Certification Journey

by Lauren Johnston O'Connell, Certified Practitioner, Austin, Texas

Receiving Holographic Repatterning (now Resonance Repatterning) is profound. Learning how to practice it on myself and others is rewarding and life-changing. But my journey to certification was the most empowering thing I’d ever experienced.                                                                             

I started receiving HR eight years ago from a wonderful and enlightened healer, Nancy Crossthwaite. She was very encouraging. My life, which seemed incomplete and a struggle at the time, quickly gained clarity and coherence.  She suggested I take classes and kept saying, “You can do this work on yourself.” I felt that was unnecessary. I was very comfortable with her and the success of our sessions.

But, Nancy became ill and I was unable to receive HR for about three months. I called a few of the practitioners she referred me to and really didn’t find a connection. I felt it was a call for me to take Nancy’s advice. I attended a class, which immediately sparked my deep desire to learn more. Inspired by this revelation, I completed the rest of the courses and began doing HR sessions on myself daily.

Everyday I couldn’t wait to do another session. I wasn’t looking for a career change or a way to earn more money.  I just wanted to work on myself. As I achieved more clarity and coherence, I began attracting people’s curiosity. I did a session on my acupuncturist and she started sending me her friends and clients. Before I knew it, my three-day work week as a hairdresser was now a six-day work week doing hair and HR.  I missed my three-day work week but I loved HR and hair was fast becoming something I was ready to let go of. I found a hairdresser to start taking over my business which gave me the freedom to focus on HR. I was struck at how much joy I got from helping others change their lives, not just their hair, I soon realized that I had found my calling and decided to pursue certification.

I registered as a student practitioner and gave myself a year to complete the requirements for certification. I began building my HR practice and within a few months, retired completely from doing hair after 19 years. I settled into my new life as a healer and facilitator and signed up for my first observation. My teacher, Sylvi Salinas, was incredibly supportive, but even with the safe and loving energy Sylvi provided, I was still quite nervous. At that first observation, I felt like I failed miserably. It was awful and I wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. Sylvi was incredibly upbeat and positive. When she introduced me to “my new possibilities,” I realized that, no matter how bad I felt, I was learning a lot and felt supported to go on.

I woke up the next day and, after licking my wounds, I did a session on myself and saw things in a whole different light. (Hmm, go figure!) I was more determined than ever to knock this thing out ASAP. I had waited eight months after registering as a student practitioner to do my first observation. I had created a sense of urgency in myself to finish the process and get that certificate. I’d always conducted my life in a way as if “my house was on fire and I gotta get out quick!” It’s the “wait ‘til the last minute thing” a lot of us think will motivate us and it does. But often we forget to stop and smell the roses. Little did I know, I would soon learn the greatest lesson of my life.

I still needed to give and receive ten sessions to other students and then be observed by a teacher and a student. My next observation with Sylvi was only a month away, so I had to get busy. I emailed every student I knew and before the end of the week, had scheduled all the required sessions over the next three weeks. I viewed those sessions as just requirements and didn’t realize how life-altering they would be. By the end of the three weeks I was a completely different person and yet hadn’t fully integrated the changes. The day before my observation, I was feeling quite confident when Sylvi called. She informed me that all the other students had cancelled and in order to do the observation I would need to bring someone to receive the session. In addition, I would still need to be observed by a student at a later date.

The timetable I had set was completely disrupted. In the past, I would have been very disappointed and seen this as a big se back. But, thanks to HR, I chose to see it as a blessing. I realized it gave me time to integrate what changes had gone on in me and really enjoy the process instead of just blowing through it. I felt very empowered by the fact that I had control over the way I perceived things and didn’t feel at the mercy of my environment.

I found a good friend who had never received HR and was willing to let me do their session in front of a teacher.  I got yet another opportunity to learn “new possibilities” while working with a first-time client and would have time to fully integrate everything I had experienced. The day went really well and my friend learned a lot about HR and got a lot out of her session. Sylvi was pleased too and again gave me terrific feedback on what to work on for next time.

I began processing the lessons I learned during observation and put them into action. I organized another group for my third observation. Because I had fulfilled almost all of my  requirements, I could focus my energy on applying what I had learned to my client sessions. It was so rewarding to see them shift to an even higher level of coherence.  New clients began pouring in. I was vibrating at a higher  level of pure joy and satisfaction. People asked me “Lauren, how do you manifest so many new clients?” My answer was, “Work on yourself.” It was then that I realized the value in the certification process was not just in obtaining the certificate, but also in the quantum leap in self-realization it had provided me.

My third observation day was incredible. I felt I had nailed it. When Sylvi said “I give you an A+ + + + +,  and would recommend you to anyone,” I knew I deserved it and valued all the work  I had done. It was one of my best moments of my life. The lesson of slowing down and doing the process for the process’ sake was most empowering.

I highly recommend pursuing certification to any student practitioner. Do it at your own pace and be flexible so you can get the most out of it. Enjoy the journey. Embrace the failures as well as the triumphs because they all have value. The reward is the quantum leap but the empowerment is in the process.