Uncovering a Gem

Like all “Reiki” people I have met, Christina is a gentle, kind and giving soul. She had the table across from mine at a trade fair a few years ago. I was suffering with a headache as a result (I strongly suspect) of the fumes from a candle company (who shall remain nameless) a few tables down. She immediately leapt to my rescue, offering one of her home made salves with essential oils to rub on my temples. And it worked! I don’t know if I have ever thanked you for that, Christina. So thank you.

And thank you for being our featured Goddess this month!

Here are some bits and bytes from our talk:

GS ~ What led you to Reiki?

Christina ~ I always had a general interest in new age stuff, and several years ago I started taking various workshops, smudging, auras, etc. I started hearing people talk about Reiki and more and more was becoming interested  in learning about it. One day I just decided it was time to take level 1, with no real intention of going any further. I just wanted to learn about it. But when I took the class, it all made sense to me. Energy is  all around us. Everything is energy, and we use our own energy constantly, whether we are aware of it or not. And of course we can heal with energy. Again, we do it all the time. Think of how great a hug feels. That's sharing energy. Think of all the babies in NICU....they are so much better off when they are allowed to be held by their moms. Energy. And my favourite example of using energy in general, for the nay-sayers out there.... how do you think an iPhone operates? It's the energy from our bodies that the screen picks up on. Winter is the best time to demonstrate....you can't operate an iPhone screen with gloves on! (not counting the special ones they have recently come out with)
So, like I was saying, it just made sense to me, and feels great too! Next think I knew, I was taking all the courses, and here I am, a Master/Teacher.

In terms of how I ended up starting my Reiki practice, it was time for a change. I had been going the M-F 9-5 thing for a long time, and was finally at the management level, the path I had always planned. But I started feeling like the work version of me wasn't really me at all, and it was causing a lot of inner conflict. Finally I realized it was time for something drastic. I was going to quit, and start my own Reiki practice. I tend to make big decisions very quickly, to  the point where outsiders might think it was spur of the moment, but in actuality a considerable amount of thought has gone into it.

GS ~ What is your Vision?

Christina ~ I want to focus on teaching Reiki to others, especially to other practitioners of various modalities, so they can incorporate it into what they already do.

GS ~ Tell me about Amethyst Answers

Christina ~ My new baby! As I have been meeting tons of fantastic women who also have their own practice of some sort, or who just have their own small business of any kind, I have realized that many of them aren't as familiar with all that the internet and social media has to offer them. As I mentioned, I was a nerdy kid, but now I like to embrace the term "geek". Most people I know who work on computers all day don't really like to come home and get back on their computer for too long. But me, I love my computer! Sometimes I just sit with it on my lap as I watch tv! I  get giddy talking to people about Google Analytics, how to use Twitter, why they should be on LinkedIn.

It recently hit me that this could be a great opportunity. So I started Amethyst Answers, "helping small businesses manage their online profile". Of course, really I'll help anybody with anything, but that's the focus. Google is the new Yellow Pages, and if can't be found easily on Google, you may as well not exist.  Small businesses need to be online. They need to have a webpage. Most should really have a facebook page. And every business person should have a profile on LinkedIn.  But not everyone knows how to do it. I don't promise to get anyone on the first page of a search. I'm not a marketer. I'm an account technician and trainer, if you will. I will set up accounts and get them running, and then show you how to keep it running on your own. I teach the basics of navigating the sites, the lingo, and the etiquette. I can also help with tips and improvements to existing accounts that need tweaking.

GS ~ Thank you so much for sharing your time & talents with us.

Christina ~ You are welcome!

p.s. Here are some of Christina’s tips & tricks for using Social Media:

- The name of the game is getting found. If google can’t find you, neither will anyone else.

- By upping your online presence, you build your ranking and credibility.

- Connect and engage with your “audience”, create community. For example, read industry blogs and leave comments.

- Track what others are saying about you, address concerns in a timely manner.

- Upload your contact lists and make sure to repeat this every few months.

- Use Synching sites such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck or Nimble to streamline your accounts.


Christina also showed us in a few simple steps how to update our Linked In accounts (for example, where to customize your website names- you can add up to three) as well as a cool tool called websitegrader.com

She made it all easy to understand and follow and even implement on our own.

If you are interested in having Christina help you with Reiki or with Social Media Answers, you can contact her here.

The Dancing Goddess

I have yet to see Christina dance. But I have no doubt that she puts her whole heart and soul into every move. Just as she dances through life.

Christina and I set up a time to ~tentatively~ talk, it was more of a playdate for our three year olds and then see how much talking got done! As it turns out, our offspring hit it off quite wonderfully and played happily while we got down to our conversation over tea in the kitchen.

