Psychologist, Reiki Master Teacher, Certified Reflexologist, Life Coach
Essential Spirit, LLC is a mind/body integrative practice/business. It is based on the concept of treating the mind and body as one entity, rather than separate domains. Deep relaxation combined with fundamental spiritual principles of positivity and self-awareness remove energetic blocks that prevent a fulfilling life path.
My background is in science. My undergraduate degree is in Biology with a Physical Science minor. I seemed to always be the go-to girl to offer something to my friends, so as time went on and the Positive Psychology movement took effect, my science background expanded to include the visible and the invisible. It is important to understand that everything is inter-related.
- Mind work alone is not enough.
- Body work alone is not enough.
- Attunement and self-awareness, the relationship with oneself is the basis of life satisfaction.
First Generation
I am first generation Armenian. During WWI, there was a genocide during which my family fled from Turkey. My maternal grandmother, Annig Arslan, started the journey across the Syrian desert with her husband and four children, part of a huge deportation. My grandfather and infant uncle died along the way, leaving my grandmother to finish the arduous journey. Her story has been my inspiration.
Of course, there have been challenges along the way. I think my biggest challenge has been the negative artifact of being raised by traumatized immigrants. Although inspiring, the anxiety and negative stories of the deportations and disgusting visualizations I heard as a child, left me with a general mistrust of the world. When my mother passed in 1987, I like to say she birthed me a second time. I started my work with Teresa Bahder, a spiritual guide, and still regard her as my spiritual mentor. We cannot solve problems at the level they appear (as Einstein said). We must go to a level of “knowing” that doesn’t support the problem. And so we grow from adversity.
Biases
In 2020, the concepts of implicit and institutional biases are in the forefront. I see this as a global attempt to understand “oneness” from another dimension. The five senses are tools to be guided from a higher place. When the mind is a source, rather than a means of expression, we have win-lose thinking. We see limitation and that creates competition and power grabbing at the expense of others. The higher we go, the more abundance and less limitation, thus no need for someone to lose. Win-win requires a different kind of thinking.
As Pema Chodron, noted Buddhist nun says, “Lean into the sharp object.” Although this sounds counter-intuitive, the point is that life presents us with growth opportunities sometimes disguised as misfortune. I like to think that we sometimes want to cut the wire to the check engine light, and not use the signals we are getting from annoyance or misfortune. We think we are entitled to comfort at any cost. Comfort is fleeting, and the majority of time we a bobbing in a variable sea of varied experiences. Every experience is useful even the ones we wouldn’t pick off a menu. If we run away from negative experiences before we’ve fully used them toward self-awareness, we set in motion a pendulum. When things are “good”, we worry about losing them. When things are “bad” we run away from them. The challenge is to stay centered and embrace all experiences as Life Unfolding.
