Reiki Master, Writer, Grandmother, World Traveler
Running Life with Grace and Ease
I saw Heidi’s flyer in 2005 and just knew it was for me. Then we met and talked and talked…. And we discussed doing some sessions and, I never called her. Eventually we connected again. I began with 10 sessions and have never stopped.
It has been an incredible experience. Heidi is so professional in the way she handles her matters. I have total trust in her professionalism, which is good because we know many of the same people. Being me, I could start getting jealous or competitive, but I don’t.
Coaching helps me understand and express what I want and who I am, helps me see how to bring dreams into reality and how to discern between monkey-mind chatter and my authentic voice.
All my life, I held in so much of what I want to express to the world, mostly because I didn’t know how to get it out. Now I’m at a place where I must get it out. And am grateful for the coach who helps me operationalize and do this.
My work in coaching has been a journey of learning who I am in the midst of all the voices around me: the tribe I grew up with, went to school with, worked with…. I’ve learned to discern what is mine and what is other people’s. The journey now is to keep on taking the steps even if I make mistakes. With coaching, it’s so much easier. The work may be just as hard, but it’s lighter. I’ve found a purpose. It may change in some ways, but fundamentally it’s about listening to my inner self and putting into practice what I hear.
My life is so different with coaching. Today, I make decisions more easily. I recognize inner guidance more readily. I’m clearer and more focused. I run my life with grace and ease—I can use my life intentions as guidelines. I choose to live in positive ways with enthusiasm.
Heidi holds sacred space for the work that goes on in our sessions. She has well-developed listening skills and allows me to come to my own conclusions. She is judicious in how she offers her feedback. She’s warm, engaging, enthusiastic and has a great sense of humor. She keeps things on a high energy level. She offers an immediate ability to shift if you do go under. Heidi is so much in the present and she teaches me how to do that.
I have a list of all the things I’ve been able to accomplish since I began coaching: I brought my financial matters into order—this took a couple of years. I said yes to, and prepared for, a major trip to Egypt. I wouldn’t have gone without this support. I have taken good care of myself on trips to New Orleans, Oregon and New York, and for the trip to Mount Rainier for my Reiki initiation. I was supported to create my own sanctuary/office space. I organized a Sedona trip for my entire family. Heidi even hooked me up with a writing coach and I have held three teleconferences, doing readings of my work for friends, so far. And I’m writing a book! Memoir stories!
Shaman, Reiki Master, Actor, Writer
It’s All Connected
When I started coaching with Heidi in 2008, I thought It was simply about getting a handle on my finances. I had a lot of debt, wasn’t working and had come to the end of an inheritance—I wasn’t sure what my next steps were. I knew I wanted to make Reiki my business, but I wasn’t able to pay my bills. With coaching, it took me two years, working mostly part-time, to eliminate $8,000 of debt.When I look at all I was able to accomplish while I paid off my debt, it’s amazing. I wasn’t financially deprived—in fact, I had more financial freedom than ever and was able to enjoy life. I was able to do more and have money left over.
A friend of mine started working with Heidi shortly after I did. For her, the issue was time, not money. When we compared notes, we’d see that we both were on the same path. The coaching process was the same. And then it clicked. I realized that it wasn’t about the money—it was about the energy, the vitality, the creativity or the whatever. It’s about having these tools and tools work wherever and whenever you apply them.
At one point in my coaching I was working on writing and producing a play. Heidi’s husband (life coach Phil Hind) latched on and would not give up on it. He kept saying things like, “When are you going to do your play?” or “Look, there’s a poster for your play!”
One day he pulled out a calendar and stuck it in front of me, saying, “Leslie, when is your play going to be? Let’s set a goal.” And so I did.
Heidi then coached me through all the actions steps I needed to take. She held that goal with me. I had talked about this play for 12 years and they helped me bring it across the border. The two of them could see me doing it before I could. I wanted to do it—but they saw it. And Heidi saw me as financially successful before I did. By holding that vision, she helped me step into it. She could see me being everything I wanted to be. She saw me as my life intentions. And held them for me so I could own it and see if for myself
In coaching, Heidi helps you realize your goal. You get to see what’s obscuring your vision and keeping you from seeing in those moments. Heidi helps you see it for yourself.
Like everyone, my journey started long before coaching.
Today I feel like a hero. I really do. I love my journey and I have come to embrace it as a journey. And I have gotten to my own “Cave on Dagobah” like the place where Luke meets Darth Vader. The mask comes off and he sees himself. The tools coaching has given me are my life intentions, standards of integrity, and the “red-green” list. These are the tools I carry on my hero’s journey. Even when I’m facing the dark, I know that I am not these feelings, I am my life intentions. When I see it as a hero’s journey, I can see the rough spots as part of the journey. That makes it so much easier to face those moments and the challenges they bring.
