Inner child
By Ritu Raizada, Staff Writer

Heather Henderson, roaming holistic healer and counsellor for personal and corporate development based in Perth, Australia

I can be serious, I can be fun, I can see through people and understand what is on the surface of things. I am a healer who helps people move on with their lives.

I can help people change their outlook towards things, people and circumstances (so they can gain) the right perspective.

My childhood was very 'interesting' …
... I had two younger sisters. Mum and Dad struggled a lot financially. They had to work long hours to sustain a decent (standard of) living. So all I wished for was to grow up fast so I could give a helping hand.

More than anything, I thought that if I had my own money, I could do what I yearned to do and buy things for myself … I didn't want to struggle like them.

As a teenager (in Perth, Western Australia), I couldn't wait to turn 17 so I could get my licence. After that, I couldn't wait to be 18 (so I could go to nightclubs). What I didn't realise during my formative years was the fact that to become an adult, you need to sort out things in life - that our inner child is the essence of who we are.

Today the child in me wants (me) to be a little girl again, because I grew up albeit a bit too fast. That's why in my workshops and elsewhere, I dance a lot and prance around like a little girl.

I need that child-like essence in me to be happy. It has helped me a lot. And by bringing back the child in me, I have fallen in love with myself all over again.

Being the eldest daughter, I have seldom lived for myself and could not do the things I wanted to. But today, now that I have started paying attention to the little joys of life and enjoying everything I do, my energy levels have shot up, my inner joy has increased and I have been able to share this happiness with others.

When I was a little girl, my mum bought me a poster of a cat that said, "I am easy to play with as long as I get things my way." I now realise how this is so true of me!

I started practising Reiki in 1996 …
… and have since learnt reflexology, various massage techniques and been a beauty therapist. In 1996, I also bought a salon in Fremantle, which was a one-stop clinic offering all methods of holistic healing plus being a beauty salon and a gift store. (I sold it in 2000.) People came from all walks of life to attain beauty inside and outside.

That's how I got to know … that I had a healing hand. It was also the time when I was going through quite a bit in my personal life. So I started looking within myself and realised that I had to follow my heart and take my life seriously.

In this way, I managed to heal myself. For two years, I studied pranic healing at the Western Australia Healing Institute, Perth. I also learnt crystal therapy. Besides that, I have also learnt Arhatic yoga, sound therapy and cognitive therapy.

For 11 years, I have taught energy and stress management and conducted self-awareness workshops. I have also conducted workshops for teenagers in schools in Australia and done one-on-one sessions in Dubai and Kuwait.

I heal myself too. I meditate and exercise every day and work on my energy levels.

It's important for healers to not just heal themselves, but also keep moving to the next level. I have just completed a course in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), under the aegis of Christopher Howard, the leading international trainer.

NLP is a synthesis of a number of disciplines … it not only changes your behaviour positively so that you can handle negative experiences and eliminate phobias, stress, guilty feelings and depression, it also presupposes that the behaviour of an individual can be changed by the use of specific language and by constantly updating and upgrading an individual's 'mental software'.

It allows you to change, adopt or eliminate any behaviour (you find undesirable). It provides you with the ability to choose your mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being at any time.

You learn how to improve your communication skills, internally and externally. As a result, it transforms your relationships and outcomes.

I believe in starting young
As I grew up, I came to realise that I had a passion for helping children and families - helping them stay connected to who they are. So I worked on developing several programmes to educate children of primary school age.

This helps them boost their energy levels and teaches them to balance their life. This way, whenever they get stressed, they are able to balance their life - on their own. My workshops for children are meant to help them increase their self-esteem and confidence and cope with exam blues and peer pressure.

I have a lot of noise in my head
In this age, fast-paced living is something you cannot avoid. But now I know how to switch myself off from everything else and meditate. Meditation helps me quieten my mind. It has made me a strong person and helped me connect with myself.

I feel it's even more important to stay in touch with the child within you and to know the truths of life as it is to know what is right for you.

During my workshops, I encourage people to meditate: not because it focuses on breathing … but because it's about re-connecting, recharging and bringing back the focus to the self. Meditation is a great opportunity to reach inner stillness.