Meet Alastair Ballentyne | Transformation, Alignment & Spirituality Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alastair Ballentyne and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alastair, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk is everything, it is an invitation to excellence resting on the other side of our own fears. Risk is something that has been the central pillar of my life from an early age as I didn’t have a choice, my path began because of risk. My career started as a musician, I took myself out of mainstream education to study music professionally (a big risk at aged 18). Once you start following the noise, it’s difficult not to be curious about the next whisper of a heartbeat over the horizon if you are aware of it.

I feel that we are at risk of losing our ability to take risks as we feel most comfortable when we are part of a ‘pack’ or ‘group’. We underestimate our ability to stand in our own truth, power and openness to express ourselves. Of course it can be lonely at times if you are carrying the torch for an idea, taking risks to move it forward but you know, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We are living in a time of great transition and transformation, to choose a path of personal expression, higher ideas and the very cause of transformation is a risk in itself. As the world becomes more unfamiliar it would be natural to cling to what is familiar in an effort to make sense of what is happening.

To me, risk is everything because it is also an invitation to growth. We are constantly inspired to try new things, express ourselves in different ways and become more realised but the gravitational pull of our lives can be so great it can make risk seem scary. However, risk is natural.

It’s how I’ve lived my life and approached my career as without risk, god knows what I would have been doing for the past 20 years!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an academic turned rogue mystic. I come from a very long ancestral line of spiritual-metaphysical practitioners. My work is all about bringing together East & West through practical systems, tools and ideas.

It’s kinda wild because I took the long way here, while I do believe that everything happens in it’s own timing (we are an impatient bunch us humans); my apprenticeship in life was about 21 years starting at 14 and ending at 35.

I grew up in not just a broken home but a perpetually crumbling one! That was a good way to grow up fast and carry a big bag of unintegrated stuff into life. I left home at 17 and haven’t been back since. I ran away to become a musician, which was a wild ride to say the least. Travelling all over playing guitar for whoever would have me.

I decided to get a teaching qualification when I was 30 so I could formalise what I was doing and also take the heat off having to play all the time. I got really into exploring how we can express abstract higher consciousness ideas and inspiration through artistic expression. My tutors wanted to nominate me to research this at doctorate level as the findings were promising, I put the plan on ice for a few years while I did some more exploring.

I worked all across the education industry with different age ranges before working at a music college as a course manager. I had gone from ‘student to master’ in my own journey but it turned out that was just the initiation.

In 2018 I had a stress related breakdown and had to be carried out of my job then was unable to work for the next 18 months as I recovered and tried new things. During that time I had to rehabilitate myself physically and mentally, nothing comes easy that is of value right? Then I started getting inspired to do something different but I went back to playing for bands at the back end of 2019 (you can see where this is going…)

Of course Feb 2020 everything was in a good place then Covid came. I had the strangest experience of ‘everything coming together’, it was like I was taken on an express elevator to the stratosphere to observe the complexities and nuances of the world, life, reality – you name it then dropped back down into my body.

The thing is that moment was 35 years in the making, I realised I could take everything I had learned in my own life and pick up the torch of my ancestors’ work in 2021.

So a little about that, I am a mixed race person. I am half Scottish, half Iranian (at least until the 23&me test comes back and I see the complexities haha) and I grew up in England. On my Iranian side my family line stretches back far with spiritual practitioners, healers, seers, all the cool stuff that really is just ‘normal’ for all of us but we have allowed ourselves to ‘forget’ these aspects of the human experience.

I have had this strong sense that we are living in historic times where we can choose a new road for society that is more inclusive and equitable where no one has to be left behind and we can reach new heights of expression, innovation and realisation. It can be a bit isolating as a millennial who isn’t a doomer sometimes, there’s too many memes when we could be getting our hands dirty!

It had become clear to me that my work prior to this was all about seeing where we are ‘at’ now and how to connect with others. I trained as a coach to learn the mechanics of that format, I studied how to teach the law of attraction after the CIA papers on manifestation became declassified.

I trained as an EFT (tapping) practitioner after reading the article on the scientific existence of meridians as well as expanding literature on the concept of the ‘mindbody’ (the human as a unified whole rather than the brain sitting in the vessel of the body etc).

I took it upon myself to come out as a practitioner and teacher of spirituality as I was part of a growing number who became fed up with the woo woo, vanilla, culturally appropriated practices that felt like a barrier to people wanting to explore life beyond the three dimensions and five senses without getting bogged down in heavy metaphysical literature or toxic guru culture.

