Christine Courtney Bio 

“It all started with a job I loved – Stationary! From 1979 to 1999 I sold stationary, office supplies, even some supplies for the first computers that were being bought and used in Ireland. I loved almost every day of that job for those 20 Years. Then one day I didn’t.” 

I was in the position of company director of Ireland’s biggest office supplies company. I had everything I thought I wanted from a career at that point. I had a great car, a great salary, I even had a decent quality of work life balance, but I just wasn’t happy in my professional path anymore. I knew it, and I knew it was time for a change. 

It was six years prior to it becoming my profession that Aromatherapy had come into my life. I had an exposure to tea tree oil after a near fatal car crash. It made a significant improvement to cuts and bruises on my face overnight – I had to know more! 

Fortunately, I had the time to learn. The rest of my body, and my spirit, would need a lot more time to heal. I had broken my collarbone and my arm so bad they had to install two metal plates along my Ulna and Radius. This was pre-Internet pre-Podcasts and pre-Google so, I found a store that was running yoga and holistic classes, they sold books about my new interest. I read everything I could find. 

Soon I had read everything I could so I began attending as many “introduction” type courses that I could find. After my body recuperated it was left less limber and more stiff. I began massage treatments. From there it was suggested to incorporate yoga into my lifestyle. Yoga led to Kinesiology, Acupuncture and even Reiki. Everything I was discovering I wanted to learn more about. The more I learned, the more in depth I wanted to learn it. I ended up doing a professional course in Aromatherapy, Massage and Anatomy with Shirley Price Aromatherapy.

I was feeling better and stronger after bringing all these new elements into my life. I was starting to live more holistically; understanding there is a balance between maintenance and repair. Looking after the body when it is well and furthering my health, not just repairing damage as it occurs.

I had never intended to become a therapist but by the time the need for professional change became apparent, I was fully trained and accredited to practice Aromatherapy, Massage, and Reiki, and, I had seen their benefits first hand. 

So, I did the only thing that made sense to me, I got insured and started working on friends and family. I got a handful of clients, I worked hard and grew a handful of clients into a practise – I advertised on supermarket notice boards and the parish notes, doctors surgeries, I even taped adverts to telephone poles. 

In 1999 I completed my qualifications and accreditations from Shirley Price Aromatherapy, IFPA, and ITEC to enable me to teach. I started to run diploma and C.P.D. courses in rented rooms in Leixlip. 

This led to me teaching at Dundalk Institute of Further Education, and Carlow I.F.E. both on student recommendations. I continued to work on growing my practice. I have guest lectured, first at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland lecturing to Pharmaceutical students on the application of Essential Oils then lecturing to Midwifery students in Trinity College Dublin. I appeared on the radio with Marion Finucane discussing Aromatherapy for health and grief. Then to TV, I appeared on Live at 3 with Marty Whelan doing a simple hand massage for home use and talking about essential oils. 

It was with this rocket ship energy that I started Obus Wellness Centre in 2005. I needed to plant roots to grow my branches further. My curriculum was worthy of a home, where I could (literally) build my own classroom and massage clinic. On top of my own courses, Obus School was at a level to be able to book international leaders in their field and bring them to Ireland to teach their courses. 

As when I first started, my drive was still to learn, I never foresaw the incredible teaching opportunities it would open for me personally and professionally. My first international teaching was in Malta where I have been teaching annually for since 2004, then in 2006 I began teaching in America, where I was an invited tutor of Oncology Massage, Lymphatic drainage and Indian Head Massage. In 2011 I began teaching in Taiwan and 2015 I began teaching in China.  One great personal achievement for me is that I also present, through an interpreter, to over 400 students at the IAA annual Aromatherapy conference in Taipei University

Now in 2022 I am opening another chapter in this wonderful book of Obus when we launch our new skin care and lifestyle products.

“It all started with a job I love, but there is a balance between what you are good at and what is good for you. I had never intended to become a principal of an international wellness academy, but I am glad by the time the need for professional change became apparent, I was ready to pursue my next chapter”