Category Archives: Business diary, updates and insights

Relationships and happiness

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I just got through two paragraphs, reading a blog about relationships, and suddenly realised my husband and I have been together for almost 27 years. “Why are we so happy with each other, so happy together?” my husband asked me earlier today. I shrugged. “We’ve worked on it. Most people don’t.” I sincerely believe relationships are an art that needs to be practised, a skill-set that can be developed, like anything else in the world.

That might not sound incredibly romantic, but if grounded pragmatism bores you I can broaden the scope and tell you that I also believe my husband and I dreamed each other into being, beginning in childhood. We already ‘knew’ each other before we met. We were brought together by a star that has kept us orientated on one another, so we don’t lose out bearings. But that stuff is our private magic, the sacred stories we share in the right moment at the right time, around a campfire with friends.

Let me tell you instead about the practical magic I feel can be applied to any relationship to help it bloom and flourish, and seeing as most of what I’ve learned I’ve learned from my husband, I’d better check in with him and convey to you what he thinks are the secrets behind a good relationship. But he’s watching the football now, so I’ll let him soak up that joy while I immerse myself in the bliss of the written word and I’ll ask him when he comes to tell me about the game.

My husband and I have learned that you have to meet each other half way. You aren’t in a relationship if you aren’t willing to do this, you are just pretending. Relationships are about compromise and negotiation, about being prepared to give a bit because you love the other person and what you have together. Half way. That means don’t be a stubborn pain the neck, and or let the other person act like a spoiled brat. Love doesn’t do that. Love cares about itself AND the other person.

Find a middle ground, or take turns. It really is that simple. You aren’t right all the time. Neither are you wrong all the time. You can’t have what you want all the time, but neither should you constantly sacrifice your needs like some heroic martyr. The beautiful thing is, that when two people love each other, beyond speaking up to express your needs and feelings (with kindness and respect), you don’t usually have to argue your position much or fight for what you need, because the one who loves you will hear you and meet you half way, at the very least, just as you will do for them.

Good relationships are about kindness. My husband and I don’t always agree, but we have learned to argue (debate) with kindness, and with respect for one another. We don’t tear each other to shreds, but we do express hurt, disappointment, frustration and so on. You can do all of that without fighting dirty. Don’t do or say what you will regret later. Don’t damage the relationship, because arguments are just arguments. They pass.

And it helps to have a wee bit of a sense of humour. It truly can be hilarious when you realise you’ve heard it all before (your own carry on) and your partner is finding clever, light-hearted ways to point this out to you.

My husband finished the game. I just asked him what the secrets to a good relationship are. “Having fun together. I could give you an entire list. Sharing experiences together. Having children together. Travel…. I think honestly is important. That means being able to be yourself and letting each other be who you are. You find you mould each other into perfection anyway, in the end.”

Anyway, that’s his wisdom for now, and mine, because now we’ve got some great conversations to have together.

 

Blessings!

 

 

 

 

Possibilities and synchronicity….

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fullsizerenderAnother thoroughly enjoyable work week is wrapping up. In a way, it all started on Monday, the public holiday, with a scrumptious Skype catch up with my Aunty Kay. Kay and I are both passionate about learning, growing and creating tools that help others, and we spent some of our conversation finding ways to help each other take another step deeper into our passion. Kay has an amazing card set she made called the ‘Playground of Possibilities’ which she used to help me, and I used my Aura Cards to help her. Funnily enough, our questions were essentially about how to take our card sets to the next level. PoPcards 006e

The card Kay pulled for me from her deck was “What would be possible for me if I did it, even if I felt afraid?” which I thought was hilariously apt, given I’d just the week prior running a couple of workshops on “Finding Courage” and was busily recording courage-based meditation resources for my students and clients. The Universe always arranges for us to be in the right place at the right time, huh? Here is a link to a blog that shows you how Courage and Synchronicity appear to me visually when I am reading the aura (keeping in mind the colours for me are multi-dimensional, with movement, layers, sparkle, etc… and that’s just on the visual level!).

This question was really helpful for me because it helped me to realise that my feeling of overwhelm in regards to the smorgasbord of creative projects I have in front of me was a form of fear. I was afraid I didn’t know where to start, afraid that I was going to drown, somehow, in all the noise and chaos of possibilities and end up treading water without swimming towards any definable outcome. Talking with Kay I made a few decisions. First was that I needed to create some vision-boards; I needed to map out the various projects in a visual way so I could see them clearly and see the steps that needed to be taken. My original question had been ‘where do I start?’ and the answer that came to me was that I just need to have all the projects laid out in front of me with their sequential steps mapped out so I can float between them. I’m always at my best when I allow my inner child to take the lead, and she LOVES floating between projects. As soon as I get bored or tired, I change gears and it keeps me fresh and inspired.

I had plenty of clients and personal business to take care of on Tuesday and Wednesday so I didn’t get a chance to do my mapping until yesterday and oh my goddess did I have fun doing it! I went through some recent diaries I had handy and pulled out all the pages that were covered in creative-ideas brainstorming, and I collected all the loose leaf pages covered in the same that were floating about, and proceeded to wrestle them into line. The night before, during one of the many soul-quenching conversations I can never seem to get enough of with my husband of 27 years, we realised that an older vision we’d had for the colour books would fit perfectly with some of my more recent ideas. Light-bulbs were exploding in my mind. My husband, bless him, quickly grabbed paper and pen and waited patiently while it all poured out of me.

It’s hard to describe, but I suddenly realised I’d been thinking about it all wrong. It felt like my brain was now looking at the puzzle from a horizontal, rather than a vertical perspective. Instead of columns of separate projects, I was now seeing the interconnected links between them… I was seeing rows that connected the columns together. So now I have the beginnings of a master plan!

