Ask a New Yorker: How is 2010 treating you so far?
Heike: It is treating me wonderfully! I started the year with a vacation and now I’m settled back in to school. I’ve found work and I’m looking forward to getting into a new career.
Ask a New Yorker: Where did you vacation?
Heike: In Munich and Paris.
Ask a New Yorker: Sounds great! Where do you live in NYC?
Heike: I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Ask a New Yorker: A Polish neighborhood. Tell us about your new career path?
Heike: Well, that is hypnosis, which leads into counseling, which I’m trained for, so we’ll see how that develops. I’m studying social work and will get my Masters in 2011.
Ask a New Yorker: Fantastic! Now tell us more about your life.
Heike: Do you want to know how I came here to New York?
Ask a New Yorker: Sure!
Heike: Twenty years ago I moved here with my ex-husband from Germany to New York. We thought we would only stay three years. But after three years it was really nice. New York kind of suited us so we extended the Visa for another three years. I wasn’t allowed to work back then. We entered the green card lottery, every year from the beginning on. So, after six years I won the Green Card. That was kind of the major turning point of when we decided to stay. Then I started school and got my bachelors. Now I’m just creating a new life, basically.
Ask a New Yorker: What did you study?
Heike: I started studying Forensic psychology, which is a really amazing field.
Ask a New Yorker: Is this CSI?
Heike: CSI is if you go into the science of it but psychology is working either with criminals, substance abusers and the mentally disabled. I’ve done internships in the substance abuse field and that was quite interesting. I did another internship with an agency that served as an alternative to incarceration. They provided education and counseling to people who where supposed to be sentenced to jail time, and the majority where substance abusers, DWIs, but also people who abuse their spouse or family.
Ask a New Yorker: What school did you attend?
Heike: I went to John Jay. The school is great. The professors are caring and really informative. They want you to learn and apply it in the outside world.
Ask a New Yorker: I bet you got straight A’s.
Heike: (laughs) I was on the Dean’s List, and I was the Valedictorian of my class.
Ask a New Yorker: That’s scary; I’m not one for public speaking.
Heike: I was told one day that I was the head of the class and that I would have to give a speech in front of five thousand people. So this put me instantly into an anxiety mode. I was scared to death. I never like to give presentations in class. I get a heart attack just speaking in front of people, a few people, and my classmates. So I did Hypnosis for public speaking and stage fright, and I got up on the day of my graduation and I gave the speech and I had fun. It was the most amazing moment. It was reprogramming and thinking positive. I told myself that it is possible that I’m going to have fun, I will be relaxed and I’m interacting with the audience. It was actually the 44th anniversary of graduation ceremonies. I incorporated that into my speech. At that point I was 44. So, I combined those two and the audience loved it. They couldn’t believe that I was 44 years old and that I went back to school after 28 years.
Ask a New Yorker: What an inspiring story. You look great!
Heike: Well, I make my own skin care products. I make my own facial and body creams and scents. I make them with natural oils, organic and essential oils, depending on what I use it or need it for. Lavender is my favorite oil. I have my own website, which I created. I teach how to make cream. If people like it, I even sell it. But so far it’s mostly a gift and giveaways.
Ask a New Yorker: Thank you for the interview!
AskaNew Yorker: Now… the special moment has arrived. Heike visited us today in order for me to be hypnotized. I’ll be delving into “past life regression”. Let’s go for it.
Kennedy’s past Life regression session: I asked Heike to explore one of my favorite happy moments, which occurred often as an 8 year old with my dog Blanca, a West Highland white terrier. I would run down to Koenig’s pond behind our house to explore every living creature from tadpoles, frogs, snakes, water moccasins (they were abundant), snapping turtles (come to think of it the pond was pretty dangerous!), minnows, catfish. I loved catching catfish! I would often sneak out with one of my parents wooden tennis racquets to facilitate my “science class”. Was I in some past life a captain of a Viking ship pillaging the world?
First Heike had me spread my arms apart with the palms of my hands facing another. This was a test to determine the openness of my sub-conscious. Heike had me visualize a magnet on both sides of my hands, pulling them together. I thought, “my hands are shoulder-width apart and are staying that way.” Heike said, “Your hands are being pulled closer and closer together.” My hands touched in less than 1 minute. My sub -conscious seemed well greased for hypnosis and past life regression.
Next I lied on the bed with my hands crossed on my chest, clasped together. Heike began by relaxing me with a narrative… high on a mountain top, descending slowly, step by step , ending with a gate to a beautiful beach. This visual was prompted by a series of questions Heike had previously asked. How to say this? My mind, after a few minutes, went elsewhere. Heike asked, “What do you see? What are you feeling?” I felt my mother’s presence (she’s deceased). My hands felt as though they had melted into one another. The sensation was utter peace. My mind…. felt love. My ego stripped. There were no questions. Tears dropped from the corners of my eyes. The past-life regression continued, and it was a great experience, one I can only recommend. Heike did a great job. I am sure she will be successful in her new career.
See Heike’s website for more information, http://www.4mywellness.blogspot.com/
