An introduction from our new curator, Emma

Hi beauties! I'm Emma and in August 2023 I became the new custodian and curator of Spirit People.  Our founder and dear personal friend Gemma recently signed off on the socials and and to our mailing list members with an emotionally fitting declaration of love for this baby of hers. Gemma’s yogic values are weaved in to every inch of this business and it’s an honour to be here. Her dedication to ethical slow-fashion, sustainability, giving back and beauty will all continue to be the cornerstone of this marketplace! A continued promise that every thread and product available has been curated with the intention of elevating consciousness, inspiring a healthy lifestyle and supporting sustainable living. And my hope is that with each connection we make you will feel even more inspired, connected, beautiful, empowered and seen.

My life-long relationship with yoga, meditation and passion for handmade products led me to create the business Ava Jewels in 2017 where I offered my handmade jewellery creations and mala making workshops. After the birth of my final baby in 2020 I took leave from this business and made the difficult decision not to return to this very labour intensive passion. You can explore more of it's history by connecting with Ava Jewels on the socials at Facebook or Instagram. 

My credentials include teacher (B. Arts, Dip. Ed.) Reiki II Practitioner, creator of japa mala beads and above all loving mum, wife, sister, daughter, friend. A woman is many things...these labels often only scratch the surface, so here's a little more about me.

HOME

Born in Sydney Australia, at the age of 2 my parents bought a block of rainforest acreage in the Byron Bay hinterland and promptly "threw in the towel" on city life. My childhood was spent surrounded by nature and a spiritually potent community intent on finding the meaning to life while having a lot of fun doing it. It was a blessed upbringing, but one I could barely appreciate from my innocent point of view. From somewhere off-the-rails in my adolescents I became desperate for a city-change. With my life packed in to two garbage bags and my 18th birthday just weeks behind me, I jumped on the first train to Sydney and didn't look back. 

The next 15 years were spent on corporate ladders, in university and then travelling the world; in that order because I'm an aquarian and that's how we roll. I found myself living in Canada when my sister in Australia had a baby...and the distance between family and myself became achingly real. So hubby and I relocated back to the family stomping ground in Oz and settled amongst the gumtrees on some Gold Coast acreage. My sense of belonging only continues to deepen with every day. I am Home!

YOGA 

My earliest memories of yoga start around age 7, being carried along to my father's yoga classes at Kohinur Hall in the hills of Mullumbimby (Byron Bay Shire). I would quietly sit in the corner watching the candle lit class, listening to the gentle music, happy in the silence. Yoga was also offered as an elective sport at my high school, which of course I chose to do and from there I continued the relationship. I've been blessed to practice yoga in many countries including Australia, Indonesia, India, Canada and the U.S as it continues to be my required, constant companion. Yoga and meditation are a true blessing of self regulation, optimisation and healing; encouraging others to explore this path is the foundation of all that I do.

MALA BEAD MAKING

It was my 2nd pregnancy that led me to mala beads. Deciding to pamper my pregnant self with a yoga retreat in February of 2017, I was introduced to mala beads through a workshop by the gorgeous Hollie Bradley. The affection for them was instant. The appreciation for their significance as spiritual adornments and meditation tools was undeniable. I ADORED them! I decided to order some stock of rudraksha and gemstone beads so I could make more for friends and family. And then at 23 weeks pregnant, I lost my baby girl Ava. I came home from the hospital heart broken and empty handed...while we had been in hospital my mala stock had arrived. Opening that box was the first thing I did and weaving beads became my therapy. My healing. All the maternal energy that I could not give to my baby, I gave to my mala beads. They saved my heart. Along with an incredible amount of human support, meditation, spiritual enquiry, Australian Bush Flower essences, essential oils, tears, darkness and a bit of valium, malas made my journey of recovery one that I could manage. The love I pour in to every mala and the inspiration for each of my creations comes from a place so deep in my heart it can only be reached through meditation and expressed through creativity. And I thank you from that place in my heart, for sharing this beautiful journey with me - even if it is just to window shop.

In March 2018 on the one year anniversary of Ava's birth, I renamed my business Ava Jewels. It was in her absence that I began to create and her essence is weaved in to every piece - so it is all done in her name.

SPIRITUALITY

My mother is a Christian who has dedicated the last 10 years of her life to missionary work in West Africa. My father is a soul searching, old-school hippie, living in the hills of Byron Bay who has opened his mind and heart to an incredibly wide variety of beliefs and existential theories. And my mother-in-law is a veteran and trainer in The Course Of Miracles. Such a lovely array of spiritual backgrounds are in my immediate circle of experience.

Both my parents have shared their religious and spiritual journeys with me throughout my life. After a love/hate relationship with the church in my childhood, at 17 I chose an open water baptism, committing my life to Christ (much to my mother's delight). By the time I went to university at the age of 24 I had a number of questions about my chosen faith and fell away from my commitment to the church. My fondness for Jesus Christ and his message of love has never wavered however. I've spent time living with Buddhist artists developing guided meditations, I've experienced sweat lodges, spiritual circles and ceremonies of many kinds, had visions of guides and angels and countless meditations, readings and healings that have provided messages and guidance from a source that is beyond this physical realm. This is my experiential background in spirituality. I have been a student of yoga; and I have to say, as mind twisting as Vedanta is, it makes a lot of sense. I don't claim to know the answers. I don't believe there is a single one that is right. So I acknowledge all beliefs, provided they are grounded in peace, love and compassion, and the practice of that in the world is its ultimate message. Om Shanti.

I truly hope this mini-biography can shed light on who I am and I truly look forward to connecting more as your single contact point for Spirit People.

Many Blessings,

Emma