We had the good fortune of connecting with Veena Saraswati Lucas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Veena Saraswati, how has your work-life balance changed over time?

I am kind of designed to always work. Working is a kind of a mathematical and musical process in my mind. I have surrendered to that. I have tried to create balance though a balancing act is a hard skill to develop. As a business coach once shared with me, they suggested finding a harmony like an orchestra instead of trying to balance so much. As an orchestra takes pauses and moves in sections it is also harmonizing together. After I learned that, I decided to surrender to my working mind and to harmonize my processing and create pause. I am always capturing moments of seeing, tasting, hearing, and touching the sensation in between the processing and mental calculations I am doing.

They say a moment is about 90 seconds. These moments feed me personally. I encourage my daughter to take these moments to enjoy the view as we rush to drive to an after school class. She now asks me to capture moments with her. I love that growth in her.

Waiting for a break can leave us sick and exhausted when it finally arrives. As we cook under the pressure of just getting through this energy and then you can rest, we capture moments and it gives us the energy to keep going.

As a family we also have care goals in our life such as; several hugs a day, inner smiles, breathing reminders, and simple joys of sharing and caring that feed us physically, emotionally and mentally. In addition to showing love with food and acts of service, we find that these moments also keep us going.

I am so busy and my child is too. So, recently we are adding in the practice of more eye contact when giving and receiving even the smallest items between each other. Taking the moment to “meet each other’s eyes” and expressing gratitude. Reminding ourselves to remember the simple practice of saying please and thank you’s even when busy and including this practice in our texts and email.

It seems that there is a language breakdown at times culturally and a lot of simple formalities are to be implied instead of practiced. So, we are working on those formalities that feel good, are simple and we agree to.

There should always be a bit of extra time for these simple formalities that help us feel loved, acknowledged and safe, no matter how busy our minds or bodies are. Any days where we can just “be” and not “do” while at home, while traveling or on a walk we cherish the pause in the Orchestra. My life work balance is an orchestra in my mind and my pause is capturing simple pleasures and human exchanges on the daily.

 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work. What was the thought process behind starting your business?

After 14 years in service as a massage therapist and Asian bodyworker, I moved and changed my life to only focus on taking care of my daughter and myself. By doing the simple services, I felt I had mastered, and I could comfortably offer to the community and the area’s local tourists. It felt like it would be a simple job that would be good enough to support us in a new place. Take the pressure of study, skill development and more out of my practice and just offer what I know with confidence.

As I worked on my offerings for new clients, I was hiding that I was an intuitive and an energyworker. It was very intentional that Reiki and intuitive energywork were off the menu, but just about every new client that came in for a massage was asking if I was an intuitive healer or an energyworker. Again, those offerings were never on my new service menu, as this was to be be my simple fresh start. By the firth ask I realized I had to surrender to this work I was being called to do. That took a whole reframing
of who I was and what my offerings could ans should be. Which led me to create the business offering of Intuitive Energy Medicine, I have today.

How do you know whether to keep going or to give up?

High School and College were very hard for me. I felt derailed at every turn. I had to reevaluate my goals and why I was doing what I was doing. From bike accidents, unbearable cramps, to whole research papers lost, and my backpack being stolen on finals week, I just felt like traditional school was unattainable for me. After three years of struggling I thought perhaps School is for a later time in my life, perhaps it’s time to be of service. So I started studying Massage in 2000 at Muller College of Holistic Studies in San Diego. It has been closed now for years, but at the time it was one of the top certified schools of Massage in California. I remember a few teachers but one lead there stood out. Val was a special multi-talented part of the school and I admired that. He was there not only to teach but he was an artist and facilitator on so many levels. I thought “oh, that is a way to work and be of service.” Multifaceted in your offerings, all in support of your skill set. This intrigued me.

From massage and bodywork I expanded into Energywork which was quickly trying to open for me. I was very cautious, I took a slow methodical approach to unpacking the possibilities of this work. Emotional and mental safety was crucial to me. Asian bodywork seemed to help me understand the energywork that was being presented to me in my life.

At the time I really wanted to go into Kinesiology or Physical Therapy but my pain and stress was constant. My doctor asked me to reduce my workload and heal. I was determined to stay in school, so I took walking and Yoga as a PE class at the community college to stay in the practice of going to school. This was very self healing from some unexplained pain. I was experiencing on so many levels. Eventually, I pursued my Yoga Teacher Training. Soon after, I was then invited to work with client’s homes, lands and spaces in various ways and to support clearings. After the birth my daughter, I became a Labor and Delivery Massage Doula. The unknown path became a journey. I released the plan, the supposed to’s and I decided to live in flow and stop blocking all the guidance I was being given because it was not my goal or my plan. I surrendered to possibilities.

