We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marina Lando. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marina below.
Marina, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
I grew up in the Soviet Union, in the cruel society that favored bullies. My parents loved me. They loved each other. They showed respect to other people. It was not easy or profitable. But they taught me an important lesson: you don’t have to abandon who you are or your moral principles to survive under any circumstances. You must be yourself. Life will never be easy. Don’t wait for life to be better. Make it better. Never sell your soul, be kind, and all will be well. It was the best lesson I ever learned.
Marina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I grew up with just one parent. My father took me everywhere. We had wonderful adventures together. My mother was often absent, not because she was a bad mother, but because she suffered from weekly migraines. It upset me greatly. The suffering, the ambulances, the doctor’s visits… No one could help.
At the age of 9, I discovered the Children’s Encyclopedia of Chemistry and read it cover to cover—all 500 pages. I wanted to invent a drug for her migraines. I always wanted to heal people. Unfortunately, in the Soviet Union, I had no option to become a doctor. My parents did not have the right connections or enough money to bribe someone to get me into medical school. So, I studied software design and economics. We immigrated to the USA in 1993, and I continued working as a software designer.
In 2003, I lost my job and, after some soul-searching, I decided to abandon the safety of the corporate world for good, pursue my childhood dream, and become a practitioner of complementary medicine.
I offer medical reiki, ayurvedic pulse analysis, marma therapy, aromatherapy, meditations, spiritual advice, ayurvedic education.
I help my clients nurture a hopeful, resilient, and creative mind because everyone deserves to feel calm and confident. I help my clients to release unprocessed emotions, reduce stress, and anxiety. Ayurveda teaches us that emotions play a big part in disease progression. My skills also help my clients feel better physically. My extensive training in India and the USA enables me to discover and address the underlying causes of emotional or physical imbalance.
I opened my practice in 2007 and developed my own very effective method of Reiki based on Ayurvedic principles and Buddhist teachings. I wanted to help more people. In 2022, I published a self-help book, “How to Train an Optimistic Mind.” In this book, I tried to explain how emotions work, what damage they can do when not processed properly, and how to train the mind to transmute the energy of emotions into a positive force.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Even though there are no requirements for Reiki Masters to get professional continuing education, I feel learning is an important element of success. I love to learn. Humans are so wonderfully complicated, and Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine provide us with a bottomless treasure chest of knowledge accumulated over the past few thousand years. I take any class that is relevant to my line of work at the first opportunity. I constantly read books on meditation, Ayurvedic psychology, Ayurvedic therapies, aromatherapy, and more.
However, no one can be effective or successful in the field of complementary medicine without genuine kindness. In fact, to provide excellent service and be successful in any field, people must develop kindness and be humane to each other.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Absolutely. No questions. I love what I do. The best part of my day is when a client opens their eyes after the session and smiles. This is a very special smile. It is the smile we give ourselves when we are happy. This is the best reward I can receive in life. To see people walk into the office looking like someone has turned off all the lights and then observe them regaining their light, happiness, and strength. To see how they gradually, slowly, sometimes painfully, regain their birthright to be happy, resilient, and strong is an honor and a privilege. I am happy to help them make this change. I can do it forever.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.harmonylifereiki.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmonylifereiki/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marina.lando
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinalando/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@harmonylifereiki
- Other: Online classes: https://lando-medical-reiki-academy.thinkific.com/
Published books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marina-Lando/author/B0883FJRD4
Image Credits
All pictures are from my phone. The book covers where designed by Balboa Press (Dynamic Healing), and Insightful Publishing (How to Train Optimistic Mind)