Aside from creative-project planning, my week with clients has been a particularly rewarding one. It makes me so happy when I see a client for their one-month follow up and they tell me their anxiety evaporated after our last session. It’s also lovely to see clients I haven’t seen for a few years, seamlessly picking up where we left off, as though no time has passed. I’ve seen quite a few children and teenagers this week, and it has struck me again, how important personal space is for our young ones. They are often overloaded with stimuli from school and then again at home with noisy siblings and shared bedrooms. No wonder they have trouble winding down, finding stillness and sleeping. A lack of personal space is particularly stressful for introverts. As an introvert myself, I very much understand this need for privacy and time out.

Aura SketchI really enjoyed doing an aura sketch on site for a client. Two things about the sketching amaze me. First is that I get to the end of my 60-90 minute long speech and ask “Are there any questions you might have had that the sketch didn’t answer for you?” 98% of people say no! How incredible is that?! The second thing that amazes me is that even though I bumped the on-site price up to $190.00, and am offering a Skype version for $150 and an emailed version for $120, most clients are still opting for the on site version. It wasn’t until I had my back injury and was taken out of action for a while that I realised just how much energy it requires to do my thing, as a psychic. And of all the services I offer, the aura sketching is the most energy intensive. It took a long time before I was able to offer this service again and this has helped me see that I was undercharging. For similar reasons, I’ve bumped the Spirit Guide Sketch up to $200 and can only do one of these per month. Have you seen the spirit guide sketches? Here’s one of my favourites:

2015-04-06 10.55.50

STORY-TELLING, POETRY & CREATIVE PROJECTS

I have some clients who have recently begun working with me weekly, because they are going through difficult times and really need the support, or they are highly committed to their personal growth. I’m seriously considering putting a cap on how many people I do this with at any one time, because there’s only so many spaces I have available every week. The booking load is in a nice space at the moment: only about two weeks in advance. I’m working on setting up some booking-rules so that Skype and distant clients are given priority, because I’m still very determined to get a significant portion of my business on-line.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy husband and I have just become the proud owners of a beautiful 100 acres of land in a little place in northern NSW called Nymboida, and we are hoping to transition into a lifestyle where we come and go every six months, between Darwin and Nymboida. My local Darwin clients who get their heads around the value of distant work will still be able to work with me while I’m away, and I’m putting some hard yakka into streamlining some efficient on-line products and services to make this even easier.

Anyway, I think that’s enough yabbering from me for one week! I’ll write with another update soon.

Blessings,

Om

The Playground of Possibilities

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My father died when I was 15 years old and the upside to the funeral was discovering uncles and aunties I didn’t know I had. We lost contact for a while afterwards, but in the last few years they have been popping back up in my life again and we are about to have our first family reunion since the funeral. I’ve been having visions of medicine wheels a lot in the past week and this visit seems like a medicine wheel in and of itself, with my father’s four siblings each coming from a different direction: one from southern Australia, one from Western Australia, one from eastern Australia and one from Hong Kong.

It’s been amazing to discover the parallels in our lives; the mutual interests and skills in particular. I’m sure I’ll discover more about them and myself during the reunion but in the meantime I would like to introduce you to my Aunty Kay who lives in Hong Kong. Aunty Kay loves words and writing just like me, and she is passionate about using creativity and storytelling in healing, just like me!

While she’s here in Darwin, Kay will be running a public workshop called “Life is a  Playground of Possibilities” (May 9th), so I thought I would interview her about this event and turn it a blog. If you are here in Darwin, you might like to come along. Kay also has one running in Hong Kong on April 23rd. 

KayRoss framed high-res

Kay Ross

ABOUT KAY

First, let me tell you a little more about Kay.

Kay is a marketing consultant, editor, copywriter, healer and performer with over 30 years experience in these fields. She is also the Head Tour Guide in The Playground of Possibilities. The common thread that links all three of her passions (marketing, performing and healing) is: Storytelling – the stories that people tell themselves and the world, about themselves and the world. So Kay helps people to find, craft and tell juicier, more resourceful stories about their past, present and future.

THE INTERVIEW

So Kay! Tell me a story! I would love to hear how the idea of the “Life is a Playground of Possibilities” workshop came into being. Have you run this workshop before, or is the session on April 23rd in Hong Kong the first one?

I’ve run it three times. Before I went to the conference of the International Applied Improvisation Network in Montreal last September, I did a beta-test version of the workshop with 12 friends here in Hong Kong. I asked them to volunteer as guinea pigs and I did it for them for free. Most of them were life coaches or people who were interested in personal development and healing. None of them were improvisers. They absolutely loved it!

Then I went and presented it at the conference in Montreal, twice, because there was a demand for me to do it a second time. Now I’m going to be offering it here in Hong Kong as a public workshop, on April 23rd, and then in Darwin on May 9th.

Exciting! So are there stories you can tell me from one of the workshops you’ve done so far? Did any beautifully touching moments or magic unfold?

Yes! One of the participants at the Montreal conference had a lovely experience. One of the improvisation games we played in that workshop is my version of a very famous improvisation exercise called The Story Spine. It’s also a very good writing exercise too. It’s an 8-sentence story structure devised by an improvisor named Kenn Adams. Each sentence starts with a very particular phrase and each one is different. It’s the classic, mythological, archetypal story structure that starts with “once upon a time”. (See Appendix 1 below)

I adapted the exercise to fit more with the philosophy of The Playground of Possibilities, where we transform people’s stories from an old, limiting belief or story to a more more resourceful, useful one. We did that exercise a couple of times as a group, with people standing in a circle. One person would stand in the middle of the circle and would share a true limiting, unresourceful thought or belief or story that they have about themselves. Let’s say the person in the middle was called John, and his limiting belief was “I’m not good enough”. The person in the circle who starts the story would say “Once upon a time, John believed that he wasn’t good enough.” Then the next person in the circle would improvise the next sentence, and so on around the circle until all eight sentences have been spoken. Along the way we’d see the transformation of John’s belief and John’s life, from the limiting belief into something more useful. The people in the circle don’t even have to know John very well, they just make up the story as they go around the circle.

