In addition to this, balancing all the different roles in my life requires setting aside some time for myself every day – this has to be practical, and quality comes before quantity. It may be taking five minutes to do some breathing exercises, preparing and drinking a cup of coffee mindfully, digging my feet into the grass, or going for a walk. Once my children are in bed, I take ten minutes to meditate and tune into my heart space. I love to finish my day with gratitude and telling myself what I did well as a parent – this is one way to retrain the critical voice in my head. In super busy weeks when my husband is away, I actually block out times in my dairy that say ‘Alex 10-11 am’ and I create space, just as I would for a client to ensure that valuable me-time!
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
One is, as mentioned above, letting go of the guilt of working versus spending time with my children. I am passionate about working with my clients – being fully present and doing what I love really fills my bucket and I am a better parent for it.
Also, more of a revelation than a challenge, discovering that in some cases I might not be the right practitioner for someone (or not at this point in time). We are all on this journey of life together and I believe my clients are drawn to the service I provide and the energy I send out. At times, people or timelines are not aligned and instead of taking it personally, I trust the process, have an honest conversation with my clients on where they would like to go from here, and often refer them to other practitioners.
The biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome was informing and educating people about what kinesiology actually is, and how it has equal standing ground to treatments like physio and acupuncture when working on the physical – plus it works with the body-mind connection and therefore treats the whole person.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
Running my own business has definitely been a learning curve! I love providing the service, but to advertise and do my own marketing – wowser, so much to learn! And finding the time to do that can be a challenge in itself. So, I came to the conclusion that I do not have to do it all! I am not an IT professional, so I made the leap to contract out some of my advertising and administration so that I can focus on what I do best: teaching and practicing, working as a Kinesiologist and Natural Health Practitioner.
The biggest pro from running my own business is the flexibility of working from home, to do what I love in a time scale that suits my family and allows me time to be with my children.
What keeps me excited is seeing the changes in my clients and witnessing them reaching their goals! This is beautiful, and it makes my heart and soul sing.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We’re seeing an unprecedented need for change in the way that we live and care for ourselves, and therein lies an unprecedented opportunity for me to take on a leadership role in bringing together healthcare, personal responsibility, self-awareness, and self-care.
I intend to continue to inspire people, including my children, and empower them to take responsibility for their dreams and their lives – within my sessions I teach balances, and share techniques for my clients to continue with at home. I will keep teaching the different kinesiology modalities, from colour therapy to wellness kinesiology, and hope my children will also grow to share my love and passion for these balancing techniques. In addition, mentoring kinesiologists and other health care practitioners will continue to be of importance to me.
I will certainly continue to deepen my knowledge, diving into other kinesiology schools, whilst following my biggest dream of creating my own courses and offering retreats for families, couples and/or children to share the magic of our inner wisdom of wellbeing. My dream is for everyone to step into the best version of themselves – to Shine Naturally!
To learn more about the wonderful services Alex offers, visit the Shine Naturally website, and join her supportive communities on Facebook and Instagram.
