Tonight, I was listening to a podcast interviewing Wim Hof. What an enthusiastic energy filled voice he has! Wim mentioned that if you never jump into the cold water, then you never know the power of the cold. Your intuition tells you what to do despite resistance, ultimately, leading to inner knowing. I believe that listening to your inner stirrings and taking action lead you to your deepest healing.
Wim Hof spoke a lot about pushing himself beyond what science thought was possible for the human body. By going beyond those points he gained valuable knowledge. Insight that now helps many heal. He speaks of jumping into a freezing lake at an early age of seventeen. An intuition telling him it would be beneficial. In the end, following that guidance made him stronger. Strength, he later needed to heal from the deep grief of his wife dying. A tool to help with the subsequent responsibility of being the sole parent to his children. He shares about how going into the ice cold water pushed him past grief into a place of peace.
I’ve come across the idea of pushing past pain during Kundalini yoga. After holding a yoga position for along time, suddenly, I do not feel the pain. Instead, a peaceful calm full of insights. For me a joyful cacophony of images, colors and voices arise. A place of my own inner knowing. When I dare to push myself beyond what I think is possible to do, the result is always valuable.
It is hard for me to push beyond fear in my business life. How can I know everything will work out? Will the universe really support me enough to also support my daughter? Could Wim have known at seventeen that one decision to jump in an ice cold lake would serve him and millions of others? He could not.
He pushed beyond resistance and fearful questions to plunge into the lake regardless of the outcome. This reminds me of the first time I had a male Reiki client contact me. A tourist visiting Rome messaged me to book a Reiki session. My reaction to his message shocked me. I began crying, hyperventilating and my body was shaking. It took some time to calm down and think logically. This would be the first time I would be alone in my studio with a man. Why would that be so fear inducing?
I was in the middle of EMDR trauma healing sessions for being raped when I was a teenager. The idea of being alone anywhere with a man was terrifying. This was triggering me deeply. A close male colleague, who I told about my fear, offered to be my first male client. I could handle that. Subsequently, I told the tourist that I was sorry I could not see him. I booked my colleague an appointment time the following Saturday.
In the meantime, I did another EMDR session. Adjusting to the idea that, yes, Samantha you are going to have male Reiki clients. Saturday morning came, and my colleague called saying he needed to reschedule. By some twist of fate I immediately got a message from a man. He asked for a Reiki session that afternoon. Intuitively this felt good and without pausing I replied, yes. He took the exact session time my colleague had just cancelled.
This was happening. I had many other clients that day, so I did not have time to over think. Before I knew it, a man walked into my studio. I successfully made it through my first Reiki session on a male. How amazing and what a relief. Wow, did I feel powerful and safe. There were moments when fear tried to creep in, but courageously, I seemed to move through it with ease. My EMDR work and Reiki gently pushes me to new heights in trauma healing.
Still feeling very confident and happy about overcoming my fear, I created a fun social media ad. The ad was about Reiki for all men. There was a picture of a tired man before Reiki on one side, and a smiling man after Reiki, on the other. To date, this ad has been my most viewed and commented on ad. In fact, in the following weeks the ad brought many male clients to my studio.
In conclusion, I can not tell you exactly what truly pushed me to make the transition from the fear of male clients to embracing them. I can only imagine it was something similar to Wim Hof’s experiences breaking world records time and again. By following my gut instinct and trusting the universe I surpassed a deep fear. Fear that would have otherwise taken away half my client base! In truth, I lived through rape and I now thrive. Maybe, I am ready for my next fear hurdle of dating a man seriously with sincere intimacy. Can I trust my intuition to choose wisely?