Meet Crystal

How do you describe who Iona is to your friends? Your coach/teacher/guide/something else?

Most of the time I say coach. But occasionally I say therapist when people start calling me crazy for changing in ways that don’t benefit them anymore. I say “Iona said” wayyyyyy too much. But I want everyone who I know who is like me to benefit from all of this too (like joining the Brave Thing membership or listening to the Bad Woman Bundle I gifted them.)

Why did you choose Iona? Why did it feel like a good fit?

See above! The strong woman who actually needs help even though everyone sees her as the person who needs no help (for an entire lifetime, childhood on up).

What has surprised or delighted you most about this work?

The fact that I can access my emotions through breathwork even when I think I am not into it or distracted. I would never have guessed I could just start sobbing out of nowhere because I can rarely cry even when grieving something in particular. Access to emotional depth in a safe place is the first thing that came to mind when I read this question. I often think of Sarah McLaughlin’s song of “standing on the edge of something way too deep” and block myself from sadness because I don’t think I will ever find my way back if I do. But somehow breathwork bypasses those defenses and I don’t even see it coming, and then I can release all that and come right back and go on without even a “hangover.”

How did you know you were READY to do this work?

I had no idea I was ready to do this work. Mainly because I had no idea what outcome I wanted from the work other than maybe some direction on what to do with my life on disability (writing, etc) and was absolutely at the end of my rope in doing nothing. I keep trying to figure out where I even heard about Ghost, but I downloaded the free chapter, then bought the book, then had to work with her. Her book was the first time in my entire life that I felt so seen as neglected for always being the strong one that could raise herself. I just knew I had to work with her in some capacity, for what I don’t even know. So I joined the waiting list and the rest is history!

What has changed most in your life, work, and relationships since you started this work? What are those “pinch me” moments when you realize that you’re a totally different person?

Ummmmm, my entire life is different. When I started I was just trying to carve out a tiny part of my week for myself to write. The last week, my divorce was final and I stood up for myself against toxic dynamics in my family. Everything has changed since I decided to actually face what was going on in my life. And my adult children are closer to me than ever, and I can see them relaxing and allowing things into their lives they had walled off. That is the greatest gift to see, especially because they are the reason I wasn’t facing how I was showing up in my life because I was afraid it would hurt them. But I think everyone benefited even if they had no idea where my shiny new spine was coming from.

What would you say to a woman who is sitting on the fence and needs to hear the exact right thing to say, “Let’s do this.”

If you think surviving life in an ok enough circumstance is all there is, think again. Reconnecting my body and my mind (after years in chronic pain and fatigue) has been just one of the things I am so fucking proud of - the chronic stuff is still there but my body is mine again anyway. I think you can know if you resonate with Iona from all of her content everywhere - and if she is a fit, you deserve to hire her to help you see yourself and your life more clearly. You have zero idea how much better your life will look with such a partner. And it’s not a dependency relationship that is created- she does her job with the goal being for you not to need her to walk it out! You will love her!