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Barbara Lancaster's Healing Journey

Hello everyone. My name is Barbara Lancaster and I am the founder of Realistic Health and Beauty. As a child, I learned that I have the ability to remove the mask that people wear and I allow them to reveal their true form. For some this gift is a comfort and for others it is a distress. Either way, it gives people the opportunity to decide if they are content, fulfilled or longing for better.

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It is through my gifts and abilities and my personal experience, knowledge and wisdom that I can help others to make and reach realistic health and beauty goals and to live their best life as their best self.

So how did I get to where I am today? For me it was a very long process, and it took years because I had a ton of healing to do, mentally and physically, and I was stuck in a loop of making changes and making decisions that were toxic. However, the Divine was with me every step of the way, and I now know that these changes and decisions that I made were necessary in shaping me into the person that I am today, to be able to offer the love, guidance, wisdom and empathy that is needed to lead others authentically.

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Some of the major steps that I took in becoming the person that I am today started with a desire to guide others through their experience with alcoholism. I quit drinking in October of 2014. I came to realize that I had a problem with alcohol when I went to work one day, still a bit under the influence. I have a very strong work ethic and follow through on my word, so something like this really got my attention. It was my wakeup call, and I then realized my inability to control how much I drank. I also knew that coming from alcoholic, addict parents, meant that I was more susceptible to the reliance of substances. However, I knew that my experience could be used for more than just AA and that I could also help more people that were affected by alcohol. This is when I discovered Al-Anon, which is a program designed for loved ones of alcoholics. I signed up to be an Al-Anon group leader and started holding meetings at the Church that I was a member of. A group of guys from AA that were willing to step up and help make this group a success and we ran it and helped ourselves and many others for 5 years.

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The next step was in knowing that I wanted to help others work through traumatic events in their lives. The Church I was attending and was holding the Al-Anon meetings at, was looking to add Stephen Ministry to the services they offered. So, I gratefully accepted the call, drove to Texas for training, and became a Stephen Minister Leader. This role allowed me to walk 1:1 with others through life changes, challenges and traumas. This also fueled my passion for leadership in that I was literally trained as not just a Stephen Minister, but also as a Stephen Minister Leader and I was able to train Pasters and other lay people to become Stephen Ministers in their own Church and their own lives.

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Third, I got sick. I was no longer able to work or care for my family. My whole life changed drastically, and I felt lost and worthless. My whole world was falling apart, but I knew it wasn’t my path to stay on. I worked hard to understand the disorder that I was diagnosed with, which is Dystonia. Dystonia is a neurological muscle disorder that causes involuntary movements and posturing. I joined a local support group, and an online support group out of the UK, I became a member of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, I received botox injections into my muscles every 10 weeks, I was on a ton of medication and was actively trying to get disability benefits. The thing is that my outward appearance and mindset did not reflect what was actually happening to me physically and mentally. This caused medical professionals, disability attorneys and judges and my family and friends to question me and to mis-understand why I was not able to show up for them as I always had previously or as I was perceived. I knew I did not want to live like that, I did not want to be sick and I knew I had so many gifts and talents that I was meant to utilize and share with my kids and with the world. I started Realistic Health and Beauty as a resource for others to utilize in their own journey to overcoming illness and becoming healthy again, mentally and physically.

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Fourth, I knew what it felt like to be sick, to be a disappointment to others, to live in a body that was not able to function as it used to and as I wanted it to and I knew I was healing myself and could thus help, guide and possibly heal others. So I took on a caregiver role in a few people’s lives and obtained certification as a PCA, Personal Care Assistant. I performed this role for about 10 years before I decided it was time to get paid for my time and abilities. I found this calling to be very rewarding, however also very draining, mentally and physically. I also discovered that I am very different in my ideas and abilities and that not everyone wants to be healed.

Over the years, I have transformed myself and Realistic Health and Beauty to be a guidance and resource for mental, physical and spiritual healing and growth. I co-led a Survivor’s Group at the Alexandra House, a created and led an Al-Anon group, I am a certified Stephen Minister Leader, Spiritual Health Coach, Intuitive Energy Healer and Meditation Practitioner/Teacher. I also have certifications in Guided Imagery, Herbal Medicine, Aromatherapy and Mindfulness.

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Building and evolving this business has led me through a personal healing journey and has thus enabled me to offer you authenticity in its finest, truest form and I am honored to be chosen for this purpose.