The final time we did this exercise was amazing. I don’t remember what the person’s old belief was, but by the time we got to the last sentence in the story, everybody in the circle was almost in tears. It was so beautiful! The way the last person finished the story was so magical that everybody was touched. And to see how that landed with the person in the middle of the circle was so moving. His story was being told in a new way and he could suddenly see what was possible for him.

That was the highlight of the conference for me.

Thank you! That really does bring it to life!

Well to make it even better, we were standing outside on the grass on a beautiful warm sunny day, right next to a playground. It was perfect!

One of the coaches who came along to my test run in Hong Kong said at the end of the workshop that she thought she had been coming along just to do me a favour, and she was so grateful because she got a huge amount out of it for herself that she wasn’t expecting.

So tell me, how did your concept The Playground of Possibilities come about?

It was a long time in gestation. I’ve been studying personal development and healing and reading about quantum physics and the nature of reality for many years. I’m fascinated by these topics and over the years I kept hearing about concepts such as “the quantum field”. Different people give it different names like “the field”. And then I heard a podcast by Pam Grout, who referred to it as “the field of possibilities” (see Appendix 5). I thought this phrase described it better, but it still didn’t seem quite right to me.

What is this field?

It’s a field of energy, the energy that we are all part of. Sometimes I can feel it in my cells and I can feel that I’m connected via this field to the entire Universe. Being connected with it, my thoughts and words are sending out vibrations that are connecting with, affecting and being affected by the vibrations of the Universe. And when I do this consciously, my life flows better.

I sometimes say to people that I can’t absolutely prove that there’s a God or a higher intelligence or a higher power. All I know is that when I behave as if there is, my life flows with more ease and grace and joy.

Beautiful! I get the sense as you speak that this is raw creative energy and you are describing the process of shaping this raw creative energy into building blocks, grounding the energy into physical reality with your words and beliefs and stories.

Yes! Out there in this field of energy, the Universe is offering us infinite possibilities to choose from and it’s up to us to choose. The universe wants give to us. But it’s not just about dreaming and imagining or even saying affirmations. We have to make choices and take action. In this physical world we have to physically take action and take responsibility for our choices.

Another factor was a workshop I did several years ago in Tucson, Arizona. It was a marketing/branding workshop with a focus on personal and spiritual development, bringing heart and soul into your marketing. In one of the exercises we did we were asked to draw a picture. I don’t remember the exact instructions we were given but I drew what felt like the entrance way into a fairground. It was a very basic childlike drawing because I’m no artist. In the picture the entrance was an archway made out of a rainbow, and I wrote on it “Welcome to the Adventure Playground”.

I kept the picture. It stayed in the back of my mind and then about 3 years ago now, it all came together and the phrase “Playground of Possibilities” popped into my mind. I like the alliteration. Almost immediately I thought “Oh! I want to make a deck of cards.” This was the first manifestation of my idea that I thought would be perfect and not too difficult to do. So I sat down on my living-room couch and started writing questions that began “What would be possible for me if I…..” for people to ask themselves.

I wanted it to be a deck of 52 cards. In what felt like a download from the Universe I frantically jotted down 52 questions and every day since then I keep thinking of more questions.

I’ve noticed that! Every day something inspires a new question in you.

Yes! Those questions that I post up every day on Facebook and Twitter are questions that have been inspired by something in my life, something I’ve read, something I’ve heard…sometimes I repeat questions from the past but that’s okay because they’re still relevant.

After I wrote the original 52 questions I drew the picture of me on the swing with the rainbow, to use on the cards. I printed the sketch onto the cards and then coloured them in by hand. Then I typed up the text for the questions. I handmade the prototype card deck and had the cards laminated so that I could start showing people the concept. And everyone who has seen the deck and picked a question loves it. Now I’m planning to do a crowdfunding campaign to get the cards designed and printed.

PoPcards 006e

And why is the word “playground” so meaningful for you?

Because life is meant to be fun! And playful! And bringing that childlike innocence and joy into your life and having playmates around you to play with. And being physical. So it’s not just a mental thing; it’s very much about being very aware of what’s going on in your body physically and emotionally. It’s about not just living in your head; its also listening to the messages from your body and breathing and moving and dancing and singing or whatever you need to do to build up your vibration. Because that is the vibration that’s going out into the Universe. And other people sense that.

And improvisation? Can you tell me more about this as a therapeutic tool?

Improvisation helps us to step boldly into the unknown, to embrace that uncertainty, and to trust that everything will work out. The improvisation journey will take you somewhere you didn’t expect and it will probably be better than anything you could have planned and scripted yourself. The number-one principle of improv is “Yes, and”, which is about saying yes to the possibilities being offered to you by the Universe or your fellow players, and building on them.

Another key principle is “Make your teammates look good”. It’s all about playing as a team-member.

When we go through life with an improvisational mindset, we make bold choices, take action, make our teammates look good, say yes to the offers, step into the unknown even in the absence of complete information and trust that it’s all going to be okay. These are the principles I apply to my daily life, and I find that they make my life and business work better.

Thank you so much! I love looking at the connection between what you might learn from a creative skill or sacred play, and how this can be applied in a practical way to improving your actual life.

I’ve been performing with my current improv team here in Hong Kong for about eight years now and I very quickly realised that the improv principles absolutely apply in my everyday life and my business. It’s helped me to be more open to opportunities and trust that everything is going to be okay. It also makes me a better team-member because it’s never about one person being the star of the show and being in the spotlight. What I love about the “Make your team-mates look good” principle is that when I do that for them, I’m also trusting that they’re doing the same for me. If we all lived and worked like that then life would work so much better.