A born and bred Calgarian, Christina completed two degrees at the U of C, where she also met her dancer husband (in dance class, of all places!). After the first degree (Kinesiology) and a stint at a regular downtown job, she realized that teaching is what she was meant to be doing and went back to complete an Education degree.

After a year of teaching math & science and being a substitute for junior highs, Christina sunk her teeth into a High School dance teacher position. She proceeded to grow the program over the next three years, "faking it till she made it" as she related to me, asking other teachers for their help and guidance along the way.

It then came time for a life change, as first one then another child was born. Christina decided to stay home with the kids and began a very successful Norwex career on the side. Around this time Christina and her husband began taking personal development courses which really aided her in discovering her mission and purpose. All along, dance kept coming up.

The transition of Christina the shy, reserved woman who had a wall up around her heart to the spiritually alive and joyful person she is today happened over the next few years, as she began living with intention and noticing more opportunities opening up. As she moved through the fear, took action and began living by example, Christina realized that she was finally able to connect as an open person, being generous with herself, her energy and her physicality. And this is what she wants to teach to others.

The classes (specifically Dance classes for moms) she has created embody all of this: by giving to yourself you are setting a good example, being a good mom and having fun!

She and her husband are also teaching couples how to dance for their weddings, teaching at kids parties as well as teaching dance to Phys Ed teachers.

It was indeed a joy to talk with Christina and learn about the many ways she was inspired by the courses she took and coaches she has been working with (Peak Performance ~ Millionaire Mind Intensive,"the Genie" Kabral Sharpe and Brendon Burchard).

And I can't wait for dance class!!

Coffee with a Goddess

What a breath of fresh air.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down for a caffeinated beverage with the lovely Deborah Morgan of Meditating Mamas.

It was great to get out of the house and into the sunshine with my little one (7 week old) and meeting with Deb was the perfect excuse. And the baby miraculously slept through the whole interview!

Very soon I realized how we were very much on the same page with so many things and by the end of our time together we had decided to work together on a project early next year. Now that's synergy!!

Deborah grew up west of Olds on a farm. She studied psychology at University but soon became disenchanted with how the system compartmentalized things. She decided to follow her heart and do some traveling. It was in fact in Mexico where she met her husband, an engineer.

Deborah felt drawn to self esteem & body image issues, which she taught through belly dancing, relaxation and meditation classes and as a lifestyle consultant. She was also involved with developing and teaching a Philosophy curriculum through the English school there.

Upon returning to Canada, she studied and then practiced Massage Therapy for several years, until she realized what a deep connection body work has to the mind. She then underwent training for becoming a counselor and also became Director for the Canadian Professional Counsellors Association (or CPCA). During this time she also became a mother.

Her current passion, "Meditating Mamas", grew with the consciousness that through pregnancy and motherhood, we have a humongous influence and opportunity to be positively mindful and connect energetically with spirit and with a new soul. Deborah believes that actions speak the loudest and we are here to lead by example.

All moms know how hectic life can get and how we can so easily lose our focus and purpose. It is Deborah's intention to help us remember and teach the tools to reconnect, using such methods as visualization, chakra energy and even the power of our connection while breastfeeding.

I left our encounter that day feeling the calm yet vibrant energy that this peaceful and powerful woman had shared with me, and looking forward to what message we could share as a team. Stay tuned for the details of our joint project, which will begin in February 2012.

A tale of two Goddesses

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity and pleasure to meet with two more of the Goddess Business Network members face to face, Cheryl Traxler and Sean Liv.

It wasn't until a few weeks afterward that I began to process these two encounters... and make the realization of just how different yet similar these two women are.

Sitting down with each of them I felt immediately at ease and like I was with an old friend. And so it is I find, when you meet a kindred spirit along your path, and are reminded that although it may appear that we are on different paths in fact that path is one and the same.

First up, Cheryl of Fire Goddess Rising. One of the first things I noticed was a bumper sticker on her fridge which read "Goddesses are Angels with bigger boobs" and I knew we'd get along.

Cheryl opened her heart and her home to me, showing me her treatment space in the lower level and then settling in for a great chat at her kitchen table. A Calgary girl born and raised, she now lives in Okotoks and runs her business there and in and around the city as well.

Showing an independent streak from a young age (Cheryl moved back to Calgary alone when her family relocated to Arizona while she was in early high school), she got out and explored the world including Australia and on cruise ships. Always lurking below the surface was a belief in Angels and visions.

After a rough patch which she describes as her "black hole" (due in part to losing a best friend to a brain tumor), Cheryl discovered her true passion and reason for being here: a desire to empower and build a community with women whom she felt such a powerful and strong connection with.

