FROM THE HEART

The Gold Coast Bulletin, Edition 1 TUE 17 APR 2001, Page T04
from the heart

By: Rachel Syers

Click here for image(Library Terminal Only)2001

Meditation is no longer sitting on the fringe. For many, it is a way of relieving stress, understanding emotions and feeling love. Rachel Syers spoke to meditation teacher Elizabeth Rae

SHE’S garden partied with the Queen, prayed behind bars with Lindy Chamberlain and hiked into the snow with Pro Hart.

Yet Elizabeth Rae reveals these precious memories almost as an afterthought.
In her role as clinical stress therapist, professional executive coach, meditation and relaxation teacher, Elizabeth says there is nothing worse than an ego out of control.
“You have to love yourself, not worry about who you’ve met or what other people are doing,” says Elizabeth.
“Because that’s all just part of life.
“You don’t have to kick and push and shove – if you are at peace with yourself, that door will open, and there’s enough to go around for everyone to share in.”

For 25 years, Elizabeth used meditation, relaxation and self-hypnosis to get through her daily routine of work, rest and play.
She moved through various jobs, mostly in the highly strung world of finance.
“I first became involved with the stock market when I was 15.
“I befriended a man up the road, who was severely disabled in body but extremely intelligent and alert in mind.
“It was through him that I became interested in finance.
“I was lucky. He taught me a lot and that led to my first investment of five pounds.”
“I’ve since lost a lot of money on the stock market, but he allowed me to understand it and to eventually move into the financial area.”
But that was not before a stint as a secretary with the Prime Minister’s department, in the ceremonial and hospitality division, which, in 1969, threw a garden party for the visiting royals.
While working in Canberra, Elizabeth was asked to promote artist Pro Hart and open a gallery in the capital.
This project also brought her into contact with a man who was to become a close friend over the years, Guy Boyd, and his brother Max.
It was during these years in the art world, until the financial crash of 1987, that Elizabeth gathered some life-changing experiences for her personal history book.

She visited Mount Kosciusko with Pro Hart, trekking through the snow as he searched for artistic inspiration.
The famous artist also made sure Elizabeth was in tow, when he took an exhibition to Darwin with the Boyd brothers, and stopped in on Lindy Chamberlain, at Berrima Jail.
“It was an emotionally changing experience,” says Elizabeth.
“I’ve lost a few friends over it, but to this day I believe in her innocence.
“I sat on a bench in the yard with her and told her that I prayed for her to be out by Christmas.
“And she told me that each time she had been kept back in jail, it was because someone else in there needed her.”

After meeting Lindy, Elizabeth kept contact and still speaks with her occasionally.
“She is someone I can say I feel proud to know.”

But for Elizabeth, the most important rule of play is to truly know yourself.
She says she came to know herself better than ever between the years 1991 to 1995.
It was a time Elizabeth describes as being one of the darkest of her life, but also the most profound.
She took legal action against a major finance institution, and during proceedings, turned to a life-long interest in meditation and relaxation to save her sanity.
The experience also helped her understand the pain others, who now come to her for solace and advice, to through.
“It gave me a deeper understanding of the importance of being validated,” says Elizabeth.
“Even though we try to live by our integrity, we can still be pushed under.”
In her endeavours to help others, Elizabeth formalised her life experiences by undertaking studies in clinical stress management, meditation, relaxation, career guidance, child development and effective parenting.

The result is a multi-skilled woman bent on spreading her knowledge for the benefit of others.
Elizabeth has taken on clients ranging from Olympic gold medal volleyball player, Natalie Cook, to high-ranking business executives.
“My dream has come true to help other people,” says Elizabeth.
She recently joined the professional line-up at Sanctuary Cove’s Recreation Club, running classes in relaxation and meditation, on Tuesday morning and Thursday night.

Elizabeth says it would be good if more fitness clubs followed the holistic approach to the mind and body and understood that health required more than just physical attention.
She says a combination of guided meditation and relaxation techniques help release subconscious barriers to success.
“I am thrilled with how these techniques work and how they help people understand that productivity with wisdom, integrity, and inner peace, is a choice which people can make in their lives and workplace,” explains Elizabeth.
“Caring for the mind leads not only to a better sense of self belief and self worth, but also an improved immune system and several other flow-on physiological benefits.”
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