The Tennessean - Sunday November 5, 2000
A HEALING VOICE
LINDA WOODS EXPLORES PATHS TO WELL BEING WITH HER RADIO SHOW `WINDOWS TO WELLNESS'
BY: CARRIE FERGUSON STAFF WRITER
Linda Woods keeps a poster on her wall depicting a woman jumping off a cliff. Not a speck of terror shows on the woman's face, for she is being supported by light and stars.
This, Woods says, is what it feels like to be ``supported by the universe.''
She would know.
With no experience, Woods jumped into radio production as host of an alternative healing talk show. And she has had to act as her own booking agent, publicist and advertising sales woman. It has trial by fire.
But that matters little to Woods.
``Every fiber of my being or every part of me knows I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing with my life now,'' Woods said.
Woods' program, Windows to Wellness, airs at noon Saturdays on WAMB-AM 1160. Topics range from Ayurveda to humor therapy to Feldenkrais and more ``mainstream'' topics like acupuncture, yoga and chiropractic.
The show is about ``self-empowerment'' and sharing information with listeners so that they can take more responsibility for their thoughts, body and healing process, Woods said.
``Someone recently congratulated me and said I was doing the work of 20 people,'' Woods said. ``I gave him a puzzled look because it's just something that I do. It's not hard when you have a passion for it.''
The passion has landed her some interviews with big names in the popular and growing field of holistic and alternative therapies Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Bernie Seigal and Dean Ornish, just to name a few.
And it has provided a platform for local practitioners and patients to discuss topics not generally covered in mainstream media. Colonics, for one.
``I've finally found a way to make a contribution to the community, to learn, to grow, to improve my own health, to make new contacts, to build relationships and to grow spiritually. All at the same time,'' she said. ``Who could want more than that?''
To secure wise and insightful guests, Woods says she's turned into a ``networking machine,'' going to the Web, local community organizations and friends for names and topics.
But it is in finding sponsors that creativity and dedication really come in. There have been shows, particularly in the beginning, when there were no sponsors, so Woods paid for them herself, believing in the ``if you build it they will come'' philosophy. She's also asked the guests to pay.
But generally, she finds a sponsor that will benefit from the topic. For example: A dream interpretation show had a mattress company sponsor and an art therapy show had an art supply sponsor.
``I'm always thinking,'' Woods said, laughing.
By education and trade, Woods is a certified public accountant. She's also been a stand-up comic, but she supports herself with the accounting, for the radio program has yet to help her pay all the bills.
But, as she says, no matter, because it is what feeds her soul.
``This show is my expression of love and I can feel it coming back tenfold. Energy is powerful and it can be felt right through the airwaves,'' she said.
Two years ago, Woods was running EarthSave Nashville an international nonprofit that promotes healthier diets when WAMB general sales manager Harry Stephenson saw Woods' column in the agency newsletter. He asked her how he could help. She told him she wanted a radio program to spread the message.
``I don't know why that came out of my mouth, but I have been doing it ever since,'' she said.
Says Stephenson: ``She brings to the community a whole naturalistic way of looking at health and healing. It is a very positive show and it is uplifting.''
So what's a nice CPA like Woods know about wellness and healing?
She's the Every Woman, the woman who was so busy balancing everybody else's stuff, that she forgot to balance her own life.
``The beauty of my show is that I'm struggling just like the listener is. I am not a model of health and I have health problems and I share them openly, not all of them, but I'll share the fact that parts of me aren't healthy,'' she said.
So, she doesn't try to be doctor, scientist or mystic. She simply plunges into interviews with the desire to explore different ways to find that ever-illusive balance and enrich her health and her body.
``I'm also asking questions a skeptic would ask,'' she said.
She admits, though, to turning herself into a ``human guinea pig,'' trying 25 different therapies in two years before she got a grip.
``A friend of mine said to me, `Linda, just pick a therapy and stick with it,' '' she said, laughing. ``The ones that have stuck with me are meditation, yoga and eating more raw foods.''
The radio show has opened new windows for Woods, which she believes has happened because she is doing what she loves.
Windows to Wellness has recently expanded to an hour, Woods has hooked the show up to the 'Net so it can be heard live from anywhere in the world, and she's recently become an agent for local healers and practitioners.
She also is increasingly speaking to community groups about what she's learned about alternative and complementary therapies.
"Somebody said that when you can help other people get what they want, you get what you want,'' Woods said.
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