How to Become the Best Version of Yourself with Lina Patel on The Healers Café with Manon Bolliger

inspire people to their wellness. And I had to go through my own journey of wellness. I traveled all around the world. And first I did some retreats and workshops, which was all about the external. And you change that. But there was something inside me that was not quite right. I wasn’t happy. I got married, and my husband used to always say to me, you’re not happy. And I studied law and business. I went to law school. And I was going to work for a law firm. And he said to me, you’re not happy just leave it and I couldn’t understand it. That was the first time someone said to me, Oh, you’re not happy. You shouldn’t do something because you’re not happy. That’s when I picked up a book on reflexology. And I studied various holistic therapies while I was working somewhere else. So various office jobs and just learning about all these therapies. And then I opened up a practice in Hampstead in England. Well, yeah, and then we decided that we were going to adopt some kids. So, we were going through the process and then I decided to practice from home because the practice was quite far away from my home, I’d had to travel. So, then I would then we adopted my son and then we adopted my daughter and then I was a full time mom and then we decided to move to Indonesia. Over and over, they’re doing all sorts of therapy is to a penny reflexology is to a penny. So, I didn’t know what I was going to do. And then I started practicing yoga. And even then, I had twisted my ankle, so I couldn’t do any type of fitness. And I did the 30 day hot yoga, to help heal my ankle because I couldn’t do anything else on it. And my yoga journey started, I just spoke to my yoga teacher, and she goes, you should teach meditation. I just started writing my blog, wellnessandwellbeing.org as she goes, and that’s how I started teaching meditation. And then from there, I had some people that were interested in going deeper. So, I created a mentoring program. And then after that, I just created a free video series, because a couple of years ago, when the pandemic hit I, we were in England, and I couldn’t get back to Malaysia.

 

Manon Bolliger 06:06

Right. Yeah.

 

Lina Patel 06:07

So, I created a free video series. And it’s called the sleepeezee. So, when you sleep well, you feel well, you look well, and who doesn’t want to feel well, and look well. And then that goes on to the beginners meditation workshop, which I used to do face to face. And I just, I would like to give people a way to make it easy, doesn’t have to be difficult. Sometimes it takes courage to face what you’re going through, because I had to face what I was going through. And I actually saw my true self. And I could see all my stories, and I wasn’t…I was judging people I could see. And I could also say, okay, I can change that. So, I still, I still do holistic therapy on family and friends, I’ve got really into essential oils, the Revive essential oils, I used to use Young Living. And now I use Revive and, and just write about all this wellness stuff on my blog, and just let people know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, because we all go through stuff. And it’s our stuff. And also, at the end of it, it was funny at one of my, the mentoring program, one of my students said to me, I thought this was the end and she goes, no, this is a beginning, this is a new beginning for me. Because you open up so much space, that you can create something new. It’s like a garden, you know, some part of your garden is beautiful, and it’s great, some part of your garden not so great. And you want to attend to it, but you don’t know how you’ve got no experience. So, you know, you have to dig up the soil because it’s not very good. Put new soil down, lay new seeds, and create your garden. So, you’re in control of your life. And when you’re in control of your life, you can be and do and have anything and that’s really, really powerful. And just and I know there are no coincidences, but I really didn’t know what I was going to do when I moved to Indonesia. We moved there and I had faith, it was my husband’s dream. And I said let’s just do it. But at that time, I really didn’t know what I was going to do. And it’s you know, it’s funny, one of my students, when you see your students starting the mentoring program is all about them. But when they’ve created so much space, it’s about what can I do for you? What can I do for humanity? What can I do for the world? So, you go beyond yourself. But before you can do that, you have to clear that space. And that’s where I come in and just show them how they can do it themselves. And when they leave, they leave with so many strategies and tools and techniques that are simple to use that they can use for the rest of their life. And then they start creating what they want one of my students she created her own vegan brand over there. Another one was, she was losing her hair, and at the end of it she said oh, I’m actually now helping people with essential oils and hair loss. So, it gives them purpose. They feel and I know that when you go beyond yourself when you’re loving it’s the most delicious thing but how can you be loving if you don’t know how to be?

 

Manon Bolliger 09:53

Well, it’s interesting in your story because it’s your husband who in a sense, allowed you to see that, you know, the legal trajectory was probably not making you happy. Right? And, to have that level of support, but also insight, right it really opens up a door. And so, what I’m hearing in how you’re helping people, it’s…so I love your garden analogy, but it really feels like it’s, they feel that it’s dark and gloomy. And they come out realizing that there’s more, you know, so, so how, who are the people? How do you? How do you attract people? Because I mean, you know, many practitioners, that’s one of the biggest problems they have is where do you find the people that you know, you can help?

