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In Practice: How to Create a Successful Holistic Practice from Start to Success!
Calling All Healers
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by Shaun Brown |
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This first column is devoted to introducing a bit of myself as the columnist, and launching the reader into the beginning of a life changing experience!
Dear Ones:
Well it's a New Year! A time to look back and take an inventory of all we have learned from the past and choose what direction we want to go in now? It could also be time to start, re-vamp or take an objective look at your already existing holistic practice.
My name is Shaun Brown and I am a successful holistic therapist, writer, author and consultant in Northern California and now an honorary Philadelphian! It is a privilege for me to have been asked to join the Meta Arts Magazine team in writing a monthly column on how to create a successful holistic practice.
There is a lot of practical and philosophical information to share with you regarding becoming a success. So let me start off by saying that I have been self-employed most of my adult life and have gone down many dark alleys before I found the formula needed to become a healthy, happy, abundant, grounded holistic practitioner.
Your life as a healer doesn't have to be a struggle and I am going to give you ways to cut your learning curve. Writing, teaching, and coaching on the subject of how to become successful in a practice has been a gift to me, and I share it with you having an open heart. Nothing is original. I just happened to be the one to write the books, in hopes that what I know through experience will enrich your life, give you something to hold on to in the rough spots and love you into your own healthy successful, abundant, holistic practice. This is my mission.
Some of my thoughts will be Jewish Mother wisdom, advice from the Mother ship, humor to get you to laugh a bit, and some suggestions regarding just plain old, nuts and bolts, down to earth, common sense, business tactics. With a little hard work and a sense of humor you will succeed. My definition of success is: Making a living; making a difference; staying in balance.
I want to take some time, in this first column, to give you an idea of the reasons why I decided to do this work of teaching and writing to help other therapists become viable, successful people.
This whole endeavor started out as a dragging of my feet. After attending a very good massage institute, for just under a year, I moved out into the practitioner business world and the perception I had was: It's very competitive and there is no one to help you. Just what I wanted to know. So I set out the task of re-designing myself from having a successful housekeeping business to building a successful massage practice. It would have been wonderful to have had a coach or Mentor. I chose this calling because after having two sessions, with an extraordinary bodywork therapist, my sciatic pain of three years was relieved.
Several years ago, a colleague and I were having lunch. Prior to starting her existing private practice doing miofacial release she had worked 11 years as a physical therapist. She and I were fortunate to have had the backgrounds that we had. She in the work related field as a PT and myself many years of self-employment as a musician, having had a housekeeping business for 18 years, and a degree in advertising, promotion and production.
I was complaining to her about this issue of how sad it was that when a student gets out of school there were no coaches, sponsors, networks that one could plug into for help, or at least any that I knew of. Wouldn't it have been nice to not struggle the first 2 or 3 years to finally see the light? Why was no one stepping up to the plate to help new and ongoing therapists get a foothold, become a mentor, or at the very least to point them in the direction of a good job!
And then the ah-ha moment happened. I thought to myself: If not me then who? I had a successful practice making a living, making a difference and was learning to stay in balance. I had been teaching acupressure, and meditation to the public and in health clubs for years. Why not me? BUT the inevitable human lethargy took hold right after that, and I said to myself, "You don't have time, you are too busy." I let the idea of helping other therapists go for about a year. Then, I started teaching "Successful Practice workshops" to students. There were lots of informative handouts, but there wasn't a complete concrete, tactile format for them to walk away with and use at their leisure as a resource, because you see, "I was just too busy."
One day my ex-father in law, like my own DAD, said, "You know so much about this stuff, why don't you write a book?" Well my head immediately went to fear and loathing about doing yet another project. And I said, "You don't understand, I am way to busy." And with that, a few mornings later, about 3am, my Angels "suggested" that I get up and write a book!
I have always been a writer except it had been in the form of music. I had never written a book, but on some level, I knew: If not me then who? Accepting the challenge, my first book took 3 continuous, crazy days to write. Not counting everything else like my editor going over it many times because my English skills were quite lacking, borrowing money to format and produce it, hiring a webmaster to build a website, linking with a print on demand company (POD), linking the website to other sites. On and on, but I knew that what was required of me was to be a risk taker. So that was what I did.
