Macayla Friesen

My work is rooted in over 23 years of hands-on experience in the healing arts, beginning with bodywork, massage therapy, and advanced facial treatments. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of training and mentoring teams of practitioners in world-renowned resort spas, while also cultivating my own private practice — one centred on deep, intentional, and attuned care.

At the core of my bodywork is untanglement — gently and skillfully releasing bound, tense tissues, restoring balance to the body, and creating space where long-held patterns can finally soften. Each session is an invitation to slow down, unwind, and simply be — supported in a quiet, grounded environment where the nervous system can settle, recalibrate, and restore.

Alongside hands-on work, I offer Infrared Somatic Yin Deep Stretch Fusion classes in person, blending long-hold yin postures with subtle somatic movement and deep stretch practices. These classes support fascial release, improved mobility, and a felt sense of openness within the body. The intention is never to push or perform, but to listen — allowing the body to unwind in its own time and intelligence. My yoga teacher training is rooted in Yin and Restorative practices through Tofino Yoga, with a strong emphasis on stillness, presence, and nervous system regulation.

I am also a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, trained through the Canadian Academy of Clinical Hypnotherapy, working with a trauma-informed approach to guided healing journeys. Hypnotherapy allows us to work at the subconscious level — repatterning limiting beliefs, improving self-talk and self-worth, overcoming addictions and compulsive behaviours, and restoring a sense of inner safety and wellbeing. This work is not about symptom management, but about addressing root causes and creating lasting internal change.

In addition to my clinical and somatic training, my work is informed by earth-based healing traditions. I have completed all four directions of the Shamanic Medicine Wheel and am a full Mesa Carrier through the Shamanic Institute of Yoga in Squamish. Within this lineage, the medicine wheel represents a cyclical path of healing — engaging the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of the self. Mesa work involves carrying and working with a sacred bundle of stones gathered through ceremony and personal initiation, each representing teachings, strengths, and lived experience. This practice is not about fixing, but about remembering wholeness, restoring balance, and reconnecting to one’s inner guidance and resilience. These principles gently inform my sessions, supporting grounding, embodiment, and a sense of rooted safety.

After decades on my own healing journey, I believe true wellbeing comes from reconnecting with ourselves at every level — body, mind, and subconscious. When we free what has been held, soften what has been armored, and rewrite the internal stories that limit us, something vital returns.

We feel lighter.

More connected.

More alive.

My role is not to “fix” you — but to walk alongside you, holding space with skill, compassion, and integrity as you reconnect with your natural capacity for health, freedom, and inner wild light.