Michelle Ayn Tessensohn

I acknowledge the land I live on, Ujong Tanah, Pulau Ujong, Singapura, now known as Singapore, the traditional home of the Orang Laut and the Malays.

I honour my Singaporean Eurasian ancestors and their origins and lands in the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, France, Finland, Sweden, and the Iberian Peninsula.

✳ How it all started.

I stepped onto the path of self-healing in 1994 because of a strong desire to get support for myself at a time in my life when I felt very lost. Through a 12-step programme, I was introduced to spirituality apart from religion, though at the time I didn’t believe in God or spirit. Instead, I trusted the programme and others who followed it with me. With additional therapeutic help, I began to understand how I had been impacted by repeated trauma. Being AuDHD contributed to how trauma affected me and the sensory overload that would lead to me feeling overwhelmed and struggling with executive function, then shutting down. I became friends with healers I met while doing voluntary work at an HIV drop-in centre, and received Reiki, Aromatherapy, and Zen Shiatsu treatments from them when they were not seeing clients. They inspired me to train as a healer so I could learn about healing and balance for myself, and do meaningful work helping others.

✳ The training.

My formal training began in 1996 with a year-long Hatha yoga teacher training, where I learnt about the practice and philosophy of yoga and meditation, as well as caring for the body through organic wholefoods and purification practices like fasting. This was followed by five years of training in Zen Shiatsu, a diploma from the Devon School of Shiatsu, and a diploma in psycho-spiritual counselling from the Sacred Space Institute of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

I spent four years travelling to South America to answer a calling to deepen into spiritual worlds through indigenous shamanic rituals. The earth-based spiritual traditions, so humbly shared by shaman, taught me the wisdom of walking in this world with groundedness, appreciation, and respect for nature, people, and life. Going to South America was a dream I realised by challenging my mindset of what was possible for me at the time through the teachings of Dr. Martha Beck, so I trained and certified as a coach to help my clients do the same.

In 2012, after ten years of offering and teaching Zen Shiatsu, the energy and strength left my hands during Zen Shiatsu sessions, and I was guided by spirit to focus on coaching, which I had been offering for two years, and I became a self-healing guide and spiritual mentor.

Then I began guiding free meditation circles, taught classes and was certified as a meditation teacher through UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Wanting more insight and tools for the stuckness and challenging cycles I was experiencing, and to help clients struggling with personal and generational trauma, led me to train in Family Constellations and certify as a practitioner in Ancestral Lineage Healing and NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM).

The Way of Self-Healing is my offering in service to those on the path of self-healing and spiritual growth, and recognition that healing and spirituality are a continual path of tending, responsibility, and growth, not a static and final destination. The name was inspired by my journey with the Taoist Cosmology of the Five Elements or Five Transformations, initiated by Zen Shiatsu, which became for me a framework of wholeness, balance, and self-realisation. Tao can be translated as “Path” or “Way.”

✳ Where I am now.

Alongside working one-to-one with clients, I give talks and classes in person and online. Since 2020, I’ve been supporting the personal and cultural transformation courses run by Ancestral Medicine, and now mentor trainee practitioners in the Ancestral Healing Practitioner Training. I’ve been featured at the Heart, Mind, and Body Festival and interviewed by Connected Women, WKRZ 91.3, 93.8 Live, Razor TV, and on Primetime Morning on Channel News Asia.

My approach is diverse, trauma-sensitive, and inclusive.

✳ Something more personal.

To learn more about my ancestral healing journey, you can read my chapter in the book Ancestral Wisdom: Sacred Stories of Contact, Healing, and Care, an anthology written by practitioners of Ancestral Lineage Healing. This book is distributed online at no cost to the reader through the support of Pressbooks and the Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center. You can also watch my YouTube interview on the podcast Sitting by the Fire: A podcast on ancestral wisdom, medicine, heritage and transformation by Anna Sólyom.

I wanted to be a dancer and trained in Jazz Ballet, Kathak, Contemporary Dance, African, and Latin Dance. I practise qigong, enjoy being outdoors, swimming in the sea, and watching Korean dramas. I’m currently working on an anthology with other writers, and a memoir about my self-healing and spiritual journey.

Find out more about working with Michelle

offerings

Featured

“I was feeling very stuck on an issue in my personal life that I’ve grappled for years to deal with. Michelle has a very calm presence, which put me at ease immediately. Her firm (but gentle) energy that told me she wasn’t going to let me just coast through the session without really digging deep and examining the underlying issues at hand. She means business and is committed to helping you work through whatever challenges you are facing while providing a safe and supportive environment in which to do it. It was an incredibly fruitful session that transformed the way I felt about the issue and equipped me with practical tools to deal with it. The benefits have continued well beyond our session. Thank you so much!”

XL, Singapore

“After working with you I have more trust in myself. You planted the seeds for bravery and a thirst for integrity. I learned about collaboration, accountability, how to trust in my abilities and the courage to try things out. You didn’t push any agenda on me and allowed whatever needed to come out to have its time to flow. And you didn’t make me dependent, you urged me to fly from the nest quickly! You are gentle, calm yet cognisant of the need for establishing boundaries, truly professional and also a wonderful speaker and group facilitator.”

Marixi Salud, Endorsed Mind Body Coach

“Thank you Michelle! You are a gift! I’m extremely grateful to have found you. Thank you for your love, compassion, empathy and for all that you’ve taught me and the great energy you always channel. I’m going to continue to do the work and hope to see you soon!”

Calina, Singapore

“What I like about you is your compassion and ability to relate. Your gentle guidance and honesty. You have helped me recognise my true virtue and the power within myself to live my mission. You guided me to tap into my own wisdom and helped me create a reservoir within to draw my own resources and work through my own challenges. Something within me has changed and evolved for the better, and you have a significant part to play in that metamorphosis.”

Sherlin Giri, Lecturer and Trainer

“I believe the advice and methods that Michelle showed to me was essential in helping me move closer to my dreams and I consistently refer to those skills I picked up from our sessions to help me live my life to my fullest potential.”

Camille Lim, Producer, Nissan Global Media Center

“I felt like I’d tried everything and although it had all helped a little bit, nothing had been the silver bullet I was hoping for – but working with you approached the same problems from a completely different angle.

Now I have a different perspective, clearer boundaries and more insight into what’s really going on with me. I feel much more hopeful and in control of how I feel. I’ve learnt to use some tools that I’ll be able to refer back to and use again whenever I need them in the future.”

Sophy Dale, Edinburgh

“Michelle is one truly amazing individual. She makes you feel right at home, safe and comfortable enough to open up and deal with your emotions and issues. Her positive energy and radiant smile shines throughout and makes you feel hopeful and optimistic for the future. Michelle has given me immense strength to start opening my heart to others and start trusting myself.”

Kephren Ayanari, Events Management Professional