My main life intention is: “I am a channel through voice and body of healing messages and light.” I feel like that everything I do comes out of it as I move on my path. Now when I’m on stage I feel every part of me channeling healing messages and light. I feel like all my other life intentions are encompassed in that one.
Coaching with Heidi has changed everything for me. There is so much happening now in my life—Reiki, shamanic work, coaching. My monkey mind doesn’t not take me down the way it used to. I now have tools to deal with self-doubt and all the mental chatter and I can move forward on my life path, even if I don’t feel like it. I can choose to show up how I want to show up. I was so led by my feelings before. If I felt depressed, unclear, or uncertain, it would derail me. Now I have tools to set goals and set tasks toward those goals and move toward them. No matter what.
I keep moving toward my goals with clarity, focus, ease and grace.
Those words have real meaning in my life. They are real tools. I can look at my standards and choose to show up that way or I can leave them aside.
Coaching shows me that life is like being a sculptor. You can claw at the marble with your hands or you can use tools. I feel like I have the appropriate tools to help me on my journey.
Heidi is so loving and so compassionate. She has such heart and the ability to truly see everyone as heroes on their journey. Everyone. She walks her talk. She is willing to do this work herself and coaching never stops for her. This is who she is. That alone is so powerful to see and learn from. Heidi embodies the coaching model and invites others to do that, too.
Coaching has helped me bring so many things into physical reality: Financial freedom. My business. Freedom from debt and being able to support myself through my business. My play! To get past all the blocks and the stuff that hung me up for 12 years and bring that play into physical reality was incredible. All the monkey mind I went through! Wow.
Everyone can benefit from coaching. This model meets people wherever they are—whether they have debt or a book they want to write or a dream to climb Mt. Everest. If there’s any part of your life that isn’t joyful and easy, you can benefit from coaching.
Reiki Student, Mother, Professional Woman
Living In Reiki
Several years ago, Heidi invited me to come to a Reiki 1 class. I had never considered it before, though I had known her for some time. “Oh, Reiki, that’s that thing Heidi does. Yeah, whatever,” I thought. I didn’t go.
Then in June 2009, my niece moved in with us. She was going through a difficult time so we introduced her to Heidi, thinking coaching would help her. She came home and said, “Forget life coaching, I’m taking the Reiki class. Will you take it with me?”
I would do anything to support her so I said yes. Interestingly, she ended up not being able to go, but I still went.
At the class, it all connected right away. Everything Heidi said felt like I had heard or experienced it before. This information and energy wasn’t new to me at all—it was so familiar. I wanted to learn all I could.
Reiki mentoring with Heidi has changed my life in both the largest and most subtle of ways. And in so many practical ways, too. Reiki is accessible to me at all times and that makes it user-friendly. It’s part of everything that happens in my day. I don’t need a special environment or specific circumstances to call on Reiki. It has changed my life tremendously.
I have a tremendously stressful job and had a difficult time managing the stress. Heidi and Reiki have helped support me with that. It’s also been a wonderful gift in my parenting. I have two boys and as they get older, their need for the mother’s touch has shifted. I love that Reiki allows me to still have that connection with them—I can keep that physical contact as they get older and more independent. It’s created a wonderful bridge for all of our needs to be met. And I’m learning to let go more emotionally through those changes.
My younger son Caleb is very attracted to Reiki and is considering taking Reiki 1. He’ll tell me if he’s feeling sad or is anxious. When he goes to sleep, he’ll ask me if he should put his hands here or there for self-Reiki. And I will go upstairs and sit with him as he falls asleep, sending him Reiki.
I have found the Reiki path to be very empowering. It is something I can do to support myself that I couldn’t do before. These days I primarily use Reiki with my family and close friends who are interested.
One of the things that I continually thank Heidi for is her integrity. My experience has been that as some people become more involved in healing arts or practices, they sometimes have their own agenda.
Heidi always upholds the standard that Reiki is for the highest and best. She has such a high level of professionalism. For people with boundary issues, abuse issues, neediness or clinginess, she is so grounded and helps people realize where the boundaries are. This makes her exceptional at what she does. And I know that I don’t have to hold her boundaries at all—I just hold my own. And when I talk with people who are close to me and I offer them support, Heidi provides a wonderful model of how to do that appropriately.
When I was going to take Reiki 1, I was anxious. I called Heidi and asked her if I should do some online research. She said “No” and explained why. Then she offered me books from her own library that I could read and digest before the class. It was a gentle way for me to explore at my own pace and so I didn’t have to jump in not knowing anything. If you are curious, Heidi has a lot of information to share.
