Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Hiebert
Hi Steven, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Mine is a lifelong story. I was born into a family of healers. My great grandfather was a bone-setter; a countryside healer whom people sought out for help with their aches, pains, and injuries. My father finished chiropractic school the year I was born. Subsequently, I grew up with chiropractic and natural medicine. I distinctly remember the one and only time my parents took me to a conventional medical doctor. I had put my hand through the glass of our front door while chasing my little sister and cut my wrist. I was bleeding badly and needed some stitches. That was the only time I had a childhood visit with a medical doctor.
My father started taking classes in the mid-seventies with the chiropractor who developed applied kinesiology. His name was George Goodheart. Applied kinesiology, AK, integrates the art of manual muscle testing into a method of determining when, where, and how to treat the human body. I was fascinated and intrigued by the things my father was able to do after learning about AK. Prior to that I was ho-hum about the idea of being a chiropractor. But the AK really got my attention and inspired me to accept what I have come to believe transcends being a profession. It is a calling. I answered the call, went to chiropractic school, and graduated in 1990. I have been in private practice ever since. And I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Because of my background, I had a rough image and idea of how I wanted to practice when I started school. Applied kinesiology was at the center of my image. But AK was not part of the curriculum at Northwestern College of Chiropractic. So, I enrolled in a 100 hour applied kinesiology course when I was midway through school. In conjunction with that training, I started seeing a chiropractor named Terry Franks who had worked with George Goodheart for eight years. He had taken what he learned from his time with Dr. Goodheart and developed it further. I learned while experiencing his healing practice. Once I graduated, I took a position with Dr. Franks and worked under his mentorship for two years. Then it was time to branch out on my own.
The real significance of learning AK and other methods that utilize the art of manual muscle testing is what it showed me or opened my eyes to. I didn’t know it at the time, but AK was not the destination. It was part of the ongoing journey of my life. And that journey has lead me back to my Self. The Self that I spent a good part of my life completely unaware of.
One of the early steps in my transformation was realizing that I knew what the muscle test response was going to be before I did it. At first, I pooh-poohed it and pretended I didn’t know what the response would be. I continued to use the muscle testing as I always had. But, over time, I gradually became more and more comfortable with my sense of knowing; intimately abandoning muscle testing altogether. That was a monumental step. One step often leads to another. and this was no different.
Over the years, as I honed my skill and awareness, my sense of knowing grew stronger. The next big step was one of a deep and profound realization. The realization that the knowing and awareness I had developed hadn’t actually been developed. It was right there inside of me all along. It is part of who or what I am. The development was, more accurately, the process of getting out of my own way and accepting my gifts. And accepting that those gifts are a part of who or what I am. And that changed my understanding of my Self.
One of my favorite quotes of all time has been attributed to C.S. Lewis although there is some uncertainty as to whether it originated with him.
“You don’t have a soul….. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily.”
It is very simple. And It is profound and immensely powerful. I managed to find my way to this understanding before coming across the quote. Once I heard the quote, I already knew the truth of it. I am the soul. I am not the body. I am not my thoughts either. They are a part of my body. And, if I am the soul, I am the life-force that gives life to my body. My true Self is the soul. The same is true for you. You are the soul and you are powerful. It doesn’t matter what is happening, you have the power to heal.
This awakening inspired me to write a book. I felt compelled to write in the hopes it would help others awaken to their true Self. To be inspired and embrace the healing power they have been born with. It is alive in all of us. And with a little nurturing can come forward and help us heal. My book titled, “Be Your Self and Be Well: Connecting wWith Your Soul’s Power to heal”, was published with the help of Wise Ink Creative Publishing in 2017. I am honored to share that it was a gold medal winner in the category of inspiration by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association in 2018.
Today, my work is guided by my awareness and sense of inner knowing which is part of who I am, the true Self. My goal is to help you heal. I do a lot of spiritually guided bodywork. I also do a lot of listening. I serve as a counselor and advisor for those who seek it. My sessions last between one and two hours. It takes time for the story to come forward and be told. But it is always time well spent.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not always been a smooth road. But it has always been the right road. My road, your road, they are ours to accept and own. If we can embrace the journey and be in a state of acceptance, the struggles, bumps, and challenges become less impactful. This is possibly one of the most profound lessons in being a human on earth. Things happen. We can resist and create suffering and the ill-health that goes with it or we can accept and live in a state of grace that facilitates wellbeing. It is a moment to moment, day to day, process of constantly remembering and reminding ourselves that we are not our situations or circumstances. Our situations and circumstances are not happening to us, they are happening around or outside of us. It is not what is happening. It is how we respond to what is happening. It is why I say, “be your Self and be well”.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Years ago, one of my mentors would sometimes say in response to a question, “I don’t know. I just work here.”I thought it was quirky and oddly funny. Sometimes it was frustrating. I thought he was just being evasive or didn’t really want to share what he knew. But somewhere along my journey, it dawned on me that I finally understood what he was alluding to. He was sharing. He was sharing something profound. I just wasn’t in a place to appreciate it. It took me years to finally appreciate what he was saying.
I now feel the same way. I completely understand what he was trying to tell me. When he said, “I just work here”, he meant it quite literally. He was just doing what he was told to do. Maybe more accurately, he was just doing what he was guided to do by his own inner knowing. He wasn’t thinking about what to do, He just knew what to do. And those are two very different things or two very different state of being.
What I have come to appreciate it that my best work does not come from head, my knowledge, it comes from my awareness or inner knowing. Over time I have gradually moved further away from trying to figure things out with my very limited thinking mind. Instead, I have come to rely upon and trust my inner guidance which is part of my true Self and comes from the unlimited wisdom the divine blessed me with.
This way of working has dramatically altered the way I approach my chiropractic bodywork. The process centers around my ability to truly Be with another person and get a sense of where the disturbances are within their body. This allows me to work with the body and not against it. I am not trying to make something change. I am giving the body what it needs to be able to make the changes it wants to make.
Earlier I mentioned listening. Listening is absolutely critical. I listen with my ears like everyone does. This listening is important and immensely helpful. When people share their story, whatever that story happens to be, It dramatically changes the bodywork we do. This is because the body responds to the story and models itself after the essence of the story. If the story revolves around fear, the body models itself and alters its structure and physiology to be in a state of fear. When you tell your story, the fear starts to be expressed and released. Now the body can also express and release the distortions it created when modeling itself around fear. The same is true for all emotions, situations, and stories. There is a second way I listen because people tell me things that are unspoken. Body language is part of this. But it goes deeper. I listen with my true Self which is awareness. This is how I hear some of the most important things.
Some of my clients come seeking a counselor or advisor. So I listen. I Listen a lot. It is patient, open, unexpectant listening that is required. It takes time to get down to what matters most. But getting down to what matters most is what we need to do. The superficial won’t change anything. It is the deeply held, the stuff we rarely share, that facilitates the changes we seek. What Listen for is the problem, the glitch, the restriction, whatever it is that stops them from being themselves. I might ask a question that I feel truly curious about or a question that elicits the answer they have been seeking. Because everyone who has a question also has the answer to that question. It’s just that we often hide the answer from ourselves. But if I ask the right question at the right time, the answer will appear. And when you realize that you knew the answer to your problem, you feel a sense of power and control that allows you to overcome whatever it is that held you back.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
www.drstevenhiebert.com [email protected]. 651.777.9156
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drstevenhiebert.com