 

Lina Patel 11:00

Well, this is the thing. It was, it all started at the yoga studio, to be honest, when my yoga teacher said to me, oh you should teach meditation. So, after I go to my yoga class, I would do meditation. And then I started that in Indonesia, where I was living in Jakarta, there are complexes and sometimes they have their own little function room. So, I would just put up a note maybe on social media, saying, oh, I’m going to be running this come and join the class. So, some yoga students might come. And initially, I started off with 10, and then six, and then I ran one in the UK. And I had, like, 25 people. It’s like, when you’re ready, the people will come. And then when we move to Malaysia, I was just about to start teaching. So, I was teaching yoga. And so, the pandemic hit. And then we came to the UK just for a little break, and I was here for eight months. So it’s just I would then now I just post on social media is something that I think will inspire people to wellness, whether it’s a quote, whether it’s, I go for walks in the woods, and there’s like a little beach there, I might just say, Oh, look at this beautiful view. How amazing is this, I lived here for so many years, I never came here. And it took me to be here for eight months to discover the words and to discover and just appreciate and I’m not…and I also say to people, it’s not always sunshine and roses, because in in the time of the pandemic hitting and I’m being here, and December last year, I saw my husband for four months. So, my tools and my strategies came in, so I use them all the time. It helped me keep sane. And stay well in myself and also appreciate the fact that I had family. And I had somewhere to stay, I didn’t have to pay for a hotel. And I got that time with my mom, she’s 85. And I got that time with her. I never had that time with her before I got married 25 years later, I was able to be with her for three months and also my husband’s family, so to appreciate that, but it was also difficult. And if I didn’t have the tools and the strategies, I don’t know what would have happened to me.

 

Manon Bolliger 14:03

So can you share I mean, some tools it’s difficult to share just like this, but a tool that you feel is really good really helped people, whether it’s related to reducing their stress and making sleep easier. You know, what can you suggest to people?

 

Lina Patel 14:25

I always suggest in my yoga classes and meditation and even if it’s a minute, just breathe. And allow your breath to flow all the way down to your belly. And just maybe if you have a chance, close your eyes, take three deep breaths because when we oxygenate our body, the blood circulation is flowing everywhere, oxygen is getting everywhere. Sometimes I can show them a yoga posture that they can do, but really breath and breath allows you to become more present. Maybe that will give you some more clarity. Sometimes when we are in a huff and puff, our breath becomes shallow. So, if we’re stressed, our breath changes, if we’re calm, our breath changes. If our mind is racing, our breath changes. So, when we breathe deeply, it’s a bit like smoking. People that smoke, they go out, they take whatever time it is to smoke. What are they doing? When they inhale, they inhale with a deep breath. And when you breathe deeply, and you exhale, deeply, you’re actually allowing the body to relax. So, taking three deep breaths, in wherever you are, you’re feeling stressed, your mind is going a million miles a minute, just breathing and just surrendering to what’s going on. So, if you feel stressed, and you feel like crying, and you allow yourself to breathe, and you just allow yourself to experience, you will notice that it will pass. But sometimes it’s…we don’t want to face that stuff that’s not very pretty. But when we face it, there’s so much freedom. Because you realize, oh, it’s just a thought. It’s just a feeling. It’s just energy. But we don’t, we don’t like to feel these negative feelings because we make people wrong for feeling negative as well.

 

Commercial Break 17:03

Manon Bolliger here, and I want to thank you for taking actionable steps towards engaging your healing journey, and helping others discover their path by watching, sharing, subscribing, and reviewing these podcasts. Every review and share helps spread the word on these different perspectives and choices and options for healing. And thank you, I’d like to invite you to sign up to my free seven sequence email tips on health and healing for everyday life. You can go to healerscafe.com/tips thanks so much.

 

Lina Patel 17:42

We make it wrong, maybe for them to be angry, maybe whatever it is, but we don’t know what that person is going through. So just by, you know, even when we’re watching someone, we take three deep breaths. Maybe we can inspire that person, maybe we can help that person. So, breath is so important. And so, so easy. I mean, oxygen is free. So why not use it effectively, efficiently, easily.

 

Manon Bolliger 18:21

This funny because, you know, it’s simple things are the things that usually have the biggest impact. But part of it, we’re in such a hurry. And in such, you know, judgment about everything and everyone and all of life and everything, you know, so that it’s you’re not in the present moment. You’re just moving through it, you know, and so, yeah, and I like the analogy with smoking. Not recommending smoking.

