If you are reading this, we probably have known each other for some time. Actually, few of my clients have been gracing my life with their presence for twenty years straight. It appears we are getting old together like a married couple. Yet many clients still ask me how my work really come about.
When I look back, I can see exactly why I have chosen this path in service. I grew up with a very nurturing mom and a very sick dad. He was suffering very much and she was doing everything she could to make it better. Long story short, food was always freshly and mindfully prepared, we drank freshly pressed carrot juice (we are talking the 1960’s so give my mama respectJ). There was an aloe plantation living on our window sill and mom was frequently preparing healing remedies for dad. She rubbed our feet and backs with essential oils when we had colds... She never took natural healing courses. Simply put she was wise from within. She applied what she had learned from her mom, relied on her intuition and definitely listened to her heart.
From my mom I have learned the beauty and value of nurturing, compassion, inner wisdom and the desire to create harmony within and without. She has also taught me about the importance of prime quality ingredients both in food and remedy preparation.
My dad did get better by the way and was with us until my early twenties.
Dad was a master tailor and created bespoke men’s wear. He designed and made beautiful pieces of clothing, all by hand. The process required many hours of tedious work and a lot of care. People lined up for my dad’s services because he made them feel and look great and his work was of excellent quality.
From dad, I learned about unquestionable value of a handcrafted product, high quality service and about developing caring relationships with people we serve in life.
Without a doubt, my parents’ influence stands behind my strong desire to nurture and heal and to make effective botanical skin care products. Both parents gifted me with creativity and a deep appreciation for beauty, design and creative thinking.
I will now skip my teenage years and my early twenties as I know my parents would rather I not talk about it:)
When I came to Canada, I was immediately attracted to healing modalities and studied quite a few bla bla bla…
At one point I found myself working at the beautiful Carmichael Inn and Spa in Ottawa. It was a lovely place. Because of my suggestion the owners brought in Jurlique organic skin care line, which as you know I have worked with for many years. This is how professional organic skin care started for me and actually this is how it may have started for Ottawa. It was 20 years ago!!! We are talking times when every esthetician in the city was putting toxic stuff on people’s skin…
I will always be grateful for discovering Jurlique at that time and to the Carmichael Spa for giving me the opportunity to explore the organic skin care world. Otherwise, I probably would have never transitioned my practice from massage therapy to skin care because working with toxic products was never an option for me.
Over the years I have worked along many exceptional therapists, too many to mention. I always felt lucky to be part of the natural medicine community as I never felt part of the esthetic world and until today I have a strong dislike for the beauty industry in general.
I had come to fully understand the holistic beauty approach when Ayurveda showed up in my life. I do not remember the exact timing but one of the Ayurvedic books sitting on my shelf is marked 1997. From the get go, I was taken by the deep wisdom and applicability of the science. It helped me organize in my head what I’ve always felt in my heart but had no ability to verbalize.
Rather than the superficial model of beauty promoted by the skin care industry, Ayurveda taught about Beauty being the highest level of health, the sacred aspect of female and connectedness of all living things. It all resonated deeply within me and I felt as I have finally arrived home. The name of my business, Woman Divine, was actually inspired by these teachings. Ayurveda also brought together my studies of spirituality, herbs, oils, touch therapies and nutrition and from this point I understood that they were most powerful and most effective when applied together.
So, today here I am in my lovely studio, aloe plants on my window sill are replaced with jars of herbal infusions. I lovingly design and handcraft my skin care products and every day I get to nurture through my treatments… many plans for the future, many creative ideas. We’ll see how it all unfolds but one thing is for sure, without you none of this would even make sense. There would be no treatments, no products to make. I can understand now that we do find happiness in service to others and this is the greatest gift I could have gotten from my parents.
Magdalena
