My healer journey started in childhood.
I grew up in Germany, as an extremely intuitive, mostly clairaudient child. Not finding a lot of support from my parents in this regard, I developed a special bond with my aunt that I spent a lot of time with, especially on weekends and extended summer visits.
Through my eyes as a child, she was the “cool” aunt – the one that meditated for an hour in Lotus pose every day, the one that did all the “outlandish” breathing exercises, the one that distilled her own essential oils in her basement at home, the one that taught me about energy and frequencies, my first connection to Yoga and Reiki, and the one that often talked very passionately about wholesome food versus processed food (mind you, this was back in the eighties).
Obviously, she was extremely wise, but also light years ahead of her time.
However, this was not the whole story for her.
She was a nurse, my uncle, her husband, a pharmacist – both met in a Sanatorium in Germany and fell in love, however, my uncle, who was there for treatments, was already facing a harsh reality: he had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of multiple sclerosis (short: MS), that was rapidly progressing.
There were no real treatment options at the time, and both of them coming from allopathic backgrounds had to look outside the box to find a solution quickly – at least to slow down the progression and to enhance his quality of life.
They started seeing energy healers, engaged in various forms of alternative treatments, often extremely experimental – and as a result, many of their peers turned away from them - alternative medicine was not as accepted as it is today.
I however always admired my aunt for her courage, her open heart and resilience as a full-time caregiver. I was fascinated by the stories of their frequent trips to healers, passionately told by my aunt, who slowly found her voice in this newfound holistic world.
A vegan diet was adopted and my aunt decided to become an acupuncturist and naturopathic practitioner, also incorporating a daily yoga practice for herself & the entire family.
I often saw her practicing some very gentle yoga, meditation and pranayama with my uncle. Whenever he was too tired to move, she would just ask him to bring awareness to different body parts, like his hands and feet, his shoulders.
To my surprise, I could see tangible improvements in my uncle right after: tremors had almost completely stopped, he reported better vision in his eyes, he was able to focus again, he could even walk a little, he was more awake. He felt freer, even if it was just for a little while. It made a big difference in his daily life.
For me, little did I know that this would be my first exposure to a major future endeavor.
(Excerpt from my speech, held at the UNSRC Enlightenment Society's event "Yoga Therapy - Yoga’s Benefits for Seniors and those with serious illness", at United Nations Headquarters, New York, on November 17th, 2017)