It is late June 2023 and one year into my Highland adventure…..time flies! I am looking out of the window, watching a red kite (bird of prey) soaring against the mountain backdrop, in the stunning landscape that I am now so privileged to live in. If anyone had told me as 2022 began, that I was about to step through a portal into a whole new chapter of my life, I would have thought they were mad, and yet here I am. I have, along with my husband, manifested the dream, successfully turned life on its head creating a brand-new reality. I still find it astonishing the speed with which everything has happened, having only made the tentative decision to explore the possibility of moving home and letting go of our “old life” in late January 2022 – 4 months later we had found our new home, sold our family home of 19 years, and moved into the new house. Everything quite simply slotted into place, but I have to say that despite the ease with which the transition happened, stress levels throughout the process were high! A definite head versus heart battle. The heart saying, “this is the right move” with the head screaming “no – look at what you are leaving behind; home, work, friends, the comfort of familiarity – routine, surroundings….” Not to mention the doubts and emotional pressures of friends and family who were convinced that we were making a big mistake. Thankfully the heart won, and we know that we have made the right decision, we are now living a much simpler life, in a beautiful location and within a supportive and vibrant community, caught in the winds of change, we really have landed on our feet.

One year on, I have now had the time and space to reflect on what has passed and where I am heading. In many ways I should have been better prepared for these changes because throughout my adult life, every 10 years, give or take a year or two, my working life has changed direction; in my 20’s I worked in science, 30’s it was nursing, 40’s therapies took over, 50’s Zu Qigong became the focus of my endeavours and now in my 60’s….well, there in lies the question, what next? At every twist along my life path, I realise that the key has been a willingness to “let go” and simply trust, to follow my instincts. Often feeling like I was jumping off a cliff, each stage has provided a steep learning curve and enabled me to grow and evolve, with the lessons learned and knowledge gained then feeding into the next step, and it has always been obvious where I have been heading. I have usually had a transition period of a year or two to adjust and evolve into my new role……this time however, everything has changed very rapidly, and adapting to this transition at the psychological and emotional level has, at times, been challenging.

It would be fair to say that life changed significantly for everyone back in the spring of 2020, and this current chapter of change for me really began in the summer of 2020, when I made the decision to step out of the circus ring, realising that the clowns were now in charge! I detached from all mainstream news and simply observed all that was unfolding from the audience perspective, until ultimately sitting in the “big-top tent” became too uncomfortable – I had no desire or intention to obey the instructions of the various ring masters, deep down I knew that I had reached a fork in the road, and I was destined to head in a new direction. I was gently nudged along the path of change by the Universe – my job at the hospice ceased to exist, my private practice had been wound up, a decision that had been made the previous year and then along came my health issues – developing 2^nd degree heart block. Gradually, one by one the steppingstones to the future were presented – thankfully we found the courage and chose to follow the new path.

Once the initial excitement and chaos of relocating had subsided, I found myself, for the first time in decades, having space and time to simply “be”, no deadlines to meet or sense of urgency – quite disconcerting! My initial egoic reaction was a feeling of emptiness resulting from my loss of identity, for so many of us work is “who we are”, this was closely followed by a deep sense of guilt, - I felt that I was no longer contributing to society, not working, and as they say, “once a therapist always a therapist” with the inbuilt drive to help & fix. The feelings of guilt were, I realised, the result of a lifetime of parental and societal conditioning whereby busyness represents usefulness / success. I then found myself going through a period of mourning for the life I had left behind, crazy I know, as I am now living in the most beautiful location, fulfilling a long-held dream. Letting go is without doubt difficult, it is human nature to want to remain within the safety net that we each try to build around ourselves, but we cannot move forward until we let go of the situations and people that no longer match our frequency, or our trajectory in life, a difficult realisation to come to terms with.

Stepping out of the circus ring, accepting the need to once again let go, has afforded me the opportunity to turn inwards, to reflect on what is important in life, what I have achieved so far, what I would like to achieve in the future and perhaps more importantly discover which aspects of myself I have ignored, neglected? It has been a revelation to re-connect with activities that used to bring me so much joy, those pastimes that gradually slipped below the horizon as I focused on family and work. I must admit that work did become all consuming, and although in recent years I had tried to incorporate self-care, my recent health scare was a harsh reminder that I was falling short.

