About Annik

Annik Moyal-Waldman, M.Ed., Hons. B.A Psychology/Philosophy
Feminine Leadership Coach, Spiritual Counsellor, & Writer

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Areas of Specialization:
 

▪ Catalyzing Women's Awakening & Cultural Evolution

▪ Healing of Co-Dependency/Grief & Loss

▪ Self-Love, Self-Care, Self-Worth via Holistic Energy, Medicine, & the Expressive Arts

“The most important way to dissent against the world-wide conditions to which we have been subjected for hundreds, if not thousands of years, is to be a beacon of Love and Light, a catalyst for hope, inspiration, and upliftment of humanity.”                                                                                                                                    ~ Annik Moyal-Waldman
 

Life Mission: To use the healing and expressive arts in service to empowering women to drop their self-abandonment story, claim their fullest joy, freedom, and power ~ while rising as a force for good in the world. 

Destiny: As a creative disruptor, progressive activist, and cultural co-creative, I catalyze awakening and conscious evolution by rattling complacency, thus helping to create a more joyful, loving, prosperous, and sustainable world.

Cause: Through creativity, connection, collaboration, conscious leadership, and cultural transformation, I catalyze women's empowerment and awaken cultural evolution. I inspire women all around the world to honour the sacredness in themselves, supporting them in the process of reclaiming their fiery aliveness and the centre for personal power that is their natural birthright. 

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People often tell me that I am ‘unique’. Naturally, this begs the question: If we are all unique, what makes Annik ‘unique’?

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Would it be my calling as a holistic/spiritual counsellor, creative agent of transformation, and/or inspired facilitator?

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Might the answer lie in my dedication to catalyzing women’s awakening & cultural evolution?

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Could my uniqueness be attributed to my generous-hearted emanation of love and light for humankind through my presence, progressive activism, and drive to make the world a more sane, humane, and healthy place? My vibrant and vivacious embodiment of artistic expression and flair? The deep-seated passion I harbour for public speaking, writing, and communications, as a creative expressive? Or again, the fluid artistic ways in which I weave the expressive arts into my life’s mission?

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Maybe it’s my distinctive ‘joie de vivre’ and the courage I bring to living life in technicolour? Is it my infectious energy? The way I inspire people by giving them full permission to be who they authentically are? Or again, might my uniqueness lie in the joy and meaning I give and receive from connecting with others, soul to soul?  

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There is no doubt that my uniqueness lies in the charming (and less than charming!) idiosyncrasies that equally define me. Most likely, the truth lies in ALL of these elements which, in various degrees and measures, make me uniquely who I am.

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Even though I neither appear outwardly as a ‘visible minority’, nor speak with any trace of a foreign accent, my mother tongue is French and I am conversant in Spanish. The eldest of three, I was born in Toronto, to North African parents of Jewish extraction. My great-grandfather was a very prominent spiritual leader and physicist in Morocco. By all family accounts, people travelled far and wide to consult with him. My grandfather, on the same paternal lineage of my family heritage, was also a spiritual leader and teacher, though far less prominent than my great-grandfather.

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All of this to say that spirituality, healing, teaching, and writing course deeply through my veins.
 

As a child, my vivid imagination conjured poetry and stories of all kinds, for which I would shamelessly recruit my siblings and twenty-two cousins into dramatic re-enactments. In later adulthood, I unleashed my indomitable creative spirit by flinging myself into singing opera, performing sultry jazz numbers, and practicing Ecstatic Dance. I am deeply grateful to have re-discovered the immeasurable potential for the arts to elevate and inspire us ~ we, who are embodiments of spirit in physical form. The arts have traditionally infused patrons with joy, light, passion, bliss. As such, they are imbued with the capacity to renew, rejuvenate, and nurture us.

But while it’s one thing to relish in the beauty of a ballet or hear the majesty of a stunning symphony, it’s quite another to have the distinct pleasure of participating in the arts, oneself ~ not only as a spectator, but as a performer. I have found that when we do so in the consciousness of nourishing our inner artist, or to heal our childhood wounds, the outcome becomes that much more potent and transformative!
 

​In 1988, I completed my Honours B.A. in Psychology & Philosophy from York University, ON. With 12+ years of professional experience practising humanistic and transpersonal psychology as a holistic/spiritual counsellor & coach, I’ve been honoured to walk alongside the journey of a diverse range of people, including: (i) job seekers and career changers intent on designing a life with meaning and purpose; (ii) women who have been aware of the need for greater self-care, boundary-setting, and balance in their lives; (iii) women who wish to discover their life’s purpose, reclaim their gifts and passions, while seeking renewal, rejuvenation, and re-invention; (iv) women needing to be empowered in re-gaining their health and vitality; (v) those dealing with anxiety and depression; (vi) individuals dealing with ancestral trauma (i.e., co-dependency, abuse, substance abuse); (vii) clients seeking support around grief and loss, including clients who sustained traumatic brain injury and soft tissue injuries; (viii) children, parents, and their families seeking new ways to alleviate and proactively manage family stress, and create more joyful, peaceful and harmonious ways of living together in family life; (ix) organizations interested in retaining me for the facilitation of leadership, change management workshops or related content; and (x) community development organizations interested in retaining me for motivational speaking/keynote addresses.

