so I can hang out with my book. 😊

How & Why I Became A Naturopath

There were a few different reasons that led me onto the path I am on today.

I had been working in hospitality most of my life and working with food gave me an immediate interest in nutrition.  I also worked as a canteen manager at a public school which gave me insight into the effects of dietary choices on children’s health and behaviour.

I have had countless conversations over the years where many people are seeking help in taking control of their families’ well-being but don’t know where to start and I was in the same boat.  One of my ‘little people’ (who is no longer quite so little) struggled with learning and life in general and was always unwell. They were regularly tired, overwhelmed and anxious.  After asking many questions and not getting the answers that I felt comfortable with I finally found someone who was able to steer me onto an alternative path to health.

Both myself and my daughter were diagnosed with “Pyrolle Disorder” and a severe Zinc deficiency which was rectified with specific and long-term supplementation. This brought on a significant improvement in our mental and physical wellbeing. There where physical and mental exercises my little person needed to do and that got her from not being able to add up 2+2 to coming 5th in the timetable challenge at school. Additionally, both of my kids were diagnosed with “Irlen’s dyslexia” meaning they needed coloured lenses for reading and comprehension. In hindsight if I would have known about this when I was little, my school life would have been so much easier.

After being guided onto this path I changed my whole family’s diet (because I am the cook and if they don’t like it they can go hungry 😉) with remarkable improvements for all of us.  Our journey also included supplementation, exercise and the use of a variety of healthcare professionals and I finally felt like I was able to take more control over my family’s health.

I have also followed every weight loss diet under the sun with mixed results it made me realise that there has to be more to it than just going on fad diets and restricting the foods you love which led me to become a Metabolic Balance® practitioner with which I have had many success stories for myself, my family and my patients.

I feel the overall knowledge I have acquired through my studies and my life experiences will be of benefit to my patients.  I am incredibly passionate about a holistic approach to well-being and hope that you will allow me to be part of your journey to optimal health.

I believe that not taking “no, there is nothing more I can do for you” as an answer has made our life and the enjoyment of it so much better. Was it hard work? You bet! Were we worried about the financial investment? Of course! Did the benefits outweigh the negatives? Hell, yes!

I am forever grateful to that one ‘big picture’ person in my life that got me onto the path I needed to be on and I would like to be that ‘big picture’ person for you.  I want to help you have similarly amazing results. In my opinion, and our results speak for themselves, a holistic big picture approach will always get better and long lasting results.

The Story Behind My Logo

As you can see my logo has not been designed along the traditional ‘naturopathic’ lines of herbs or food and might look more at home as the logo of a mental health professional.  I spent a lot of time thinking about the design and my inspiration for this logo has come from a variety of angles.

As you can see, it is a head with the brain designed like a tree and each branch is represented in a different colour of the rainbow (sorry for stating the obvious). The trunk of the tree represents the gastrointestinal system and the roots of the tree represent the various aspects to achieve optimal physical and mental health, including nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, stress reduction, positive mindset, herbal medicine etc. To me this effectively conveyed the whole person approach rather than one system fits all that I have come to love about the modalities that I practice.

It also represents my main interests which are all linked to mental health; depression, anxiety, learning and behavioural difficulties and the gut-brain-axis and how the break down in communication between the gut and the brain are contributed to by nutritional imbalances/deficiencies and inflammation amongst other things.

I have always been drawn to the colours of the rainbow. I love its vibrancy in contrast to a sometimes grey sky. Most rooms in my previous home were painted a different colour depending on what the room was used for and the psychology of a colour. Blue for example is the colour of rest and orange is the colour of joy. Where I grew up we had a colour sauna that changed colours in certain intervals to stimulate the various aspects of emotion, energies of body systems and well being. I found that fascinating and it has stuck with me ever since.

I am assuming you have heard of the catch-cry “eat the colours of the rainbow “? This is encouraging you to eat as many different coloured fruits and vegetables as possible to offer you a vast array of beneficial antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals for optimal wellness.

Another inspiration is the book “The gift in you” by Dr. Caroline Leaf. In her book she described 7 pillars of the brain. I won’t go into detail but it describes how we are all wired differently and that we use different parts of the brain depending on what we like best. For example, one likes to be analytical, one loves communicating and for one person everything is easier with music. Another important aspect described in this book are the powers of negative and positive thinking and how that will affect your health and mind.

So, you can see my logo is as complex as one’s health or disease and needs to be addressed with an open mind.

Yours in health and happiness,

Nicole Gray

‘Take care of your body.  It’s the only place you have to live’

Jim Rohn