In all my previous changes of direction there has been an obvious link between each stage, a common thread. This time, however, I initially struggled to see the connection between past and present. It was a lightbulb moment for me when I realised that my studies around energy therapies offered an answer to my questions - where to now, do I still have a purpose? Put simply, everything we see, feel, think and touch is energy; frequency and vibration – we are effectively all connected through the energetic matrix and in turn we are connected to everything around us. Therefore, thoughts and feelings, via quantum entanglement, influence everything around us.

"Our thoughts and emotions have an effect. They go into the collective field and connect there with other like thoughts. When we consciously choose peace, the field for peace becomes a bit larger.

"We can't always prevent suffering on the Earth, but we can see to it that we personally radiate something healing and peaceful. This helps much more than we know. It also helps everyone else who is open to these positive energies, and it also results in lower vibrational energies being balanced."

~ Christina von Dreien

 

In working with this theory, I was able to release my guilt and acknowledge that by relaxing and being at peace in my new environment I can contribute to the peace and wellbeing of others, a heart centred approach rather than one driven by the ego. Although no longer working hands on, I can have a positive influence in the collective energy field benefitting all.

 

This brings me to my next dilemma, where does Zu Qigong fit into this new chapter? The answer is – it doesn’t! Now believe me when I say that nobody was more surprised than I was when I received this answer in meditation. In each lifetime (and yes, I do believe that as souls we have many incarnations / lifetimes – but that is a topic for another day) we incarnate with a soul contract, whereby we have tasks to accomplish and lessons to learn as part of our soul’s evolution and growth. It is my understanding that one of my tasks in this lifetime was to contribute towards a shift in the collective perspective as regards energy and its significance in promoting and maintaining health. There is nothing new in these concepts regardless of what some would have you believe (there are some rather large egos in the therapy world), this ancient knowledge and wisdom, once inherently understood, has sadly been forgotten and/or suppressed and there are many who are currently working to assist with the remembering of and reconnection to, this wisdom, developing a shift in awareness, a reawakening – bridging the gap between ancient knowledge and modern therapeutic approaches.

When I published the second edition of my book in September 2020, I effectively completed my “contractual obligation”, and as such I can now let go, passing on the baton to the next generation of therapists. I have shared my knowledge with many, and have no doubt that combined with the work of others, this will form the basis for someone in the future to explore and further develop, a deeper understanding of how we can use energy to improve health and wellbeing, everything is constantly evolving.

In turn I am so grateful for having been given the opportunity to bring forward Zu Qigong, this work has brought me into contact with and the chance to learn from, some very special souls, as well as enabling me to travel, quite literally around the world, experiencing some amazing adventures. In the bigger scheme of things, my contribution has been so very very small, and I am humbled to acknowledge that the rewards have been huge.

As I gradually allow the process of letting go to reach its completion, and shift fully into my new life chapter, I have made the decision to maintain my website and its shop until Spring 2024 after which time the site will be taken down, however my email will remain the same so that I am still available should anyone wish to contact me.

 

“And now for something completely different”

John Cleese – Monty Python 1971

 

This new chapter brings forward a wealth of opportunities, however in this phase of my life after several decades of caring for and fixing others, my focus will be primarily on self-care and personal growth. I know that I am now ready to move on, my lovely new garden room is a space for arts and crafts rather than therapies – the therapy couch is gathering dust in the garage, and my stones, previously used for hot stone massages, now form part of our garden water feature!

I intend to continue my studies around energy – I am already dabbling with electro culture in the polytunnel and inspired by the work of Rory Duff I now own some divining rods and hope to attend one of his dowsing training courses in the future. Julia Balaz’s galactic astrology course is also catching my attention….  Add to this the possibility of creating an Etsy shop next year to sell some of my craft work and yes, the future looks busy and bright. I have no intention of allowing the grass to grow under my feet in this chapter – life is for living!

In these turbulent times, when change is happening globally, and at speed, my advice is simple - be gentle on yourself and others, follow your dreams and listen to your inner wisdom. If you embrace the change, you might be surprised at where you end up.

 

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

                                                                                                     Lao Tzu

Elspeth