In the realm of personal growth and holistic wellness, Linda Dieffenbach stands out as a beacon of healing and transformation. With a profound ability to create a safe, sacred, and heart-centered space, Linda, a BSW, RMT, and coach, has dedicated her life to guiding others through their journeys of self-discovery and empowerment. Her approach, deeply rooted in the wisdom of the body’s energy system, compassionate coaching, and intuitive guidance, helps clients overcome barriers of disconnection, self-doubt, and trauma. In this exclusive interview, we delve into Linda’s unique methodology and the profound impact it has on her clients. She shares her insights on the importance of nurturing presence, the process of breaking through energetic blockages, and the journey towards emotional, physical, and spiritual freedom. Join Mystic Mag as Linda Dieffenbach reveals how she empowers individuals to reclaim their wellness and engage in sustainable personal growth through a comprehensive toolkit of knowledge and practices.
Can you describe your journey and what inspired you to become a coach focused on creating heart-centered spaces for healing and transformation?
My work really started through my own personal journey when I was younger. I experienced a lot of childhood trauma that went unrecognized and unaddressed, leading to many struggles and difficulties. By the time I was 15, I had attempted to take my life and was hospitalized for a period. During that time, the professionals who were supposed to support and help me instead re-traumatized me. They negated my trauma and experiences, telling me I was just seeking attention and that I was the problem, implying that everything was fine with my world and my family. This was extremely painful, and I shut down.
For many years, I was disconnected from myself and my experiences, struggling a lot. I found myself in and out of difficult relationships, often recreating trauma. My survival strategy became taking care of everyone else except for myself. I also engaged in self-medicating and self-harming patterns, putting myself in dangerous situations because I was so traumatized.
Despite my desperation for help, the traditional support resources I reached out to were not equipped to help me in the way I needed. My first encounter in the wellness holistic world was with Reiki. When I first learned about it, I immediately signed up to become a practitioner, which became a helpful self-care tool and a catalyst for delving deeper into my healing journey.
The biggest catalyst for my healing journey was meeting my mentor, Elizabeth Frediani, who practices a modality called Chakra Clearing with Applied Integration. When I began to work with her, I made more progress in the first three sessions than I had in a lifetime with other therapies. This launched me into a powerful personal journey of healing and growth.
This experience was the first time I felt truly safe in a supportive healing environment. Being in a heart-centered space with someone who could see and accept me, and hold space for my pain was powerful. It transformed my life on many levels. And when Elizabeth offered to teach me, I immediately signed up to learn from her.
Later, I started working with another mentor, Christian Pankhurst, creator of the Heart IQ Network, which focuses on heart intelligence and heart-centered space.
Between these two mentors, I gained a tremendous amount of healing tools and practices to use with my clients. People came to me for Reiki and various other needs, often bringing with them pain, trauma, stress, and overwhelm. They needed a safe container to be held in. My training prepared me to be present with them in ways I couldn’t before, allowing me to hold safe space for them. This space enabled them to delve into their darkness, pain, shame, and shadows, and to find love and acceptance for who they are.
Creating a heart-centered, safe space is essential for recognizing traumas, opening up to the possibility of healing, change, and transformation. It’s impossible for us to change if we’re not safe. Building a safe space gives people the permission and safety necessary to step into a new version of themselves, transforming their lives from woundedness, pain, and self-harm to true transformation and self-actualization.
How do you integrate the wisdom of the body’s energy system into your coaching practice, and what impact does this have on your clients’ healing journeys?
What I’ve learned is that our chakra system and our energy system are truly the foundation of our healing journeys because our chakras hold our history and experiences. Everything we experience in life is held in our body and energy field. Modern psychological science is beginning to recognize this through trauma research, poly-vagal theory, and the use of somatic practices. We now understand and acknowledge that our experiences are not just in our brains but are also physically stored in our bodies. The chakras are the vessels of consciousness that carry and hold this energy.
As I began to learn about the chakra system and the depth and complexity of how they influence us and are influenced by our life experiences, it became a catalyst for transforming how I worked with people. I gained a different understanding of their experiences—both current and past—and how these experiences impacted their bodies, energy fields, and behaviors. I also gained a clearer understanding of how past experiences affect their present lives on all levels.
By bringing these pieces together, I create a place of clarity and understanding for my clients, helping them understand the underlying causes of the challenges they’re struggling with. From there, we work with the chakra system and healing the trapped or imbalanced energy in those areas allows the energy to shift, move, and change, thereby facilitating healing and creating space for transformational growth to occur.
What type of services do you offer?
