about
About Oasis
The story of Oasis
Oasis Hypnocoaching is born
My world changed in 2018 when I succumbed to the side effects of managing extreme anxiety and work burnout. So when the roundabout stopped and I was forced to get off, a number of things happened. Probably for the first time in my life I stopped to look at who I really am. It’s not something we generally do... What a privilege that I had the time to do this.
The fastest waltzer
Don’t get me wrong, stopping the roundabout was no small feat — especially at the pace it was going at. Remember the fastest waltzer car? If you were lucky the guy got to spin yours all the time (if you had a good perm and red lippy). Well it was like that, so even when it stopped you felt dizzy and sick. So when the dizziness and sickness started to subside (which took a number of months), my brain was able to start to think more clearly again.
Then the worst thing happened — a childhood friend of mine took her own life and back on the waltzer I got.
A crisis of meaning
I could not process this information – my brain was only just starting to settle and back into overdrive it went. We had not stayed in close contact from our early 20s, but as kids we were inseparable; as adults when we met, it was like the distance of time changed nothing and my bestest friend was there again. I was so overwhelmed with grief and sadness; I needed something from her. I looked for messages on my phone, Facebook, pictures as kids and adults. She had messaged me since my house move about what a beautiful room I had made for my son and we joked about the box room I used to have in our family home. Those messages were gone, deleted, unimportant, but they mattered so much to me now and I could not have them.
Life started to move on and I started to put measures into place to find another job and to think about what I needed. There had been a massive shift in me and I was lost... A ‘crisis of meaning’ is something I read and it fitted well with where my life was at at that time.
Coaching
Training as a coach
In 2018 I trained as a coach which was fantastic, working with colleagues across the NHS and coaching NHS staff and managers. As a manager in the NHS for many years, I know just how difficult and lonely this role can be, and it felt as if I was giving something back to my colleagues and the NHS.
Although my coaching was and still is amazing, I started to realise that the models and tools I was taught were good, but there's a whole person sat there in front of you and you needed to deal with them. My training was limiting how I could do this and I knew then that I needed to take this further – not only for me but for them. How we operate as humans is an extremely complex structure of childhood upbringing, events in our lives, religion and health issues wrapped up in a nice big beliefs system sandwich. Layers upon layers of our stored belief systems stored in the filing room of our unconscious minds.
This led me into training in NLP and hypnotherapy; tools to get to the heart of our own thinking and to process or challenge beliefs and to offer people a way to fix it for themselves. I am currently training in other techniques taking the whole concept of thinking for ourselves to another level, because as humans we rarely do this.
The name
The meaning behind Oasis
I sat one evening in August chatting through with my sister about a business name. We had been throwing around names all week, trying to find something that meant both bringing some calm and peace to your life and moving your life forward. We were both listing ideas, dozens and dozens of them. My son arrived to collect something he needed that was in my bedside drawer. I went upstairs to where it was in the middle drawer and as I opened it I found this envelope...
I was stunned, I literally couldn’t move — this is my friend I lost, Jenaire. These letters were 28 years old and I had them all the time in my drawer right next to me. (Bearing in mind I have moved house 7 times during this period and my bedside drawers are a few years old.) I don’t remember handling them or having them.
I was shaking as I picked up the envelope. I text my sister and said 'I just found this'; I also said... 'My business name is in here.'
Oasis (noun)
The first piece of paper I pulled out was her timetable for work, she was a lifeguard at the local pool. She didn’t have any paper so rather than not write to me she would use what she could! So on the back of her timetable she wrote to me...
I immediately looked up the meaning of Oasis – perfect!
(1) An area in the desert where there is water and where plants can grow; (2) A pleasant place or period of time in the middle of something unpleasant or difficult. (Oxford Dictionary)
TTFN my Jen
So the meaning of my business is more than just a clever word — it means life to me. For this I dedicate my business to Jen and for her I am grateful that I found my meaning.
Testimonials
Previous client experience
"As most women know the negativity surrounding birth is all that other women want to tell you about and some fears had started to become engrained. Over the sessions I had with Rachel my mind set and day to day stresses began to change and self guided hypnosis and mediation became part of my everyday routine. I'm now very close to the end of my pregnancy and looking forward to the birth of my baby and how powerful I will feel after doing it my way."
Olivia — Hypnobirthing
"At my first hypnotherapy session, I can only describe what I experienced as revolutionary! I unearthed memories that I had kept hidden for nearly 40 years. It was such an emotional session and will be something I will never forget. I went onto have a couple more hypnotherapy sessions which gave me so much confidence and belief in myself. I have since been offered a career opportunity that I didn’t even have to go looking for... It’s was as if my positive outlook attracted the offer."
Lisa — Managing Loss & Improving Performance
"Before my first session with Rachel, I felt very helpless and was struggling to deal with issues around over-eating. Right from our first meeting, her compassion and understanding made me feel so at ease. I found the hypnotherapy itself wonderfully relaxing and was made to feel very comfortable. I now have a much greater understanding of both my emotions and habits, and feel much more in control than I did before. I am happier than I have been in a long time and am making some positive changes."
Helen — Weight Management
Find out more about your hypnocoach
About Rachel