Barbara O’Neill was born in 1953 in Ingleburn, New South Wales. Barbara was born into a conventional Australian home and she was the second child with one older brother and three younger sisters. Her father owned and operated a Shell Service Station at Lugarno, NSW, and Barbara had the misfor- tune to see her mother die at the young age of 51 from rheumatoid arthritis.

Barbara’s first work on leaving school was as a hairdresser and some years later trained and worked as a psychiatric nurse at North Ryde Psychiatric Hospital.

Barbara’s journey into natural health commenced when her first child Emma contracted whooping cough and spent 6 weeks in hospital. This became the motivation for Barbara to search out the cause, find a remedy and live a life- style that would prevent this from happening again.

With her partner, she embraced an alternative ‘hippie’ lifestyle and moved from Sydney to a north NSW rainforest area west of Coffs Harbour.

Removed from close proximity to conventional medical facilities Barbara studied health and home schooled her six children. Her reputation grew as a ‘healer’ and people brought their sick children to her for advice and assistance,

and she became locally known as ‘earth mother’.

In addition to her passion for health, Barbara embraced Christianity at 26 years of age. This put her on a new path to look at the human body in the light that it is not a product of random uncontrolled evolution, but that it was in-tricately designed with all its in-built mechanisms to self-heal. Barbara was particularly inspired by the health writings of a 19th century female writer Ellen G White.

After 12 years of living in a rainforest, and in a difficult relationship, Barbara left the marriage and moved closer to civilisation to allow her older children to obtain work.

Barbara’s interest in health knowledge led her to study and obtain  a Diploma in Naturopathy in 1994 and later in 2005 as a Nutritionist. Barbara’s real heal- ing success springs from the knowledge of the body’s ability to heal itself, and then working ‘with’ the body to achieve the healing response.

After her marriage breakdown in 1993, Barbara put her energies into rais-
ing her children and in 1996 moved to Queensland where she worked at Living Valley Springs Health Retreat as a Naturopath. It was here she renewed an old friendship with the Retreat Business Manager Michael O’Neill and they were married in October 1997.

The following year, Barbara and her family of now eight children, (Michael had two children), moved to Narbethong, Victoria where they started a health retreat as a non-profit organisation. They continued there for nearly six years, and in 2003 relocated to their new property near Bellbrook, NSW. They then started their new venture, Misty Mountain Health Retreat.

Over the years Barbara has become a highly sought-after health lecturer, as people appreciate her common sense approach to health problems. Barbara’s lecture series have circulated around the globe via video, DVD and YouTube.

They have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and have brought relief to thousands of suffering individuals as they embrace the
simple and powerful laws of health.

Currently the Health Director of Misty Mountain Health Retreat, Barbara’s great passion and life work lies in the educating of people in the correct health principles that lead to longer, healthier and happier lives.