Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather “Venus” Durham.
Heather, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always knew I was meant to help people. But the idea of being a doctor or a nurse, and working on the physical body with blood, muscles, delicate nerve endings and sensitive tissues made we weak in the knees.
In the small town I grew up in, there was certainly never any mention of alternative therapies such as Reiki, acupuncture, sound healing, or shamanism. When my uncle (who lived near Austin) told us he was going to chiropractic school, we all had our reservations.
In Texas, it was all about high school football and Friday Night Lights. I was a twirler, and you could find me at every pep rally and football game for the entire season — performing.
I was also a member of the Drama Club and took as many acting classes as I could. When it wasn’t football season, you could find me on the stage — performing.
As I went on to college to become a theatre major and pursue my passion, acting eventually brought me to Chicago in 2005. Since I didn’t have any training in the service industry during college (like most actors I know did), I decided to get a job doing what I had done in college —working as a Legal Secretary. While trying to convince my boss that I needed to take a 2-hour lunch starting at 10am for mysterious reasons, — (my agent wanted me to go on any and every audition at a moment’s notice) — several things in my life started to break down.
Eventually after several very difficult experiences, I began to realize that my entire life had been a performance, and I had no idea who I was deep down. I was living for anyone but myself. My parents, my friends, my lovers… just hoping that I would somehow be enough to please them.
I fell into some pretty dark places, and it was at my annual gynecologist exam that my doctor asked me, “So, how ARE you?” I completely broke down in tears and opened up about my pain. She was very compassionate and assured me, “That’s a lot. Have you ever thought about talking to a therapist?” So, she gave me a fantastic referral that has since altered the course of my life to this day.
He suggested a few books that began introducing me to my own accountability for my own experience. After many “failed” relationships, I asked myself, “What is the common denominator here? ME!” Books like The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle) and The Four Agreements (Don-Miguel Ruiz) introduced the ideas of the present moment as well as the concept that I was not a victim of my life’s circumstances, but rather the Divine Creator of all my external experiences.
As I began implementing mindful practices, I noticed an improvement in the consistency of my mood as well as the life experiences I was encountering. Once I added yoga, meditation and a Reiki attunement to the roster, others in my life began to notice as well. In my corporate job, it seemed like people would be lined up at my desk throughout the day just to sit and share their story to feel heard, and perhaps receive some feedback that wasn’t what they could find from other friends or even their therapist. My boss, friends, and co-workers — all would ask me — “Are you doing something different? You seem so much better at life now.”
Eventually, I began offering transformational energy work on Saturdays out of my home. Each time a person would leave, I was left with a huge smile on my face.
The rest of the story simply involves me doing enough work on myself through Reiki and other forms of healing to remove my own limiting beliefs about whether I could do this energetic work for a living. I knew I couldn’t continue to suppress this new part of myself. Old conditioning and outdated programming began to melt away.
After about 3 years, and a definite push from my own energy guide, I finally made the leap and told the owner of my agency that I needed to leave and start my own practice. He wasn’t surprised. I wrapped up everything in time to leave for my 200-hr. yoga teacher training program in Alachua, Florida.
Upon my return last August, I’ve been seeing and guiding a steady stream of amazing people. I am teaching yoga classes through HelloHealthy (a company that brings yoga to high rise buildings across Chicago), Nature Yoga, and outdoors in the park district throughout the summer. I’m also co-leading workshops that incorporate Reiki, yoga, sound immersion and the power of language to help create the love we so deeply desire in our lives as humans.
My journey has been all about removing any blocks and barriers to my greater purpose, and then empowering others to transform their own lives and do the same.
Has it been a smooth road?
It isn’t always an easy thing to tell people what I do for a living. For one thing, it’s very intangible. And depending on the audience and geographical location, there can be a lot of resistance to it. Specifically, I had a lot of work to do in overcoming my perception of my parents’ beliefs about my new path.
Because I am here to help guide others on their own transformational paths to personal empowerment, my life is also in a daily state of transformation. As I continue my personal work, often it seems there is a philosophy I need to tweak to match my new understanding, which often means evolving the way I run my business or market my services.
Change is the only constant.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I offer one-on-one yoga, energy and guidance sessions to clients in person or through Skype/FaceTime
One of my gifts is creating and holding a safe space for others, helping them to access and express parts of themselves that are otherwise left unheard and unseen.
I also love teaching group yoga classes and workshops at various locations throughout Chicago. I help organize and facilitate Ecstatic Dance Chicago which is a conscious, sober dance party where participants can express through movement and non-verbal communication.
I think we are all learning that there are infinite possibilities available as to how we can participate in this global home we call Earth. There is so much healing and expanding of consciousness that is happening.
With each person I see, it is my goal to expand awareness. There is something bigger that we can tap into. We just have to be willing to look.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
While we have a lot of work to do in Chicago, there are also countless opportunities. It’s a growing market and the corporate world has increasing interest in the healing modalities — specifically yoga and meditation. It’s a budding industry with unmet needs and people are waking up to find that they need more than what big insurance companies are offering.
Contact Info:
- Address: Lighten Up | Yoga & Energy
3145 S May St
Chicago, IL 60608 - Website: www.lightenupenergy.com
- Phone: 409-718-7897
- Email: heather@lightenupenergy.com
- Instagram: lightenupenergy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightenupenergy/
- Twitter: @lightenupenergy
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lighten-up-energy-healing-chicago
- Other: http://www.lightenupenergy.com/workshopsevents.html
Image Credit:
Simon Rubenstein
Nathan Wyse
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