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The clients with whom I have been privileged to work include individuals, families, groups, and organizations. The environments in which I have served have been equally diverse, including, schools, community organizations, client homes, the private, public, and non-profit sectors. This includes everything from Fortune 500s, and multi-national organizations, to artistic and cultural non-profits, school boards, school districts, and everything in between.

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As I weave wellness, women’s empowerment, creativity, writing & communications, and spirituality into the fabric of my work, my work celebrates a passion for catalyzing leadership. I am repeatedly told that I am an engaging, dynamic, and inspiring helping practitioner. My success in working with clients is attributable to my: (i) passion for helping them heal their ancestral wounds; (ii) gift for encouraging, empowering, inspiring, and cheering them on; (iii) ability to forge strong working relationships with clients, and (iv) knack for holding them in a place of accountability in all quadrants of the Medicine Wheel.
 

The cornerstone of my life is, without a doubt, my beloved family and friends. One week before birthing our beautiful son, Nathaniel, in Indianapolis, IN in 1997, I became the first graduate student in Brock University history to virtually deliver my Oral Defense for my Master of Education thesis from our home office. I was successfully awarded my Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Adult Education & Foundations of Learning in June of 1997.

In 2003, the love of my life, best friend, and co-creative partner, Grant Waldman, with whom I have been married for over 30 years, and our beloved son, Nathaniel, fulfilled our dream to move from Ontario to BC, Canada. Inspired by the majesty and beauty of Western Canadian mountains and oceanfront, and intent on attracting the very best Waldorf Schools for our then young son, our family has lived on the beautiful Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island of BC for most of our years in Western Canada. Nathaniel, now in his 20s, is a graduate of The University of Victoria. He works in project management and communications on Vancouver Island, as he pursues advanced studies.

Over the years, I have delighted in wowing audiences in various expressive & performing arts. In 2003, without any formal vocal training and under the auspices of Nicci Webber, I experimented with singing sultry jazz numbers as a mezzo-soprano in The Rolling Tones.

In 2007, I boldly tempted fate by flinging myself into a mezzo soprano role in the Chorus of Johann Strauss’, The Champagne Ball (Die Fledermaus) under the musical direction of Peter Yelman and theatrical direction of Roger Lappin at the Cowichan Musical Society.

In May 2008, after being initiated with Women in Power in Washougal, WA, I received the name Wild for Life Dancing Butterfly in one of my meditations. In Shamanic circles and energy medicine, Butterfly symbolizes rebirth, personal growth, metamorphosis, and transformation. As the butterfly progresses through different stages, it emerges out into the world better, stronger, and even more beautiful! Butterfly energy is as much who I am as it defines the thematics of what I do. As women, we understand relationship, connection, creativity, birthing, nurturing, and re-invention. I believe that our unique talents and energies as wise, powerful, and intuitive beacons are being summoned at this time in our world's history. We, as women, are uniquely poised to birth and deliver a new cultural transformation, along with men who are balanced in their masculine and feminine energies. The need has never been more urgent for our Sacred Feminine gifts to be utilized in service to the healing and restoration of our world.

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Following this initiation, I felt called to deepen my learning through involvement with several individuals and organizations, including: Marianne Williamson, Dr. Sue Morter, Thomas Hubl, Women on the Edge of Evolution, Evolving Wisdom, The Shift Network, Woman of Worth. I have also pursued rich personal and professional development through my affiliation with Woman Within and Inner Yaga.

In 2012, I performed a couple of monologues (The Flood & The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could) in Eve Ensler’s racy and award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, with a talented cast of other intuitive V-Warriors, under the guidance of artistic director, Kirsten Schraeder, at the Cowichan Theatre.
 

Without any professional training as an actress, in 2014, I was invited to serve as "Marguerite", a principal in the short film, Where There’s a Will, directed by Louie Lawless. Later that same year, I was invited to portray “Lolita”, in The Monkey's Story, a short film directed and screen written by Lorne Kraft. Costumed in a sexy little red dress, I played a stock character who seduces the male lead in an extramarital affair.
 

As a serious foodie and health food aficionado, I possess a lifetime of experience as a vegan, vegetarian, raw foodie, carnivore, and flexitarian. In 2005, I, like thousands in N. America, began experiencing food sensitivities. Over the course of years, while grappling with how to resolve these issues, I gained a wealth of knowledge and personal experience relating to the mind/body connection. Intent on re-setting my digestive system, healing my own ancestral trauma, and deepening my knowledge of holistic medicine and wellness ~ I embarked upon a five-month long adventure that I now fondly refer to as my ‘spiritual sabbatical’. In the heart of our empty-nesting journey in 2015, I felt called to study with a teacher I’d been following for numerous years. Under the tutelage of internationally-acclaimed medical director, psychiatrist, holistic practitioner, rabbi, shaman and best-selling author, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, and other teachers at The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, (then in Patagonia, AZ), I completed an intensive program on the benefits of a live, raw, veganic, low-glycemic diet. I also relished in the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of the culinary arts with Didier Cuzange, one of the talented and charismatic teachers on staff at The Tree, and a former Parisian Chef.
 

