The Massage journey started here

It all started with a baby and a moment in time in the desert in Central Australia ..

Where My Journey with Massage Really Began

When I think about how my journey with massage began, it actually starts long before Body Riches.

It starts with my daughter.

Rebekah’s story began in Alice Springs — she was conceived after a camel trek on the edge of the Simpson Desert, which somehow feels very fitting for the beginning of our story together.

When Bec was born, something shifted profoundly in me. Like so many new mums, I suddenly had this little person in my arms and her health and wellbeing mattered more to me than anything else.

I began questioning what health really meant.

I absolutely believed mainstream medicine had an important place — and I still do — but I also knew I wanted to understand more about preventative health, natural medicine and how we could support the body to stay well, rather than only responding when something went wrong.

Living in Alice Springs at the time, there weren’t many opportunities to study natural medicine. So that curiosity eventually brought us across the country to Western Australia.

I enrolled in one of the first natural medicine colleges here and began studying naturopathy.

And somewhere amongst all of those subjects, I found massage.

I still remember the feeling of realising: this is my thing.

There was something about working with my hands, understanding the body, touching tissue with knowledge and intention, and seeing how people responded that completely captured me.

What began as a desire to create a healthy life for my daughter had unexpectedly opened the door to an entirely new career for me.

And massage became a huge part of our life.

Then Bec picked up the massage oil…

We settled into life in Fremantle. Bec was growing up, I was continually studying, learning and adding to my skills, and we became part of this wonderful community of people who were interested in health, wellness and doing things a little differently.

Then, when Bec was about 16, she decided she might like to try her hand at massage.

I can still hear her telling me:

“I don’t want to do any of that deep tissue stuff though. Just relaxation!”

Well… that didn't last long.

She went on to become an absolutely brilliant deep tissue therapist.

And for me, there was something incredibly special about having my daughter working alongside me in the business that had, in so many ways, begun because of her.

We had some wonderful years working together.

Eventually, as young people quite rightly do, Bec wanted to spread her wings. She packed up herself — and her massage table — and headed off to London, where she spent five fabulous years.

Of course, I missed her terribly.

But Body Riches continued to grow.

Our team expanded and eventually we moved into our beautiful South Terrace premises — a space that finally allowed me to create something I had imagined for years.

Not simply a massage clinic, but a wellness centre and a place to teach.

We had room for our Massage School, a large training space, and rooms where other health and wellness practitioners could build their own businesses alongside ours.

It began to feel like a genuine wellness community.

And then she came home

When Bec eventually returned to Australia, she came home with a new direction.

Years of working hands-on with bodies had given her an incredible foundation, but she wanted to understand more. She wanted to be able to help her clients in a different and deeper way.

That led her to Murdoch University, where she completed her double degree and became Dr Rebekah Riches — Chiropractor.

And, beautifully, our paths came together again.

Today, Bec runs her own thriving chiropractic practice from the Body Riches Wellness Centre.

We have separate businesses and our own ways of working, but we're under the same roof again — sharing knowledge, supporting each other and caring for many of the same community.

There is something wonderfully full-circle about that.

The little girl who first inspired me to explore natural health went on to become a massage therapist herself, then a chiropractor — and now works alongside me in the wellness centre that grew from that original journey.

Over the years we've also had the joy of teaching and facilitating women's wellness experiences together, sharing our knowledge and continuing to dream up new ways of helping people feel better in their bodies and more connected to themselves.

More than 30 years later…

Massage has given me far more than a career.

It has given me a community. A school. Thousands of clients and students who have trusted me with their bodies and their learning. A lifetime of curiosity about how we heal, move, connect and care for ourselves.

And, very beautifully, it has given Bec and me something we've been able to share throughout so many different chapters of our lives.

My journey began because I wanted to create the healthiest life I could for my daughter.

Somehow, all these years later, we're still learning, teaching and working in wellness together.

Life has changed enormously since those early Alice Springs days.

But the heart of what I do hasn't really changed at all.

Care. Touch. Connection. Learning. And helping people feel better.

I feel incredibly lucky that this is the work I get to do.

And even luckier that, in so many ways, I still get to do it alongside my daughter. 💛

Gay Riches
Founder, Body Riches Wellness Centre & Body Riches Massage School