My Story
When I was just two years old, I felt a strange snake-like movement in my tummy while sitting on my Granny's lap. It was a rather unpleasant feeling, similar to the motion a snake makes as it moves forward. As an adult, I learned that this was the kundalini energy awakening in my second chakra, which is associated with the divine feminine energy.
My Granny used to wear a green dress with a pattern that looked like islands. She would point to these islands and tell me stories about sailing from one country to another. I was fascinated by her stories and felt an instant connection with the idea of travel.
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I’ve been fortunate in my adult life to have enjoyed a great amount of travel and setting up home in four Countries : Belgium, Bahrain, Indonesia and Malaysia. Travelling and living among different cultures, has been fundamental to my personal growth. My perspectives have broadened through these experiences and given me a greater understanding of what it means to be human in all our variations and aspects.
I remember walking into a small street food café in Kuala Lumpur in the 90’s, above the door to the kitchen was a shelf with Christian, Hindu, Chinese and Buddhist Holy statues. I remember thinking ‘This is what I believe, we are all one.’
At the age of eight, I experienced another energy awakening. I felt a powerful surge of energy shoot up my spine, which was not painful but certainly intense enough to make me arch my back.
Growing up, my mother was quite protective, and I wasn't allowed much independence until I was around 11 years old. However, my parents rented two fields and a barn from a local farmer, where my siblings, friends and I could care for our beloved pet donkey Jenny! We spent our childhood playing outside, climbing trees, picking wildflowers, and exploring the countryside. I have fond memories of strolling along the walking routes, listening to the birds singing, smelling the fresh cut grass in hay time, and even carrying injured animals home in my summer cardigans, much to my mother's dismay.
Jakarta Uprising and Friends
I met my friend Tiwi, who's more like a sister, almost 30 years ago. We've spent lots of time together with our kids and share special memories. In February, I visited her and her husband Brian in Singapore, and then went to Bali to meet up with my artist friend Bruce and his his wife Nita. Meanwhile, my friend Beverley and her husband Gavin helped to hold my marriage together.
During the difficult time when my husband Daniel was busy with work, I turned to painting as a way of releasing my emotions. This was a challenging period, both for me personally and for Jakarta as a whole, as riots erupted throughout the city in May 1998. My children were trapped in different parts of the city during one of the worst nights of the riots, and we all had to hide for our safety. This was a harrowing experience that I'll never forget.
Reiki and Healing
In my early 30s, I stumbled upon an advertisement for Reiki training and initiation at my daughter's school. Intrigued, I signed up and quickly progressed to level 2, where I learned distant healing techniques and continued to practice self-healing. Through my practise, I began to experience a deeper spiritual awareness and a profound connection to all living beings.
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During this time, I also had some incredible experiences with energy, including a realization that "energy is all there is" and that the ultimate reality, is love. This led me to understand that our focus and attention on something can have a profound effect, and that prayer and energy practices can create positive lasting change.
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These experiences were life-changing and left me feeling weightless and supported in every moment.
Overall, my journey with Reiki has been both eye-opening and transformative, and it has taught me to be more mindful of my energy and the energy around me.
Realisation
In the 22 years that I've lived back in England, I’ve experienced a lot of change. I went through a difficult second divorce and raised my children as a single parent. (I missed them terribly when they left home).
I had to re-train after years of being a homemaker overseas. I injured my back at work and was signed off for a year awaiting surgery. While seeking pain support through complementary therapies I was completely healed by the Bowen Technique, with no need for surgery, which inspired me to become a practitioner. From then I have become a lifelong learner which is a continued professional development requirement of my Professional Body Registration with the Federation of Holistic Therapists.
I've gone through medically induced menopause twice in my 40’s to reduce the size of my fibroid filled womb so that a necessary hysterectomy surgery could take place. During that time I experienced a ruptured cyst within a fibroid which hospitalised me with dangerously high blood pressure and agonising pain. Once it was under control I went home and began a course of abdominal injections for three months. Finally my womb had shrunk to a manageable size for surgery. My ovaries were healthy so I experienced a 3rd and final menopause at age 52.
Recovering from surgery took six months, but I felt fantastic afterwards compared to the aggressive onslaught of symptoms I had experienced during medically induced menopause. However, natural menopause hit me hard at age 52, with extreme exhaustion, emotional imbalance, breathlessness, night sweats, hot flashes and so much more. I learned to adapt my lifestyle to meet my changing needs and was able to take back control of my life and my symptoms.
Blossoming
I am very grateful for my extensive experience of working with energy and for the assistance I receive in my work. I am aware that energy knows no barriers and can be worked with on all levels, and I am never alone in the process. I have clear lines of communication, through my own spiritual practices, that help me to reach the point needed in all forms, on all levels, and at all points in time. It is not about me being a master healer; it's about doing whatever that higher power wants me to do.
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I specialise in three energy systems that support the human body - the Chakra's, Chinese five elements, and meridian lines all through distant healing. By working with these, I bring homeostasis to my clients. These are the only energy systems I am listing on this project, but if I find that other deeper work is needed to support my clients, I do it behind the scenes to a level that will support their result in my program.
I understand that talking about energy is not always comfortable for everyone. Still, after struggling to accept it and become comfortable working with it myself, I now help people to be free from trapped energies and traumas that can be emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, inherited, hidden, and even from past lives.
While there is much more I could share, I hope this gives you an idea of why I have combined my lifelong learning of working with energy, my skill set and my own menopause journey, so that I could design a truly holistic support for women through menopause using combined coaching and energy rebalancing techniques along with practical ways to streamline the spaces around us and make them work best for us.
My name, Bernadette, means "strong as a bear," and I have truly become so.
Bennison means "blessing," and I strive to live up to that name.
My blood is "B positive," and I am certainly that!
I support, encourage, raise the vibrational frequency, and lighten the load. I lead by example because I have created a lifestyle that truly nourishes the woman I am today. I know the formula that works and I am very happy to be able to share it with you.