Meditation is also what I do and it is a very important discipline. I will speak to that many more times because that discipline is how I am guided and I do not question the direction I am going in as long as I know that the work I do is for the good of all. All of my Guidance is always for the good of all. As a side bar, in this column, I will make suggestions to you. Such as, "It is highly suggested that when jumping from a plane you wear a parachute." I suggest you start the morning discipline of meditation. If you haven't looked at meditation as a resource already January 1 is a good start. This is where the Jewish Mother part comes in, hahaha!
Anyway, "How To Create A Successful Holistic Practice," became a best seller in the Northern California /Sacramento area I knew then my Angels had me going in the right direction. It is a short and sweet primer. Book 2: "Intentional Success-A Workbook" came like a second child, I had learned a lot and it was easier, twice as big, more texture, it asks you all of the hard questions and I must say probably has more humor. Being a "workbook" it can be in all the holistic schools, and you don't need me to teach the information. 7 Earth signs also surrounded me in doing this project. My editor, Webmaster, counselor, astrologer, massage therapist, tech support and a well-known columnist, that had taken me under her wing, all Earth signs- WOW. It is so awesome, and never failing, that when you find yourself in a deep dark forest, and you ask for guidance, an Angel ALWAYS appears with a flashlight! Love that part.
I won't speak about my books much because I intend to cover everything in this column, however, all of the information you could ever want is in them and if at any time you want to purchase them they are available on my website. www.BeWellPublications.com. The future topics I will be talking about at great length will be: Intentions, schools, expectations, self-care, investment, money, communication, boundaries, Vampires, rapport, marketing tools, Power, self-Esteem, humility, licenses, liability, taxes, choices, projects. Lots of stuff. But, if you are like me, a real right brainer, reading and digesting small amounts of information at a time works, and so I hope the "pearl" I give you each month is a perfect portion.
So my motives are to hopefully help you have a great, abundant practice. I do this just because it feels good. When you are grounded and can touch others with your wonderful "gifts" then they go out and touch others and on and on, it's the ripple effect therefore, raising the consciousness of the planet. If not you then who? See how integral and essential you are?
I hope this column reaches your needs and transforms your life into a happy, healthy, grounded, holistic practice. I invite all of your suggestions and comments. I would love some feed back about what helped you. Email me at shaun@BeWellPublications.com Never fear about missing out on any information because you will be able to go back to the archives and connect when you need to. Oh, one more caveat, my English still isn't perfect so I apologize ahead of time for those errors.
Let's start from the top, where else? Shall we begin the beguine or dance as it were?
CALLING ALL HEALERS
Intentions
I have been self-employed most of my adult life and what I have gleaned from working in the field of holistic medicine is that it must be a calling. There are a lot of steps to take toward making this valuable career a success! Also to consider, that most creative people have a gift but are challenged with low self-esteem because in this world if you are a creative person you aren't valued as much.
Even though, as a healer, you have a "gift," most times right brain people lack the coaching and direction that will take that "gift" to a successful level. If you are willing and able to change your life and by that, change the lives of those around you will make the world a better place. Let's go!
In·ten·tion· (in-ten shu-n) adj. Done deliberately; intended
Suc·cess (suk-ses )noun The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted: attributed their success in business to hard work. Dictionary.com
One of the most important questions you must ask yourself when choosing a career in holistic therapy is WHY? What is it that interests you? Why do you feel the draw to have a holistic practice? Having a practice that is guided by the heart is one of the most challenging and rewarding careers anyone could embrace.
There frequently comes a time when an individual decides that what they are doing in the world doesn't serve themselves or others. There is a longing to do something else, and a feeling that there is more to life than just surviving. You ask yourself, "What is my purpose-What am I here to do?" Being really honest with yourself and listening to your intuition regarding this question is essential before starting to take the first step towards creating a successful holistic practice. If you have reached this point, and you feel the want to help others, to make a living and to make a difference, then you are probably not reading this by accident. Welcome my friend!
I would like to talk about some definitions in this area, so that you can get a flavor of what I am trying to convey. The term holistic is becoming a common term in the healing arts and medical professions and means to find wholeness. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition is: have or relating to holism; relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body> <holistic ecology views man and the environment as a single system>.
