My journey of personal healing and empowerment
From Depression to Empowerment: My Journey to becoming a Holistic Health Practitioner and Coach and Helping Others Find Happiness and Confidence
Healing our little girl changed my life
It was just a few months before my birthday, around dinner-time, on a chilly evening in Brazil in 1996. My youngest child wasn’t well. She stopped breathing for what seemed like an eternity and after giving some rapid first aid gasped for air. It was one of those heart-stopping moments that launched me into finding a way to help our little girl heal.
We had moved to Brazil just months earlier – a life changing experience triggered by my husband’s desire to work and travel abroad. My priority at that time was to be a stay at home mum and raise our children who were 1, 3 and 5 years old. As long as we were all together, I was up for the adventure and grateful for such an incredible opportunity.
Those were tough times. I didn’t speak a word of Portuguese, and for six long weeks, we stayed in a hotel before finally finding a place to settle. It was a stark contrast to my life in New Zealand. I was surrounded by towering walls with shards of glass on top and windows covered in bars. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.
A lot of my time in those early months was spent with other expats and living a life of playgroups, expat lunches, and conversations that revolved around living in another country. I felt really flat and like something inside of me was trying to get out.
Here I was in a foreign country, feeling numbed out and tired. Getting up in the morning was hard. I just wanted to sleep all day, every day and my days became hazy. I was overwhelmed, confused, and missed home. I cried a lot in those first few months… but I boxed on.
It is time to empower yourself
Achieving my bigger vision
Lucky for me, a lovely expat lady recognised I was showing signs of depression and recommended I get help… She made an appointment for me to see a health professional who seemed to really ‘get’ what was happening to me. She herself had lived overseas for a few years and knew exactly what I was going through. She saw an intelligent young woman who was lost, struggling, in overwhelm, and doing what a lot of young mothers do – putting everyone else’s needs before her own.
I finally found a mentor, guide, and peer – someone I could trust and talk to. She had unwavering patience, an empathetic ear and challenged me on my values, beliefs, passions, and interests. By walking with me on MY path, and not prescribing what I needed to do or “should” do, she helped me discover what was meaningful for me.
"She became my mentor, guide, and peer – someone I could trust and talk to. She had unwavering patience, an empathetic ear and challenged me on my values, beliefs, passions, and interests. By walking with me on MY path, and not prescribing what I needed to do or “should” do, she helped me discover what was meaningful for me."
She was the person that really teased out the real me. I learned to discern what was working for me and what was not, and together we agreed on simple action steps that aligned with my newfound purpose.
She helped ELEVATE my awareness and get clear on what I wanted. We began with the nuts and bolts of getting to know myself which got me on a focussed path to self, tapping into my strengths, passions, interests.
She helped me to LIBERATE the blocks that were keeping me stuck, and held me accountable with my wants and dreams. With encouragement we explored healing pathways – aromatherapy and massage – and for the first time in a while, I felt hopeful and excited.
And she helped me ACTIVATE my choices and take action on what my next steps were to achieving my bigger vision.
I felt lucky to have someone like her help me out of my funk and come up with my vision for how I wanted to live my life at the time.
I felt truly grateful and blessed to have an enduring relationship with her for the time we remained in South America.
But this is not THE happy ending to my story
…you know the one where the heroine walks into the sunset and everything falls into place for the rest of her life…
“I believe that the universe is always guiding us towards our purpose, and our path.“
"I believe that the universe is always guiding us towards our purpose, and our path."
We experience diverse and interesting lives. We go through so many stages of life where so many different things are expected from us and where we often put others’ needs before our own. We give so much in our many roles whether it be partner, parent, professional, friend, family member, and business owner.
And at each life stage – no matter what hat we are wearing and what responsibilities we are performing – the universe is always there, it has our back and it keeps gently leading us back on to our path.
How do you know you have strayed from the path?
It takes a life time to get to know ourselves, it takes a life time to walk our path, and at every stage get closer to our purpose.
So after 7 years, we eventually came home from Brazil. I started an Aromatherapy business which was a steep learning curve. I don’t know what went wrong but I had men ringing for sex services! It seemed not many people understood what Aromatherapy was really about back then… It spurred me to go back and study something clinical linked to pain – so that there was no mistake in what type of work I did!
I continued training in a number of different body therapies, coaching methods, and even energy work – looking for the silver bullet that would help my clients in their transformation. I went to university and studied a degree in health science.
I was clear on what I wanted – a successful business aligned with my values. I networked with health professionals and I forged my path as a passionate provider of coaching, body therapies, and energy therapies that would help my clients in their transformation.
I set up my business – Hands 4 Health – helping people to overcome chronic pain. I noticed the relationship between people and their chronic pain was complex. I was always adding to my toolbox and I continued to explore different methods of healing. It wasn’t as simple as just doing “hands-on” work – pain was linked to mindset, buried emotions and past trauma.
Fast forward to mid-life…
…as (bad) luck would have it I developed a mysterious condition in my legs. I would wake in the middle of the night in excruciating pain and crawl around the floor trying to distract myself. I had every medical test under the sun and nothing showed up!
For four years I tried various methods to “get over it” applying everything I knew to get rid of my pain. And yes – I eventually became pain free!
The personal transformation I underwent during that period enabled me to delve into the principles of mind, body, and energy, which I now refer to as “Embodied Transformation.”
Then…clients with equally mysterious chronic issues started knocking on my door, looking for a solution to their own unexplained problems. Rarely, was it a purely physical thing – as I had discovered in my own experience. I noticed there was a huge connection to life, career and relationship stress that was compounded by unhelpful thought patterns, and the stories clients believed in that showed up in their body.
“The mind is everything, what you think you become.”
— Buddha —
It is time to live and lead with soul
Reclaiming the spark
I learned ways to tap into what the body was trying communicate and it became obvious – at least to me – that people had disconnected from their bodies, and what was really important to them. The clues were all there – but they weren’t listening or acting on their whisperings and inner nudges.
I discovered that helping others reconnect to and embody their true nature, and live life with a clear direction and purpose was what I was really here to do.
After 20+ years in the bodywork arena, I realised that the biggest part of what I had been doing was coaching my clients “on the table”. My clients have found tools to free themselves from their pains, stresses, “stuckness” and inner struggles. This has empowered them to step up boldly, with confidence and find their own internal compass to guide them in their life, relationship, health and career aspirations.
Empowering others to reclaim their spark, so that they can confidently create a life they want and connect with their purpose is my complete and utter passion.
I love integrating and implementing my extensive training to help clients transform and move beyond what they thought was possible.
"I discovered that helping women embody their personal power and reconnect with who they really are, to live life with direction & purpose was what I was really here to do."
Are you ready to step into your potential?
When you have clarity around who you are and what you want, everything starts to flow. Getting what you want in life – whether it’s a new career pathway, developing better relationships or leading others in the world – becomes almost effortless.
Do you want help to navigate your path? Let me help you elevate your awareness, liberate your barriers and activate your newfound energy so that you can achieve your life, health, career and relationship goals.
For every personal growth there is change
Imagine if you could align with and embody your WHOLE self.
If you want to BE more, embody more and be in your power then contact me now to see how we can work together.