And when I go through life with the “Yes, and” philosophy my life works better. “Yes, and” doesn’t necessarily mean you have to like or agree with everything that’s happening, what it means is that you accept that it is happening.

Yes, because once you accept reality you can get on with working constructively with what you’ve got.  Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview before we wrap up?

Yes I’d like to reassure people who might be thinking about coming along to the workshop that it’s not about teaching them to get up on stage and be improv performers. We will use some improv games and processes that help us transform our stories about ourselves and the world, but you don’t need any improv or acting experience at all to attend the workshop.

Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to it! 

Me too!

Note from Om: Here are some extra resources:

Appendix 1 : The Story Spine exercise

Kay has a short video (2m 36s) in which she explains the “Story Spine” exercise. The 8-sentence Story Spine structure (devised by improviser Kenn Adams) goes like this:

Once upon a time, … [You set the scene.]

And every day, … [You establish the current “normal”.]

Until one day, … [Drama/conflict – an inciting incident that breaks the usual routine.]

And because of that, … [The consequences.]

And because of that, … [Further consequences.]

And because of that, … [Further consequences.]

Until finally, … [The climax.]

And ever since then, … [Resolution. The new normal.]

Appendix 2 : The New Choice improv game

Kay has a blog post titled “Improvising More Resourceful, Joyful Ways of Being – New Choice”, about her variation on the famous “New Choice” improv game. And see Kay’s video too (2m 34s).

Appendix 3 : Kay’s radio interview in Hong Kong

Kay did a 27-minute radio interview in Hong Kong on April 15 about her “Life is a Playground of Possibilities” concept, her card deck and the upcoming workshop. Here’s the recording.

Appendix 4 : Kay talking about feedback from workshop attendees (Montreal)

One woman at the conference whose husband did my workshop came up to me later and said “You’re a legend!” And one participant at the conference who didn’t even do my workshop commented on my “litupness” (she said that meant charisma). Wow!

Over the following few months, one woman who did the workshop wrote to me with several comments:
“Collective magic, under your careful guidance, at work! What a lovely thing to participate in!” (She posted that on Facebook.)
“The work you do and the person that you are exemplifies the thriving life and future I imagine and aspire to.”
“This was my top workshop from the AIN conference.”
“This was a *great* workshop! And a lovely story spine experience. It really helped us see how shifts in our beliefs can shift our lives.”

One man wrote: “I very much liked your workshop.”

Another woman wrote: “Working with you at the Circus School and also taking your workshop gave me my most gratifying conference experiences.” The day before the conference officially started, some of us participated in a half-day “Learning Journey” where we visited several circus-related organisations in Montreal, including Cirque du Soleil and the national circus school of Canada – a teacher and some students at that school led us in a basic skills workshop. I did a lovely pairs exercise with the woman who wrote that comment.

Appendix 5 : More about the Field of Possibilities

“How Your Thoughts Create Your Reality” by Pam Grout

Excerpt: “It all starts with intent, the force that lies behind everything. It’s the energy, the fuel, the electric charge that sets up a resonant field and sends out probability waves into the FP (field of possibility). Esther Hicks, who facilitates the Abraham-Hicks material, calls it “launching a rocket of desire.” “Giving it attention adds mass.”

And it’s Deepak Chopra who uses the phrase “the field of potential”.

Appendix 6 : The philosophy behind The Playground of Possibilities, by Kay Ross

The True Spirit of the Playground of Possibilities work is

to invite people into the ease, grace, joy, curiosity and freedom

that come from

Knowing that life is a playground of possibilities,

Tapping into the energy and vibrations of the Universe,

Transforming the stories they tell about themselves and the world,

Improvising new, more resourceful ways of being,

Being grateful for the abundance of choices that are open to them,

Acting boldly on their choices,

Taking responsibility for their choices,

Surrendering to the safety of the loving embrace of a Universe

that is conspiring on their behalf,

full of people and forces that want the best for them,

Feeling blessed by the support of their playmates, and

Trusting that even if they don’t know exactly how,

things will unfold even better than they could have imagined.

Redecorating and Rebirth

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IMG_4004My students and clients are always exclaiming in surprise, from one visit to the next, because my space never stays the same for very long. For me, moving furniture and changing the way my space is set up is akin to meditation. I need my space to be a changing expression of who I am; a reflection of who I am becoming and what is unfolding within me from one moment to the next.

There is something incredibly soothing and meditative about this kind of ‘pottering’. I find it clears my mind, releases me from the past and invites in a breath of fresh air! My birth name does mean ‘wanderer’ after all, and change is as good as a holiday!  Continue reading →

Kathleen O’Keeffe

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Kathleen O’Keeffe is an Intuitive Energy Healer and Health Coach. This interview is one in a series of interviews Om is conducting with practitioners she has mentored. 

 

Screenshot 2015-07-20 17.22.40Can you give me an update on what you have been doing professionally?

I’m still doing my energy healing work. So that is a 90min session using your beautiful cards, Om, along with crystals and hands on healing. My crystals and my feather wand help me hold space for healing, into which spirit guides can enter. My friend Shayote made my feather wand using white-bellied sea-eagle feathers. The sea-eagle is my main spirit guide.

A lot of my healing work is based on the healing mentoring you gave me, where we learned to feel into the aura intuitively, using colour and nature energies to rebalance. I also incorporate Reiki and another healing modality I am trained in called Simply Healed.

Simply Healed is also a stand-alone modality I offer as an hour-long session. This is a modality that lends itself really well to distant work, over the phone or via Skype.

For someone who doesn’t understand what Simply Healed is, is there a way to explain it in simple terms?

