Lauri-Ann Ainsworth living in the balance

There are times when life can get so hectic that we forget to take time for self-care. Lauri-Ann Ainsworth was in this mode and her quest to fix her own problem set her on a completely different journey.

Ainsworth admits that she lost perspective and believed that life lay in the roles that she had assigned herself - mother, wife, and entrepreneur, businesswoman, etc. This meant being good or successful in these areas, even if she was unhappy and overwhelmed, if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. However, when life got what she considered out of hand, it was time to take her own self-care in hand.

"I had to make a change and started reading and learning about self-healing and mindfulness. I started filling up my cup first and allowing space in my life for me," she told Flair. It was through this that she found Reiki healing,

This is a Japanese healing technique that balances the mind and body. Ainsworth explains that it is a safe and effective form of energy healing that helps to restore one's equilibrium.

"Reiki can improve just about any area of life from physical health to emotional well-being to stress reduction and mental clarity creating health, happiness, abundance, and success," she told Flair.

She explained that Reiki can be used for headaches, fatigue, stress-reduction, changing bad habits among other self-development activities. This has motivated her to want and seek training as a life coach. She hopes to offer individuals, especially women a way for them to find peace and balance in their life as she believes that one has the ability to heal themselves. Spreading the message of self-care and self-love is something that she knows will overflow into all aspects of their lives to better understand stress and it will also be something that will spread to their family and jobs.

While this is her love, passion and desire, this is not the only aspect through which she wants to help and motivate individuals hence her work at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship. Currently, she is the development and communications director responsible for fundraising and marketing the centre. What she appreciates and loves about the organisation is that it encourages and enables individuals to bring their whole selves and integrate it into their work. She had always had a passion for entrepreneurship.

"I've always been passionate about entrepreneurship because I think it is not only a way to create wealth in our economy, but also for families and communities. Women are primary caregivers in their families and when we support women to create jobs and wealth for themselves and their communities, the better our society will be," she shared.

Ainsworth manages to take on all her responsibilities along with being the mother of two children and a wife. She actively involves them in her self-care. Her husband David does yoga with her and her four- and two-year-old follow suit.

If she could just teach her children one thing it would be for them to love themselves and be mindful and to enjoy each and every moment. She and her husband want them to learn that life is not just about riches, but that they should enjoy the now and be grateful.

While yoga and self-care times are fun, there is nothing like dancing as a family. David plays the guitar and they play music, sing and dance along and therein lies some special moments.

If there was one piece of advice that she could leave with young women, it would be, "Start practising self-care now. Don't wait. It doesn't have to involve money or trying to find time to go to the spa. It's giving yourself five minutes here and there to truly honour yourself, slow down, and be. Fill up your cup first and allow the overflow to go to everyone else."