Jude Hung

Owner

Mother of four sons, small business owner, author, Reiki Master | Teacher in the picturesque mountains of Asheville, NC, a contemporary spiritual teacher and Intuitive coach supporting people in mapping a way Home to themselves. Home is a state of being that we can cultivate. Finding Home is a journey toward wholeness and greater sense of well-being mind, body and spirit.

Being a Reiki Master, certified aromatherapist, massage therapist and Meditation teacher, I use a variety of tools in showing people how to cultivate a life of authenticity, empowerment and fulfillment.

My Story

I was unplanned – conceived accidentally and born prematurely. Two days old, I was placed with my family. I was a quiet, reserved, sensitive and introverted little girl. At a young age I knew there was something different about me. I felt my way through life, and I felt it all deeply. I could feel people. There were times when I’d be talking with a friend, hearing and understanding their words but also feeling what was behind them. Sometimes I would pass a stranger in a store and there was a certain energy about them that I felt. Maybe it was a sadness, fear or loneliness, but I intuitively picked up on it. I never spoke about this or acted on it. Being different in this way made me feel abnormal; an outsider.

It wasn’t until years later that I discovered that sometimes it’s the very thing that makes you feel different that makes you special, and that the parts of you that are difficult to understand end up becoming your superhero power.

As a young adult, I was drawn to Christianity. I was particularly captivated by Jesus – the spiritual life he lived, his sage teachings, and how he touched, awakened, healed and restored people’s lives. Jesus often spoke of being connected to another world – a hidden and transcendent world. I had touched that world myself. Sometimes in dreams, sometimes in powerful visual images or deep-seated impressions, occasions of sharp discernment and clarity, and moments of profound peace, harmony and serenity.

In the years that followed I became heavily involved in church ministry. I met a young man at the church who served as the worship pastor. We became close friends, fell in love and in time married. After two years of marriage we had our first son, and three more over the next six years. Yes, four boys!

On the outside looking in, we appeared to be the perfect Christian family. But then our lives slowly began to fall apart. Just before our second son was born, my husband started drinking. He became addicted to alcohol, which reaped havoc in our marriage, family and finances. My response was to pour myself into being the best wife I could be. I was told at church that with enough faith and prayer, our problems could be overcome and healed by God. But instead of getting better, life behind closed doors continued getting worse. I was exhausted raising four boys on my own and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy with an alcoholic husband. At church I put on my happy face and continued to give, serve and minister to others as I always had, but inside I felt lonely and depressed. Something had to change.

I’m sure you’ve encountered your own hardship and suffering. Maybe you wore a happy mask over it like I did; and continued playing one role or another. For me it was religion. Suffering can also be a catalyst for transformation.

So, I took a step back and began to ask myself some hard questions. How did I get here? What went wrong? How do I fix this?

I started looking for answers inside myself. I remembered that little girl I once was who felt and processed life deeply, and that hidden world I encountered in dreams, visions and moments of peace and clarity. In all the fuss of being the perfect wife, I had forgotten my true self and lost connect with that sacred world. I discovered that I had adopted an assortment of religious teachings and beliefs about myself and God that didn’t line up with the deepest truths I naturally knew in my own heart. I realized that I had spent many years being someone I wasn’t to gain acceptance, approval and validation from others. I learned I could be a spiritual person without being a religious one, and this eventually led to my leaving organized church.

Uncertain of that little girl I didn’t understand, I had spent most of my life allowing others to define who I was and tell me what I should be. So I took the time to truly get to know the real me. That ‘me’ who had a gift for encountering, experiencing and connecting with people on a soulish level, wanted to help people be whole and free.

I started by exploring holistic ways for regaining my own well-being and caring for myself. There was an artificial, manufactured and forced aspect of my religious experience I didn’t wish to repeat. I learned about aromatherapy and essential oils, which I found to enhance my physical and emotional health. I incorporated new spiritual practices into my daily life such as meditation, yoga, journaling and artistic expression.

Experiencing the benefits of these areas of holistic well-being I decided to gain more training and to use these as tools to help others. I took natural health and healing courses, meditation courses and became a licensed massage therapist. In massage school, my interest in anatomy, physiology, and holistic wellness intensified. I started my own massage therapy business and slowly started building a solid client base. I named my business Transcendent Touch because it  expressed my spirituality and sacred belief in holistic healing as well as conveyed my understanding of connection to Self, Source and Therapist, along with the physical element of massage.

I began noticing during massage sessions with clients that I could read people’s energy and emotions. That long-lost part of me that could experience and intuit a person on a soul level, returned. Through further investigation I discovered that I am an empath. I began studying energy medicine, and eventually was trained as a Reiki Master. The world opened to me more and more as I explored the connection and integral relationship between the body, mind, spirit and universe. I found myself working with clients in a more holistic way – physically, emotionally, energetically and spiritually.

Meanwhile, the volatility of my husband’s alcohol problem damaged our marriage beyond repair. Despite the fear of divorcing and daunting prospect of supporting myself and my children on my own, I knew it was time to address this situation squarely. I could no longer live this way. The pain of staying became greater than the fear of leaving. After twenty of years of marriage we divorced. Hurt, grief, heartache, sorrow, regret, rejection, abandonment, anger, darkness, devastation – I felt all of this and more. But one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, one step at a time, I got through it and worked my way through a process of healing and recovery.

We’ve all heard it – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I did become stronger. But I also became more compassionate, tenderhearted, and wiser. Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”

If Hemingway is right and the world breaks everyone, then maybe you have your own wounds and scars and broken places. And while you can’t go back and make all the details pretty, you can move forward and make the whole beautiful. That’s always in the back of my mind as I’m working with people. Whether it’s an individual session with a client, leading a retreat, workshop or program, or speaking to an audience, I’m always thinking – I want every person to know how special they are and to be that person every day for the rest of their lives. I promise; if you do that, it will be beautiful.

By nature of who I am and the journey I have walked, I have access to a set of abilities and tools to help people liberate themselves to live a life of deep meaning, sacred purpose, tenacious authenticity, and true well-being. I don’t think I could properly identify what I do on a business card. There’s not enough room for: certified Aromatherapist; Massage Therapist; Reiki Master; Life Coach; Energy Medicine Practitioner; and Holistic Healer. Someone once told me I was a cross between a Shaman, Zen Master, Nurse Midwife, and a little bit of Joan of Arc mixed in!

Mostly I’m just that grown up little girl who feels people when I walk past them in the crosswalk or the aisle in the grocery store, wanting them to be whole and free. I know in my heart that no matter what a person’s been through, they can start right where they are and live the life they long for.

It’s true on the one hand that I came into this world unplanned, accidentally and prematurely. But all my life I’ve known about another world. It’s a world you feel deep inside your heart. It’s a world where people transcend their darkness, become strong in their broken places, let go of what holds them back, and become fully what they are… beautiful.

Finding Home was birthed out of my own lived experience of trauma and discovery of a path that led me Home to a felt sense of safety to be my authentic self in the world. It includes all I have learned throughout my life, and encompasses an array of pathways for cultivating wholeness and wellbeing. Whether it’s through my individual one on one coaching, online courses and workshops, or my writings and videos, I hope to touch each person’s life in a nurturing, inspiring, empowering and transformational way.