It’s an energy healing modality that uses muscle testing and an integration of the energy. It’s been compared a little to kinesiology where the practitioner muscle tests to find a block and then does an integration to clear the energy, but it’s a lot simpler. Simply Healed is all about going straight to the core issue and clearing it. It’s my go-to modality for distant healing.

Have you got a favourite crystal you have been connecting with at the moment?

I actually had a client yesterday give me two crystals! One is a slice of agate, my favourite crystal. And I have a feeling this agate might be my favourite ever. It’s grey and white and looks almost ‘watery’, almost like the ocean when it’s cloudy, the water isn’t so blue and there’s a lot of white-wash. It’s amazing!

Is the agate a crystal ‘first love’ for you? One of the first crystals you fell in love with when you were initially discovering crystals?

 

Yes, it is a first love for me. The first crystal I bought and wore as a pendant for years was a Blue Lace Agate. I think its also kind of a Gemini thing; it’s my birth-crystal. Agates are just so cool with their range of colours and patterns and layers. They are my go to grounding crystal.

Screenshot 2015-07-20 17.23.05 

I’ve heard you are going to be moving soon?

Yes! I’ll be moving to Kuranda in North Queensland at the end of this year (2015). I’ll continue doing all the healing work that I’ve been doing. My clients here will still be able to work with me via Skype or phone and I’m looking forward to meeting new clients in Kuranda.

Is there anything you particularly love specialising in?

I really love the Distant Healing work over Skype. I love the trust from the client and it never ceases to amaze me how powerful distant healing is with out being in the same room as your client.

I have a few modalities under my belt, and whilst I don’t really feel like I specialise is a particular one but more have them in my tool kit to draw upon depending on what the client needs most.

Do you have a vision for your professional future?

I’ve nearly finished a health-coaching course with IIN on-line, which has really taught me a lot about active listening and meeting people where they are at. Health coaching is all about helping people realise what their real goals are and then keeping them accountable as they work towards that. It’s a bit of a program; you work with people for 6 months.

I see myself evolving into having health coaching as part of my practice, alongside my energy healing work. I don’t know what the end result will be, because I’m constantly evolving.

I’ve been working on pushing myself out of my comfort zones in order to grow, especially when it comes to public speaking, which tends to scare me! It’s definitely getting easier with practice.

My biggest passion is self-care. Teaching people to love and care for themselves. If you give yourself time by giving to yourself, and you stop worrying about lack and focus on gratitude, life gets easier. People have this perception that spiritual practices are really hard, but I’ve actually found that it’s not that hard, complicated or time-consuming. Nor does it need to be. We can keep it simple.

Kathleen’s contact details are:

0400272307

www.kathleenokeeffeenergyhealing.com

FB www.facebook/kathleenenergyhealing.com

Instagram @KOKeeffeHealing

Twitter @KOKeeffeHealing

Interview with Tammy Hatherill

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Tammy Hatherill is a Reiki healer, tarot reader and hypnotherapist who lives and works in Palmerston, Northern Australia.

 

Tammy for Om 1Can you tell us what you do?

I do a number of different things. I do tarot, which is more for clarity and direction, and helping people tap into their inner wisdom. I do Reiki, which is beautiful energy healing. And then I do hypnotherapy and Balinese reflexology.

And I’ve decided just recently, because I’ve been getting a lot of enquiries about this, to do house clearings.

Can you describe what house-clearing is?

House clearing isn’t necessarily getting rid of negative spirits (although is certainly can be), it’s more often about just getting rid of heavy energy; heavy energy hanging around the house maybe because there was a divorce that took place and the left over feeling in the house isn’t very nice. I just go through and clear out any heaviness that might be there.

And your journey began with the tarot. Can you tell us this story?

I was always a sensitive child, and always told to grow a thick skin. When I was about 18 or 19 I had the first major break up with the love of my life and I was going to different tarot readers to find out, and to hear “Oh yes, you’re going to get back together!”, as you do.

So true! Don’t you think that’s the most common thing people come for?Photo 3-4

It is! A lot of relationship stuff. Anyway, one particular lady said “No! You aren’t going to be getting back together with him because in the long-term, he’s not good for you. Then she told me that I would be good at being a tarot reader because of my sensitivity. She ran me through some tests where I had to sense energy and she offered to teach me. She became my tarot teacher, but she didn’t teach me anything about protecting myself. I learned that later.

One of the first readings I did was for my sister. I told her, in no uncertain terms, that she wouldn’t be marrying her fiancé, because she would meet another teacher and fall in love with him. She was really cross with me and said “You’re just making all this up because you have just broken up with your boyfriend and you don’t want me to be happy!”. I got accused of all sorts of things. But my prediction did end up coming true. She married the one I predicted she would!

So I was doing readings for friends and family and loving it, but at the time, I was working as an intelligence officer in the Queensland prison system.

IMAG0604And so I can imagine, working in an environment like that, being sensitive and not knowing anything about boundaries and protection, probably wasn’t a great situation to be in.

Yes, I was dealing with very heavy energy, so it would have been nice to understand why I was exhausted at the end of every day. I ended up with post traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. So I had time off work to recover from all of that and it was spirituality that got me back on my feet again.

I was living in Brisbane and would visit a crystal shop nearby once or twice a week to be with the crystals and the people, just to be there, interacting with gentle energy as I rebuilt. Then I moved to Darwin. At first I was in high management roles, which I hated. I was only doing it because my father insisted his children had to go to university and become high achievers. I was living a dream that wasn’t really my dream because I wanted his approval.

So how did you get from that job situation into the work you are doing today?

It all started with me attending a Reiki course, which changed my life. I had been feeling lost and all over the place, went through the Reiki attunements and suddenly got fired from my job! It was perfect timing because it coincided with a trip to Central America my husband and I had been planning. This is where the brand new idea of ‘Tammy’s Tarot and Healing” was birthed, and I had my first paying client organised before I got back to Darwin.

