“Never sacrifice what you could be for what you are.”   
~ Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life

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    When I first started studying BodyTalk in 2004, I was in a serious situation with my health. I had a diagnosis of a brain tumor between the pons and cerebellum, I had numerous chemical sensitivities and food allergies, chronic fatigue and digestive problems. And I wasn’t fulfilled.  And, like many of you, I had tried many, many different therapies without any lasting results.  
     When I found BodyTalk, it made a monumental difference to my overall health and life in very a short time. I became so enthusiastic about BodyTalk that I changed careers to become a Certified BodyTalk practitioner. At that time, I really didn’t know how to run a business. What I did know was this healing system had changed my life so dramatically for the positive that I had to share it!  
     Fast-forward to NOW: I now am fortunate to have a busy full-time referral practice doing what I love – serving clients all over the world, both in distance and in-person, and helping to change people’s lives through my BodyTalk practice. The majority of my practice grows from referral – clients telling others about my work in BodyTalk. I am deeply grateful for this, but also recognize that it was my commitment, perseverance and dedication to my craft that has others referring my good work.  
     In looking back at 2004, I am not sure I had a clear vision of what my life would look like now. I certainly didn’t think that I would have an international distance practice, particularly as I had no health care background! Not only did BodyTalk improve my health, but it also offered me a new meaningful and rewarding career.  
     So how did I get here? With a lot of help from my colleagues, friends, the IBA and family. And work. And study. And many ups and downs. And many, many BodyTalk sessions!  I would say the biggest ingredient in my success is my passion and commitment to my growth, and I believe that BodyTalk ignited both of these.  
     For the new practitioner, I am going to share some of the actions I took to grow my practice. Much like a BodyTalk session, there is rarely one thing that contributed to a healthy sustainable practice, but many small things done on a regular basis. So I am excited to share some of these with you so that you can take these ideas and build on them, or use them as a model for what is available in your own community.

1. Action! Your local BodyTalk matrix.
i)     Coordinating classes
ii)     Coordinating Study Groups
iii)     Associations
iv)     Group Sessions

     What does this look like? For me, it was coordinating BodyTalk Access and Fundamental classes to start with. This took work promoting and organizational skills but was so worth it! Yes, I made some money in coordinating but there are other, and for me, greater benefits of coordinating. I got to know other new practitioners so could do exchanges and thus began running local study groups. I also monitored these classes which deepened my knowledge of BodyTalk as well as having many, many sessions. At times, some of the students would become my clients, or would refer family to my growing practice.
     Through these efforts, I began to build a large student data-base and began coordinating advanced classes. I also required these classes for my Advanced Certification, so this helped me to pay for these and continue to grow my expertise and BodyTalk network in Ontario and beyond. In 2012, my good friend Jussara Lourenco CBP and I started the Toronto BodyTalk Community Clinic, a place where new practitioners could practice their skills with mentorship from Certified practitioners whilst serving the community. This was incredibly rewarding to see new practitioners become CBP’s as well as deepening our local BodyTalk matrix.  
I also joined the Ontario BodyTalk Association in 2011. This helped to connect to other BodyTalkers and create initiatives to grow together. Another benefit of participating in this is the lasting friendships I formed from this community!  
     At Jussara Lourenco CBP’s encouragement, I began running live group BodyTalk sessions monthly. After a year of doing this, I began having requests through Facebook to host online group sessions and ran these for several years. This became a great way for me to introduce my services at a low cost to both local and international BodyTalk enthusiasts and practitioners, as I had connected with many of our BodyTalk colleagues globally. Additionally, I chose themes and this enhanced my personal knowledge of the Five Elements, the 12 Astrological Houses and also ran online MindScape study groups, which I continue to offer as recordings to practitioners and clients alike. 

