{"id":3354,"date":"2011-12-14T22:44:35","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T06:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=3354"},"modified":"2013-03-07T13:11:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-07T21:11:53","slug":"an-interview-with-olivia-newton-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/an-interview-with-olivia-newton-john\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview With Olivia Newton John"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>From clean-cut singer of \u2018Country Roads\u2019 to leotard-wearing disco diva in \u2018Physical\u2019, Olivia Newton John has had a career that\u2019s spanned nearly five decades.\u00a0 She is loved by everyone from school children to grandmas and yet still remains as down-to-earth as she ever was.\u00a0 Here Olivia talks about yoga, life, and her trek along the Great Wall of China\u2026.<\/p>\n

*******<\/p>\n

Say the words Olivia Newton John and most of us will automatically think of her most famous and successful role \u2013 that of Sandy in the hit movie \u2018Grease\u2019.\u00a0 But while \u2018Grease\u2019 was \u2013 and still is \u2013 a worldwide phenomenon, there is so much more to Olivia Newton John than dancing with John Travolta.<\/p>\n

Olivia has not always had the easiest of lives, with the trauma of breast cancer and the mysterious disappearance of her partner obviously affecting her greatly.\u00a0 But in spite of everything she remains an optimistic and inspiring woman, who continues to tackle life\u2019s heartaches head-on, through yoga, positive thinking, healthy living and sheer determination.\u00a0 So how did Olivia get into yoga, and what personal benefit does she gain from it?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first experience with yoga was 25 years ago when I took my first class.\u00a0 It was Bikram yoga and it was 110 degrees in the room and I thought I was going to pass out\u201d, she laughs. \u00a0\u201cBut, it was so energizing that I felt amazing after that experience, and from that point on I was hooked.\u00a0 I\u2019ve done it on and off for years and enjoy the stretches as I find them relaxing, peaceful, good for posture and wonderful for inner peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia is co-owner of Gaia Retreat and Spa in Australia, (a place Olivia likes to call \u2018Barefoot Armani\u2019) and she likes to practice there more than anywhere in the world.\u00a0 She says: \u201cThough I have practiced yoga with many teachers over the years, I really love to work with our instructors.\u00a0 All of the teachers there are so instructive without making you feel overwhelmed. \u00a0They really let you work at your own pace, and the environment is so peaceful, comfortable and intimate – and not too hot!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1992 Olivia was diagnosed with breast cancer.\u00a0 It was a frightening and fraught time, but Olivia gained help and support from one of the world\u2019s most prolific spiritual teachers. \u00a0\u201cWhen I was being treated for breast cancer\u201d, she explains, \u201cI read one of Deepak Chopra\u2019s books, and shortly after he was introduced to me through a friend of mine.\u00a0 He taught me meditation techniques and really helped me a lot.\u201d\u00a0 The two forged a friendship which has lasted to this day.\u00a0 \u201cI see him from time to time and he always has wise words to share\u201d, she says.\u00a0 \u201cIn fact, he was the first person I played \u2018Grace and Gratitude<\/a>\u2019 to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018Grace and Gratitude\u2019 Olivia is referring to, is the outstanding album which was released in 2007.\u00a0 So how did the album come about?\u00a0 \u201cI had gone through a very difficult time and I needed healing\u201d, she explains.\u00a0 \u201cI find music to be a great healer and I got together with Amy Sky and we wrote \u2018Grace and Gratitude\u2019 in just five days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album is very spiritual in nature.\u00a0 Was this what Olivia intended it to be?\u00a0 \u201cWell I wanted to write something that was spiritual and incorporate different belief systems, going through the Chakras\u201d, she says.\u00a0 \u201cI had just read a book called \u2018Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing<\/a>\u2019 and was very interested in creating an album which went through each Chakra.\u00a0 I\u2019d really like to write another one in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Olivia refers to the \u2018difficult time\u2019 before making \u2018Grace and Gratitude\u2019, she is talking about the tragedy of losing her partner, Patrick McDermott in 2005.\u00a0 McDermott disappeared during a fishing trip and despite numerous alleged \u2018sightings\u2019 he has never been found.\u00a0 Shortly after his disappearance, Olivia poured her energies into creating a huge stone labyrinth in the garden of her home.\u00a0 She explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend is a landscape architect and she designed it for me.\u00a0 Having the labyrinth was extremely healing \u2013 it helped me heal a lot.\u00a0 It was extremely peaceful and an amazing experience to have it.\u201d \u00a0Indeed photographs of the labyrinth show an amazing array of circles of stone, surrounded by beautiful shrubs and trees.\u00a0 One can almost feel how peaceful it must have been, but while Olivia found great comfort in the labyrinth, not everyone saw it that way.\u00a0 \u201cUnfortunately\u201d, she says, \u201cwhen I sold the house I had to leave it behind.\u00a0 I felt weird about that, and when the new owners moved in, they just didn\u2019t \u2018get it\u2019 and took the whole thing apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia may have lived through much heartache in the past, but the future is looking a lot brighter.\u00a0 Several years ago she married her old friend, John Easterling, who runs the Amazon Herb Company, and is a great advocate for his health products:<\/p>\n