How did the Balinese reflexology come about?IMAG0619

After I started Tammy’s Tarot, people kept asking me if I did massage, which I didn’t. I didn’t really have much interest in massage and I didn’t want to do a big diploma in reflexology either, but then I heard about Balinese reflexology and it sounded perfect. It was a 5-day intensive course in Bali. You learn about the different points on the foot and how they relate to different parts of the body. So I went and did that, and was top of the class, and absolutely loved it. I don’t call myself a reflexologist per sae, because it’s not an Australian qualification.

And the hypnotherapy?

I’ve always been fascinated with hypnotherapy. This is my most recent passion. I started by attending a short on-line course and loved it, so then I decided I to do a diploma of hypnotherapy. This modality caters for the scientific clients out there who prefer evidence-based therapies, especially now that I’m doing the masters, which is the ‘Masters of Neurohypnotherapy’. So now I’m combining the hypnotherapy with Reiki, which is really effective.

I also heard you do a radio segment on tarot, and you do a fair bit or writing too, don’t you? How did all of that come about?

I had a client come to me for a tarot session and she said she wanted to get me on the radio. So I went and did a test run and recorded it, with genuine people ringing up, and then they put it to air and asked me to do this program for twelve months on a weekly basis.

Around the same time, I was writing articles for an international organisation called Reiki Rays, and they asked me to do a start answering student question via podcasts, and to interview natural therapist about their businesses. I’ve had training and experience with journalism, so I’m quite comfortable with writing and interviewing people.

tammy for Om 2Tell me about your future vision.

I want to continue to help people blossom and grow into the people they are meant to be. People have their own inner knowledge and intuition. My intention is to honour their free will and help them tap into this.

I’ve also created four-week weight-release hypnotherapy session programs, which I’m really excited about. I’m doing it with them so they know they aren’t alone, we’re all in it together. Eventually, I would love to create programs for posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression, and addiction.

 

You can contact Tammy on 0408815265 or visit her website www.tammystarotandhealing.com or facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tammys-Tarot-and-Healing/127769387352850

 

Healing Business Interview with Om

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photo-36With all these glorious interviews I’ve been doing for other practitioners, it’s lovely to find the Universe pulling strings and arranging a surprise for me in return! This is an interview Tammy Hatherill did with me earlier this year. It’s mostly about the art of running a successful healing business (without burning out!):

An Interview with Lisa Riemann

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This is an interview Omanisa did with Lisa in May 2015, as part of a series of practitioner interviews. Lisa Riemann is a spiritual chiropractor and healer in Campbelltown, NSW.

 

_MG_8762lowI’ve been out of touch with you for a while! Can you give me an update on what’s happening with your business practice?

I work from home. I brought the practice home when I was about 6 months pregnant. I had a very, very strong calling to work from home. I did so up until about 37 weeks but after having four months off, people started asking “When can we come and see you?!” It hadn’t been my intention to get back into practice after giving birth, but it just kind of happened of it’s own accord.

I always let people know what I think they should do in terms of when they should rebook, but most people just call me when they are ready. I take a really flexible approach to rebooking. They can come back as much or as little as they want and they know they can ring up that week and get an appointment at fairly short notice.

I haven’t been doing any advertising, so all of the work I’m doing now it based on word of mouth, which is the way I was practicing when I was in Darwin. I really love that model and I knew I could do it again.

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Tell me why you love word of mouth.

Because I don’t have to do too much explaining about what I do. People who come to me are getting information about who I am and what I do from someone they trust. This way, I don’t have to sell myself, which is good because I don’t enjoy being a salesperson.

The way I work is a lot different to a traditional chiropractic practice. I’ve moved right away from doing quick consultations which are the standard norm in our industry. Instead, I do half hour consults. This leaves room open for more conversation and allows for less rushing, which really suits my nature. I’m a slow person, so this gives me time to think things through and it allows for a far more organic, intuitive process. Allowing the client time to talk and share is healing in and of itself. I simply function as the facilitator, providing space for them to express and self-reflect.

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What do you love about working from home?

I don’t have to travel! I enjoy being able to flow back and forth from being a mum to being a chiropractor and I don’t have to wear a uniform. It’s great having my clients come to me. If people want a more clinical experience, there’s plenty of places they can go. My approach is more family friendly.

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For people don’t don’t know much about what you do, can you tell them a little about your background and qualifications?

I can’t say being a chiropractor is something I chose to do; it chose me! It all happened kind of accidentally but when I sat in on the first chiropractic lecture I thought “This is it! This is what I’m meant to do for the rest of my life!” It’s such an integral, natural part of who I am that I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I have a Bachelor of Chiropractic Science and a Master of Chiropractic which I completed here in Sydney at Macquarie University and so I know all the traditional chiropractic techniques and definitely use these in my practice, but I’m also a Reiki practitioner, and I studied with you!

One of my dilemmas when I moved from Darwin to Sydney, was trying to work out where Chiropractic fit within the broader context of my metaphysical journey. Essentially, we are spiritual beings but we are spiritual beings in a physical body. So I work on the physical body and help it inhabit this physical realm with more comfort and grace. We all need physical therapy.

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Yes, I think sometimes spiritual people become a little fixated on the spiritual, on energy, and they forget to look after the basic mechanics of the vehicle that they are in. But it’s not just a vehicle is it? It’s still us. It’s our means of personal expression in this world.

That’s right! We know that we aren’t our body. It’s just a vessel. But it’s OUR vessel! Our body holds so much. It’s so protective of us. The length it goes to, to keep us working on a day-to-day basis is phenomenal! People say “Oh, I didn’t realise how much I used that part of me until it got sore!”

