I had a pretty ordinary life, I think…
I was born in Belgium over 60 years ago into a business family of a small town close to the Dutch-German border.
With 6 brothers and 3 sisters, we were raised to develop our business minds.
I studied languages and business management.
At the age of 28, after having worked in the private sector, I left Belgium to go and work for the Belgian government, at the Belgian Embassy in Malaysia and Cambodia.
I was the first woman Commercial Attache to ever be appointed in that Moslem country and this caused quite a stir.
I always thought of this job as being a matchmaker because I was mainly bringing Belgian and foreign companies together for their mutual benefits.
I thoroughly enjoyed this work and my life, day and night…
During the second 28 years of my life, I worked my heart out, first in Malaysia and then in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Burma.
In 1981, I had a serious holiday accident.
I broke my back and became paralysed. This gave me a lot of time to reflect on my lifestyle and taught me to live life in a more moderate way.
In 1983, I moved to Bangkok where I continued to work for the Belgian government for another 12 years.
I had a friend called Lilly who was slowly dying from cancer and she kept telling me every time I visited that she felt so good when I came and that she had less pain in her body... I thought that her painkilling medication was probably too strong because I was a business woman in body and mind and I certainly did not believe in “such things” like healing energies. When she talked about Reiki, I thought that it was “weird”. More to appease her than anything else, I took a Reiki-1 course with Bill Shaw who was visiting Bangkok.
The very day I finished this training I called my friend Therese and her son told me that his mom could not come to the phone as she was in bed with a terrible back pain. So I went there, gave her my first Reiki treatment and she fell asleep.
The next morning she called me to ask what I had done to her… Why? Because she never slept so well in her whole life (she was truly a bad sleeper) and she had no more back pain at all. We could both not believe it… but decided to continue with the Reiki training for the next 3 years.
A few years later, a friend called from the USA to tell me to go and see Dr Thanh Van Le who practiced Bio-Energetics, “a scientific approach to a new world of health” which combined several Asian Healing Arts. And so I went to meet this man..
After talking with Dr Le for many hours (asking him soooo many questions), he invited me to become his student.
This changed my life again.
During the next 3 years, while I was working during the day, I studied with Dr Le in the evenings, every time he was visiting Bangkok.
I learned the basics of Traditional Chinese Medicine and how to use acupuncture techniques without acupuncture needles.
Eagerly, I started treating patients with these Asian Healing Arts early mornings and evenings, and also during the weekends while I was still working during normal office hours.
I somehow found the time and energy to learn more about Meditation and specifically the walking Vipassana Meditation which I enjoyed a lot.
I also studied the Magnified Healing technique which has been given to us through Lady Master Kwan Yin, who is well known in China as the Goddess of Mercy, also called Mother of Compassion.
This training included amongst others, a great meditation technique for empowerment.
In 1998, when I was 51 years old, I left Bangkok to move to Chiangmai and to retire completely from business. .
I thought that I had enough money and that this would give me the opportunity to treat more patients…
But when I arrived in Chiangmai, my goddaughter Franziska was suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumor.
During the next six months, her mother and I were sitting at her hospital bedside, day and night, trying to help wherever we could with all the love and compassion we had for this young woman of 19.
When I saw her slowly slipping away, I felt totally inadequate with all the wonderful healing therapies I had learned. Why could I not help Franziska when I could help so many other hopeless patients in Bangkok?
Six months later Franziska passed away very peacefully in her mother’s arms and in the company of her father, all her sisters and myself. This was truly a precious moment which I will cherish for the rest of my life…
Today, I have come to terms with the fact that I could not “heal” Franziska as I understand now, both mentally, emotionally and spiritually, that it was her time to go and that we do not “heal” another person. We facilitate homeostasis which helps the patient to heal him or herself.
In 2002, I started studying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), its Foundations, Acupuncture, Herbs and Herbal preparations and their Prescriptions. As there are over 5000 herbs to cover, I know that I will have to continue to study this vast and exciting subject for the rest of my life and I already enjoy unraveling this challenge.
In 2008 – 2009, I attended three levels of Cranio Sacral Therapy trainings which are so wonderfully complementary to the deeply relaxing and non-invasive ABET and Reiki energy sessions, which we practice and teach.
Today, after over 16 years of intensely practicing and teaching these gentle Asian Healing Arts, I know that I can only do so much as the patient can accept, even though I would love to be able to help everyone.
But I do my best to convince the patients that with some minor life style changes (like for instance not taking any cold drinks whatsoever), major life quality improvements can be achieved.
I also know now that as practitioners, we should practice a responsible selfishness or self-fullness by not overdoing things to enable us to keep our own bodies in harmony.
Today, the wonderful results of these experiences have brought me closer to my Inner Self again. They fill me every time with awe, wonder and gratitude…
As I live now from a low governmental pension, my income may be less than 10% of the one I had during my business life, but I have come to realise that I am very rich in time, in energy and contentment.
I truly appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to practice and teach these powerful Asian Healing Arts."
Christine OLIVARES - 35 years – France
In 1999, I made a trip to India where I met a sage who changed
my life and my life’s objectives. By his teachings, he gave
me the opportunity to understand better WHO I AM. He gave me the
strength to learn to love myself, to open my mind and to make
me think about what I want to do with my life.
One year later, I came to Thailand to visit a friend. He convinced
me to stay for a while in Chiangmai where I saw a brochure about
“Asian Bio Energetics” and how to take care of ourselves
and others. I thought that this was interesting and so different
from the other advertisements about “learning thai massage”.
So I made an appointment and met Cory Croymans. I was very impressed
by the techniques she used. They looked so simple but so “convincing”
at the same time, so different from what we see with the doctors
in Europe. She made a diagnosis without using any machine and
she did it so quickly ! After this Bio-Energetic treatment, Cory
gave me a REIKI which felt very relaxing. On the way back to my
guest house, I felt very good, so light and happy with myself,
thinking “waow, this person is so nice !”.
After that, I decided to take the Bio-Energetics courses and
I followed Cory to give free treatments in the mountain villages.
I was so pleased to see the old people we met there, who were
so happy with the treatments and especially with improving their
well-being. At the same time, I got to know Cory better, seeing
how she treated others with so much love. I thought : ”well,
this person is really made for that!”
During the next three years, I studied intensively Asian Bio-Energetics,
passed all the Reiki degrees and assisted in many treatments.
Since then, I practice with Cory, both here in Thailand and in
France. I still have so much to learn and I still feel like learning.
I’m studying more about Traditional Chinese medicine now
to combine our treatments with acupuncture and the complementary
herbs which are so beneficial too !
From these experiences, I learned a lot about myself, about the
way this incredible body machine works and how much we have to
take care of it if we want to be happy with ourselves and with
others. At the same time, by practicing these Asian Healing Arts,
I felt closer to people, more compassionate, less thinking about
myself, willing to improve more and more, yes.
All these years and experiences have brought me so many benefits
that today, I feel like sharing this knowledge with others, giving
treatments and giving people an alternative way to be healed,
in a way that is accessible to one and all.