Clear Mind Studio Owners
Karen & Craig
I thought it was about time we introduce ourselves, so we can get to know each other better! I'm Karen and this my business partner and husband, Craig.
If you've been to the studio you've probably met us!
I've worked as a allied health professional for 15 years.
For the last 6 years my interests have leaned more towards natural living, alternative therapies and mindfulness.
We are originally from Scotland, but we now call Perth home. .
I suffer from stress and anxiety.
Over the last few years, I have found mindfulness, meditation and float therapy have helped me control my anxiety and significantly reduce stress levels.
About Craig
For years, Craig worked in FIFO role in the oil and gas industry. This left him feeling, unfulfilled and away from home a lot.
As you can probably tellfrom the Clear Mind Studio Instagram, we love dogs!. Craig told me i need to stop posting pictures of Golden Retrievers because people will start thinking Clear Mind Studio is a spa for dogs!! I happen to think owning a retreat for dogs is a great idea (＃lifegoals) But we'll stick to the retreat for humans for now.
Amber, our Golden Retriever, features heavily in our Instagram stories. She visits the studio from time to time, so if you’re lucky you might get a cuddle from her - she's very friendly and loves a pat.
How Clear Mind Studio was created...
This story starts all the way back in 2002 when my husband, Craig, at the age of 16 was diagnosed with Lymphoma. He battled through two rounds of chemo, radiotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
Although he's had the all clear for 13 years now, his cancer is still haunting us in the form of fertility...or rather infertility.
When Craig and I decided to start a family, we knew we had to do IVF with his (pre-chemo) frozen sperm. I didn't see it as too much of an issue - I was fit, healthy, not too old (at the time), I hardly drank, ate lots of green vegetables, exercised... all the right things. “This will be a breeze”, I thought. I even had day dreams about making so many embryos that I could donate some.
In reality, the IVF did not go so well. The first round ended in implantation failure. The second round too. We've now tried seven times.
The stress and anxiety put such a strain on my life. The drugs turned me into a zombie, made me gain a ridiculous amount of weight and made me so tired I couldn't exercise.
One day I had a mental breakdown in front of my GP. She said to me "you only feel this way because you don't feel like yourself anymore. Everything you do is for the IVF, you need to do something for yourself".
I decided to go to a meditation class: where. I learned to breathe deep, and I explored mindfulness techniques to help me cope with the emotional pain. A friend suggested floatation therapy - which I tried and I loved. It made me feel calm and it made me feel like ME again.
My husband and I always wanted to start a business and we loved how calm we felt and how much better we could cope after meditating in a floatation pod. We also wanted to step away from our stressful careers and work in a calmer environment...and Clear Mind Studio was created.
I was never sure if I wanted to share this story publicly, but I've come to realise that it's important to have a voice and tell your story, so your journey can help others too.
If you are experiencing fertility issues, please get in touch. I'd love to chat with you and share stories. Other than meditation and floatation, the other thing that got me through the tough times was finding friends who were going through the same thing.