I essentially have two different paths in my practice. The first path is the healing path, where we address what’s going on in your life that has been impacted by past traumas. This path is for those who feel stuck and are struggling to overcome and heal, who are longing to make lasting and effective changes in their lives. Here, Reiki and chakra healing work, along with a number of other modalities, play a crucial role. With Reiki, we use hands-on techniques on a massage table. Chakra healing work, on the other hand, is more like an energetic coaching and counseling practice. It involves identifying the underlying core issues impacting our lives and determining the best way to bring them to a place of resolution and healing.
The second path in my practice is the empowerment path. As you heal from your past experiences and enter a phase of growth, this is where my coaching practice comes into play. This practice draws from all my experience, including Heart IQ work, Reiki, chakra healing, social work, and trauma awareness. It focuses on moving forward, stepping into a deeper understanding of your power and purpose, and aligning with your soul’s purpose on this journey. I guide and support you in actualizing your purpose and potential.
Thus, my practice encompasses both healing and growth—expansion and empowerment.
What are some of the common barriers you identify in your clients, and how do you help them overcome these obstacles to achieve personal growth and empowerment?
The most common, big-picture barriers are trauma and toxic conditioning. These are unresolved, unhealed, and unprocessed experiences from the past that have created imbalances in our lives. Through these experiences, we develop complex survival strategies to navigate the pain of these imbalances, but as we grow and change, these strategies often become ineffective and often toxic.
Trauma is one side of the equation; the other is toxic conditioning. This refers to the harmful side of the conditioning that comes from our families, culture, schools, spiritual organizations, media, and all the other ways the world tells us how we are supposed to be and how we are not supposed to be. It profoundly impacts our sense of self and identity, affecting how we feel about our bodies, abilities, gender identity, sexuality, relationships, and what we believe we can or cannot do in life.
These two factors are the biggest underlying barriers. The patterns and behaviors that stem from them include toxic relationship patterns, people-pleasing, poor boundaries, carrying a lot of shame, shadow energy, self-harm, self-neglect, addiction, and abusive patterns (either externally or internally), as well as negative internal dialogue and many other detrimental behaviors. These patterns keep us from moving forward and thriving in our lives.
A significant part of my work involves helping individuals identify these patterns and their origins. I assist them in understanding how these patterns evolved, bringing them out of shame or self-judgment into a space of recognition and acknowledgment. Building self-awareness is crucial. The more aware we are of how past events impact us and how we react to them, the better able we are to make changes.
Many people come to my office without recognizing the trauma in their lives or the different influences that have profoundly and harmfully impacted them. Trauma is often normalized to the point where they don’t realize it exists. They may think of trauma only in terms of major events like sexual assault, rape, or physical abuse, but there are many subtler forms of trauma that also have significant effects.
An important part of my work is education and building self-awareness. I help individuals understand what is impacting them and how it influences their lives.
What are some key practices or tools you recommend to your clients for maintaining balance and wellness in their daily lives?
One of the things I recommend is cultivating self-awareness. It’s incredibly important to do your inner work, seek out opportunities, and find qualified practitioners, healers, counselors, therapists, or coaches who fit your needs. These professionals can help you break free, grow, and heal from the profound impacts of past experiences and overcome the internal and external obstacles you struggle with.
Another key aspect, especially in today’s busy world, is finding simple, easy-to-integrate self-care practices that don’t require a lot of time. Our time is often overwhelmingly in demand, so it’s helpful to choose activities that can be seamlessly incorporated into daily routines.
For instance, increasing physical activity is beneficial. This doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym for an hour or two. Simple decisions like taking a 15-minute walk or parking farther away at the grocery store can make a difference without taking much extra time. Find some fun activities that are enjoyable, like dancing around the house as you do your chores. Of course, do these activities within the context of your physical ability.
Making better dietary choices doesn’t necessarily have to involve a complete overhaul. You can start by cutting out certain things from each meal. For example, if you typically have dessert several times a week, you could reduce it to once a week, and perhaps choose healthy sweets like fruit instead of a sugary dessert. You can make small changes like adding more vegetables, switching to use healthier fats, and having some healthy snacks prepped and ready so you can grab them if you’re hungry.
One practice I love, which is wonderful for stress, overwhelm, and anxiety, is placing your hands over your heart chakra and sending loving energy to yourself. Consider, when we are shocked or upset, our hands naturally go to our hearts because it helps to calm the nervous system.
To do this, simply place your hands over your heart center, take gentle breaths, and consciously send loving energy to yourself. You can do this for a minute, five minutes, or as long as you like. This practice brings ease and a calmer state of mind and body in a short period, and it’s very simple and accessible.
You can almost do it anywhere. For example, if you’re in a meeting and feeling overwhelmed, you can place a hand on your heart and send loving energy to yourself without anyone noticing. You can do it while watching TV, standing in line at the grocery store, waiting at the doctor’s office, or talking on the phone. This practice is versatile and easy to access because it doesn’t require any tools or much time—just a few minutes of focus and your own hands.
Discover more at https://lindatransforms.com/