\u201cAmazon Herbs are amazing\u201d, she says.\u00a0 \u201cI had been friends with John Easterling for many years and always used his products.\u00a0 John seemed very committed to the purity and integrity of the herbs and when I had breast cancer he sent me some \u2018Illumination\u2019 [a herbal product to help boost your immune system] which I took every day.\u00a0 I also used the face serum and vitamin C serum and now I don\u2019t take anything else except them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia obviously loves the products, but it doesn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 She also travels around the world to help John promote his products, including the health drink, Zamu, which she whole-heartedly believes in.\u00a0 \u201cZamu is an organic drink from the Rainforest\u201d, says Olivia.\u00a0 \u201cJohn and I each have it every day \u2013 whoever wakes up first brings one up \u2013 and I believe it keeps us healthy when we are working and travelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

No doubt Zamu helped keep Olivia\u2019s energy up when she decided to walk the Great Wall of China in 2008, in order to raise money for the \u2018Cancer and Wellness Centre\u2019 \u2013 a special centre in Australia, designed to give the best care and treatment for men and women fighting cancer.\u00a0 Olivia gained the help and support of friends such as Dannii Minogue, Sir Cliff Richard and Joan Rivers, and together they set off to walk the Great Wall.\u00a0 As Olivia explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Great Wall of China walk was incredibly challenging for me \u2013 it was almost like my cancer journey in the way it challenged me.\u00a0 Once I had completed parts of it, it was an amazing feeling, but when we crossed the finish line it was incredibly emotional and I just burst into tears.\u00a0 I had expected to feel amazing but I felt sad to say goodbye to everyone I had been with during the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the walk was primarily about the human experience, it was a small kitten who stole the show \u2013 and Olivia\u2019s heart.\u00a0 \u201cMy husband had to leave as a family member was suffering from cancer and he had to go back to the States to see her.\u00a0 It was a traumatic time and on the day he left we were walking past a river and one of the guys saw something in the water.\u00a0 We took a closer look and it was a kitten which someone had thrown into the river.\u00a0 He was so tiny, his eyes were closed and he was close to death.\u00a0 I scooped him up and put\u00a0him\u00a0into my shirt, carrying\u00a0him with me for two weeks and feeding him every couple of hours with a dropper.\u00a0 He was a very special mascot for our journey, we named him Magic, and the day before we left he finally opened his eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magic was a much-loved companion on the trip, but the story has a sad ending.\u00a0 \u201cUnfortunately\u201d, says Olivia, \u201cI couldn\u2019t take him with me when I went home, and I left him with someone, but two days after I left he passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n

With everything that Olivia has achieved in the past, she could be forgiven for slowing down a little now, but no.\u00a0 Classing herself as a Cancer \u2018Thriver\u2019 rather than \u2018Survivor\u2019, Olivia continues to throw herself into projects involving cancer awareness.\u00a0 She has helped to develop a product called \u2018Liv-Aid<\/a>\u2019 which is a gel-filled pad to help detect lumps during breast self-examination.<\/p>\n

Olivia is very aware that some women are scared of self-examination and hopes that \u2018Liv-Aid\u2019 will increase confidence.\u00a0 She says, \u201cIt is a weird phenomenon that women are scared to examine their breasts but early detection is essential.\u00a0 We need to learn what is right and what is unusual for us because finding the lump early is key.\u00a0 It is important that fear doesn\u2019t stop self examination, because if something happens to be there, it is best to know and get it checked by a doctor.\u00a0 It may be that the lump is not cancer at all, but it is essential to get it checked out.\u00a0 Fear mustn\u2019t stop you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed fear hasn\u2019t stopped Olivia in anything she has done in her life.\u00a0 She is an inspiration to women everywhere, but who does she look up to?\u00a0 Who does Olivia admire and respect herself?\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s a good question\u201d, she says, before thinking for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cWell I think the most inspirational person I\u2019ve ever met is [animal activist] Margaret Owens.\u00a0 She does so much to help animals; she is a very elegant, spiritual lady who has a quiet voice but always gets things done. \u00a0When I met her she was so inspirational I decided that when I grow up, I want to be just like her.\u00a0 Hopefully I\u2019m almost there by now!\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on Olivia Newton John and her projects, please visit: http:\/\/www.olivianewton-john.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Michelle Morgan Bio:<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michelle Morgan is an author, biographer and columnist who lives with her husband and daughter in Northamptonshire, England.\u00a0 She is the author of ‘Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed’ <\/a>and the forthcoming ‘A Brief Guide to Marilyn Monroe’ which will be published by Constable in the UK and Skyhorse in the USA.\u00a0 Michelle writes frequently for magazines and is currently writing a novel. View her webpage at\u00a0\u00a0www.Michelle-Morgan.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to <\/strong>Stories<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From clean-cut singer of \u2018Country Roads\u2019 to leotard-wearing disco diva in \u2018Physical\u2019, Olivia Newton John has had a career that\u2019s spanned nearly five decades.\u00a0 She is loved by everyone from school children to grandmas and yet still remains as down-to-earth as she ever was.\u00a0 Here Olivia talks about yoga, life, and her trek along the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,59,16,22],"tags":[24,126,155,17,10,81],"class_list":["post-3354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-self-growth","category-spiritual","category-thriving-2","tag-cancer","tag-health","tag-self-worth","tag-spiritual-2","tag-thriving","tag-yoga"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":29595,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}