Below is an interview I did for the Holistic Life Wales website (which is sadly now closed).
Today we are joined by Danielle Bryant.
Danielle is a Yoga teacher, Reiki Master/Teacher and Holistic Therapist qualified in Nutritional Therapy, Reflexology, Homeopathy, Nutritional Therapy and Holistic Diagnosis.
Dani shares with us details of her own holistic life and news of her new book…
What inspires you to be on your path?
My biggest inspiration is my children as I want to leave them with a better world to grow and raise their families in with the knowledge and wisdom to thrive and improve the world further for their children too! I feel that spreading awareness and healing to hopefully help everyone on their own path will in some way contribute to make their world a better place.
Another impetus is the masses of people who are completely led by the pharmaceutical corporate propaganda, not aware of how they are enslaved to their profit through fear, and I want to wake as many people up as possible to what is really happening and how much power for managing their own health they really have.
When did you first start becoming interested in complementary therapies?
Probably when I was diagnosed with clinical depression about 18 years ago. I was offered reflexology by a friend’s mother as she thought it would help me as I didn’t want to take antidepressants. Regular sessions really did help me and along with the Yoga I have never had to resort to any drugs to manage it.
How important has yoga practice been to your personal and spiritual development?
I would say that attending my very first Yoga class was the very thing that started me on my path and so is probably the most important aspect of it! It was around the same time as the reflexology so I think that had an influence too. Even though I have not practised much Yoga in the physical sense recently with writing the book, I always live by the philosophy of Yoga, that is just like second nature now!
No matter what I learn or experience, it seems to always reflect the philosophy and no matter where my path takes me I will always have so much gratitude for and a deep love of Yoga.
What prompted you to write your book Holistic Well-being: A Paradigm Shift?
Last year an EU Directive came into force called the Health Claims Directive stating that any health product that was on the market could not have any ‘unapproved’ health claims. As most of the customers in my natural health shop rely on the health information we have on our website due to our products being quite unusual, I had to find another way of getting the information out there. So I came up with the idea of collating the articles and information I had written and calling it a book.
Well it turned out not to be as easy as that as I found some instances of the information I had written used on other websites, some had even copyrighted it despite this being years after I had published it on my website! Not only that, a lot of it needed re-writing to be more suitable for it to flow, and I then realised how much information was actually missing so it turns out that probably 80% or more of the book is actually new material! I even ended up adding chapters after the first print draft and ended up having about 4 drafts as I kept adding things and changing it!
I honestly did not intend to write a proper book at all, it was just meant to be a collection of articles, but before I knew it I had over 400 pages so I decided to publish it properly. Last summer I had actually been given a message in a Shamanic journey I was going to write a book with everything that could possibly harm health as well as how to keep ourselves healthy so maybe subconsciously I was following this message!
Looking back I cannot remember writing most of it and I have recently been told that this is a sign that much of the information was probably channelled, so I guess it is more spiritual than I first thought!
Your book covers areas that you yourself have described as controversial. How has publicly defending and promoting topics that are widely dismissed by many shaped your personality?
It has been a very tough ride to be honest, it is not exactly a way to make friends and influence people as many people just don’t want to hear what I have to say as some of the subjects can be quite negative and people don’t like thinking about them! Sadly I have drifted apart from some friends, and even family don’t usually understand me, I am the black sheep after all, and it is extremely frustrating when they don’t listen to me and end up doing the worst thing they can do for their health following someone else’s advice who stand to profit from their ill-health! However I have met some amazing people who are more on my new wavelength and the regular meetings are a brilliant time to talk openly with others who understand!
I would say personality and character-wise it has made me less reliant on others and stronger in myself, it has made me quite tactful and taught me to control my frustration and vent it in a more healthy way. It has also made me realise that you should always be yourself and speak your truth no matter what anyone thinks. What they think of me is their business, not mine. My business is only what I think of myself and what I choose to give to the world!
Will this book be the first of many?
I have been told spiritually that it will be the first of many in those very words, but I have not planned any more. Saying that, already I have things going around in my mind that I want to expand on, or more controversial subjects that I felt I couldn’t include such as natural cancer cures and alternatives to cut poison and burn. Did you know it is illegal to say that anything other than a pharmaceutically approved drug can cure cancer? That is because of the Cancer Act whereby the term “cancer cure” is literally copyrighted.
Of the books which you have read in the past year (fiction and non-fiction) which is your favourite and why?
It’s got to be David Icke, Remember Where You Are And Where You Come From. I love David he is so comical in his approach and I admire him so much as he has spoken confidently of his truth in the face of adversity, ridicule and attack for over 20 years – no matter if you believe what he says or not, you have to agree with that! And if you think he is a madman, that is what mainstream want you to believe!! I know someone who used to work closely with him – he is a genuine guy and a lot of what he has been saying all this time is now coming to pass or has already happened!
I would say he is who I look up to most in his ability to not give 2 hoots to anyone who says anything bad about him and his ability to tell it exactly like it is – there’s no egg shells around his feet I can tell you!
You must have quite a hectic schedule with your practice, teaching, running your shop, writing and meetings! How do you relax in your spare time?
Spare time? What is that again? Oh yes how I wish sometimes for a simpler life!! I am always busy, sometimes to the point that my body tells me it’s had enough and slows me down by taking away my energy for a day or so making me completely chill and do nothing with no choice!
When we get the chance I love camping in our VW camper, Daisy, but this has even turned into work sometimes as we now trade at some of the VW festivals! I just make sure I have fun in everything I do and try my best to have some fun with my children!
What is your favourite motivational phrase/positive saying/quote?
Oh I have 3 and as they are all about different aspects, I cannot choose between them! :
“People were created to be loved, things were created to be used; the reason why the world is in chaos right now is because things are being loved, and people are being used.” – not sure who said this but it is so true!
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace” Jimi Hendrix
“Always be yourself as those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind” Dr Seuss
How does combining your passions with a business that you love makes you feel?
It’s a mix of good and bad to be honest. On the good side I feel my heart is in everything I do and even if the actual task in hand is quite mundane I know that my overall efforts are positively making a difference to people in their quality of life and their health, as I am quite often told through feedback.
On the negative, my work has taken over all my hobbies like Yoga, crystals, spiritual work, holistic health – it’s like I haven’t got any hobbies left now! But I would much prefer that to being stuck in a job where I am unfulfilled and not feeling like I make a difference to people.
What are you MOST grateful for today?
I am most grateful for my wonderful husband and amazing children. As long as they are happy, healthy and safe I am happy too! And also my health.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out exploring a more natural, holistic lifestyle?
READ MY BOOK! Seriously I do not know of any other book or place you can get such a comprehensive balanced approach not only on how to be healthy but also what to protect yourself against. So many people are unaware of the many attacks upon us and are afraid of negatively affecting their spiritual vibes by reading about or learning about the not-so-nice stuff that we really need to know. But how can they possibly be holistically healthy if they do not know what is compromising them? It is all to do with a balance between compassion and wisdom. Too many people are going for the compassion whilst not considering the wisdom side of it and it is upsetting the natural balance.
Another bit of advice I always say to my students is life is a journey, but don’t forget to take in the scenery as you go!
Danielle is a Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master/Teacher and Holistic Therapist qualified in Nutritional Therapy, Reflexology, Homeopathy, Nutritional Therapy and Holistic Diagnosis. She is co-founder of Shop Holistic and runs a free natural health Advice Line and Clinic. She is also a Truth and Health Freedom activist, running regular local ‘Awakening Group’ meetings, campaigns and events. To find out more about Dani view her listing in our holistic directory or visit her personal website. To purchase her new book visit Shop Holistic