Jo Formosa

For Jo, it started with being an Olympic hopeful. Jo had trained many years and while she endured her fair share of sport’s injuries, representing Australia at the Olympics was within reach. Then, a serious back injury shattered Jo’s Olympic dreams, and changed the plot of her life entirely. Jo quickly realised that acupuncture brought her faster relief and recovery times than more traditional physical rehab. While the results were not enough to reopen the road to an Olympic medal, they did become the reason Jo began to study natural medicine.

Back2Health is the expression of Jo’s personal journey into natural medicine. Over time, Jo became a fluent practitioner in a number of different traditions, such as Chinese Medicine, Remedial Massage, and Neuro-Strategies, before primarily specialising in Ayurveda. As a witness to the powerful health benefits of all these modalities, it was Jo’s vision to preserve these traditions by offering them in a clinical setting, alongside Ayurveda, in order to provide clients with maximum options to regain their best health.

After listening to an Ayurvedic doctor at a conference speak about how the Science of Ayurveda can help people become disease free and live longer, happier lives, Jo asked him to become one of her gurus, along with Dr Smita and Dr Ajit. Like many “western” students of Ayurveda, Jo found creative ways of combining her own history, passions, and experience with older Ayurvedic teachings.

In the past, Jo always knew first hand that good athletes became great by training both their bodies and their minds. If an athlete got stuck in their physical program, medals were lost. Likewise, if an athlete got stuck in the mental program they were running, they also fell short. After discovering Ayurveda, Jo learned how to mix and match a variety of “programs” to help anyone seeking better overall health.

Coming around full circle, it was, in fact, Jo’s extensive training in these various modalities that eventually brought her to the Olympics, just in a different capacity than originally intended. Jo was contracted to treat Olympic team members, and so took a crucial role in helping Australia win medals, perhaps more than if her back was never injured.

Jo continues to increase her knowledge of the latest evidence-based research in holistic medicine through regular attendance at professional seminars and conferences. She writes articles as well as delivers keynote presentations at public and corporate events on a variety of topics, including complementary medicine and health and wellness.

At Back2Health, Jo is best known for helping interstate and international patients with the most challenging health conditions, such as cancer, digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, immune problems, children and baby health, and developmental issues, among others.

With Jo’s depth of clinical experience, commitment, and passion for helping people feel their best, she leads the multidisciplinary team at Back2Health by humble example, motivating others to use Ayurveda and other modalities e to touch as many lives as possible.