How Anna Gentry Found Her True Purpose in Life and Now Helping Young People Experience ‘Magical’ Transformation

There are many paths that lead a person to discovering First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®. Sometimes it is through trying the very first personalised blend made by a friend or a practitioner, sometimes it is a synchronistic find on Google search or a serendipitous encounter on social media. 
 
Today I am sharing a powerful story filled with miraculous moments from Anna Gentry, an awe-inspiring working mother of 4, our experienced practitioner and tutor based in the beautiful Tutukaka Coast, Northland, New Zealand. 

Anna was recently featured on TVNZ in acknowledgement of the incredible work she is doing to empower children and young adults by working with the power of Nature. Together with her partner Dean they have created and facilitate Therapeutic Nature Education and Equine Assisted Learning programmes.

Together they have created 150 Nature Playscapes across New Zealand to help young people connect with Nature. 
 
Anna says First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® played a very important role throughout the evolution of these projects and she uses the essences across all areas of her work and life as a mother, flower essence practitioner and educator.
 
In her story Anna shares how discovering First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® over 13 years ago enabled her to find her true path and purpose in life…. and since then helped many of her clients and students to experience, what Anna calls, ‘magical’ transformation. 
 
In her story below, you get to have a glimpse into Anna’s remarkable dedication to her life path. She reveals the personal challenges she overcame to be where she is now and she also shares her ‘go to’ essences…

In Anna's Own Words...

I trained as a teacher and worked in the secondary school system before co-creating Nature Play NZ in 2009 with my partner Dean. Nature Play NZ has guided education providers throughout NZ to understand and adopt nature education practices into their core curriculum. This lead us to designing over 150 Nature Playscapes (outdoor play spaces) throughout New Zealand in Education and public settings. 

Living in a Tin Shed - How I ‘met’ First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®

I discovered the First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® back in 2008. I had just had 3 children in 3 years all the while we were establishing a 100 acre permaculture farm and living in a simple tin shed with basic cold water and a light running off one battery! 
 
Life was magic, however it had been all go I found myself broken and needing to put myself back together. On all levels that was. 
 
Having a degree in sport science I was able to navigate physical needs such as nutrition, and my love of plants lead me to create the healing ‘potions’ from the herbs in the gardens and meadows. 
 
However, there needed to be more… something I had to discover that would assist me at the level of the soul, spirit and help me address issues at a much deeper underlying level. 

Franchelle ‘popped up’ in my life somehow magically because it was still the early years of the internet and we lived off grid in the forests. 
 
It really was almost a miracle that I heard that Franchelle Ofsoské-Wyber was teaching the First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® workshops in Devonport (3 hours away from where I live).
 
I attended my first workshop in February 2009, driving from the North to Devonport to attend the First Light® Flowers of Transformation workshop. 

I had no expectations but knew I had to be there

The rest is history. 
 
Every First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® workshop I attended for the next 3 years was like coming home to sit on a comfortable couch, a place of belonging with one’s tribe. 
 
The world made so much more sense when I was in a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® classroom. 
 
If there was a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® workshop, I made sure I was there for the next 3 years! 
 
I’m so grateful to my partner for holding the space with a young family at home, it was the spiritual nourishment in the First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® workshops that began to rekindle my flame, put me back together and lead my family to where we are now. 
 
Ultimately, First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® lead me to my true path of working as a 21st century medicine woman assisting and teaching others.

‘Awe inspiring’ work with Ministry of Education and First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®

Now I am a mother to 4 children who we chose to home school. It was raising my family that lead me into specialising in how we can assist our young people and ourselves as mothers in the 21st century. 
 
Around 5 years ago I was asked to work one on one with children and families identified with very high learning needs with the Ministry of Education Intensive Wrap Around Service.  

This has provided the most incredible seeding ground to creating Therapeutic Nature Education and Equine Assisted Learning programmes guided by the First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® teachings and in particular the First Light® Natures Holistic Healing Matrix©. 

A new wave and a new way to serve our young people and their parents

I have always felt my life’s work has been about surfing the first wave of the set, so others can follow. The opportunity to surf and create the moves on this wave of how we can re- contextualise education in the 21st century to serve our young people who are struggling the most is guided by the nature power of this land is just in simple terms ‘awe inspiring’. 

The development of this pathway has enabled many families and children to access physical experiences held in nature as well as access the vibrational holistic healing support from the First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® range concurrently.
 
For some mums they are choosing to learn more and they are stepping onto the First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® training pathway, like I did 13 years ago. It is my privilege to be able to teach First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® in class weekend workshops throughout the year to support these women on their learning and self-discovery journey. 

Why I want to share my knowledge?

It was always a natural progression for me to become a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® tutor because assisting others to learn is a gift I have always carried. It comes naturally and I find every workshop I deliver is an absolute joy and honour. 
 
To be able to introduce others to work with nature in the form of First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® for such powerful holistic healing outcomes is an honour. 
 