Right now, I’m a Reiki master candidate. And I know that this is the next step for me to learn more. When I was considering writing the application letter I kept processing it, just thinking there are so many things I don’t know. I’m just pulled forward in Reiki. I want the next step, whatever that is.
Now that I have Reiki in my life, I never have to imagine my life without it. And I love having the opportunity to offer Reiki as a way to support people. Having Heidi as the hub for information, support and knowledge has been incredible.
"Don't be a Human doing. Be a human Being."
John Bradshaw~ Blog posting by Sara Wye, Licensed Mental Health Counselor:
i have a life coach now and have had for a year. i would like to have a hand in planning the last third of my life rather than waiting to see what happens, and she's helping with that.
yesterday we were talking about how good i am at 'taking care of' things: animals, clients, old houses and how difficult it is for me to receive. 'i can do it'. 'i'll do it myself'. 'i'll handle it'. i actually can handle most things. i can get a loveseat out of my car and into the house by myself. i can put my air conditioners in and take them out. but as i ask my clients, 'is it really necessary to do things the hardest possible way? what would be easier?' i need to take my own advice.
and when my coach asked me what the antidote to that 'doing' would be, to my surprise it was 'connection'. wouldn't have thought of that. and when she asked how i might get to connection, i said, surprising myself again, 'stillness'. which i think basically means, stopping. being quiet. not doing.
so this morning, i sat with the dogs for a while after reading the newspaper in their room. kole was bouncing around looking for attention. i started by squishing the base of his ears, which he loves. slowly. then i slowed down even further and began drawing long, slow strokes down both flanks as he sat facing me. the big, bad boy's ears went back and his whole body listened. and we were connected. now i need to allow that stillness to spread into connection with universal energy.
you are a treasure, heidi. i'm glad to know you. sara
(blog entry this morning on 'goodpaws', an animal lovers' website on which i have been a moderator for ten years.)
Yoga Studio Owner, Mother of Two
Coaching as Jet Fuel
Today I am really, truly living the life I want to lead everyday. I always had the feeling before I was just getting through. I thought that life was out there for me, someday—after a project was done, after retirement. Heidi helps me clarify what I want to be and what I want to do—and how I want to do it.
Coaching has also given me extremely effective tools for directing my mind away from old patterns that no longer serve me and towards the quality of life I’ve always wanted. I’ve been a seeker and doing some kind of therapy, yoga, and 12-step work since the age of 13. They’ve all helped me and prepared me for the work with Heidi—which was just jet fuel. So much has shifted for me in the last year. Life isn’t easier but it’s more aligned. And I have a lot more hope and less concern when things are tough or feel like they’re going wrong. I can step back and put it in perspective. Having someone to whom I can bring these things is just such a relief.
Today I stop and redirect my thinking and actions on a regular basis. When I’m in the monkey-mind behavior, Heidi’s voice echoes. That took about six months to click in. I’ve always had these tools with yoga, but the weekly check-in, with principles that made sense to me, has really helped me stop and think more. Because I have someone to process potentially loaded or sticky personal or business situations, I can press the pause button if I don’t know how to react. I can also take something I thought I didn’t handle well and bring it to Heidi for some perspective.
I get things done in such a different way now. I’m a mom and a business-owner, and have always been a do-er. But I was a big-time procrastinator with anything that was hard. I’ve gotten so much from Heidi holding my hand, saying, “Have you done your action this week?” And coaching has made it so much easier for me to hold my own hand. I realize, “OK, I could just do this.” I realize the psychic energy I waste when I don’t do things. When things are incomplete, they sap my energy and cause me stress. So now I tell myself, just do ‘em.
Of all the work I’ve done on myself, parenting has brought me most quickly to the next level of consciousness. And coaching helps so much with it. There has been a huge shift in my relationship with my daughters. Now being a parent is making sense with my whole life, instead of being a thing I do separately. I talk to my older child about my process and why I make certain decisions. If she’s putting something off, I’ll say, “Let’s think about how that affects you. You could just practice guitar now and then it’ll be done.” We have a process of inquiry together.
Heidi is very enthusiastic. At first, I thought she might be all sunshine and “fantastic!” But I quickly saw her depth and her laser-like focus that takes me right the truth. She’s very nurturing and firm—like a container in that she holds the space in such a warm way. I feel like I have someone cheering, “Go, Team, Go!” And I know that she won’t let me slide out of anything.
I have always had a mind that caused me plenty of trouble—and I have long seen that there is something to be done about that. I’ve been grateful to the tools of therapy, yoga and 12-step programs— jumped on these and used them. My journey today is about picking up the tools, dusting them off and meeting the challenge.
If you’re thinking about coaching, what do you have to lose? Working with Heidi is an opportunity to have someone help you define and follow through with your vision, whether it’s the vision for your household or your multinational corporation.
