Today we’d like to introduce you to Dafi Shanti.
Dafi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story started at the doctor’s office when I had been seeking relief from years of just not feeling my best. The doctor had scanned my brain and was going over the images with me when he pointed out several areas that were related to stress and depression. The moment he talked about my stress with images in hand I instantly knew what was causing those dark regions in my brain. For what seemed like a lifetime, I was no longer happy in my marriage and did not have the ability to walk away or change the situation.
Sitting in that doctor’s office I had this instant glimpse of awareness. I had two options – continue on as I had been, compromising my health and merely treating the symptoms or leave my husband. I remember when that light went off and I realized that leaving him was an option. I thought to myself for the very first time that nothing could be worse than the state I was currently in. The doctor, perhaps feeling like I was contemplating such things, made sure to tell me not to do anything drastic or make any major life decisions.
On the very same day, driving back from the doctor’s office I made the call to my husband. That evening he left the house for the last time. The relief and freedom I felt that evening, along with many hours of crying, is almost impossible to articulate. I could literally breath in deeply for the first time, feeling a weight lifted. For me, staying in that relationship was mostly out of the fear of ending up alone. Now, actually living alone and watching the days pass by, I started finding myself enjoying my new found alone time. This was an incredible surprise to me and literally had me laughing out loud as I could not fathom how something I feared more than anything, was something I actually enjoyed! I find it incredible the way our minds, egos, other people, and society can create such a fear within us that could end up not even being real. The experience of facing my fear was a tremendous lesson for me, I realized that fear only exists in the mind.
From then on, I was excited to journey into the unknown; constantly pushing myself beyond what I had once thought was my limit. I began living my life without my self-imposed limitations. This leads me to India, a country I was very connected to ever since I was a child. I stayed in the Ayurveda center in the southern part of India where I welcomed myself back to me. Through baby steps that included daily meditations, yoga, and meeting with spiritual advisors I begin the process of clearing my old fearful self and replacing it with a newer me. Then and there, I made a sacred agreement with myself that till today I live by; I put my hand on my heart and vowed to honor the truth within my being no matter what. This is first and foremost where I react from, my heart leads me before and regardless of what others around me say or do. I now know my inner truth and no amount of convincing could ever take me away from this sacred place within my heart. As a reminder of this sacred pact with myself, I pierced my nose in the middle of the busy Indian market by a man who did not seem to have washed his hands in quite a while, nor suggest I use numbing cream. I just allowed his dirt ridden hands to pierce my nose and with that, I experienced each and every moment as it unfolded whatever arises and whatever the Universe chooses to share with me. I was in allowance and acceptance of being one with the flow.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I believe any road worth traveling will have its turns and bumps, and I too had my fair share of challenges to overcome. Today I stand tall knowing that it was those very bumps and turns along the way that has given me the courage and strength to truly know who I am. At the time, when I thought I had it all; family, children, & a job I was diagnosed with what they call Meningioma, frontal brain tumor. This literally shook me to my core and I had so many questions to face beyond the disbelief that something like this could really happen to me. Then, on the other hand, I asked myself the question, why not me?
Fast forward to me waking up after a six-hour surgery, I realized right then and there at the intensive care unit that I must change my career and make it my mission to make a difference in people’s lives. While recovering from the surgery, taking care of three girls under the ages of 10 and holding a job I not only continued to be the ‘neck’ of the family which is what my children referred to me as but also continued to face the myriad of post-surgical symptoms of recovery.
I felt something deep within me yearn for a platform to express, to share, and what ultimately happened was me writing my memoir to share my experiences of facing brain surgery. In this compelling memoir, I write an up-close-and-personal account sharing my experience of how I coped, survived and carried on. As other’s started reading the book they would respond feeling inspired, uplifted and whether they themselves suffered from a medical challenge or just life blockages. I had many people tell me that my memoir allowed them the opportunity to really examine their life’s purpose. In 2008 I self-published my first book; Brain surgeons don’t do Facelifts. I discovered in the process of recovering that once the brain had been exposed, the person can never be the same as before the surgery. My creativity took off in all areas and dimensions. As I was writing my book and taking creative writing classes with Jim Krusoe, an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. I started to also take an art class and oil painting in a private setting with Vibul Wonprasat, BFA, Visual Artist and Art professor, Specialist in Portraiture, Art class and Mural painting who also is known for his famous painting “Kissing” which was displayed at the Louvre, Paris, France in 2014.
I went back to school to complete my higher education and received my Masters in Psychology and soon after was Licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist. In my spiritual journey, I took courses at Agape International Spiritual Center University in Culver City and took classes with Michael Bernard Beckwith. All this and more has been out of my passion and desire to expand and share. I am so grateful to all those that have been on my journey of self-discovery as I now have the distinct honor of guiding others on their own journey towards inner self-awakening.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Dafi Shanti, Intuitive Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) – what should we know?
Becoming an author, artist, inspirational speaker, and Licensed Marriage and Family therapist opened my world and opportunities to really connect with others. I have been so grateful and honored to play such an inspiring role in people’s lives to bring about meaningful change and growth for them. Through all the various ways I have learned and developed I am well versed in a holistic whole way of living and being through the four levels of whole-being: spirituality, physically, mentally and emotionally. After all, I knew and trusted that it is possible, as I was and am living proof of life after trauma and heartbreak. My focus is now on Empowering Women (and Men) in their Relationships first with themselves and then with others to have a better, fulfilling life. I guide individuals and groups in tapping into their energy, experiencing their unbounded potential and higher self underneath the fear and current outside circumstances. My work journeys with individuals through the process of working through their challenges and to a place beyond what they imagined was possible, past their self-imposed threshold. I change people’s life story and help them envision a new one to live by, free of guilt, shame and other thoughts that may have been initiated during childhood, through society, and their own mental shackles. They then learn how to trust themselves and accept.
I truly believe that the way we each life is a choice and creating awareness is the ingredient for any meaningful change, anything is possible! I work with the Universal concept of the Law of Attraction, as I am a true example of manifesting the unseen.
I have learned and am now using my intuitive abilities to connect to the universe to continue to show and allow my expansion and the shared guidance and expansion of those around me. I see beyond the seen and everything I touch gets embedded with the energy of empowerment as I can’t help but share my joy and feeling of love for what we have all been provided for.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I’m truly blessed with not one but three amazing powerful empowered daughters that always support me in whatever I choose. Their encouragement and belief in me has truly shined and illuminated my path on the journey home within myself.
Pricing:
- $200 per 50 minutes
- $20 for my autograph book “Brain Surgeons Don’t Do Facelift”
Contact Info:
- Address: 20th Street.
Santa Monica, CA 90402 - Website: http://risingconsciousnesscenter.com
- Phone: (310) 902-1554
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risingconsciousnesscenter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Risingconsciousnesscenter
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu_caceO1vr4pyI3rvSbNhQ
Image Credit:
Michael Bernard Beckwith
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