 

Lina Patel 18:51

No, no,

 

Manon Bolliger 18:52

Recommending the time that, you know, because people who do smoke, take the time. It’s not a lot of time. Right? It’s, it’s just enough time that you actually, you know, focus inwards for a little bit. And breathe especially.

 

Lina Patel 19:12

Yeah, yeah, it is. I mean, I use these tools every day. And I to be honest, it saved my life. Because being here for eight months, I was separated from my husband, and then we were in Malaysia, and we packed all our stuff, transit back to Indonesia. And then now we’re in the UK we couldn’t get back to Indonesia. So now I’m here with my daughter, my husband’s back in Indonesia. And he’s going to have to travel, but this is the thing…you know, life is not a straight road. And sometimes we’re thrown a curveball, and it’s who you’re being in that moment. I could, you know, that’s what I mean to say is these tools, the strategies have saved my life. It’s helped me to be mindful, more present. And just also, I’m very, very grateful. I mean, technology, so amazing. And I’ve got my laptop, and I use that to just, you know, wellness can be easy, but sometimes when you don’t feel well in yourself, you don’t even know there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Manon Bolliger 20:38

So, you can you made that analogy a couple of times. And I think it’s quite an accurate analogy for what a lot of people are experiencing, you know, in everything that has taken place in the last two years on all levels, you know.

 

Lina Patel 20:56

Yeah.

 

Manon Bolliger 20:58

So how do you get people to recognize? I mean, they obviously, they recognize on some level, but they’re not well, but how do you make them take the first step to realize that there is hope?

 

Lina Patel 21:16

Well, it’s first of all, if they want it,

 

Manon Bolliger 21:19

Right, clearly.

 

Lina Patel 21:21

Yeah, if they want it. So, if…it’s funny, you say that because when I speak to people, I’ll only appeal to the people that want to make a change. And it’s not every…even if people want to make the change, they don’t really want to make the change, because they’re not willing to take the steps towards it. So, there are people that say they want to change, but not really. And there’s people that will say, yeah, come on, I want to do this, sign me up. And things have changed. Because now rather than face to face, everything is online. So, for me, I’m now learning about social media, and social media marketing, and I’m still learning about it. Because as I said, I’m in the UK. And now I’m having to learn about how to network online.

 

Manon Bolliger 22:22

Right. Yeah. Well, I think it’d be very natural added. Because you just you speak from your truth, right? And, yes, that’s what people connect with. That’s the, and like you said, it’s interesting. You don’t even notice the ones that aren’t exactly who you’re meant to serve. Like, they’re not even you’re in your field, right, which is very, very interesting. From both a marketing but also a yeah, an understanding of…I don’t want to call it the law of attraction, but it kind of is it’s like your, you know, what you want to give, and, and people who resonate with receiving at this moment, where your path cross, they find you. Yeah, you’ve made it. So simple in some ways, as well as the methods you teach our I don’t know any other ones. So far, the breathing, but their simple there. You know, presence is simple that all these things are very simple. But I feel like we go complicate our life, you know?

 

Lina Patel 23:40

Yeah. Well, I when I did my teacher training for one of my yoga, the yin and yang yoga is my teacher, she had so much integrity. And I was one of those students who would always be at the front of the class and wanting to have the perfect posture and everything. And then she said something, and it still wasn’t…alignment look like the picture looked like the picture. And I was thought I was going to look like the picture because that’s how you get the benefit of the pose. And she goes, no, yoga is not that there’s eight sides to yoga. And not only that, each posture there’s you don’t have to do that posture. Each posture has a function. You either feel a stretch or strength. And that means you don’t look like the posture. You get the person to decide what is right for them. We are all different. That means just because I don’t understand what is right for you, I can teach you to understand what is right for you. I may not agree with it, but only you know what’s right for you. So, people don’t understand they think that life should be like, they tell you how it should be. But wellness is about knowing what’s right for you and doing that. And that means, whatever it means. We are all different. We’re all unique. We’ve all come here to experience different things. And my children have taught me that, and I didn’t quite understand it. But I guess it’s, I’ve done a full circle because the wellness, my children, you know, my husband, the universe will always conspire in your favor. If you’re ready to hear what it’s telling you. So, for me, when it becomes when it’s wellness, it’s just telling people, you got to do what’s right for you might not be right for me might not be right for anyone else. I may not even understand it. But you…how can you know what is right for you if all your life you may have been told you’ve got to be a certain way? Or you’ve got to eat certain things? How? It’s not possible? So that is when I do my mentoring that’s in my yoga class. That’s…when I speak to people, it’s about what’s right for them. It’s not about what’s right for me. And that’s wellness, really understanding what is right for you. And like you say, stepping to your truth. What is truth for you? Because we’re all different.

