Mantra Body & Wellness Studio

I started this series with a question.

Who am I?

I'm still trying to figure that out.

And maybe that's the point.

Looking back at everything I've shared, I can see how every version of me has shaped who I am today.

The girl who learned to just keep going.

The woman whose injuries forced her to slow down and listen to her body.

The woman who learned that emotional pain can be felt physically too.

None of these experiences felt connected while I was living them.

Now I can see that they were.

They changed the way I understood myself, my body, and eventually, the way I wanted to help others.

And somewhere along the way, Mantra was born.

Lymphatic drainage wasn't a trend I followed. My own lymphatic system had been getting my attention since I was 15.

But my journey also taught me that I couldn't look at the physical body in isolation.

Mind. Body. Spirit.

For me, they're connected.

And that connection became part of the foundation of Mantra.

It's why nervous system regulation matters so much in my work. Why I believe in working with the body rather than forcing it. Why there's space for both physical and energetic work.

And most importantly, why I see the person before I see the symptom.

Because everyone who walks through my door has a story I may know nothing about.

I don't need to fix them.

I can meet them where they are.
Listen.
Support.
And hold space.

Which brings me back to where I started.

Who am I?

I'm still learning, changing and becoming.

But one thing I do know...

I'm a holder of space.

For the people I love.
For the people who trust me with their care.
And finally, for myself.

Maybe knowing that is enough for now. 🤍

Part 5 of my story... but definitely not the end.

By this point, I already knew what it felt like when your body stopped cooperating with the life you were trying to live.

What I didn't understand yet was how much emotional pain could impact the physical body.

I was still recovering from my injuries when my 20-year marriage ended.

Without going into the detail, you can imagine the grief and heartbreak of realizing that after 20 years, the person you thought you knew wasn't who you thought they were.

I married for love, but I left for self-respect.

And life didn't stop while I tried to figure out how to put myself back together.

In the span of about three years, my world had completely changed.

I was raising two kids, supporting all of us as we recovered from our injuries, helping with aging inlaw, and somewhere in the middle of all of that, trying to figure out who I was now as so many of my roles were changing.

I started noticing how differently my body responded when I was stressed, overwhelmed or grieving. How much I held onto. How easily I went into survival mode. And how years of just pushing through had become so normal that I didn't even realize I was doing it.

I had no idea how much emotional pain could exacerbate physical pain.

So I started looking at things differently.

I explored Reiki, energy work, nervous system regulation, inner-child work and other ways of understanding the connection between what we experience and what we carry in our bodies.

I wasn't doing any of this because I had some grand plan to start a wellness business.

I was trying to understand myself and what was happening to my body.

I learned from doctors, neurologists, OTs, counselors, coaches and different practitioners. I took courses. I asked a lot of questions. I tried things.

Some helped. Some didn't.

But every experience taught me something.

And somewhere along the way, what I was learning for myself started becoming something I wanted to share with other people.

The funny thing is, I was building Mantra at the same time I was rebuilding myself.

I didn't exactly go looking for this work.

In a lot of ways, I think it found me.

Part 4 🤍

Eventually, my body got a lot louder.

By this point in my life, I had spent years fulfilling roles.

Daughter. Wife. Mom. Caregiver. Employee.

I was hyper-independent, a people pleaser and really good at being the person who could handle things.

Then, while working as an ABA support worker, I was injured at work.

I suffered a concussion, whiplash and a dislocated disc in my jaw.

Before this, I thought a concussion was something you rested from and eventually got over.

I had no idea.

I dealt with constant headaches, dizziness, nausea, exhaustion and pain. Bright lights and loud environments made me sick. Even processing information could be difficult.

I learned about post-concussion syndrome and that symptoms can last much longer than people realize.

And there was a grief that came with that.

I grieved the person I was before my injury, but I also grieved my old life.

The life where I didn't have to think about whether there would be too much light, too much noise or whether something as simple as grocery shopping would make me sick.

