Vivien Schapera shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Vivien, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Thank you for this question! I can’t say that “nobody” sees what I am most proud of building but I can say it is the very least thing seen about me. I have had many accomplishments in my life, and I’m very grateful for each and every one of them, but the one that I appreciate the most and feel the most proud of is my flower garden. In 2012 we built a deck at the back of our house, and from the following year, we began a slow, organic process of developing the flower beds. I think what I love most about building the garden is that it was an interactive process between us and the plant kingdom, with the trees and plants guiding us every step of the way.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Vivien Schapera and I was born in South Africa. I came to live in the USA when I was in my thirties and since then I have built a private practice and 3 schools, teaching the Alexander Technique, Energy Healing and a new modality of Crystal Healing that I “downloaded,” called Crystal Surgery, I also have a business selling crystals, and additionally I have written 5 non-fiction books. I was heavily influenced by my father, who was a prolific inventor, and had a lifelong mission to be self-employed. Consequently, I find myself continuously pursuing “new” and “different” choices, pioneering and creating rather than treading a known path.
My most recent project has been to rewrite my very first book, originally written in 1996, How to Establish and Maintain a Strong Client Base, a handbook for people who want to earn a living doing what they love. I finished a revision of this book in 2004, only to realize that it was missing an important chapter, rendering it useless. What was the missing chapter? Information about the internet, social media and the advent of digital marketing! Considering that I knew nothing about these brand new topics, I couldn’t even begin to write the necessary content and so I banished the manuscript to the back burner. It stayed there until 2023 when a young man in Australia wrote to me and asked me to please finish this sought-after text. By that time, I had run the full gamut of building websites, engaging with social media, generating podcasts and creating a YouTube channel, so I felt equipped to tackle the beast. Needless to say, the missing chapter wasn’t a chapter … but an entire new section in the book. To our great delight, we are launching this third edition in August 2025.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I feel guided to share this story here in response to this question, but first want to say that although I may be seen as New Age and “woo woo” in terms of my chosen career path, I don’t fit that description at all as a person. I am academically trained (in Clinical Psychology) and I have my “feet firmly on the ground.” I am however open-minded, allowing for new experiences and new understanding. Bottom line — give me evidence and I will be interested to learn more. I guess the spirit dimension knew this about me and that is why I had a series of experiences that would convince me that there is more to this world than we can process via our 5 recognized senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.
Back at the turn of the century (how fun it is to be able to say that), I had a plastic surgeon as a client. During her session a strange feeling came over me, the table began to vibrate and even I began to vibrate. It was quite disconcerting, but not as disconcerting as hearing what next came out of my mouth. I heard myself asking Chris whether she had any scar revisions coming up in surgery, and she said “No.” This was followed by me telling her that she would be operating on a child who had been bitten on the face by a dog. There were many details, but the “worst” one was when I said in a firm voice: “This is not ‘at some point in your career’ but in the next 3 weeks.'” OMG! Why did I have to say something so incontrovertible?
The next day, Chris called me and said: “Vivien, you aren’t going to believe this. I have just been called to the OR to work on a 5-year old child who was bitten on the face by a dog. Everything is exactly … totally exactly … as you said. I am following all the details you gave me now.”
“Gob-smacked” doesn’t describe it. It took me days to come out of shock. I could not argue, I could not rationalize. The accuracy of the information was stunning — and therefore, I had to also reflect upon the source, namely, the spirit dimension. There was other evidence before, and even more evidence afterwards, but that was the turning point for me. After all, one has to honor one’s own true experience of this world. I tell many of these stories in my book Everyday Magic, 2002 (hard cover) and 2020 (eBook).
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
It took a while, like a few years, but I changed my career track. When I was 11, I decided that I wanted to become a Clinical Psychologist. I followed the steps and finally the day came when I was applying to enter the Clinical Masters program. Although I had all the necessary attributes, including the grades, I failed to get into the course. The reason? I had blown the whistle on the severely inappropriate behavior of one of the professors who headed the program. Yes, it was a dumb political move and what did I expect? I was still innocent enough to believe in doing the right thing and as it turned out, that was indeed best for me. Firstly, I traveled abroad for a year on my own, and then, upon returning to South Africa, I began training as a Teacher of the Alexander Technique, a method of psychophysical coordination that positively affects posture, performance and pain. It was by becoming an Alexander Teacher that the whole world of Energy Healing, and crystals, opened up for me. As they say, “it was meant to be.”
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
I think that smart people (and rich people) think they are somehow more “valid” than other people — like their opinions are worth more, for example. But honestly, this just isn’t the case. Opinions are always “just opinions” whether they are from smart people or dumb people. Opinions come from personal psychology, not from intelligence. Now, when it comes to comprehensive facts, knowledge, resources, insights, and perceptions, together with rigorous extrapolations based on these factors, then yes, some smart people offer extraordinary depth, as do all talented people in their specific fields of expertise.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I think that I have a very deep understanding of how Body, Mind and Spirit fit together both during our physical existence here on Earth, as well as etherically, before and after life. This comes from all the different subjects that I have studied, together with my innate nature and my extensive experience as a practitioner in all three of these layers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://CrystalHealingTechniques.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@crystalsurgeryandcrystalhe1735
