Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Smith.
Amanda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
This is an interesting question to answer, as I began this endeavor professionally in 2012 but have been holding space in this capacity for as long as I can remember. To offer an example, I had many friends in my adolescence to become enamored with the drug culture. Some lost their lives in the process, and many lived with me during attempted periods of sobriety. I held a safe space for them, as it was my mission to assist, even before I had any formal training in this field. After the passing of my dear friend JJ and then my uncle Steven, I really committed to this path. I had taken a few nursing classes when attending college at Arizona State University but left the program because Western Medicine did not align with my intuitive understanding of health. What I learned from that program was just how confusing Western society was about nutrition and wellness.
So, when I entered the field of holistic healthcare, I began there. I attended the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts and completed their Holistic Nutrition Certification. Having been plant-based since a young age, I wanted to coach people around transitioning to that lifestyle. What I learned though, is just how much emotional entanglement is tied to our food and I lost my desire to conquer that agenda. While I was studying nutrition at SWIHA, I became friends with many students involved in the Polarity Therapy Program. All of them encouraged me to explore this area of study as it seemed like the perfect fit. So, I did. And, what Polarity Therapy offered me was the framework to understand and decode many experiences I was having in life.
It was the most comprehensive energy healing modality I had ever been exposed to, as it treated the whole system through nutrition, exercise, and self-work. It taught me about our connection to nature and how to understand life through those lenses. So, nowadays, I teach people about the elements and how they manifest in three-dimensional reality. My business and this work is consistently evolving and changing, much like the energies of the universe do. I’m thankful to witness this.
Has it been a smooth road?
Ha. Truthfully? The road has been very bumpy… but my commitment to a deeper truth has kept it steady. Before we can meet the world as a Healing Arts Professional, ideally, we would heal our own internal world first. For me, that looked a lot like forgetting everything I had been taught, reviewing and reprograming all of my belief systems, and holding space for the younger version of myself. It looked like making almost six figures as a bartender and then claiming 1/3 of that the following year on my taxes. It looked like surrendering friendships I thought I would have for the entirety of my life because my values had shifted so drastically. It looked like energetically losing members of my family because we could no longer understand each other. But, in conjunction with this, I gained a whole new world. So, a blind mind might read this and think, “that sounds awful,” but in reality, those struggles set me free.
For my business, the journey has been different from what I expected or thought it would be. For the most part, however, this aspect of my path has been very smooth. Some of the best advice I received from a teacher was to not put too much pressure on this work. That was, to not put pressure on this work to make me a living, because that can leave one desperate for clients. It has allowed for this organic growth, and evolution at the divine pace of the universe, so as to keep the journey sweet. I think the only “struggle” has been staying in my practice, and not comparing myself to others. Ultimately now, I don’t even look at what other practitioners are doing and simply stay on my path and listen to spirit.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Element Tree Healing story. Tell us more about your work.
My business is Element Tree Healing, and I specialize in bodywork and energetic therapy. I offer hands-on healing in the form of massage, craniosacral, reiki, and elemental alchemy. I also offer exercises and nutritional guidelines to support and navigate energetic congestion that accumulates as part of the human experience. I am currently co-creating a monthly sacred clearing ceremony in Phoenix where we offer sound, hands-on healing, essential oils, and many other modalities. I like to believe and trust that my work gives clients their power back, as I am certain we live in a world that is constantly taking our power away.
My work is unique in that it gives people an opportunity to breathe and experience their lives from a higher perspective. I’m happy to receive the title of Licensed Massage Therapist and keep my work that simple, but I’m certain that the depth of the healing is experienced during a one on one session.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Gosh. It is such a beautiful time to be alive and working in this field. The industry of self-healing modalities, plant medicines, and consciousness exploration are literally just beginning to get recognition for their potency. It is my dream to co-facilitate medicine ceremonies where a trained practitioner is able to legally offer plant medicine in a group setting, and I am able to assist in the process through hands-on healing. I really do see this evolution taking place.
I trust that this industry is going to grow exponentially in the next 5 to 10 years and that our healthcare system will evolve drastically. I see so many people deteriorating their vitality in a broken system, depending on pharmaceuticals to keep them alive, but none of these practices let people “be well.” It is my prayer and belief that this way is evolving and changing and that people are finding power in their wellness practices. Perhaps this article is an invitation for you to take your power back, truly get well, and experience life as we are meant to, in harmony with nature, with pure thoughts, pure intentions, and clear action.
Pricing:
- 90 minute session: $100
- Free 30 minute consultation
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ElementTreeHealing.com
- Phone: (480) 282 – 0612
- Email: ElementTreeHealing@gmail.com
Image Credit:
@EricElmorePhotography
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