This article was originally written in 2009 and lightly edited in 2024. I hope my story inspires you to help you make your BIG dreams come true. 

The first inkling of my dream

Early 1992. I was inspired by several alternative health therapists who worked from home. At the time, I was seeing them to help with pain in my knee, back and neck. I wished, though, that I could see them together. I felt their collective wisdom would be even more powerful. And so arose the idea of creating a healing centre for many therapists under one roof, but still in a home-like setting. Most of all, I wanted to raise awareness of the rich diversity of alternative therapies and treatments. On a trip back home to see my parents, I told them that one day, when the time came to move on from my graphic design business, this is what I wished to do.

Over the next nine years, my idea almost faded into oblivion as I looked after my daughters, grew my business and embarked on my healing journey. 

Summer of 2001. This was a milestone moment for my daughters.. My eldest would go to Cardiff University in the autumn, and my youngest would attend a local college. To celebrate this moment, I took my daughters on a round-the-world holiday to see their childhood homes in Indonesia, Singapore and Japan. 

From Asia, we travelled on to the USA, spending a memorable week white-water rafting through the Grand Canyon. Between the adrenaline highs of riding the rapids, we floated silently through the ever-deepening canyon, and its awesome beauty seeped into my soul. With nothing to do other than to just ‘be’ in this magical place, I thought about my life. I had achieved a lot – but there was a sense that I was no longer on the right path – especially with my work. With fingers trailing in the icy cold river, I daydreamed once more of creating a healing centre.

Post-holiday blues

Our big holiday had taken us away from home for seven weeks, and on my return to work, I increasingly felt I needed to change tack. But I was stuck and could not see a way out. So, I hired Maureen, an American Life Coach, to help me. Maureen helped me to see different solutions. She also inspired me to train to become a Life Coach.

At the end of 2002, I sold my business, and in February 2003, I embarked on a 2+ years training course with CoachU.

Red Dandelion

May 2005. Red Dandelion—my life coaching trading name—was beginning to thrive. As part of my business development, I joined a business networking group. In May, I received their invitation to attend a talk on Ayurveda at Bell Trees Clinic. I had not heard of the clinic but thought the talk sounded interesting. On the day of the talk, I was driving around a residential area in Oxford, feeling lost as the written directions were vague. Then I saw the sign for Bell Trees on a wrought iron gate with a drive leading to a grand house surrounded by giant, beautiful trees and a water fountain at the front. Wow. This was spookily like my vision for a healing centre—and I hadn’t even known its existence!

After the fascinating talk, I sought out the owner and cheekily asked if I could invite her to lunch to pick her brains. Generously, she agreed, and a week later, over lunch in Woodstock, I learnt a huge amount about her journey in setting up her clinic.

In November of that same year, I hosted a 5-month workshop for small business owners. The intention was to create a full, living, breathing, and even exciting business plan to make healthy profits and create a good life. We began the process with what I called My Big Dream. This allowed the business owners to write about what they wanted—to do, be or have—and not to worry about how it could happen. In readiness for this course, I updated my business plan for Red Dandelion. I shared it with the group as an example. In My Big Dream, I wrote about several aspirations and also included the following: 

I own The Jasmine Centre—an alternative healing and healthy lifestyle centre that brings therapists, healers and gurus together. The Jasmine Centre is an old house that has been converted into the centre and is on the outskirts of Weymouth. The centre has a reception, four treatment rooms and one large teaching room. There is ample parking. The Jasmine Centre has a peaceful aura. Everyone who is part of the Jasmine Centre gives back to the community by providing regular free talks and being a model for a better life.

In a later section called: In Three Years Time… I added another reference to my dream:

At the end of 2008, I have a detailed business plan for starting and developing The Jasmine Centre. By this time, I’m actively looking for a property in the villages surrounding Weymouth. 

While I felt sure my future was in Weymouth, at the time of writing my business plan, I was still living in Oxfordshire.

Act as if it’s already true

April 2006. I moved to Weymouth. My new home was an apartment with stunning views over Portland harbour. I quickly settled into Weymouth and loved my new life living by the sea. As the months rolled by, I would occasionally drive to one of the villages to see if anywhere looked like a good place for The Jasmine Centre. I was always slightly bemused by my behaviour. I didn’t have a pot of money to buy somewhere even if I saw the ideal place! Even so, I kept looking, believing that someday, somehow, my dream would come true. It was at this time I felt I needed evidence that something was happening within the Universe. So, I purchased the domain name: thejasminecentre.com

Visualisation

September 2007. I began working with Linda, a therapist specialising in visualisation and kinesiology. Her work allowed me to sense the energy to feel what was true. After one session, Linda emailed what she had heard from me. 

You have manifested a work balance with some corporate coaching combined with helping people heal and go through a transformational process at The Jasmine Centre. There is a full waiting list, and people from all over the world are coming to see you. You see yourself saying goodbye to a group of people who have flown in from Europe to stay at The Jasmine Centre. See them thanking you and saying how wonderful they feel after working with you, and they present you with beautiful flowers in gratitude. You feel loved, connected, and peaceful, and you smile and embrace them. You feel immense gratitude for your achievements and have a deep inner peace.

Reading Linda’s account felt slightly strange; her words described my dream, but it seemed bigger than I imagined. Would people come to see me from all over the world?

I don’t remember when I decided Portland was where The Jasmine Centre would be—perhaps it was looking out across the harbour every day and seeing Portland on the far side. Nor am I sure when or how the idea of people coming to stay came about either. Perhaps Linda helped me tap into my future without me realising it.