Generally people will come to me with a problem. And once we work through that, I let them know my door is always open, and if they feel anything out of balance, to come and see me sooner rather than later so that they don’t regress.

I explain to them “You are with your body every day. You know what’s going on. I can help you. But you are in charge of your body and what you do with it.” I do have some clients who come regularly but this is their choice, not something enforced by me as the practitioner.

This is always something I used to struggle with: taking too much responsibility for other people’s healing. In the last few years I have gotten to the point where I know what I do works, there’s no question about it, it’s just whether people want the healing or not.

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I think you have a little bit more surrender and faith, because you have worked on the spiritual side of what you do as a practitioner.

Yes. And in that light too, I see myself as simply being a facilitator. It’s not me doing the healing. The body is a self-healing and self-regulating organism. I really am just the connection between the client’s body and their conscious awareness. I help people’s body’s talk to them a little bit more, so they can understand what’s going on in their body.

I allow myself to be intuitively guided as I work and clients are often surprised by what I find. “I didn’t know I was sore there!”, they will say. I love teaching them about how their body works, and how complex the body is. People often don’t realise that pain in one area doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s where the problem is. Everything is connected and problems in one area can be due to compensation occurring or due to imbalances in another area. Every treatment is a treatment of the entire body as a whole.

I think some people want their body to feel perfect 100% of the time and that they should never feel anything. These expectations are unrealistic. People under-estimate what they come into contact with on a daily basis, how much work their body does and how much stress they put themselves under. Even negative thoughts or getting too caught up in your own head can have an impact. We are so used to a faster pace of life and things happening instantly that we forget that we are nature in essence, and nature is slow. Trees don’t grow overnight. Nature has a slow rhythm and so does our body.

I’m an empath, so I often feel for the client. Unless people are quite switched on, they often don’t feel the blockages in their body and aura. As I’m working, I might physically get a jolt, or I feel vibrational shift. I might feel a blockage release from the client out through me but if spirit wants to bring something through I feel a vibration come through me into the client. When I feel a client’s body responding, releasing and working properly again, it makes me feel good! My core value is freedom, so when I feel this freedom in others it makes my heart sing.

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Do you have a vision for the future of your business?

Most of my clients don’t know how spiritual I am. They aren’t aware yet of that side of me, but I’m feeling as though I really need to be getting this part of me out there a little more.

In the future, when my children are at school, I would like to work more with mothers. Perhaps talking with mothers groups, and helping them trust themselves when it comes to their babies. I think that trusting yourself as well as your body is really important, and if mums can trust their babies, these babies will grow up trusting themselves.

My intuition became stronger when my son was born. I had to trust myself as a mother, over and over again, having the courage to do things my way in spite of all the opposing messages in the world around me about how to raise my child. And I absolutely loved the birth process; it gave me such a strong sense of being able to trust my body to guide me. I would love to help other women tap into this kind of space!

Lisa can be contacted on 0412 582 162 or at lisa.riemann@y7mail.com

An interview with Lola March

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This is an interview Omanisa did with Lola in April 2015, as part of a series of practitioner interviews. Lola is an Intuitive Healer and a Meditation Teacher in Darwin, Australia. 

20140802_095818Can you describe what you do?

My work as a healer is very intuitive. When a client comes in during our talk I get a feeling intuitively about the location of their blockages and where the healing session needs to go.

Every client that comes to me, I work with differently. I don’t have a set approach I use with every person. I feel the client’s aura, more so than seeing it. The ‘seeing’ is gradually becoming stronger.

After a short discussion, the session focuses on the chakras or sometimes I ask them to choose an Aura Card and notice if it has any meaning for them. I don’t explain the card to them. The card provides me with insight to the direction of the session. I tell them that they are welcome to look at the written meaning for that colour in the book at the end of the session.

I love working with crystals I have around the room, and feel intuitively guided to place them on the client’s body in specific locations during the session.20150430_084703

I’ve heard that you teach meditation?

I facilitate meditation on Thursday evenings at Lotus Heart Health, this is an intense breathing technique. It has been developed based on my learnings in Bali and my own experiences. It’s a colour breathing technique designed to open and balance the chakras. Each person is given a healing and blessing. Sometimes Aura Cards are used during the meditation.

Other meditation styles I facilitate include gentle breathing techniques, creative visualisation and I’m currently working on a Goddess Mediation. During these sessions I guide them through a grounding process and connect them with Mother Earth. These meditations are excellent for people who are stressed and suffer from illnesses. These sessions are held at NT Lifestyle Studios.

Will you tell me a bit more about your own healing journey and how you became a healer?

Essentially, my healing journey began with me working on myself. I have been on my own healing journey for at least fifteen years, but in the meantime, I had people coming to me, telling me their problems. I used to feel as though I was taking on their problems. The other person would seem happy the next day but I would feel terrible! Eventually I learned, from extensive reading and research, that I’m an empath and need to set better boundaries.

I’ve had some very difficult challenges in my life. I suffered childhood abuse, have lived on the streets and in refuges, I’ve had a near-death experiences and have been in abusive relationships until now. In addition, I have seen the other side, having everything money can buy, cars, clothes, world travelling and none of it made me happy.

I had to stand back and learn to take stock of my journey, to ask myself why these things were happening and how I could learn and grow from them.

It wasn’t until the end of my last marriage and finishing university that I said ‘What next?” I decided to throw caution to the wind and travel. I put everything in storage and backpacked with an NGO to remote villages in Indonesia. That really opened my eyes and appreciate life even more. I saw people who work hard just to get clean water. It really puts life into perspective. All that other stuff was just stuff!

