Are you practicing in the health & wellness space finding yourself drained by the hustle of meeting all the demands of your practice that you have little time & energy left over to FULLY create, live & enjoy the life YOU truly want?
That is why YOUR SELF EXPLORATION & CARE IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.
I know how heavy, stressful & lonely it feels trying to juggle it all. Now we get to add all the virtual components phew!
You are invested in helping people with your unique gifts, talents & skills. Sometimes it seems like the more you invest in helping others the more it drains your energy.
WTF is wrong with THAT picture!?
Often our clients donāt see behind the scenes. Seldom is it realized how much energy actually goes into what you do and how you serve people.
How would it feel to serve your clients at a high level AND shift into more ease, flow & sustainability in your life and practice?
Sounds a bit counterintuitive, I totally get it!
Iāve learned that self exploration and care is the absolute foundation for purpose, success & fulfillment in anything I do, period.
Looking high & low outside of myself for answers through education, information & guidance that would help me finally serve at the level I wanted AND feel balanced in my life ultimately was discovered inside of me.
Guess what?
It was INSIDE of me the ENTIRE TIME and what you are looking for is inside of you too! :)
This is some of my story...
āWork harder. Give more.ā For years, personally and professionally, this was my mantra.
My massage and bodywork clients would come to me with chronic pain, I really wanted to serve them and Iād put 147% of my energy into trying to get their bodies to relax & release while they were on the table.
Whether they were suffering from chronic pain or excruciating neck tension, Iād do my best to āfixā them. And I would try to do it in the fewest sessions possible since often they told me they were ātoo busyā to be dealing with this and it needed to fit their budget too.
My Guilty Secret
But I had a guilty secret.
See, Iāve had rigorous training in anatomy, physiology and will nerd out on this stuff for DAYS!! i toytally lov ethis stugff!!I have a slew of certifications and am highly skilled at listening to the body.
Iām not just trained in all the āsciencyā stuff like medical massage, corrective exercise & health coaching. Iām extremely versed in a variety of energy work.
From a very young age I found I had a natural knack for connecting with people, sensing things under the surface in their energy, what might be the true source of pain in their physical bodies, often ending up organically guiding & empowering others without even knowing it!
This became a problem in my mind. Who did I think I was to have this weird natural ability and make money doing something that came so natural to me!
My inner critic quickly stated ,āYou should just help people because you can, donāt be selfish & greedy!ā Plus I didnāt want people to know I was a ā woo woo chickā either! So continuing to ignore that huge part of myself, I stayed rooted in the science path and did my best to deliver results!
Most of my clients didnāt want to hear much about energy, body-mind connections or what effort they could put in to help themselves, they just wanted me to fix what was screaming at them, helping them to FEEL betterāand I was!
Sounds strange but helping people get relief from their symptoms was the bigger problem because ultimately those results were temporary, totally missing the root cause. I needed to support them in addressing the whole picture and I was afraid.
I was killing myself using all the āresults based modalitiesā ignoring my intuition (especially anything too woo-woo) and buckled down even harder, chanting my āWork harder. Give moreā mantra like a zombie cheerleader.
I was booking 30+ massages a week.
When I wasnāt doing massage, I was trying to support my clients in other ways. I would share all my tips and tricks they could use off the table so they could actively engage and get even faster longer lasting results.
I had to record videos or voice memos and convert them to text because my arms and hands were in constant pain.
I was working myself so hard that the nerves in my neck, arms & hands were going crazy! I would wake up in the middle of the night with my fingers, hands, and arms throbbing and numb.
I wasnāt sleeping well because I had to get up and walk around just to get feeling back in my arms. Each morning I was drinking more and more caffeine to give my self a shot (or 3) of liquid energy to get through the day.
But thatās the price of a āsuccessful practiceā rightā¦?
Breaking Point
āFixing clients painā and getting fabulous temporary results, I built a busy and successful referral-based practice.
My body started to cry out in desperation begging me to listen.
As I was dealing with my own crazy body rebellion, I started getting client referrals with increasingly major issues. They would even bring me their imaging and doctors reports!
Some were in so much pain that their doctor had prescribed medications or were looking at cortisone shots. In other cases, they were facing surgery for their pain.
Grateful for a busy practice & honored by the trust people had in my ability to help them heal, it was feeling like a heavy load to bear.
At that moment, I realized with horror what was going on. I was totally ignoring what my body was trying to tell me, thinking I could work harder and force myself into the results I wanted!
I knew I had to do something different for myself and for my clients ASAP.
Kicking Chronic Pain to the Curb
My arms were so messed up that I had to cut back on my hands on hours. And this was actually the biggest gift. It forced me to listen to what my body was desperately trying to tell me.
The message was loud and clear: My body needed to be acknowledged in a caring, compassionate way. It needed space to heal and rejuvenate, I needed to have a different conversation WITH my body. I saw the same pattern for many of my clients & fellow practitioners.
I realized I was actually doing a disservice to myself & clientele by letting the priority of my personal self-care fall by the wayside. I really wanted to stop the madness, call people up into an empowered place where they could resolve whats kept them stuck & in pain.
I asked myself, āis this way of working and living purposeful, fulfilling or sustainable?ā
Betting you know the answer.
So all that body-mind expertise Iād spent years and tens of thousands of dollars learning, I began to use with myself. Say hello to Client Zero.
A New Path
FREEDOM!
From that moment on, I knew I could never go back to trying to force bodies to heal. Not mine, and not my clientsā. I knew that the secret to freedom from pain & better overall wellbeing was engaging in a deep conversation with the bodymind.
I became my own best client, committed to putting these principles into practice in my own life and business.
Now not only has my own well-being totally flourished, but I am better equipped to help people find lasting results from pain, exhaustion, tension, and so many other things stealing their joy!
People need us more than ever! You have unique contributions to give the world. You are meant to touch lives, have adventures, enjoy your work, your life.
What is possible as you make your self exploration & care non negotiable?
I help ambitious, heart centered, holistic minded health & wellness professionals reprioritize their self care so they can bring high value to their clients, while still having the time & energy to FULLY create, live & enjoy the life YOU truly want.
Once we discover the counterintuitive truth about āreceiving to giveā the game is forever changed.
If this resonates with you or someone you may know, here is your open invitation to have a complimentary Breakthrough Conversation & explore what is possible.
Warmly,
Dannielle
