De-cluttering, we are told is an exercise we should take part in on a regular basis! Well, there I was going through papers that I found in an old storage box when I came across a newspaper cutting. It was the first advertisement for my training school.
At that time, I lived in Templeogue, and I had a nice little room in the Spawell Complex, they have all the rooms divided into units now, so different to that time.
My teaching qualification was in Holistic Massage, Reflexology and Stress Management at that time. September 1999 was the first class I held.
I looked at that photo and it brought back really lovely memories. Mostly of the students I taught, who were just incredible. Willing to do the work and succeed in every possible way. Some of them I am still friendly with to this day.
Teaching wasn’t something I had intended to do, until my first tutor suggested to me that if I were willing to do a course, he would give me a reference then a job when I passed. My first reaction was ‘me I couldn’t do that’! He said back ‘if not, why not’?
So that’s what happened, I took his advice, and he did exactly as he promised he recommended me for a job with City of Dublin Education and Training Board. The woman teaching the course at the time took ill and I stepped in to replace her during her sick leave. One thing followed another and last month I just retired from 23 years of teaching!
What I brought to the work was, a high standard. I wanted to include topics that were not on the syllabus. Like protecting the therapist’s energy, supervised case study work during the class time, work experience, chakra knowledge and much more.
My wish for my graduates at the end of the year was, not to just own the ‘piece of paper’. I wanted them to be “real therapists”. You only get out what you put in, I made that statement lots of times, and I had some truly applied dedicated students who topped the scores.
Leaving my diploma teaching behind, allows me to continue with my ‘other work’, my beloved Life Coaching. Working one to one and with groups mostly women, although I do have male clients as well. I really enjoy teaching stress management, mindfulness, self-care, and personal development. My work tools are simple and easy, and my mission is empowerment.
As the words of the song goes ‘It’s a long way from Clare to here’, it’s certainly been a long way from there to here! Starting off as a receiver of Aromatherapy to teaching hundreds of students and turning out some superb graduates.
How does it get better than this?