 

Manon Bolliger 26:57

And I think that’s a part, I’m hoping anyways, by looking at what’s happening as people are sort of waking up to the true tragedy of you know, what…not what we’ve been told. But what…

 

Lina Patel 27:16

Yes, yes. You know, it’s funny, you say that, but there’s my dad who never got sick, he got…we got the flu, and he never recovered. There’s my mom, she’s 85. But in between, then and 85. She’s had three heart attacks, fractured hip bypass surgery, TB. And she lives on her own. So, my question was, how is it this man who never got sick, is sick, and then he never recovered. And here’s my mom, who has gone through this. And I know that my dad’s trauma of what happened to him, he lost his money his sons didn’t want to know, that affected him. And he never got to see his first grandson. And my mom, who has the willpower of somebody, she’s amazing willpower. Here’s a woman that has suffered. And my mom, you know, she got married at I think 11 or 17. And she wasn’t given a choice. And she had gone through her trauma after trauma. And when I went through my journey, previously, our conversation would be gossiping about this person and that person. And as I went on my journey, and I learned about loving and appreciating, I said to her do you not understand you’ve been given a second chance, you have three heart attacks. What are you going to do? Are you going to just keep talking about your past and what someone did to you? Or are you going to appreciate the fact that this happened, and God has provided? The universe has provided, and she goes I never looked at it like that.

 

Manon Bolliger 29:15

How powerful

 

Lina Patel 29:17

So, I had to go through my own transformation. And I’m still I you know, there’s two things. I’m still a work in progress, and I’m still perfection in other areas. Right? Aren’t we all?

 

Manon Bolliger 29:30

Exactly, yeah.

 

Lina Patel 29:32

But that’s my mum was my first student where I really got to see that you can change it in any moment. No matter what trauma you’ve been through, but that trauma when you go through a trauma, that’s your trauma, and only you understand your trauma.

 

Manon Bolliger 29:54

Right. Yeah.

 

Lina Patel 29:56

So having when somebody is reacting or whatever you see in the world, you know, if you know your truth, and you step into that power, nothing, no one can stop you. And you don’t…you come from love, you come from compassion, you come from kindness, and you’ve come from understanding that, oh, you know what, no matter what anyone says, it’s nothing to do with me it’s to do with what’s going on with them. That their trauma and they haven’t dealt with it. Because let’s face it, if you step into your truth, everybody would be kind towards each other. There would be no fear. There would be compassion, there would be kindness, and an ideology of working together as opposed to competition.

 

Manon Bolliger 30:59

I agree. Wow, so we need to wrap up, but what would be your words, to…what could you have said? Or could say, now? Or what’s the bridge? If you could have reached your dad? In his journey?

 

Lina Patel 31:24

I don’t think…I don’t think anything I would have said, would have changed that. And it’s because of him I am on this wellness journey. It wasn’t nice at the time. But because of him, and his suffering, and maybe my trauma and my suffering, I’m into wellness. So, the sleepeezee is free. So, you can tell people about that. And there’s also the feeling amazing, which is the Meditation for Beginners. And then if they want to go deeper, then there’s the creative toolbox, which is the mentoring program? And, I know, there are no coincidences, but everything I’ve learned, that’s what I teach in my classes in my program, and in my posts that I put on social media.

 

Manon Bolliger 32:25

Well, yeah, wonderful. I was just gonna say commenting on your response. That’s exactly it. You’re not living in the world of should have, could have, you know, it’s an acceptance that there’s his journey and the gratitude that your journey came from it. You know, so it’s a beautiful example to make your point, actually what you’re saying.

 

Lina Patel 32:50

But it’s taken a while to have that understanding because trust me, I was not in that place. I don’t know, even 10 years ago, I think, to really…and meditation is the thing that has helped me so much to go deeper. Like I say, breath, but there’s so much to it. And when you realize it, it’s so freeing.

 

Manon Bolliger 33:19

Well, thank you very much.

 

Lina Patel 33:21

You’re welcome.

 

Manon Bolliger 33:21

I really enjoyed our time together. Alright Bye.

 

Lina Patel 33:26

Bye.

 

ENDING: 41:33

Thank you for joining us at the Healers Café with Manon Bolliger. Continue your healing journey by visiting TheHealersCafe.com and her website and discover how to listen to your body and reboot optimal health or DrManonBolliger.com/tips.