Would you like to have someone help you to cross the finish line with something that’s very challenging? Whether you’re grieving about a loss or dreaming of a new project, would you appreciate having someone on your team? Heidi is not just a coach, but someone who will stay on your team and get you to the next level.
Life Coach, Ohio
I had just gotten back from a trip to Big Sur, California and I had a moment of clarity that I wanted help in reaching my goals - someone that would hold me accountable to make the most of my life.
I contacted my Coach, Heidi, and asked her to tell me about what she could do for me. She gently explained that it's what I could do for myself with her guidance and tools. Heidi then asked me if I was willing to be coached, to look deep, tell the truth about what I saw and take action to move forward rather than spinning my wheels with my old patterns.
I was indeed ready and here I am telling you that I have never felt so grounded, so ready, willing and able to make good, solid decisions about my life. We began with figuring out who I am and what my life intentions are and then we started setting goals.
I set goals with her each time we talk, and I reach my goals with 'clarity, focus, ease and grace.' One of the most profound things that I have learned is that every one of us is 100% whole and complete, that we each have our own answers and no one needs to 'fix' us...but we can seek the support of a Coach to help us find our answers.
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Writer, Providence, RI
Working with Heidi, I've learned that there's tremendous energy in the clarity of my intentions. By intentions, I mean my vision for myself -- who I really want to be in the world, in relationship, in my creative life. There's also tremendous energy in my fear -- a dark, suckling energy that can preoccupy me. But using Heidi's techniques, I now acknowledge the fear and still move forward, consiously returning to the intentions.
For instance, I had to chase someone down to interview for a writing project. I made several calls and had no luck. I agreed with Heidi that I'd make one last, warm-hearted and open effort. But I cowered by the phone, expecting rejection and feeling humiliated. There's nothing like the chill of anticipatory humiliation. Then I looked over the life intentions I'd developed working with Heidi, which I have posted next to my computer. I had written: "Afraid? Hey I'm more interested in being a damn good writer."
And I am.
My energy shifted. I'd rather feel like a damn good writer than feel like a groveling, humiliated nobody. I'd never realized before that that was a choice. I made the call. And, yes, left another message. And I felt proud of myself.
Using Heidi's tools, I now see when my feet are in quciksand, and I know what I have to do to step out and move forward. I believe in myself and in the possibilities of my life. I still get frightened, but fear is much less likely to stop me. I've realized that I have the choice to show up, to be clear and functional and open-minded, in any situation. And if I'm not feeling clear in a given situation, Heidi has a particular talent for cutting through my muck and helping me to clarity. I'm very grateful to be working with her.
Fireside Chat
Pull up a chair and sit by the fire with me. Let's talk about life. Fireside Chat is for anyone who wants to learn about how coaching and/or Reiki can help create a happier, healthier, and more authentic life.
If you would like to share something on this page, please email me your contribution at heidi @reikiriver.com. In Joy, ~Heidi
"Health, Happiness and Peace"
My wish for you is health, happiness and peace.
I once said to a dear friend as were choosing to walk different paths: "All I have wished for you is to be healthy, happy and at peace."
That was many years ago. What I have realized over the years is that I was waiting for my dear friend to be those things because I thought he had to be them before I could be them.
I have learned now that it is my choice to be healthy, happy and at peace no matter what I am or anyone else is experiencing in the moment. This is the choice we all make everyday: deciding how we are going to show up in this life by choosing what we choose to focus on.
The other day, I saw a young couple being happy, healthy and at peace. Or at least they looked that way to me. Suddenly, the old familiar longing--that memory from long ago--surfaced. There was someone else experiencing the joy of the season, and, in the briefest of moments, my mind said that I was not.
I could have stayed at that place of longing, though it was not healthy, happy and peaceful for me or anyone else in my energy field. I could have though I did not. I shifted my attention to the day and what I 'wanted' it to look like. I chose to be healthy, happy and a peace; to contribute this to everyone in my energy field.
Thomas Merton, a mystic and intellectual wrote in his journey:
This day will not come again. These beautiful flowers, this gentle breeze, this sunset, this particular alchemy of nature will never gather together again in the perfect unity. This day on earth shall never come again.
This is the sacred truth. This precious day on earth will never come again. Do I want to spend it longing for something another 'seems' to have or that I 'seem' not to have? No I want to live it--to savor this moment, this day.
As you walk through this life, I invite you to live live fully, to chose to experience the abundance of this day for this day will not come again.
And as Saint Teresa of Avila said, "Seek God-in-all-the-details of your life, for God is everywhere to be found.
In Love this day and all days,
Heidi
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Camping on the 'spit' in Homer, Alaska with Phil as we began our journey into the Yukon Territory! |
A Unique Approach to Living