Time was running out. I had to find a new clinic room to move in to, when I was guided to Raj’s Yoga School on Marion Road, just a few blocks away from the Waterhouse building. I looked at the room. It was small, smelly and needed redecorating, but the price was excellent, and I really had no more time to find anything else. Every opportunity that came my way, fell through. Shared rooms, joint ventures, all of them fell through, and now I was desperate. So I agreed to the room, knowing that there would be little to no flow through traffic, but determined to make it work, even if it was just a stepping stone, and I was grateful for something close to home with main road frontage.
By now, I only had a week to get myself together and there
were no opportunities to renovate the room, or money to redecorate. I would
just have to make do and hope that my furniture and pictures on the wall, would
deflect from the tired old ripped curtains, scratched up walls and old carpet. My
good friend from Seb’s Robotics club, offered to help me move, and in one day
and several trips, all the furniture was deposited into the new room. I really
had underestimated just how much I had accumulated in one year and now this
little room was crammed full of “stuff”. It took me days to sort everything,
and make the space my own, and then I had the dreaded task of cleaning up the
old clinic room. The hardest part of all, was pulling all my signage off the
glass windows. The beautiful signage that I had spent a small fortune on. That
big beautiful green apple, my name and all the areas of health that I work on
with my clients. One letter at a time, Sebastian and I pulled them all off.
It took us several hours to clean the room and remove all the signage and the whole time we were there, only the receptionist spoke to us. Even when other staff were only metres away, and in our line of sight, never once did they acknowledge us. So negative was the energy, my sensitive son had to go into the empty clinic room to have a cry. He was astounded by the energy, and we hugged each other tight, as I handed in the key. We stood outside, looking at the big glass window that once said “Eat Right for Life” and we sobbed. We cried for yet another loss, another opportunity gone and the loss of money that could not be recouped. But deep down, we also knew, that this environment was not good for my mental health, and it was time to leave.
The first three months at Raj’s Yoga School was difficult
financially, as no new clients came. But it did give me some time to reflect
and think about new ways to use my knowledge and skills to earn money. A trip
to Mount Gambier helped, as I developed a 4-week “Nutrition 101” course. I
called it “Eating your way to good
health!”, and this was an opportunity for me to share my knowledge with
people, and answer many of the questions that I had be asked by clients. I made
sure I included activities, documentation, hand-outs and take-homes, so the
participants would have resources long after the course was finished, and walk
away with the feeling that they had received good value for money. But would
they come? Would they commit to four weeks and would they pay to hear me speak?
I became rather ambitious and set about securing three locations for my course,
all scheduled to start one week after another. COVID cancelled one of the
locations, and the timing for the second location was moved to allow more time
for promotion.
My first course was a great success, with 10 participants
registering and attending. After the first week, I realised how much I actually
loved delivering the content, the interaction and questions from the group, and
my energy and enthusiasm almost euphoric. All my cells lit up, and the
participants returned week after week, the feedback energising me even more. I
gave myself fully, and exhausted myself at the same time. I couldn’t help
feeling, “this is what I am meant to be
doing”.
My mind went into overdrive, as it often does, and I started
envisioning a career that included my own practice premises, with my hand-picked
multi-modality practitioners, and two recently graduated Nutritionists, that I
could train and mentor in my methods of practice, freeing me up to run courses
and complete more public talks. I began writing more talks on subjects such as
mental health and nutrition and cardiovascular disease. Writing the material
for these talks came effortlessly, further confirming the need for me to do
this work. Then the new clients started coming, and soon the business was up
and running again, and for the first time since opening the doors in 2020, the
business made a small quarterly profit. This further confirmed that running the
courses and public talks, was a viable option for income, and took the pressure
off needing to constantly attract new clients. With the course material
written, it meant I could continue to deliver the content over and over, and
write new material as needed.
But, as you can imagine, I ended up in the “burnout zone”
yet again, unable to recognise my limits, or the signs. Add to that the stress
of the relocation, the pressures of being a solo parent and carer, and
oh…Yes…hello Menopause, pleased to make your acquaintance! Menopause has
brought a whole range of additional things to deal with, including weaker
mental resilience, weight gain and poor digestive health, leading to aches and
pains and poor nutritional status. Fabulous, just what I need. My latest new
client is now myself!!
Menopause and peri-menopause is such a complex state of
being, with so many variables from one person to the next, and I have come to
realise that most doctors really don’t understand it at all. Hormonal
imbalances have such a wide range of symptoms, making it difficult to pinpoint
exactly what is going on. So I began my quest on understanding everything that
is happening in my body, and all the
other symptoms that people experience, so that I may better support my clients
with this body change. Personally, I refuse to believe menstruation should be
painful or uncomfortable, and the transition through menopause should be a time
to celebrate and not feel like you have been hit with the “old age stick”. Why
does one woman transition so easily, while the other suffers in silence? It’s
time to lift the lid on this and support women through a time in their lives
that shouldn’t be so difficult. But first, I must treat myself. As they say, “fit your own oxygen mask before attending
to others”…oh how I miss those times of flying in a plane… And while I work
on myself, I am writing the content for my next course to deliver…a “Two-day
Menopause Retreat”. Two days for women to feel celebrated, loved, connected and
in-tune with their bodies, as well as gaining an understanding of what might be
going on for them. Nourishing them with the food their bodies need, teaching
them how to love and honour themselves through visualisation techniques, and
learning to let go of the things that may be holding them back in life. Like
anything, when you can understand the underlying things that are happening, you
are better equipped to change behaviours that make the situation worse, and
also find treatments that may help to relieve symptoms. Yes, it’s a BIG topic,
but a much needed one, and already many women have expressed their interest in learning
more about this topic.
So what’s next? More course delivery, more public talks,
more content writing, more delivering the message of good health to communities
of people who want to feel better, learn more about their health and strive for
living their best life. And on that topic of healthy living, I added one more
skill to my toolbox! I often refer clients to other practitioners to work on
supporting their mental health. This can come in many different forms such as
an Emotional Health Coach, Reiki, Equine Therapy, or a therapy called Access
Bars (or Access Consciousness). All of these therapies I have used and continue
to use on myself, to support me through the ups and downs of life. However, too
often my clients do not take that next step to see a practitioner about their
mental state. Is it the stigma of mental health that is in play? It’s hard to
say. While I do not want to be a therapist in mental health, I do want to
provide some more support to my clients in this area. So I signed up to learn
the techniques of Access Bars, and became a qualified practitioner in this
energetic therapy. At first I didn’t know if it was something I would be able
to achieve, but it was soon very evident that I could indeed tune in to the
energy, allowing my client to release negative energies and blockages, that may be holding
them back in life. I love this process, as it does not require the person to
talk about anything, but simply lay back, relax and let the energy flow. It’s a
process that cannot do any harm, and at worst, the person feels like they have
just had a relaxing massage. At best, the person can feel more relaxed, more
love for themselves and free to move forward without judgement. How does it get
any better than this?
These days, the phone rings more, the Inbox fills up in a
day, and life is busier than ever. I know there is still more to come. More
significant things to come. More healing to come. And with any luck, more
opportunities for laughter, fun and financial independence. With Sebastian heading
off to High School next year, he becomes more and more grown-up each day. So
much so, that he even has a job now as a workshop assistant with Techspace
Learning. For him, working each week, to help participants at robotics workshops,
is already a fun way to spend a Saturday morning, and to get paid, is validation
for his skills and dedication. For me, I couldn’t be prouder of the young man
he is becoming, especially because he is literally morphing into his father. So
onward we go, continuing to be open to the gifts and opportunities that life brings
next.