It was suggested by several other intuitives, over the years, that I consider offering my skills to people. So, at first I offered a reiki session and then a broader offering of intuitive energywork to my service which would allow less formality. Coming from a passion for Traditional Japanese Culture and Arts, I took Reiki and Asian Bodywork Modalities very seriously. I didn’t want to blend my unfolding gift with traditional Reiki and Taoist protocols and practices. My perfectionism was demanding. My sadness over mistakes was hard to recover from. So, I dipped my toe in the water, so to speak, very cautiously.

If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

My clients were lovely but motherhood opened up my gifts more in an undeniable way. I worked hard to hone my skills, not only from my experience with people as a practitioner but also from my personal experiences. Such as, being a student of subtle modalites, a client of a Marriage Family Therapist, and a yoga teacher and practitioner. I remember what it is to take advice and follow through. As well as the feeling to fail and not be able to push through. To sit with that feeling and still show up to say “I couldn’t” in Therapy. Remembering the feeling of, I can not do this today or why is this so hard when it was easy before. Applying this understanding to the perspective of my clients was supportive. I then gathered knowledge from my experiences of Japanese Arts and my Various jobs in my 20’s and I puzzled together a way of working that was best for me as a provider to support my clients. This helped me feel a structure I could relax into. Instead of religiously following someone else’s sequence, protocol, or formula. I could stay flexible for a client while held by the new structure I knew worked for me. I then had to release the dream of the originally intended path and welcome my journey.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

It is ok, to not do it, the way everyone else is. To break norms and find work in ways that support you can prevent burnout in jobs you don’t love.

I re-evaluate my offerings every 2-5 years. The energy and care I was offering needed to be evaluated and once I sat down with myself I found that I love my work and I just needed to work in a different way. I decided I could no longer provide a single session offering. That I needed to have clients commit to care as much as I was committed to their success, their learning and my willingness to hold their story and bring them under my wing in a way and into my heart.

 

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I offer intuitive energy medicine clearings. I had noticed over the first 5 years of working with clients they start to hold the work we do in a new way on their own, after 4 years. That my sessions were offering an attunement.

So in honoring my work and the clients growth and self development, at the end of this period of care they are given a certificate to honor their progress and new skill set. I look forward to working with clients who are willing to commit to a period of growth. Like therapy, it takes time to hold yourself in a new way.

I love my people and I also want them to be and feel self-sufficient. So, I have created a few Client-Only tools to support them.

For those clients who have a gift they want to develop and a journey of service, I invite them to develop their skills further. I have 4 additional levels of certification that I have developed for these clients to transition to students and eventually colleagues.

I developed my own methodology and I am currently creating a formal certification. I hope to launch several gifted intuitives who have transitioned from clients to students into the world with a way to offer their own unique gifts. My training is designed to support them with the safety and strength they need to provide to others and also protect their intuition and their full presence of being.

In addition to supporting Clients and Students I am also very interested in returning to working with large spaces that support arts, community and mental health.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I love showing people around. I think I would love to show them not only places I love, but create new experiences together with places I have been wanting to check out.

Day One-
I would start with Avila Hot Springs then after a good soak and shower grab some snacks for the road and an acai / pitaya bowl at Avila Market. Then head to summerland and stop at The Bikini Factory where the owner can find you the perfect fit. Continue down the coast for a late lunch with an ocean view at Malibu Farm Pier Cafe to take in some views. Then continue our coastal drive down to Santa Monica where we can setup our trip with nutritional success by stopping at Kreation Juice and Cafe to stock up on cold pressed juice and their fresh mint water before turning in for a good rest.

Day Two-
We would dine at Butchers Daughter Vegetarian Restaurant before checking out the small shops in Venice Beach and on Montana Avenue. Then take a drive down to see the Korean Friendship Bell. Return to Santa Monica for a walk on the pier and watch the sunset.

Day Three-
Have a chill morning before taking a trip to the Griffith Observatory for vistas, check out the exhibits, take a hike and return to see a planetary show to cool down. Stop at Roots and Rye for acai bowls to replenish. Then walk around the silver lake area to check out the small shops.

Day Four-
The Getty and a drive on the iconic Mulholland Drive to Little Tokyo to have lunch and visit the Japanese American National Museum, Hidden Truth Museum and Museum of Tolerance. With some breaks in between to Nosh and have tea share our political thoughts and opinions.

Day Five-
El Capitian is magically ornate for a movie & the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Take in the Vista at Yamashiro Gardens followed by taking in a show at the Hollywood Bowl.

Day Six-
Den Mother for self care and Coast Drive with a Beach day in Malibu to watch the dolphins feed.

Day Seven-
Check out Sumac Modern Street Food for a mediterranean lunch then we would head towards melrose to visit small shops and check out Crossroads Kitchen for dinner.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Lia Sabbatini is an Astrologer and Business Consultant. Offering in-depth support with her Keen Insight, Strong Skillset and Intuition through Alexandria Consulting Services. Her validation of my intuition through astrology was crucial as I allowed myself to expand my gifts and offerings. She is one of my favorite astrologers over the last 20 years.

https://www.alexandriaconsultingservices.com/

Website: veenasaraswati.com

Image Credits
Veena

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