One of the greatest gifts as a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® registered practitioner and tutor is witnessing my clients and students gain a true feeling of being empowered. Empowered to assist themselves and empowered to assist others. 
 
What I see in my First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® classes is the ‘lights go on’ and wow the connections are made and it’s just magic. 

Those clients who choose to use First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®, there is some kind of almost tangible ‘magical’ transformation and change that begins to happen… 

I have been fortunate to work with children and families who have experienced much trauma, personal, collective and intergenerational. Life is often stuck, too hard, and the behaviours, attitudes and patterns are restricting and limiting the life. 
 
For these families, often they are trying their absolute best to bring about change with the skills and knowledge life has given them so far, however it’s so hard to crack through. 
 
As a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® practitioner I offer my clients the option of working with the essences as part of their Therapeutic Nature Education or Equine programme. Those clients who choose to use First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®, there is some kind of almost tangible ‘magical’ transformation and change that begins to happen… 
 
A clearing of the old and a shift to the new that flows out into their everyday world. 
 
The emotional responses in the child that may have experienced unregulated emotions for long periods of time seem to shift, an emotional intelligence begins to develop and a greater sense of self awareness. 
 
Mothers become empowered and feel capable and up to the task in parenting and supporting their young child. 

The weight of trauma begins to lift

A child that would be usually excluded from the peer groups begins to experience transformation and live a life of inclusion. The weight of the world held in traumas of the child and or parent being to lift and new dreams, possibilities and life purpose begin to take root and grow into form in the life. I see mums and children begin to believe in themselves and the power to create their own life returns.

How the little girl shifted from total exclusion to shining as a leader 

A young girl who attended the Therapeutic Nature Education and Equine programme with us arrived one day with an exhausted mum who just knew she couldn’t take anymore. 
 
We started the process by working with the horses, but the girl was on the go 24/7 and the mother was at her capacity, as I call it. She couldn’t take anymore and something had to change. 

So I suggested a change of tack from working with horses to heading up to The Forest Studio – the home to my First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® client practice and workshop venue. 

Here we established a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® starting point. We started the little girl and her mother on a blend of 7 fern essences, to begin what I call the 3-step reset, starting with clearing the aura, or energy field of the past traumatic experiences. 
 
I also created a personalised First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® blend for both of them to address their specific needs.

The mum got my go-to essence No 65 Tree Fuchsia – The Feminine, to assist her in her mothering role. 
 
The little girl’s blend included No 8 Matata – Adaptability, to support calmness and tranquillity of the mind, especially during sleep. 
 
Life began to shift at that point. It was the beginning of a turnaround. 

A pivotal point and her mum, a healer

To see the little girl shift from total exclusion to engaging into school life is remarkable. She is shining as the amazing leader she is, emotionally capable, confident and up to meeting the demands school life asks of her. 
 
Mum is an empowered healer who has now completed all her First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® courses and knows the tools she has accessed can answer the questions she needs answering and assistance with.

The essences I always carry in my bag…

I also love working with the First Light Natural Health® range of ready to use blends made with First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®.
 
They provide us so many options to support our young people. I love how I can pull out of the box a solution in an instant to address almost every situation that presents. 
 
I now carry a small kit of these ready-made blends with me as you never know when someone is going to ask for one.
 
Calm Kids Support© and Confident Kids Support© are super starting points for our younger children, especially if they have a big emotional life or have been struggling with finding their place in the world, or they may have been experiencing bullying or power plays.
 
For mums, I often recommend Mothers Support©. 
 
I am really enjoying the latest addition to the First Light Natural Health® range, The Trio of Empowerment. They feel to me like they have ‘a muscle’ to them that in some of the more ‘complex’ situations that present, likes to be used. 

Feeling safe and secure

For many of the children I work with where we are re-establishing their foundation, their relationship to their physical world based on feeling safe and secure, I offer them the No Fear Support©. It focuses on the Base Chakra with No 44 Kaihikatea, and No 37 King Fern in the blend that help address the physical survival trauma held in the first layer of the aura. These two essences are the key stepping stones for these children to be able to reorientate to the new life, which is more empowering and light-filled.

Helping others to reach their life’s true and full potential

As a First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® practitioner and tutor assisting an individual to climb their own mountain of growth and evolution is an honour. The First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® enable the path to light up for them so they can reach their life’s true and full potential.
 

You can see Anna featured on TV here: 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Anna's upcoming First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® in-class workshops in Whangarei, New Zealand

Anna is teaching First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand® workshops in Whangarei, New Zealand.

First Light® Seeds - New Beginnings
30 - 31 July 9am-5pm

First Light® Plants - Life Enhancement
27 - 28 August 9am-5pm

First Light® Flowers of Transformation
8 - 9 October 9am-5pm

First Light® Ferns - Life Trauma
26 - 27 November 9am-5pm


Anna'a contact details:
Call 09-434-4349 or 027-709-7111
Email: [email protected]

With many blessings,
Franchelle and the Team at First Light Flower Essences of New Zealand®