I wore sunglasses to my son's hockey games and to look at Christmas lights. I carried earplugs because noise could trigger a headache.
I missed the version of me who could just...do things.

But life was still life.

I still had two kids to parent, a 120 lb dog with epilepsy, aging in-laws who needed help and all the everyday responsibilities that don't disappear because you're struggling.

So I did what I had always done.

I kept going.

Then as I was still recovering I was rear-ended on the hwy with my kids in the car and suffered another concussion and more injuries.

Looking back, I can see that I had spent years being really good at functioning. At pushing through. At taking care of everyone else.

For a long time, I confused being able to keep going with actually being okay.

They're not the same thing.

My injuries changed what my body could do.

They also forced me to start figuring out who I was when I couldn't be the person who did everything anymore.

Part 3 of my story.

This was me at 15…and then at 16.

A lot changed between these two pictures.

At 15, my family moved from the city to Penticton. The climate was completely different, the way of life was different, and somehow everyone knew who I was, while I didn't know anyone. Very unnerving for a girl from Surrey (iykyk).

I wasn't the oldest in my family, but while I was there, I was the eldest. I was going to school, helping my mom run a business and trying to figure out this new life with my younger brother. I just did what needed to be done.

Every morning before school, I felt sick. Some mornings I would actually throw up. I know now that I was experiencing anxiety, but at 15, I didn't even know what anxiety was. I just knew I felt sick.

Around the same time, I started getting chronic sinus infections and the lymph nodes in my neck were constantly swollen. At one point, Hodgkin's lymphoma was even mentioned as a possibility.

Back then, none of it was connected in my mind. Feeling sick every morning was one thing. My sinuses were another. My swollen lymph nodes were another.

Life was just life.

I wasn't thinking about what all of it was doing to me. I was just getting through it and doing what needed to be done.

When I look at these two pictures now, I see more than just a year between them. This was the beginning of the hyper independent people pleaser.

After everything I've learned about the nervous system, lymphatic system and stress, I look at that younger version of myself very differently.

I'm not saying stress caused everything happening in my body. But I do know my body was trying to tell me a lot.

I just didn't know how to listen to it yet.

Part 2 of my story.

A client recently came in while doing a Candida cleanse and experiencing some pretty uncomfortable symptoms she associated with die-off—fatigue, headaches and just not feeling like herself.

We often focus so much on the cleanse itself that we forget the body may need support while moving through it.

After her Electro-Lymphatic Drainage treatment, she felt extra tired and had a stronger headache the following day. But that night, she had an amazing sleep and woke up feeling completely refreshed. Since then, she says her headaches have been gone and her Oura Ring sleep scores have consistently been in the 90s. 🤍

ELDT doesn’t treat Candida, but it may be a supportive addition during a cleanse by encouraging lymphatic movement, circulation and nervous system regulation.

Because supporting the body isn’t always about asking it to do more. Sometimes, it’s about helping create the conditions for flow. ✨

Individual experiences vary. Always work with a qualified healthcare provider when addressing Candida or beginning a cleanse.

When I first envisioned Mantra Body and Wellness Studio I had no idea what it would look like, where it would be and how it would be received. The one thing that I did know was that this art piece by was going to be in the space.

To every client who has trusted me in their healing journey - thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your story.

Whether you've come to me seeking relief from pain, support through perimenopause, help with swelling, stress, fatigue or simply a moment to reconnect with yourself, it is an jonour that I never take for granted.

Every message, every review and every referral means so much to me.

Watching clients leave feeling lighter, more comfortable in their bodies, sleeping better, moving with less pain and finding moments of peace again is the greatest gift.

I started this business during the most stressful time in my life, recovering from life altering injuries and ending a 20 year marriage. I have had a lot on my plate the last few years buti also have so much to be grateful for, especially my clients.

Thank you for showing up for yourselves.
Thank you for trusting a new way of healing.
Thank you for supporting this small business.

Thank you for saving me in the process.

With love,
Harj