Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Bauer.
Hi Jennifer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Thank you for the opportunity, I’m delighted to share with this community. What I hope folks get out of hearing about my journey is that no one is too broken or too far down a dark path to find their way back to wholeness and themselves. My mom committed suicide when I was 20 years old. For the ten years that followed, I believed I was responsible for her death. In that dark time of self-loathing, I was defrauded by someone I had considered a friend to the extent that I foreclosed on my house and had to file bankruptcy. I was also laid off five times in eight years for circumstances out of my control. Each of these experiences required my starting over and rebuilding my life. When I finally forgave myself in December of 2010, I decided to love myself again. Grace swooped in and held me tightly as I released the pain of my mother’s suicide and forgave myself and her. That was my turning point and the beginning of my healing journey. Finding love for myself allowed me to be open to receive love from others. I met and married my life partner, became the friend and sister I wanted, and now help others to navigate similar challenges with grief, self-worth, and career transformation. I integrate the same tools that helped me heal in the work I facilitate with my clients as a Master Wayfinder Coach, Breathwork Meditation Healer, and Reiki Master. I’m living my purpose as a healer, teacher and communicator in service to the greatest good. This Summer, I plan to launch my own coach training institute centered around our connection to nature, which helps us to connect with our true nature.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Easy is relative, though when I face challenges now they feel relatively easy in comparison. Perspective is everything.
When I was deep in my shame and grief around my mother’s suicide, I believed myself unworthy of love and success and yet I yearned for it. For years, I seesawed between self-loathing and attempts to pull myself out. In my lows, I engaged in unhealthy relationships (both romantic and friendly). I put trust in an individual that my gut told me was a mistake but that my mind told me would be the solution to bring in income during a 9-month layoff. That “friend” defrauded me out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a mixture of credit in my name and my entire life savings. This resulted in my need to foreclose on my house, which I couldn’t afford payments on nor could sell during the recession because it was worth less than I owed. The mountains of debt felt insurmountable and my only relief was in filing bankruptcy and yet that increased my level of shame in feeling stupid for getting myself into that mess.
After ten years, I finally decided I’d paid enough penance and realized that I couldn’t hold myself responsible for not knowing then what I knew later. I learned to forgive myself…which led to acceptance of myself…and eventually love and compassion for myself. The moment I truly gave myself over to love, I sobbed in waves of release until I felt a lightness and an expansion I would later come to discover as my signal for freedom and direction to travel. This was the beginning of my journey as a healer. I fumbled around in marketing and communications for another seven years or so but continued to get laid off for reasons out of my control. On my fifth layoff, I looked up to the sky and said, “OK, I give up! What am I supposed to be doing?” A few moments later, I heard a ping in my inbox. A renowned life coach, Martha Beck, who I’d followed for years had sent an invitation to register for Life Coach Training. Later that night, my husband and I were running along the beach trail when I discussed signing up for coach training. The moment I made the decision, dolphins began jumping, spinning and backflipping in the waves directly in front of us. Full body chills affirmed this was the right decision.
Two months into training, I knew this was what I was born to do. Learning to coach involves receiving coaching. Training helped me work through and release the remaining limiting beliefs I’d had about my mother’s death, my relationship challenges with my siblings, as well as self-worth hurdles tied to my many career changes and defrauding. The next year I entered Master Coach Training, where I discovered that while I’d done my thought work around the traumatic experiences, I hadn’t yet released them energetically from my body. This is where I received Reiki and Breathwork Meditation Healing, which facilitated the somatic healing I was ready for. As tools worked for me in my journey, I trained in the modalities to incorporate them into my coaching practice with clients. Now my approach is a holistic one that addresses mind, body and spirit.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Jenn Bauer Healing is a holistic approach to healing the mind, body and spirit through a blend of modalities including Life Coaching, Reiki and Breathwork Meditation Healing. I help womxn who are ready to embrace their worthiness and give themselves permission to prioritize their needs and desires in relationships and their careers. I help them identify, set and maintain boundaries both with themselves and others. These womxn are willing to inspect their past to move forward into the future and value personal growth.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
My advice for finding a mentor is identifying someone who is where you want to be in whatever area you’re looking to develop. Find someone a few steps ahead that can share with you their path and how they overcame their obstacles in reaching where they are…yet someone who isn’t so far ahead that the development curve is too steep for the time they’re willing to give. Exchange is also important, so find somewhere or something that you can offer to the relationship that is of value to the person you desire mentoring from. Networking is natural when it’s an organization or group of people with genuinely similar interests. Find what you love and go where others who also love it gather. Start from a place of authentic service and gratitude. The frequencies of fascination, curiosity, authentic service and gratitude are a strong pulling force of attraction.
Pricing:
- Coaching: $150/hour session
- Breathwork: $150/hour session
- 4-Pack: $130/session
Contact Info:
- Email: jenn@jennbauerhealing.com
- Website: www.jennbauerhealing.com
- Instagram: @elationexplorer
- Facebook: @jennbauerhealing
- Twitter: @elationexplorer
- Other: www.naturecenteredcoaching.com
Image Credits:
Laura Nieto Jeffrey Bauer Cid Lough Marcia Hansen
