About Brandon Raynor

Diploma of Naturopathic Medicine, Diploma of Remedial Massage, Diploma of Shiatsu, Diploma of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Diploma of Ayurvedic Medicine, President International Natural Therapists Association (I.N.T.A.)

Brandon Raynor founded Brandon Raynor's School of Massage and Natural Therapies and he is the creator of the powerful form of bodywork known as "Raynor Naturopathic Massage".

Brandon was born in Ottawa, Ontario in August 1969, and was raised in Ottawa until he was 8, going to school in Kanata.

Brandon as a child in Canada

At the age of 8 he moved to Malawi in central Africa, where his father worked for the Canadian government on an aid project. Here he learned to appreciate the fact that other cultures have so much to offer. Without TV being available, he developed an intrest in nature and also in understanding the differences between Malawians and Westerners and why Malawians appeared to be happier in many ways even though they were so poor.

Endowed with this new found appreciation and interest in other cultures he began to consider that there were many ways to look at life and achieve happiness.

After a couple of years in Malawi Brandon's family travelled first to South Africa for a few months and then to India and Thailand and then on to Australia where they settled for another 6 months before moving back to Canada, this time to Vancouver. His early travels to India and Thailand also had a great impact on his later life and ways of thinking. Brandon went to school in Vancouver for another 6 months.

Brandon's family then moved to Miami, Florida where there was a multicultural community of people from all over latin America as well as African Americans and people from all over the US and Canada. Unfortunately in the early 1980's Miami was also the most violent city in the United States and so with all that violence happening around him Brandon developed his skills in self defence and martial arts. He studied Judo, Kung Fu, Karate and Aikido over the next few years, at the same time developing an interest in weight training and the human body.

At the age of 14, Brandon's family then moved to Sydney, Australia, where he finished his last 3 years of high school and learned to appreciate the value of good Australian humour and the importance of laughter and while taking life seriously, making sure that there is always time for a good laugh.

Brandon at age 14

He attended Sydney University in the late 1980's where he studied Psychology, Philosophy, and Comparative religion, Sociology, Education, Government and Economics. He then went on to study yoga, meditation and the Vedic philosophies of India.

Brandon first embarked on his study of natural medicine in 1990 undertaking his Diploma of Naturopathy and then going on to complete his Diploma of Remedial Massage.

Brandon's travels and studies had led him to understand the benefits of a vegetarian diet and he has been vegetarian since 1987. He has studied wholefood nutrition and worked in the health industry for several years dispensing nutritional advice while continuing to learn about whole foods and their preparation. Brandon then put this study to use, teaching numerous seminars on vegan wholefood nutrition and how to obtain all necessary nutrients from a vegan diet in addition to food preparation methods and the Ayurvedic approach to nutrition.

Brandon in his twenties when he lived in Byron Bay

Brandon's interest in Eastern medicine was heightened in 1992 when he first experienced shiatsu massage from a clinic operating in the same building as his workplace. He found this method of massage treatment so fascinating and effective that he decided to study it. He then went on to complete a course on Shiatsu Massage and practiced in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney before moving to Byron Bay, the alternative lifestyle capital of Australia . Brandon also studied shiatsu with many Japanese practitioners of this art form both in Australia and Japan.

By 1994 Brandon had completed his Naturopathy Diploma and was practicing as a Naturopath and Massage Therapist in Byron Bay, Australia. His knowledge was furthered in Byron Bay where he often traded massage treatments with many of the other therapists of different healing arts practicing in Byron Bay and the Gold Coast during this time. It was here also, that Brandon first came across re-birthing and the Integrative Breathe Therapy and started to understand the power of using the breath to release deeply held emotions in the body. He would later combine this with massage to help make his unique style of massage called Raynor Bodywork.

Brandon was also drawn to Chinese Medicine and decided to study a Diploma of Chinese Herbal Medicine which he completed in 1995. Chinese Medical theories especially the yin-yang theory and the 5 elements theory would also greatly influence the development of his massage style later on.

Brandon understood the importance of diet in dealing with a large number of the world's problems from environmental issues and health to animal welfare and world starvation and became involved in political campaigns to highlight these issues. During these years of campaigning, he formed a New South Wales state political party called EarthSave, ran for Byron Bay council twice and formed a federal political party with a business friendly and naturopathic health and environment platform.

Brandon's other political activities included heading a campaign to stop McDonalds setting up in the Blue Mountains in 1997, involvement in the campaign against old growth logging in the forests in Victoria in 1998 and working with a group of yoga and meditation ashrams to raise awareness of important issues to these communities.

Brandon was passionate about lobbying for causes he believed in but at this time, he realized he could make the most difference through his healing and massage and moved back to Sydney in 1998 to start teaching massage courses.