After six weeks of doing that I decided to travel on my own and backpacked through various parts of Indonesia , for a couple of weeks. I loved it! It was crazy, but so empowering. It really helped me trust myself and my own judgment. The eruption of a volcano forced me to move to Bali and lived in Ubud for a year. I made beautiful connections with spiritual people, learning so much about myself and meditation. I was adopted by a Balinese family and lived with them for a while. They honoured me and included me in their special ceremonies.20140521_083646

After this experience I really started putting all the pieces together. I went on a silent retreat in Bali and was amazed to overcome the mental chatter and find my real self underneath. I found my direction and began my healing journey.

Getting sick in Bali was a sign I needed to return home. When I came back, I starting doing healings for people and getting wonderful results, so I began working professionally. But socially, I felt a bit lonely and disconnected. I’m such a social butterfly, so I started arranging dinners where I could meet other people and connect with them. I love networking!

This has evolved into a word-of-mouth Introduction business. A number of single people come to me thinking they need a relationship, however when I scan them intuitively, I find myself saying “You need a relationship with yourself”. So many people think they need a relationship to fill a gap or to make them feel happy. These people need healing; they need to learn to love themselves first, before they can find love.

What do you love the most about your healing work?

I love the fact that I can facilitate this beautiful growth. I love watching people blossom. It fulfils me so much. They come with a dark cloud and then they grow spiritually and emotionally.. Some of these people have physical pain and the sessions aid them in relieving pain and promoting the healing process. The more people understand themselves and the path to happiness, the more beautiful our world will become. I believe ‘Wellness Begins Within’, this is my motto.

My clients are mostly from word of mouth, they experience a wonderful change in their life and they tell their family and friends. They want them to experience the same wonderful changes.

20140702_090452Do you have a vision for the future?

I would really like to be able to help adult survivors of childhood abuse. I’ve been through it myself and I know it’s a lifetime’s work of healing. I want to help people release themselves from the burden of the painful emotions they have locked inside them. I want to help break the cycles that run through generations.

My main goal and ambition is to run workshops for people who come to me and are at a point where they are ready to open up and explore. I am not about convincing anyone they ‘should’, as everyone has their own journey and some people feel safer walking with blinkers on and it is not my place to interfere or divert them. By bringing awareness to those who are ready, I can make a positive difference. When people see others tackling issues and moving forward, they may then want to try it themselves.

If you would like to work with Lola, or make enquiries about her services, please contact her on 0422687717 or email her on Lmarch@loladarwin.com.au. Here is a link to her Facebook page: Lola March Wellness

An interview with Jennifer Wyatt

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Jennifer Wyatt is an Aura Soma and flower essence therapist who lives and works in the rural area of Darwin, Australia. This is the second in a series of practitioner interviews conducted by Omanisa. 

DSCF1187What do you do professionally?

I work with flower essences, colour therapy and energy healing, At the moment I have a special energy healing package, which includes a card reading using either angel cards, flower cards or your aura cards plus an energy healing session. Also included is a take home pack of an essence, a pack of my wellness motivation cards, a crystal and a colour meditation to work with.

I also offer a colour reflection reading, where I either use your Aura Cards or the Aura Soma® bottles. The aura soma is excellent for tapping into issues that are really affecting a person. It’s a colour therapy system, wherein you choose four bottles and your choices tell your story. The first bottle reveals your mission and purpose, what you are here to be working on. The second bottle is your challenge and talents bottle; your challenge, once you work through it, becomes your talent. The third bottle is to do with your here and now. The last bottle represents what you are currently creating for yourself .as bottles

Aura Soma® is a non-intrusive colour-care system because the client chooses the bottles themselves and the colours are a mirror of the client. I just interpret the positions, colours and colour combinations. I also give the clients tools to work with and ways to incorporate their chosen colours in their life.

If someone books in for an Aura Soma® session I usually send them home either with their second Aura Soma bottle choice or with a bottle of flower essence. If people want a specific flower essence or a blend made up, they can call and ask me to make something up for them without an appointment or they can book a flower essence session with me.

IMG_0001Like you, I make my own flower essences, but I also work with Bach and Australian Bush Flower Essences. I did a herbal course many years ago and one of the units was about flower essences and that was it; it was like coming home. “Oh this is my thing!”. This was when I first I learned about the Bach flower essences and then some time later I learned about the Australian Bush Flower Essences and eventually bought my own kit.

I have a beautiful home clinic on my rural property in Humpty Doo, where I spend a lot of time in my garden! I love working in my garden and I love plants . Using flower essences in my work is an extension of my deep love for Earth and my garden. It’s like bringing the essence of my garden into my healing work.

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Where does your gardening passion come from?

I could probably trace it back to Mum. She always had a vegetable garden. We were brought up on fresh fruit and vegetables. Of all us seven siblings, six of us have a vegetable garden, and it’s been passed on to my children too. I really only developed my passion for gardening as I grew older, when I became more settled with children.

DSCF1048Do you have a favourite plant in your garden at the moment?

The bauhinia tree is flowering now, and it’s so beautiful!

Is there anything else you do professionally?

I’m currently doing a Red-Tent facilitator’s course. It’s a course for women, a women’s sharing group. I also teach Ageless Grace, a set of 21 tools or exercises that help keep your body and mind mobile and flexible. It’s so easy, done sitting down on a chair and it’s great fun, no two exercise sessions are ever the same. The founder Denise Medved works with people who have had strokes, or people with dementia or Alzheimers. She has a wonderful story about a client who couldn’t actually do one of the exercises, so she advised the client to simply use visualisation and eventually she was able to move her leg. I’m a big fan of visualisation!

What do you love the most about your work?

I love working with women. I love facilitating, making it easier for them to grow their spirituality, to tap into their inner most self and be authentic. I love helping them realise their potential. Obviously that doesn’t happen in one session, but you can be a catalyst, helping them onto their path. I also love working with the gifts of nature.

Jennifer Wyat can be contacted for bookings or more information on 0407398233 or emailed at in wellness@outlook.com. You can visit her website here.