About Natural Life

Natural Life is an Australian-Canadian family business that brings a unique approach to osteopathy in the Niagara Region.

Laura Richardson is the principal osteopathic manual practitioner at Natural Life and has been practicing for more than 10 years, over which time she has completed more than 10,000 patient sessions and has helped thousands of patients improve their quality of life.

She received her osteopathic training in Melbourne, Australia and now operates the clinic that is located in St. Catharines Ontario.

The Australian training of osteopathic manual practitioners (osteopathy) differs from the training received in Canada, giving Laura a different base platform that her patients have grown to appreciate and love.

While Laura is trained to assist her patients with a diverse range of conditions, she is extremely passionate about working with infants, prenatal & post partum women and other various complex conditions.

Since graduating, Laura has worked alongside osteopaths trained in Australia, England, France and Canada providing unique exposure and experience of multiple training and treatment styles. The knowledge Laura has gained from these working environments has enabled her to expand and strengthen her approach, treatment and technique selection. Importance is placed on continuing to grow her current knowledge base through continued education and interaction with other professionals, both within and outside the osteopathic profession.

Having grown up in Tasmania, Laura Richardson received her osteopathic training at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. Completing a three year Bachelor and two year Masters degree in Osteopathy in 2006, Laura worked for four years in her home town and establishing a strong patient base and solidifying her training in the Australian approach to osteopathy. In her small town, she was known by many, simply as Dr. Laura, and to this day when she visits Australia, she often encounters patients who are eager for her to return.

In March 2011, Laura Richardson decided to further her exposure and knowledge of different osteopathic styles and moved to Canada. Over the past seven years Laura has developed close working relationships with osteopathic practitioners from Canada, France and England where knowledge sharing was an integral part of the working environments.

Since September 2011 Laura Richardson has been working as osteopathic manual practitioner in the Niagara region, serving clients from St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Ridgeway, Fort Erie,  Beamsville, Vineland, Niagara-on-the-Lake and the greater Niagara area, thereby building a steady patient base while practising at Niagara Osteopathic and Rehabilitation Center and Natural Life Osteopathic Clinic.

During this time, Laura Richardson participated in an osteopathic volunteer program with eight other osteos from Australia, New Zealand and England. The group of nine worked with villages and children’s homes in Cambodia and Thailand providing valuable assessment and relief to people living in poverty. The training and experience acquired from each of the osteopaths involved was a valuable learning experience and the exposure to long term mechanical and medical issues was something rarely seen in the western world.

This led Laura Richardson down a path that resulted in her selection for participation in a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) to New York and Bermuda in April/May 2010. Through this program, Laura was fortunate to get rare exposure to the US system of Osteopathy where she was able to shadow Osteopathic Physicians in private practice and within the hospital system in NYC.

Today, Natural Life has grown into one of Niagara’s largest osteopathic clinics with a focus on bringing internationally trained osteos to our clinic to enhance the universal concept of osteopathic care and perpetual learning and development. The international placements that we host, are overseen by Laura, and provide a unique opportunity for both practitioners and patients who share the common goal of optimizing patient care and the advancement of osteopathy as an integral component of one’s health care.

 

*Laura is currently accepting new patients – however she does have a wait list – to book an initial appointment with Laura please contact the office at 905-964-2358. Please be sure to let us know which days or times work best for your schedule so we can contact you with her soonest available date.