​Following this one-month training and immersion experience, I had several mystical experiences which would profoundly transform my life and confirm my life’s path as a helping professional, healer, and writer. I inherently knew that I was gifted with this experience so that I could share my journey with you.  

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At the end of 2016, Grant & I moved to the Okanagan where Grant would initiate his tenure at Round Lake Treatment Centre. Following our acclimatization to our new home and community, I began visioning new ways to re-invent and re-birth myself and my practice. Inasmuch as it was excruciatingly difficult for us to uproot ourselves from our beautiful son, we were grateful that our circumstances gifted our son with a golden individuation opportunity. They also afforded me an opportunity to fully focus on my own personal and professional development. Under these unique set of circumstances, Grant & I co-created our Healing Works Counselling!
 

My long-standing passion for the performing and expressive arts has been a huge source of inspiration for me. Not surprisingly, it forms an integral part of the tapestry of my work. As a holistic/spiritual counsellor, I bring in whatever artistic experience I am guided to bring, in service to healing. In true multi-potentialite spirit, I marry my passion for transpersonal psychology and spiritual counselling, on the one hand, with my passion for writing, and the healing arts, on the other. The beauty of the healing arts, intuitive dance, or other body-centred work I offer, is that we don’t need to be conscious of what it is that is being released through our practice for us to experience cathartic healing. Yet, the effects of joy, inner peace, and bliss are palpable! My clients often report feeling ‘grateful for the joy, well-being, freedom, and power’ they feel, as I guide them into reclaiming their voice and connection with Self. 

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The unifying quality and essence of what I do is always this: It’s to empower, inspire, encourage, and elevate. I use intuitive, finely honed active listening, focusing questions, creative visualization, visioning skills, and a myriad of other Eastern & Western techniques to draw out a client’s inner wisdom. I work from a deeply respectful, compassionate, and collaborative place, offering counselling and coaching that focuses on a strength-based, resiliency-building approach to healing. In the process, I leave clients ‘energized and infused with clarity and insights.’

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The cornerstone of my creativity finds its culmination, without a doubt, in my writing gifts, where I am in my deepest place of joy. For over thirty years, I have indulged my primordial love affair with the written word in various ways. I’ve offered writing and communications services to reams of clients over the years. ​I’ve designed, developed, and delivered a broad range of curriculum to both public and professional audiences. The aim of this programming has been to inspire and educate people in conscious leadership, women’s empowerment, self-care, self-worth, wellness, spirituality, mindfulness meditation, and intuitive dance. I have delivered business writing and communications workshops, and taught clients how to write with greater polish, punch, panache, and pizazz, both on an individual basis and in class. My deliverables in soft skills-based content include life skills, assertiveness, compassionate communication, inclusive leadership, team-building, goal planning, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution training.
 

As co-director of an international marketing firm, I’ve developed website content, marketing materials, and also worked as an editor. I successfully obtained grants for several non-profits. Without exception, all clients attest to my 'expressive talents, and powerful, evocative writing style'. Three of my clients were awarded a total of approximately $250K for three grant writing projects I delivered. Of these, all three proposals were successfully approved.
 

My most notable community development project was the creation, marketing, and delivery of a successful alternative educational program called Partners in Learning for the Cowichan School District. Under my leadership, this program left discouraged and disgruntled students in grades K-5 and their families, expressing 'high degrees of satisfaction, flexibility, and greater joy in education’.
 

​Having served as an inspirational keynote speaker, I’ve additionally delivered various public speaking engagements, formally and informally, for both public and professional audiences. Who knew that, while training at Toastmasters, that I would come to win awards in a category known as “Table Topics”? This is where participants are assigned an impromptu topic and expected to present in the spur of the moment on a diverse range of topics. Through my community development work and educational events I hosted, I increased the visibility of the non-profit and community-based organizations I have been privileged to serve.

Over the years, I’ve indulged my passion for the written word through literary non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and screenwriting. My writing work has been featured in various health & lifestyle magazines. I am currently excited to write my first book, an enchanting coming-of-age tale about a woman who finally reveals a dark, gritty secret to heal her Divine Feminine and reclaim the artist within!

I feel blessed to live with my beautiful spouse in the beauty of Western Canada’s breathtaking mountains and waterfront vistas. In my leisure time, I enjoy yoga, dance, reading, writing, the performing and culinary arts, entertaining, hiking, kayaking, cycling, tennis, skiing, and adventure & travel of all kinds!

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