A Return To Natural Health

Rewilding once meant restoring land to its natural state – today, it also describes the movement of people looking for a more natural approach to health and living. One that is more in sync with the rhythm of nature and our human design.

Based in Waipu, Shari Wagemans is a holistic wellness practitioner who embodies this philosophy. Originally from Belgium, she brings a deep appreciation for the natural world, human biology, and the body’s remarkable capacity to heal. Her practice, Rewilding Wellness, offers a multidimensional approach to health – one that goes far beyond food and fitness to include emotional, spiritual, and environmental wellbeing.

Shari is a qualified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP) and holds certifications in Gastrointestinal Healing through Restorative Wellness Solutions (RWP), Metta Muscle Testing (kinesiology), and PSYCH-K®. She’s also a trained yoga instructor and currently studying to become an Innate Biofield Practitioner, exploring the energetic and quantum dimensions of healing.

Her work aligns closely with Te Whare Tapa Whā, the Māori model of wellbeing, which views health as a house supported by four walls – physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. Each must be balanced for the house to stand strong.

Frustrated by the limits of conventional healthcare, Shari founded Rewilding Wellness to empower people to take charge of their own health and wellbeing. Her focus is on reconnecting people with the body’s innate intelligence, identifying priorities for healing, then combining evidence-based nutritional guidance with intuitive bodywork and mindset tools. The goal is sustainable, long-term wellbeing – not a quick fix, but a way of living in harmony with body and nature.

A woman sitting cross-legged against a plain white background, wearing a brown beanie, a dark T-shirt, and black pants, smiling with her eyes closed and touching her hair.
Close-up of a woman's face with a dollop of white cream on her cheek near her eye, wearing a hoop earring.
A woman sitting on a garden bed surrounded by plants and flowers, holding a wicker basket, wearing a hat and overalls, smiling in an outdoor garden setting.

This year Shari expanded her mission with the launch of Rewilding Skincare, a tallow-based, organic skincare line rooted in ancestral wisdom. Using nutrient-rich, grass-fed tallow sourced from regenerative farms in Waikato, each product is infused with plant medicine and sound frequency (heart). Naturally high in antioxidants and vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12, tallow hydrates, protects, and repairs the skin without synthetics or preservatives. Designed to support the skin’s natural barrier, especially for dry, sensitive, or eczema-prone skin. Customers have praised its simplicity and effectiveness, reflecting a growing desire to return to truly natural skincare.

Beyond her clinical work, Shari teaches yoga and hosts local Rest & Restore events in Waipu, offering people the space to slow down, reconnect, and realign. Shari believes true healing starts with awareness – of what we consume (which goes well beyond what sticks on our fork), how we live, and how we care for the planet.

Her message is simple yet powerful: “by restoring balance within ourselves, we contribute to the restoration of the natural world around us”.