Simply become human

Kiki Frericks describes her life as a journey with radiant moments and inspiring encounters. For over 20 years, Kiki worked as a consultant and freelancer with creative agencies and film productions, making her at home in one of the most exciting industries. For this journey, openness to new things is needed. It was precisely this curiosity that led her in 2005 to begin training in massage, rehabilitation and health sports, and yoga. Further qualifications followed. Today, Kiki focuses on the combination of holistic approaches. Being able to link the experience and expertise of various methods is a great enrichment for her personally and also characterizes her work. Her studio is understood as a space for holistic body therapy - Kiki. Studio for Holistic Bodywork. Everything is interconnected; nothing is viewed in isolation. The focus of her work lies in classic massage therapies, Lomi Lomi bodywork, Gua Sha face treatments, Access Bars© and Access Facelift©, breathwork and relaxation therapy, Vinyasa Flow Yoga, and Yin Yoga. Once a week, there are appointments for people with dementia and MS - a special matter close to her heart. Her light-flooded studio is located in the Hamburg district of Eppendorf, directly at Eppendorfer Baum. There is another practice room in Alstertal. Kiki works with private individuals and corporate clients and accompanies them worldwide on trips, seminars, or wherever she is needed upon request. She cooperates with doctors, clinics and care facilities, osteopaths and physiotherapists, alternative practitioners, psychotherapists, behavioral, burnout, children and youth coaches, and personal trainers.

 

How did you come to yoga, meditation, and massage?

There are two life-changing phases that led me to what I do today. The first major and probably most significant phase was when I became the mother of a premature baby. At that time, as parents, we were exposed to incredible emotions, and our son (now 18 and in the U18 hockey squad at HTHC) was accompanied for a long time by various body therapies. As a mother, I was incredibly close to it and could see the progress week by week. I was captivated by the work of these people. That sparked a great interest in these things. I came to yoga back in the 90s. But in this special phase of life, I was probably a very active yogi. The intensive practice ensured that I stayed centered during this exhausting time. When we were all discharged from the clinical routine, I began my first training and further education, that was in 2003. At the same time, after my maternity break, I worked with both professions and callings. I can't say that I didn't enjoy advertising. The second major phase came shortly before Corona. After many years as a freelancer, I returned to permanent employment. After just a few months, we felt out of sync with each other, which had never happened to me before; somehow things always worked out. That something was not going according to plan scared me. I traveled to my place of strength and began to reflect on my life and my profession. Two people gave me the impulse to finally follow one hundred percent of my calling with bodywork. I prepared myself and jumped into the cold water right in the first wave of Corona and founded kiki. Studio for Holistic Bodywork. I love touching people and working on bodies with the power and energy of my hands. In addition, integrating yoga into my daily work makes me very happy. Teaching brings me so much joy today that I always leave my yoga classes deeply inspired.

Why do you think it is so important to be connected with your own body?

I firmly believe that you can only lead a long-lasting happy and healthy life if you occasionally pause, listen within, feel yourself, ground yourself, and come into your truth. That's what I understand by "being connected with your own body." But it also means having the courage to look, to dissolve, to let go, to develop, to change, to grow. As the saying goes: body, mind, and soul must be in harmony. There's truth in that. Some people lose themselves in everyday life, at work, with family, even more often in these times. Through my profession, I am very close to bodies and people. And I have a gift that I can quickly sense things, not only on a physical level but also in a person's aura. Much opens up, many let go and share themselves. I love my work because I can help people achieve a stronger inner awareness, more satisfaction, and more resilience through a better connection with their body.

 

What is the difference between your understanding of holistic bodywork - Holistic Bodywork - and, say, wellness?

My approach is to accompany people on their path with holistic bodywork, to bring body, soul, and mind back into harmony, and to strengthen their well-being and resilience. No day is like the other. I assess the current state of my clients and develop my work from a combination of intuition, experience, and methodology, whether as a fixed ritual or as a special moment. We often decide only in my space what my counterpart exactly needs right now. Sometimes it is a Lomi Lomi massage, sometimes a breathing session, a conversation, or all together. In addition, my community includes colleagues who also think and work holistically. People who, like me, have found their calling in holistic work and bring their life experience, personality, empathy, and passion with other approaches if necessary. I often work with these people. Either one of their patients is supported with my bodywork or vice versa. Wellness might be a bit more superficial and, let's say, simpler. You go to the sauna, book a massage, go back home, naturally also with a cozy and relaxed basic feeling. You can do that with me too, but those who want the holistic approach tend to come to me. Occasionally, this also develops. Someone books a simple massage or a yoga session, and from that, a longer-term connection arises.

What concerns do clients come to you with?

Oh, that varies a lot. On the one hand, I treat private clients, but I also work for companies. I treat children from 3 months old, and my oldest regular client is already 84. I have clients who live in Mallorca or Switzerland and always come to me when they are in Hamburg. I have people who simply need a good, sustainable break, but I also have clients with burnout, panic attacks, depression, tinnitus, grief, heartbreak, or exam anxiety. Here, I usually work in a team with other therapists or doctors. With corporate clients, it's a bit different. Great bosses and good HR managers integrate bodywork into an employee program, so to speak as occupational health care. Here, I am either at their company once a week on a fixed day, and now in the home office, the employees of my client companies come with me to the studio. Since I occasionally also work in two leading hotels in the city or at the Robinson Club (where I offer special theme weeks, the next one is from 10th to 16th February in Soma Bay), I also have exciting encounters there from time to time. And the work with my passion project is of course very special. I work one day a week with people suffering from dementia and MS.

 

 

What do you think, Kiki, makes a satisfied life?

I believe authenticity plays a big role in this. If you lead an authentic life, both privately and professionally, it requires courage. Having the courage to show yourself in your full entirety. You can only be satisfied if you live the life you want and in which you feel comfortable, feel yourself, when you are in harmony with yourself. Whatever decisions we make in these moving, changing times, we have the choice. Experiencing yourself and developing further, lightness, joy, depth, inner reflection, feeling yourself, recognizing insecurities and doubts and expressing or dealing with them, all that belongs to it. A satisfied life feels different for everyone; everyone defines it differently for themselves. Everyone has to find their bliss and check it from time to time and adjust it if necessary. Standing still will not get us there. At least I need this spirit, this awareness – inside and out.

What is your self-care?

First of all, I have of course arrived professionally and do what truly makes me happy. I experience my work as a calling and life mission, and I live and act in harmony with this power. That is probably a big part of my self-care. But there is also private self-care. My day starts with a small morning routine. I get up early and enjoy the quiet alone with my coffee and my dog. Then either my own yoga or meditation practice follows, followed by a cold shower. I eat largely very healthily. I love running early through the forest. Then I watch my son grow up. That also fills me with a lot of love and pride and, of course, curiosity. This newfound freedom and curiosity also gives me more space for myself. I like having people around me who do me good, who inspire me, who appreciate me or lovingly criticize me. Through this, I develop further. More depth, inner work, and spirituality coupled with love, lightness, and freedom come into my life. And of course, I regularly go to my Lomi Lomi bodyworker. I love the Hawaiian bodywork, the love that is in it. I like and benefit from it all together.

And what question are you asking yourself in this life, right now?

Now everything is possible. So many things have broken open and are changing. I no longer ask myself who I am. I want to get into action, continue to unfold, come into my best effect, make a difference. It's exciting to see who and what will give me support and ground me as I continue to grow.

 

Learn more about Kiki at Kiki Studio. Take a look.