From Stressed Out Marketer to JSJ Practitioner – How I Got Here
After getting a business degree in university, I worked in marketing for many different companies. I loved the psychology, the creativity and the challenge of trying to influence people to purchase a specific brand or product. One of my earlier jobs was promoting perfume, but I got tired of trying to convince people their lives would be wonderful, their dreams would come true, if only they just bought my perfume. So, I gravitated to working in health care, because the products were developed to help people’s health and you had to be able to back up your claims with proof. To be honest, as a bonus it also paid better. I confess that I was a perfectionist wanting badly to get results and validation. I was working many, long hours when I was 38 years old, and was diagnosed with a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease.
Source STA Healthcare Communications October 2004
A photo of me taken after I successfully launched the allergy medication Aerius over the counter. I was given 6 months to do it, when it usually takes a full year.
My First Discovery was Reiki
Two years later in 2007, a colleague suggested I try Reiki to help manage my stress and digestive issues. My Reiki master was an inspiration to me because she also had an inflammatory bowel disease, but didn’t need to take any medication to manage it. I still clearly remember the first time I felt energy moving through my body. It was during a guided mediation with my Reiki teacher and was quite a shock to me. I was freaked out because I couldn’t explain it, but I definitely felt it.
What is Jin Shin Jyutsu® & Why it Resonated
A few years later after completing 2 levels of Reiki study, my Irish cousin introduced me to Jin Shin Jyutsu* (JSJ) and I was hooked.
Energy flows through your body in specific circulatory pathways. When one of these pathways becomes blocked due to stress or getting stuck in an attitude, (like fear, anger or grief) the energy stagnates, creating disharmony and pain. Originating from Japan, Jin Shin Jyutsu* is a practice that helps to harmonize and balance the body’s energy on a physical, mental, and emotional level with a gentle touch of the hands.
In 2012, I was 45 years old and, on a whim, I decided to drive to Woodstock, NY for a 5-day course. It would be my first of many Jin Shin Jyutsu* courses. Here is the link for the Jin Shin Jyutsu* Spirit Mind Body website with info on my teachers, the courses they offer and the non-profit organization: JinShinJyutsuSpiritMindBody.com
This is a photo from one of my 5-day Basic Seminars
Why it resonated with me:
- It’s super easy to do Jin Shin Jyutsu* on yourself
- You can’t do anyone any harm – it is safe to do regardless of the illness
- It can safely be combined with other therapies and all medications
- It’s safe to give to people of all ages; babies to seniors
- You can even do Jin Shin Jyutsu* on animals
- It’s unique, since not many people have heard of it
Lucky my dog has to be in the right mood to want JSJ. Here is a photo of when he wasn’t.
A Slow Transition
The same year I took my first my first JSJ course, (when I was 45 years old), I quit my corporate job and started my marketing consulting business. I didn’t have anything set up or any clients, but it was like a switch went off and I was ready for the change. This change allowed more flexibility in my schedule, was less stressful and allowed me to take more courses to develop my passion. It was the start of my very slow transition to my new life.
In 2019, I was certified as a massage therapist and more recently I completed courses in Theta Healing. My mind has become open to a whole new way of thinking. I now regularly meditate, practice yoga and do daily JSJ self-help. The only marketing I do now is for my own Jin Shin Jyutsu* practice. It’s a big shift and it’s taken me a while to get where I am, but I’m very happy.
It’s a Journey
Often when I attended Jin Shin Jyutsu* classes, I didn’t feel that I was like the other students and wondered if I belonged. Many of them had backgrounds in other alternative modalities like Traditional Chinese medicine, or knew about astrology, numerology and seemed more earthy and hippy like. I’m very direct and practical, so I don’t speak the same way my colleagues and teachers do. I’m starting to think that I’m meant to bring JSJ to the masses, to the stressed-out corporate people needing some relief like I did.
“Everything happens for a reason. I believe my experiences in my earlier life, prepared me for this second act.”
You remember that I’m very motivated by results, so you can understand that I was frustrated that I took so long to find my way to my new life. I was told by someone intuitive and wise that my experiences in my earlier life prepared me for this second act. As I write this, I realize that I’m now trying to influence people to help their bodies and emotions feel better with Jin Shin Jyutsu*. It isn’t well known in Canada, so my background career as a marketer is needed to create awareness and influence people to try it.
