Dianna Bandy

I think what I've learned is that everybody's going through something, you know, love them anyway. Everybody matters to me, no matter your ups, your downs, or what you've gone through in your life. Everybody's deserving of love and respect and compassion, and to me, it's very important because it just fills my heart to love people regardless and just stay there for them and be there for them and be as much of support as possible as I can. We're all in this life together, so let's just make the best of it and love each other and hold each other up and push each other forward as much as we can.

I don't know if it's so much that I've received advice, but it's more what I've learned through my own experience. What I've learned is that everybody's going through something, so love them anyway. Everybody matters, no matter what - everyone deserves love and respect and compassion. It fills my heart to love people and be as supportive as possible. Everybody's going through something, they still need love. They need compassion, they need understanding, they need someone that's not gonna turn their backs on them or walk away, because we're all in this life together. So let's just make the best of it and love each other and hold each other up and push each other forward as much as we can.

Honor yourself, love yourself - you're worthy of love, you're worthy of having good people in your life. And you just have to see it, and I think that's the hardest part. A lot of young women get tied up, and they've gone through a lot already at a young age, and it's so easy to just lose yourself and lose that love for yourself and to honor yourself. My advice to young women is never forget who you are, and always love you above anything else, because when you're okay, everything else is gonna be okay. But you have to learn to love yourself - and of course, it's always a process, but it can happen. Try to never forget who you are and what lights you up inside, and then use that to move forward in life.

I think the biggest challenge is where I live - getting people to actually see the value in massage therapy and the value in breathwork and meditation. I'm originally from New York, and I've been in this small West Texas town for 15 years, and most people just look at massage therapy like it's just a luxury. They don't see the real value in it because they don't have the right education about it to understand it fully. This isn't just a luxury - this is for your well-being. It helps with relaxing, easing pain, and so many things. Just like being a medical doctor, massage therapy has different branches. It's not just massage therapy and that's it. Massage therapy has massage therapists who specialize in cancer patients, children with cancer, geriatric care for older adults and elderly people, myofascial release, and all these benefits. There are different levels. As far as breathwork and meditation, breathwork is incredibly powerful if you practice it. Mindful meditation and mindful breathwork on a regular basis, or even once or twice a week, has a huge effect on your health and well-being chemically in your body, and it also has an effect mentally and emotionally. The biggest challenge is demonstrating that to people, because they come in thinking one thing, so I have to teach them - no, these are the benefits you can have. It would be amazing if you see that this is what it can do for you and you trust me to help get you there.

The main value is honesty, compassion, faith, hope, and love - above all of them, mostly love is probably the biggest that stands out to me. Family is very important, and trust and compassion and honoring each other, honoring the lives of others. Those are probably some of my most important values.