10 years after he first started studying massage, Brandon had developed a unique style of massage that was becoming very powerful. Combining much of the knowledge from the various traditions of healing that he had studied, Brandon was using massage to move the chi in the body as well as working on the very deep muscular levels to provide a powerful physical and emotional release of tension and stress. He had learnt about the power of the abdomen through shiatsu, rebirthing and via other practitioners he had worked with over the years and had incorporated this into his massage also.

By 2001 Brandon's massage classes were very popular and he had started teaching nationally in Australia as well as running his own clinics in Sydney and Brisbane. By late 2001 Brandon had begun full time teaching and administering his now Australian wide school.

Brandon continued his studies at this time and completed his Diploma in Ayurvedic Medicine with Ayurvedacharya David Frawley in 2002. Ayurveda had a profound influence on Brandon's philosophy of healing and his way of viewing the world. Ayurveda has very detailed understanding of the connection of the mind, body and spirit. Along with the understandings that Brandon has gained through studying meditation for almost 25 years, Ayurveda has had a very large influence on the way he views people and the nature of healing.

Brandon's teachings were very controversial when his school first started to successful in Australia and still continue to be controversial in some circles today. This is because Brandon's school teaches a large amount of knowledge in short courses. He also believes that he won't teach anything he doesn't use himself. He only teaches practical ways to help the practitioner totally free their client up from tension, stress and emotional blockages. Brandon believes that most important qualities of a massage therapist are empathy, communication skills, depth of character and being physically and emotionally healthy.

Following his own path and choosing what he believes is the best way to teach people massage has won him a lot of friends and also made opponents of some people in the more conventionally minded massage industry who tend to emphasize more Western rather than Eastern approaches to the body. These people don't see massage an art form and they view Brandon's massage schools' ability to teach people massage in short courses to be a threat to their livelihood and status.

Brandon started teaching back in his home country of Canada in 2002 and it wasn't long before some people in the Registered Massage Therapy (RMT) industry started to get upset that people could learn to become such good massage practitioners in such a short period of time. Some people in the RMT industry also felt that Brandon's emphasis on traditional Eastern approaches to viewing the human being were not in accordance with everything that modern Western medicine teaches. Some people could not possibly believe that people could not only learn massage in short 5 and 10 day courses but also come out doing more effective massage treatments than many RMTs were doing at the time. This has set the stage for a long conflict in Canada between some in the RMT industry and Brandon's school and graduates. It has been unfortunate that this minority of people in the RMT industry can't live and let live but the mere existence of Brandon Raynor's school shows the public that doing 3 years of college type training is not the only way to become a good massage practitioner and in fact you could spend 3 years in a college and still come out not as good a practitioner in the real world of helping people with massage as some completing the 15 day program with Brandon Raynor's school.

Brandon Raynor's Natural Therapies Centre in Launceston Tasmania in 2004

By 2003 Brandon's school had been become so successful that it had expanded from it origins in Australia to the United States, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and later South Africa , Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Dubai, Mauritius and India. Since 2002, his school has held classes in London quarterly and has regular classes across Canada and in parts of the US as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Brandon has set up several massage centres in Australia including the Paddington House of Natural therapies in Brisbane, his Raynor Massage centre in Launceston Tasmania and several centres in Sydney and Melbourne.

With Brandon's unique approach to training massage therapists as well as his own unique style of massage, Brandon decided there was a need for an association to represent the needs of the School's graduates and so in 2003, he formed the International Natural Therapists Association. This body has been active in campaigning to keep freedom of artistic expression and respect for cultural diversity in the massage profession.

In 2007 Brandon and one of his teachers Terry Masson, travelled around the US protesting at the lack of freedom in various states for massage therapy training and practice. This "Freedom Ride" as it became known attracted a large amount of interest and still generates many discussions and debates on the internet and in the newspapers.

Settling in Hawaii in 2005, he became a licensed massage therapist there in 2006. The school already runs courses in Hawaii and Brandon is currently developing a retreat center in a very beautiful setting on the West side of the island of Oahu at a place called Makaha. This is permaculture retreat center which will grow organic fruit and vegetables with beautiful ocean and sunset views. People will be able to visit, stay and learn to massage in this idyllic setting. This project is underway with the aim to have the center open within the next few years.

The beach near Brandon's retreat centre in Hawaii, and the orchard on his land in Makaha Hawaii

Brandon has two sons, Jayananda (Jai) and Balaram ( Bali) and his duties as a father are a great source of joy for him. He separated from his wife Rebecca in 2008 and now looks after his boys and teaches courses in Hawaii and travels to teach in Australia, the UK and Canada.

Brandon travels the world both teaching and researching massage, natural healing methods and philosophies from around the world. So far he has travelled to almost 45 countries and many different regions within those countries both receiving massage and healing from local practitioners. He also takes great pleasure in sharing his methods and knowledge with practitioners worldwide.

Brandon Raynor and his sons Balaram and Jai