Affirmations

Universal Guidance?

April 2008. The Jasmine Centre still seemed a far-off dream, but my gypsy nature was ready to move on from the apartment, and moving to Portland felt right. Late one evening, searching on Rightmove, I clicked the wrong button and up popped the most expensive houses on the island. No harm in looking, I thought. I scrolled through a few pages and came across a house with amazing views over Chesil Beach. The house looked neglected, but there was something magical about it too. Even though the house was too big and way beyond my budget, I printed the details and filed them before bed.

Being open to what arises

June 2008. I intensified my search for a new home, but nothing felt right. I noticed the magical house was still for sale. The price had dropped substantially but was still out of my price range. On a whim, I called the Estate Agent. The agent told me the house was empty and asked if I would like to see it. I hesitated for just a second. Later on that day, I met the agent for a viewing. The front garden was overgrown, but it was walled. Inside, the house was filled with natural light and an open fireplace. Just like I had written about! And then there was the attic room, with the view that made my heart soar. But I could not afford it, so I thanked the agent and walked away. However, I put the house details the agent had given to me onto my fridge door.

Second viewing

September 2008. My youngest daughter returned from working in Ibiza, and she was staying with me until she found a new job and home. Why, she asked, are there house details on the fridge door? I showed the house to her on Rightmove, noticing the marketing was now under a different agent. Would she like to see it? I asked. Viewing the house later that day, it felt even more special. My daughter liked it too, but it was so big, she said, and so much work to be done. While we wandered around the house, I made a mental note of all the renovations that were needed, and slowly, an idea dawned. This house was too big for just me, but what if it became my home and a retreat house, too?

At the end of September, I called the agent again. It was an intuitive response: I felt compelled to discover what was happening. He told me the house was going to be rented for 6 months, and it would then be put back on the market in the Spring. It sounds crazy, but I was glad my house would be heated through the winter.

My Master List

New Year 2009. I updated my Master List. This is more than a To Do list. While it contains the bigger jobs that need to be done, it also includes ideas and things I don’t want to forget. Among the many entries, I wrote: The Jasmine Retreat House/The Jasmine Centre. A bigger Mortgage? Find £25,000?

Mid-January 2009. My bank manager told me the bank could give me a slightly larger mortgage to cover the purchase but not the renovations. I asked how the bank would feel about shared ownership with the current owner. Surprisingly, he said due to the equity I had, this would not be a problem. So, I put forward an unusual offer. I proposed to buy 80% of the house whilst the current owner (now living in Canada) would retain 20%. In 5 years, with a legally binding agreement, I would buy the 20% at the market rate of that time. With the improvements I was planning to make, plus the Olympic factor (Portland was to host the sailing) it would allow the owners to get back some of their losses. The owners did not dismiss it out of hand but said they preferred an outright sale.

A leap of faith

February 2009. My dream did not have a chance of coming true without the sale of my flat, so I invited several Estate Agents to value it. They would have thought it was madness to pin my hopes on just one house, so I didn’t tell them! They also did not know that I had yet to figure out how to buy the house and have enough money for the renovations. Nonetheless, I put my flat on the market.

Creative thinking

March 2009. I received an offer on my flat. However, before accepting, I had to find a way to have enough money for the renovations.

Through my window, across the harbour, I could see the rooftops of Fortuneswell where the house stood. How could I find £25,000 for the renovations? A lottery ticket? That seemed highly unlikely. I didn’t have anything to sell, nor savings of any amount. Time for crazy ideas! Could I offer life-long coaching paid up front? No—that didn’t seem likely either. Then, a brainwave. What if other people had a share in the house? With the return on savings at an all-time low, would some people want to invest in the house for a few years? Their investment could be linked to the value of the house, and while there would be no guarantee, with the improvements, there was a very strong possibility that their investment would give more than an ISA. As ‘interest’, I could offer them a 4-day personal retreat each year they invested with me.

The sum of £25,000 between 4 or 5 people did not seem like an impossible amount. Besides, there was nothing to lose by asking. So, I sent a two emails to people I knew well. Within hours of sending that email out, I had a reply saying, Yes, I’m interested! and I was over the moon. Within a few days, four people could invest the money for the renovations. What was most humbling was their reason for doing this. Not only did they see it as a good investment, but most of all, they wanted to support me and my dream of what I now call The Jasmine House. I was deeply touched. My mum said they were my angels – and so they are.

Synchronicity

April 2009. The buyers of my flat, Sue and Andrew, were delighted with the news the purchase was going through. They were neighbours from a few doors down the street, and they were buying my home for their elderly mother, who rented the flat next door to mine.

June 2009. I was speaking to Sue and Andrew about the progress on the sale/purchase. Sue then asked me, Where exactly is the house you are buying? I told her it was 4 Spring Gardens in Fortuneswell. She suddenly became tearful, explaining that this house had belonged to her grandfather, the Mayor of Portland at that time. She had lived in this house when she was a small child.

The Jasmine House today

23 July 2009. With the help of my angels—Jeannette, Hilary, Denise and Helen— I purchased The Jasmine House. After five years, I paid back my angels—but my gratitude for their help has never diminished. During my time at The Jasmine House, I’ve welcomed more than 600 people on personal retreats. And I’ve continued to restore the house back to its former glory.

September 2024. The Jasmine House turned out differently from the centre I originally dreamed about, but it has all been perfect. If you had told in 1992 that I would one day own The Jasmine House, I would not have believed it possible. But looking back, it is easy to see how the dots joined up.