2. Professional development- Get connected, get involved! 
i)     Local charities & business associations
ii)     Free municipal business training resources
iii)    Toastmasters International for public speaking and leadership skills

     Free/low-cost training resources: In 2007, I began taking free workshops and attending low-cost conferences through Enterprise Toronto which helped me to learn how to market my practice and connect me to other entrepreneurs.  Almost every community has free business resources so get online or call your municipality and find them! There are also many, many free resources for business online and on YouTube, including one of my favourite's, Andrew Patricio's BizLaunch, which offers many free online workshops.
Business associations: In 2009, I began a part-time job at a clinic in management and promotions whilst continuing to build my practice. Through this position, I joined our local Business Improvement Area (BIA), and became involved in helping to plan local events.  There were many benefits to this: I learned how to run a business, how to participate effectively in trade shows and grow my business, and be of service to the community at large, which also grew my business reputation. After joining the BIA board of directors, I became involved in several other charities, continuing to learn about business and policy, as well as educate people about BodyTalk.  
     Toastmasters: For most of my life (really, up until BodyTalk which helped a great deal!), I had been afraid of public speaking, so in 2012 joined Toastmasters to improve these skills. John Veltheim recommends Toastmasters in his Practitioner Reflex course.  I also gained new clients from doing speeches on various topics on BodyTalk, and joined my local chapter as club President, helping to develop others in speaking and confidence. 

Personal and Professional BodyTalk Development – Make the commitment and strive to be your best! 
i)     Continual Education in the BodyTalk System
ii)     Practice MindScape
iii)    Giving and Receiving BodyTalk sessions – exchanges, practice growth

     BodyTalk Courses: I have invested a lot in my BodyTalk training since my first MindScape course in 2004. As I mentioned above, coordinating helped to offset some of the cost of this. But I look at all of the courses and workshops I have taken as both an investment in being the best I can be in my practice and being the best I can be in my life – and it has paid off. One of the beautiful things about being a BodyTalk practitioner is that it is also a way of life – what we do in practice integrates into our lives and what we do in our lives integrates into our practices. I continue to be amazed by the shifts that happen to both clients and myself which remains the fuel for when I experience personal challenges. From the formal IBA courses to specific online study groups offered by practitioners and instructors, each of these has enhanced my practice and my life, and I see the results of this study in the shifts in my clients and the resulting continual growth of my practice.  
     MindScape: This was the first course I had taken from the BodyTalk System. For me it was life-changing. I went in at the beginning of the weekend with fear and illness and left filled with inspiration and possibility. This was a whole new world! I had always been creative, but had no idea that intuition at this level existed. Because of my enthusiasm, I used MindScape immediately and with profound experiences. I continue to use it every day in practice and in life. For me, it is the biggest influence for building my practice. In my MindScapeworkshop, I have a business area and my practice is on a waiting list. I have a distance session waiting room and it is always full! Being able to see this in this way helps to manifests it. I strongly encourage you to use your MindScape or take the course if you have yet to. Coordinate one in your area!  
     Join an exchange group: I do exchanges with a few practitioners regularly as well as belong to a PaRama BodyTalk exchange group, in addition to having additional BodyTalk when my innate tells me to . Interestingly, I frequently request sessions from new practitioners as I find the basics of BodyTalk to be very effective. Also, continually practicing BodyTalk will increase your confidence and quell your self-doubts.
     Practice BodyTalk Access! Daily, daily, daily. Did I say practice BodyTalk Access daily?  
I remember an Access course I coordinated for Cherie Carpenter in 2011. For a few months prior to the course, I had been experiencing pain in my right foot, like a plantar fasciitis. After the day of doing the course, the pain had completely gone away and remained gone – as long as I kept up my Access! I also intuitively feel that when we practice Access we are connecting ourselves with the international BodyTalk matrix, which is powerful! Think of the thousands of people around the world that have learned Access and practice it! My sense is that we connect with this global community and the power of the techniques when we practice regularly. What a privilege!
     If you would like more information, feel free to contact me via email. I am busy  but happy to make time to answer questions. I also have recordings of study groups and group sessions available and offer business matrix sessions that can help you to grown your practice or launch your holistic business. I am also planning a new Holistic Practice Business Group Series so please email me if you are interested in growing together!

     I look forward to hearing about your success as a Certified BodyTalk Practitioner! 

With love,
Linda

Linda Marlene Eales AdvCBP, ParBP
Advanced Certified BodyTalk Practitioner
PaRama BodyTalk Practitioner
Toronto BodyTalk (and soon-to-be Lakefield BodyTalk)
647.783.4631
linda@torontobodytalk.com