Lynn Erasmus has experienced a lot of trauma in her life.
The 43-year-old, who lives in Perthshire, has battled postnatal depression, alcoholism, burnout, suicidal thoughts as well as heartache in childhood.
Now today she is channelling all those experiences into helping others who are trying to overcome their own traumas by becoming an acupuncturist in Perthshire and offering certified trauma-informed training programmes to organisations and individuals.
And earlier this year she also gave her first TEDx talk on overcoming trauma at St Andrews University.
A TEDx Talk is a showcase for speakers presenting great ideas in under 18 minutes.
“I went on this journey of self-discovery, becoming self-aware and then I started researching ways to remain sober and positive,” she says.
“As a result I manifested incredible things and my life changed for the better. But it wasn’t easy.
“This is why I now feel this is my purpose in life – to help people transform their trauma into happily ever after.
“We have all experienced trauma in one way or another, but most have not had a guide to help them through it.
“This is why I am now passionate about what I do.”
Accident triggered depression
Born and raised in South Africa, Lynn graduated from university with a degree in journalism in 2010, aged 27 with a two-year-old child to care for, Liam, 15.
She then went on to start a community newspaper in Nelson Mandela Bay which she ran for six years.
In 2014, Lynn was pregnant with her second child and it became a busy time as she juggled work with moving house.
She had her daughter Ravenna, 9, in July 2014 and took two months off work.
But just as she was due to return, she had an accident which triggered a mental health crisis.
“I was just stepping off a step into my garden and it was an area where we were making a patio,” she says.
“We had been laying bricks which hadn’t quite settled yet so when I stepped on it, it gave way and I ended up breaking my leg in three places.
“I couldn’t do anything for two months and that was what triggered everything for me.
“I ended up really depressed and I had never really experienced depression until then.”
For the next couple of years she carried on with work and family life.
But all the time she felt like she was living under a cloud.
“It was just the heaviness,” she explains.
“I am a naturally happy person and optimistic.
“But over those two years I was getting worse.
“I was basically drinking alcohol every day – I would have beer during the day and then at 3 or 4pm in the afternoon I would start having wine.
“To the outside world I was happy, yet the minute I would come home the unhappiness would come out.”
“I would secretly wait until everyone had gone to bed and then I would go outside and phone a suicide helpline while drinking wine.
“It was such a shameful experience for me.”
Being diagnosed with postnatal depression
Eventually she decided to get help and went to the doctor who put her on anti-depressants.
“I didn’t feel relieved to get the diagnosis of postnatal depression, I just felt shame.
“I thought it was an achievement to be able to carry all these troubles and struggles around by myself.”
In September 2016, Lynn suffered extreme burnout as she was trying to save her newspaper from closure and eventually admitted defeat, closing it a year later, as she says: “It felt like a loss of my identity.”
At this time Lynn’s husband Daniel, 43, also confronted her about her alcoholism and told her enough was enough.
“He told me he couldn’t live like this anymore as it was really impacting the family. He said it is either us or the wine – you need to decide.
“It took me another year to work through it, but eventually, on September 3 2017 I decided to stop drinking.”
Reaching a turning point
On that day Lynn quit drinking alcohol and smoking and since then she hasn’t looked back.
“That was massive for me. It was pure bliss and felt very freeing not to have to drink every day and not feel ashamed of my actions.
“The next month, in October, a friend of mine started doing morning meditation and I started doing it with her.
“By doing these visualisations I had such clarity of thought and that’s when the self-love journey began.
“It was time to face the music and deal with my mother’s suicide which happened when I was five-and-a-half.
“I hadn’t realised that all of this had led me down a dark path of self-destruction.
“I told myself a lie from a young age – that I wasn’t good enough and I wasn’t worth loving – because if your own mother can’t love you, then who can?
“But I became unstoppable when I stopped drinking and re-learned how to love myself.”
Moving to Scotland
At the end of 2019, the family moved to the Netherlands.
But they weren’t able to settle there, so they ended up coming to Scotland in May 2020.
Lynn then ended up writing a book about her journey of self-discovery.
She says: “My husband encouraged me to start writing, which initially was just to serve as a way to purge all the old feelings and emotions.
“But after a while, I realised this was a book and I took it more seriously.
“I carried on writing that book until the end of December 2020 when we were living in Scotland – and self-published ‘Break Those Damn Rules’.
“This was my promise to myself that I will help people overcome challenges and show them how to turn them into opportunities – transforming trauma into happily ever after.”
This then became the title of her first TEDx talk she delivered in St Andrews University in March this year.
Becoming an acupuncturist
In 2019 Lynn tried acupuncture which was specifically designed to help people with anxiety and addiction.
She found it made an incredible difference to her wellbeing.
“The results in me were incredible,” the Perthshire businesswoman says.
“My personality changed. I had quite a lot of anger inside me and had a very short fuse.
“But after having regular acupuncture, that anger dissipated. It just seemed to stimulate a sense of calm in my body.”
After seeing the benefits first hand she decided to train to become an acupuncturist and now works for her company, the Pathfinder, from the Ramana Wellness Centre in Perthshire.
And last year she trained to become a certified trauma-informed coach and hypnotherapist after completing online programmes.
“I then started offering group acupuncture with guided meditations which helps people to calm their nervous system and let go of old thoughts and limiting beliefs.”
“I have experienced my own trauma and found a way to overcome it. So now I feel my life’s purpose is to help others who have also experienced it and try to make a difference.”
Conversation