How did I get to where I am now with my work... following my own path is number one, but how do you do that?

 When people ask me what kind of work I do, I find that a sort of difficult question to answer. These days, I am expected to explain my mission in one sentence. (And to continue on that theme) I am supposed to have a website full of movement and promises, super fun social media posts, preferably with lots of photos of my amazingly photogenic pets. 

Too often I sat down with a well-meaning coach and tried to explain that I have a business that is not focused on increasing profits, that the people I want to reach out to can actually read, and therefore don't need to be sent from one moving image to the next on my website, and that my social media posts are about what nature really looks like here in the Netherlands and I don't feel like or have time to photoshop my photos, because everyone does so. 

So why do I occasionally talk to a coach, you may be wondering. It's because I want to reach as many people as possible with my work and am open to suggestions, but in my own authentic way. That's why there are no advertisements on my blogs. My blogs are meant to be read, and I hope they are a little inspiring and informative here and there. They are not meant to make money from other people's products by generating clicks. 

The only click I like is one that takes you to a cup of tea (see sidebar). That way, you can sponsor me directly if you like, and you don't have to go to ad sites. 

Okay, back to what I really wanted to talk about. It may seem like I do many different things: Tarot, counseling, Chinese medicine, energy work, Qigong. I work with the subconscious, I work with the soul. Essentially, I liberate the soul from whatever is preventing you from living your life to your full potential. So, I can summarize what I do in one sentence, but it's not very concrete yet. 

Through everything, emotions, memories, things from past lives, the unprocessed traumas in your family line. Your own thoughts and culturally determined ideas, or things you simply can't do anything about, stress from life itself. Or energies that stick to you. There are too many reasons to mention why we as humans cannot flow freely. In fact, if I believe in Buddhism, we need many lives to become completely free from everything that makes us unhappy. 

But we don't all have to become Buddhists; we can also strive for a slightly more flowing, happier life than before. So, one step at a time, on our path to wholeness. Carl Jung would call this individuation. And that is what I do with my work: locate where something is stuck and set it in motion, release what is no longer needed, and invite in the new.

With Tarot, I help you become aware of subconscious patterns, which can be worked out in Jungian counseling through dreams and creative work. If this does not work, energy therapy offers a way to get things moving and reconnect the heart and mind. If something is stuck somewhere in the body, Tuina therapy and Qigong are best, as opening the meridians offers healing for body and mind. 

I read Jungian theories about archetypes and synchronicity when I was 16 because I was interested in magical realisme literature and had to write book reports about it for school. During my student days, I got a deck of Tarot cards for my birthday and found that I could use Jungian ideas to help people gain insights (I still use this set for myself). Through my work in private education, a colleague took me to the Jung Association, where I met all kinds of interesting people, became a board member for a while, published a magazine, and much more. After that, I took classes in Jungian psychoanalysis and underwent learning analysis myself.

Then I turned thirty and Qigong came into my life somewhat by accident, when I actually wanted to do Tai Chi, but the teacher was ill. I started studying energy therapy out of curiosity, and because of the link between  the school and the Jungian way of thinking. I had innate gifts in clairvoyance and healing that I hadn't really done much with until then. At the same time, someone I met in a café introduced me to a class taught by Inca shamans, and I immediately felt at home there and started taking classes and initiations. 

And so I rolled from one thing into another. 

For a while now, I have had a dream, which is to write a PhD thesis about the self-cultivation process that someone who regularly practices Qigong goes through. Through practice, you open all your meridians and clear away all your baggage (see the list above of what people carry with them). As a result of this clearing, you arrive at your true self. This is called self-cultivation in Taoism. In Dutch, this reason for doing Qigong is not very well known. I think that in the Netherlands, we mainly do Qigong to relax and become more flexible. And that is step 1. Those who continue practicing achieve very beautiful and deeply changing results. 

To be able to write about Qigong on that level, I started a course in Chinese medicine, Tuina therapy, because it is closest to energy therapy. I also came across Jeffrey Yuen, the Chinese master of Chinese medicine whom I now follow, by accident in a webinar on healing the mind through Chinese medicine. I had no idea what it was or that it existed, but as a psychologist, I had to go to it. 

And it turns out there is a huge theoretical connection between Jungian psychoanalysis, Taoism, Chinese medicine, Qigong, and working with energy. Only they don't use Tarot, but the I Ching. And that turned out to be exactly the link I was looking for in my research and in my work. But I haven't quite figured out how to explain that properly in Dutch yet. 

Did you know that in ancient times it was quite common for a Chinese doctor to treat physical, mental, and energetic complaints? And to provide counseling, listening to the patient with an open heart and mind? And that the doctor was only paid if the people of the village remained healthy?

Unimaginable now, but still, so beautiful!

Now this sounds like a smooth path, with everything falling into place. That's not entirely true. I'm an extrovert and super curious, so that meant I've been to many places. Also places that didn't resonate with me, like angels, spirit channeling, aliens, and so on. 

So when I came to a place that resonated, that I felt drawn to, I took classes and it eventually became my work. 

And why am I telling you all this? I hope that my way of life inspires you to step out of your head, out of your plans, out of what others say works. (Because that works for them, and you are a different person.) And be curious, go to places you don't know, learn about subjects you've never heard of. The universe does its best to communicate everything to us; we just have to say yes and go for it, and you'll feel the rest.or whether you should stay and learn more. 

But thinking, using your head, that's not where it's at. That's not where your soul is, and that's not where the universe resonates; that's in your heart. Follow your heart. 

And what about reading books or following others? I only read the old masters, Carl Jung, Lao Tzu, Buddhist texts. People of knowledge who studied for years to arrive at conclusions and ideas. Another example is in Chinese medicine, where you only write down your own ideas when you have at least 50 years of experience. Before that, you are not supposed to know anything. Just try to imitate your predecessors and gather as much knowledge as possible. But this is a personal preference because I like to keep my head clear, which is a Taoist trait. 

So follow yourself; your own intuition will take you where you need to be. Follow the clues that the universe gives you. Someone will always cross your path, you will always get an idea...