My whole life has been about standing in a space of truth, freedom of expression and freedom of mind which of course is an interesting landscape. It’s important to me that we no longer view the discussion around expansive ideas, spirituality and related matters as escapism or polarising narratives of light vs dark. We have had a few thousand years of that and if we are going to explore new ways of ‘being’ and ‘doing’, we have to integrate the heavy stuff, bridge the gaps with conversation and walk forwards in full awareness of everything with denial of nothing.

I set up my company Higher Transmissions LTD to function as a portal for people seeking to do the work from a perspective of bridging the gap between the known and the unknown in a practical way. I used my experience as a teacher to create courses, classes and materials to help people on the path. I work with people 1:1 in a coaching capacity if they want to go deeper. I offer ‘healing’ services in the form of bridging the physical and metaphysical using EFT as the anchor point for expanded, received practices. Of course I am an excellent tarot reader too as that is one of the great tools we have to activate our intuition and unconscious aspects.

I’m currently launching a private membership community for people who want to come together and be more resonant catalysts in their community as we align with humanity’s expanded paradigm of the future

It’s all about being the bridge while enabling others to be the bridge too!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ok so, here’s the wild thing. Because of Covid, I connected with the community in LA via social media, particularly clubhouse so I am the token ‘Brit’ in the group, your new Alan Watts character as I am based in London.

So if you were going to visit me here’s what we would do.

First of all we would do a sight seeing tour of London’s hidden metaphysical and mystic history, this old city carries many mysteries and stories that can shed a little light on the world as we know it now.

I’ve lived in some of the artist warehouse communities so we would visit there and take in the independent arts and club scene. Plus there’s some excellent people there everyone needs in their lives.

We’d of course do a day on the open top bus, go see the palaces and seats of state because it’s London hey?

Next I would take you to Camden Market to enjoy some of the different street foods from around the world and Portobello market in Notting Hill to pick up some trinkets and oddities from the antique stores there.

Tuesday Night tends to be the night of ‘the jam session’ around London so we’d go to one of the many places you can see talented players freaking out and I would probably join in so we can have some fun.

Then midweek we get in the car and high tail it down to the West Country, the seat of England’s magic and mystery by visiting Glastonbury town. This place is insane, it’s an enclave of everything expansive and metaphysical. We’d find a hotel so we could spend the night out spotting for UAP’s in the sky up by Glastonbury Tor – said to be the burial site of legendary King Arthur.

Following that we’d head back towards the capital via Brighton, one of England’s most colourful towns set by the sea where people from all walks of life, backgrounds and identities come together in this great engine of expression. I’ve got some friends who run a wild cabaret down there so we’d check that out for sure.

Then we would head back up to London for the weekend.

Friday night would be exploring all the independent bars and night spots in the East End where good people come together and dance away into the night. We’d probably, depending on the season follow the noise for an outdoor all night rave in the forest.

See I may be a wizard but I am a wizard who likes to party!

Saturday we’d take time out to stock up at my favourite metaphysical book store where you can find everything from the curious to the out and out full on magical in paper form. Then it’d be a riverboat cruise through the city.

Saturday night would be dinner on top of ‘The Shard’, the tallest building in London to get a good look at the place before the week of fun comes to an end.

Sunday we’d have a traditional British Sunday dinner in a quiet pub outside of London, most likely by the river (you can tell I like the water?) before I’d take you back to the airport and make plans to do it all again but this time in your neighbourhood!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First of all I want to dedicate my shoutout to Romie Bo for nominating me for this interview! I am so grateful for her support and friendship.

I entered the world of spiritual-metaphysical practitioners in 2020 after a long career in music, entertainment and education. I felt compelled to pick up the mantel and Romie ‘sees’ me, has been incredibly supportive in my work and advocates for me in the community.

I want to also dedicate my shoutout to my partner Emma Meyrowitz, a constant inspiration, my rock and partner in crime. We have had a few years together now and Emma met me at the end of my previous life, stood by me as everything came apart and was reformed into who I am now. She didn’t have to do that and I definitely could not do what I am doing now without her.

My dad for inspiring me from a young age to explore all of life’s mysteries and for being an intersectional advocate before that was even a thing.

My mum for the journey she has walked and the strength that has required of her.

To my dear friends Sam, Nat, Dan for being my pillars as I took my first steps in this world and championing my allowing myself to be myself.

Website: https://www.highertransmissions.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highertransmissions

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alastairballentyne

Image Credits
All images are my own