This new word, as many of you are aware of, describes the change in health awareness. Holistic differs in perspective from the traditional medical model. Holistic means to let the body find balance or wholeness by itself. Each individual must start learning to become in tune with his or her own bodies. Sometimes gaining that skill requires education, and/or the help of a holistic practitioner. In my opinion education from a holistic practitioner is usually how most people start taking care of themselves.
It is a big deal to know that you can influence someone toward a healthier better life just by being who you are. Professionals helping others find wholeness can range from, nutritionists, massage and all bodywork, acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, chiropractic, yoga, meditation, and iridology, herbs and aromatherapy, as well as mind visualization and past life regression. I am also big on counseling and astrology, AND in keeping with the definition of wholeness, my tax lady is right up there with balance. So anyone working with others really fits in the category of holistic, to bring to wholeness, with clear intention. If I missed noting your holistic category, forgive me.
Since my calling is in therapeutic massage/bodywork I will pretty much refer to this modality when we get to the specific business strategies, so as we go along, just fill in the blanks for yourself. It's all good and it all works, just pick a path to where your heart leads you!
The intention of a holistic practitioner is to make a living through their heart. In other words, this type of career deals with the practitioner being very clear on the intent for having a practice. If the focus is not to be of service to others it will fall by the way side. Most careers can be chosen by using your mental skills because all that is required is thinking-just using your head. You can have a bad day and still fake your way through it with no one the wiser. However, a holistic practitioner must have an open heart, AND be on target every time.
They have to be so present and focused that having a bad day would be a poor representation of your profession. Remember, clients pay you to help them find their center not to here you had a bad day. There is a lot of work involved in taking care of your self, the precious therapist. I will talk about Self Care later.
Holistic practice targets the interactive process of mind, body, emotions, and Spirit. If the therapist isn't going toward that goal as well, they will find that their clientele will always be minimal, people will not reschedule. Your reputation will not precede you. This type of work cannot be faked. The therapist discovers much about himself or herself when working with their clients. Clients pick up very quickly if you have something to offer or you are just putting up a front. The focus of the holistic therapist is to guide the client towards taking control of their own health, and culturing personel awareness of their own needs and beyond.
There is a vast difference between working hard and hard work. You can make hard work out of the simplest task or settle into the belief that there is some endurance required to build character and depth. Working hard usually is experienced when the individual is trying to push the boat up the river instead of getting in it and going for the ride. It can be a long river ride, just enjoy it!
Joseph Campbell, a well-known philosopher in our time, says, "Follow your Bliss." You will need to because it will be the passion that gets you through the lean times. It is imperative that you understand this. You are making a living through your heart and this type of therapy requires passion. It also requires patience, and guidance from your Teachers and Mentors. More about meditation later. There is also an absolute: Empathy not sympathy. You may want to look up these terms in the dictionary; it's very good discipline.
I have given you lots to think about so lets put this talk-fest on hold for now. Give yourself a chance to digest and think about your intentions; is this a draw from your heart to be of Service? Next month we will talk still more about success, some wonderful reading material to start on, healing centers, the "people in your life" chat, schools, types of practices, and some really cool questions for you to answer, with not test!
BeWell,
Making a living; making a difference; and staying in balance!
shaun
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Shaun Brown,
Holistic Therapist,
Author and Consultant
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Shaun Brown has been self employed most of her adult life. She has an AA degree in General Business and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from University of California, Sacramento, in Communications. Her main focus of education is in advertising, promotion and production. Ms. Brown attended the Health Awareness Academy, in Fair Oaks, California, has practiced bodywork therapy since 1993 and has taught holistic related classes since 1994.
Ms. Brown works, with a team of professionals, including physicians and other health care providers, as well as volunteering her time to work at Mercy Hospice. Her focus is the care of people working in high stress environments, and those suffering from injuries due to a variety of causes.
She is the best selling author of “How To Create A Successful Holistic Practice,” and her newest current release is titled, “Intentional Success-A Workbook For The Holistic Therapist.” Ms. Brown currently has a successful holistic practice in Orangevale, California, is an author, speaker, columnist and consultant. To read a chapter/purchase her books/schedule a workshop visit
www.BeWellPublications.
com
BeWell!
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