HI, I’M DR NIKKI TUGNET
I am a UK-trained and New Zealand-registered Rheumatologist, practicing in Auckland, New Zealand. I am the world’s first dually-trained Rheumatologist and Yoga Medicine® Therapeutic Specialist. With years of experience in the medical field and holistic health practices, it is my mission to provide an integrative approach to healthcare: Integrated Rheumatology is my private practice.
VISION
Drawing on years of clinical experience and yoga practice, Dr Nikki invites you to explore the fusion of these two worlds:
MEDICINE
Modern medicine is superb. Consider this: 30 years ago, if you had an inflammatory or autoimmune disease, treatment options were limited, often to bedrest and steroids. Today: there are numerous therapies, medications and interventions available that allow you to live a full and active life.
It is not easy to live with pain or chronic illness and that is where holistic practices, like yoga, are a helpful adjunct to your medical care.
Healthcare is much more than conventional medicine.
YOGA
Yoga is thousands of years old but it is only recently that science is beginning to comprehend the array of health benefits that yoga brings.
Yoga is a system to help you to live well in the modern world. Through practicing yoga, we create health through the deeper layers of our being, not just the physical.
Yoga is a toolbox of self-care: an abundance of useful tools to help you to enhance resilience, strength, flexibility, mobility, balance and stress management.
In tumultuous times, we all need mechanisms to not only survive, but thrive.
You may be wondering:
Why is a medical doctor so passionate about yoga?
When you have arthritis or chronic illness, medical treatment is only one part of the puzzle. Movement is essential for healthy, mobile joints and a good quality of life.
We believe that yoga is the number one Mind-Body modality to help you to build body awareness, breath awareness and mindfulness in everyday life.
If you are living with arthritis, autoimmune illness or chronic pain, cultivating a strong mind-body connection can help to reduce flares of pain and fatigue, which can reduce the stress and burden of chronic, often invisible, illness. In helping you to learn, practice and build expertise in yoga specifically adapted for your health condition, you will have more agency.
There is truly something for everyone in yoga.
About Dr Nikki
Dr Nikki lives in Auckland, New Zealand and is originally from the UK. She graduated from the University of Birmingham Medical School, England in 2005 and completed her postgraduate specialist training in England. She worked as a Rheumatologist there before migrating to New Zealand in 2016.
Dr Nikki is a Consultant Rheumatologist at Auckland Hospital and in private practice, and a Senior Lecturer at Auckland Medical School, where she leads rheumatology teaching for medical students. Dr Nikki is an RACP educational supervisor for registrars, directly involved in supervising and training rheumatology Advanced Trainees as well as conducting clinical research. Her research interest is in Lupus/SLE. Dr Nikki has published >20 papers from across the Rheumatology spectrum.
Outside of clinical medicine, Dr Nikki provides yoga therapy to clients with health or mobility issues and teaches accessible group yoga at a range of facilities.
She has a young daughter, Maya, who also enjoys doing yoga.
QUALIFICATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS
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Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP)
Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP (UK))
Batchelor of Medicine, Batchelor of Surgery (MBChB)
Batchelor of Biomedical Sciences (BMedSci Behavioural Science (hons))
Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education (PostgradDipMedEd)
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Yoga Medicine® Therapeutic Specialist
Yoga Alliance 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-500)
Myofascial Release 50-hour
Traditional Chinese Medicine 50-hour
Restorative Yoga 30-hour
Psychosomatics 50-hour
Reiki Level 2 certified practitioner (Usui system)