My Own Spiritual Path
This is the “Cole’s Notes” of how I got into energy healing and spiritual practice: my own experience of loss and grief led to me begging the Universe for help, and resulted in a winding path of self discovery and mentorship. I have been practicing energy balancing and healing since 2008 with the guidance of a mentor.
Keep reading for the ‘full’ version… :)
I grew up on a farm in rural northern Alberta. During my teen years I had suffered a traumatic experience that left me feeling miserable and alone for many years. Our family was not religious or spiritual in any way; I had no framework through which to view my grief. After graduation, I moved to Edmonton, AB for university, and it was during second year that I got my first taste of spirituality. One beautiful summer day, I took myself on a leisurely stroll down Whyte Avenue. Suddenly I found myself making a b-line for the Salvation Army, wound up in front of the used book shelf, grabbed a random book and took it home. This was an unusual activity for me- I had never went anywhere alone outside the Uni, nor was I spontaneous, nor in the habit of buying myself gifts- but there I was. I read the book Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss in one day, and suddenly felt like I had come home. Reading about this aspect of spirit felt familiar to me. I felt some peace with this knowledge, but it would be many years later before I had another encounter with spirit.
After university graduation, I left the city in pursuit of adventure. I travelled a bit and eventually found myself back in Edmonton, employed with the provincial government. The un-fulfillment I felt there was compounded with panic attacks and breathing problems from perfume despite our scent-free environment. Although this was a real problem for several years, I didn’t do anything about it (I didn’t know I could!) until I volunteered to be the captain of our division’s dragon boat team. Again, this was an odd position for me to be in, seeing as I was painfully shy and introverted, and had never heard of dragon boating before!- but there I was. My teammates were respectful of requests to train scent-free, until the last practice before race day. Someone wore perfume, and this led to a panic attack on the river and having to be rescued. It was dangerous and humiliating, and I finally decided to get some help.
Someone suggested acupuncture to address the perfume anxiety. There was a little healing place at the end of my block, so I went to check it out. There was no acupuncture there- but there was a sound healer who also did karmic/vibrational energy healing. We began to heal current and karmic energies that were feeding the perfume issues. This type of healing felt so normal and familiar. After a few sessions, I had calmed the emotional trigger of perfume, although artificially scented products still make me physically ill.
Fast forward a year to round two of university for nursing. The program was stressful and I remembered Michéle. Under her mentorship, I quickly learned how to balance my own energy. My gifts developed as I learned to heal myself and my friends. After graduation from the nursing program, I worked in public health for several years. I loved working with young families, and the flexibility it gave me to focus on my young family. Eventually I felt un-fulfilled in this position- I wanted to offer more! I knew there was more to healing, and I was determined to find a way to offer spiritual care in nursing. It is a standard of registered nursing, after all!
I am so grateful that the ladies at The CIINDE opened Canada’s first holistic nurse and nurse coaching program! I graduated from the program with the skills and confidence to go into independent practice. I have realized my dream of providing care that addresses mind-body-spirit for the most complete level of healing as The Connected Nurse!