Drawn to Native Culture, Shamanism and the Medicine Wheel, Cheryl trained in different energy and holistic modalities such as Healing Touch, Energy Medicine through the Chakras, Drum Journeys and working with crystals.

I can feel that Cheryl is living her dream and can't help but share in her excitement and enthusiasm as she tells me about her fourth year with The Institute of Shamanic Medicine, an upcoming week long ceremony this summer on Gabriola Island, B.C., a trip to a workshop in Hawaii this winter as well as her work with Rising Women.

"I am open to what Spirit has to share" says Cheryl, and this certainly rings true at our visit- when I mention that one of her three packs of cards on a nearby bookshelf is calling to me, she jumps up and brings me one of the decks.

Then smiles knowingly as I pick the Transmutation card.

Sean I meet at a Starbucks. Her gracious and warm smile meets me out on the patio and we promptly start talking... and don't stop for the next hour and a half! I am so drawn to her magnetic and authentic personality and am fascinated by both the story of her life, her accomplishments and what she has in the planning.

She tells a gripping and frank story of how, at 15, she followed a boyfriend out West from Ontario and the ups and downs that ensued. A turning point for Sean is when she was finally able to face (and pursue charges against) an abuser. Through a spiritual search she became connected to her purpose and made the realization that owning her power was key.

Traveling and learning to surrender were also factors, helping her to get rid of "stuff" and focus on living in the present. Teaching others that they can transform any area of their lives and helping them to realize just how powerful they really are have become her mission.

Sean quit the corporate world after having her daughter, and then decided to return to school and take the Personal Training Program at Mount Royal University. She also has her Master level in Reiki.

"It's about raising consciousness to empower and getting people to LIVE THEIR DREAMS".

Sean is a Motivational Speaker, Life Strategist and Fitness Expert as well as Author of the book"The Ticket". Check out her website here.

And she is going places... fast!! Online magazine, TV show, the sky's the limit!! Stay tuned for BIG THINGS from Sean, starting September 21st with her "Ticket to Change" event at the Cardell Theater in Calgary.

Today's Goddess... Awakening Aime

Last night I had the incredible pleasure to sit with Miss Aime Hutton of Awakening Goddess for over an hour at a Kensington coffee house.

I was late for our meeting (I seem to be adding 10 extra minutes of lateness with each trimester so we are now up to 1/2 an hour~ sorry, Aime!) but she was sitting and waiting patiently, and beamed a warm welcome as I arrived.

I first heard of Aime "through the grapevine" of wonderful local womans organizations such as Womanition and e-Women in the fall & winter of last year. Then in February we had the absolute joy and pleasure of having her teach a demo class at our "Gathering of Love Goddesses" Event which was hosted by Thelia Foster of Ti's Art & Soul Studio in Redwood Meadows.

Aime is someone who is going places. As she recounted some of the details of her life (including growing up in Ontario town, obtaining a sociology degree from Thunder Bay and working first with children and then adults who are learning disabled for the past decade in Calgary) I noticed a fierce pride in how she shared how far she has come and how many obstacles she has triumphed over.

I saw her light up as she shared how allowing herself to rediscover dance (from classical ballet as a kid to Burlesque as an adult) and personal development courses such as Warrior Sage (now the "Get a Life Company") brought her back into her being and in touch with her personal power. It is so exciting to see someone take their life circumstances and turn them into the exact gift that they are offering the world.

She shared with me some of the things she considers essential for women today to embrace and practice regularly:

~ take time for ourselves

~ get into our bodies, relax

~ have fun, move

Aime believes that the feminine energy in us meditates through movement.

This is a woman who has undergone a complete transformation  ~ to a confident, sexy, powerful being.
And that is her greatest wish to share with others...

"Inspiring women to be fully who they are and embrace their own wisdom, beauty, grace & power"

And so you are.


Visit Amy's website here

Her Blog here

and her Facebook Page here.

You can view her e-Women profile here.

Today's Goddess

The Goddess "Mut"

RETURN

Which is fitting, since that is the German word for courage.

I am feeling courageous, just two weeks away from launching a new website and Networking Group.

I am feeling divinely guided, as I have since the birth of my first daughter and business three and a half years ago.

And as I prepare for baby #2 in July, (which I have a strong feeling is also a little Goddess), it makes sense that a new project is also unfolding.

Here's the contemplation offered in my "Goddesses for every day" by Julie Loar book for Goddess Mut:

"Time changes things, and I grow older, but every dawn the sun returns. This morning, I rededicate myself to holding my torch high and casting a bright light in the world."

And so it is, and so it evolves.

 - GS


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