What is energy work and do you need it? + 5 common types of energy work

What is energy work? Is it real? Should you try it? I can’t tell you what’s best for you, but I can share detailed information about various energy work modalities and my personal experience with them to help you determine if and what’s right for you.

In this post, you'll learn a bit about what energy work is, if it's right for you, who can practice energy work, five common types of energy work, and experts in each field linked.

This is a big topic, friend! I invite you to cozy up with a cup of tea or to bookmark this read to refer back to later. Or, you can listen to the full episode here on my podcast, Rooting into Wholeness. 

My Experience With Energy Work

I experienced energy work for the first time at a very young age, 10 or 11 years old. I got my hands on some books from my grandmother about spirituality that explained how to feel the energy between my hands and over my body. I was easily able to feel my energy and was hooked. I continued meditating and working with my energy from that day in a variety of ways.

As an adult, I’ve tried various energy work methods both on myself and from others. I’ve also been practicing shamanic energy healing (in a Celtic lineage) for the last two years. Any of the methods I share here are methods I’ve experienced or administered firsthand. 

I will save my full story for another post that I’ll share soon.

What is Energy Work?

Energy work is the intentional effort to manipulate your or someone else's energy for spiritual, emotional, or physical healing. There are countless modalities of energy work practices in cultures around the world. You can perform energy work on yourself or seek it out from a professional. 

Energy work affects both the subtle body system (the energetic body) and the physical body in various ways. The subtle body system shows up differently across cultures. Here are some of the subtle body systems we see across the world: chakras and nadis (Hinduism), meridians (Chinese Medicine), the three cauldrons (Celtic), aura (cross-cultural), Ojos de luz (Incan energy system), and the list goes on. Most cultures around the world have some reference of an energy or subtle body system. 

Anything that affects the subtle body can also affect the physical body because they’re intertwined. It’s now commonly accepted that emotions can be stored in and affect the physical body. Many believe that energy can be manipulated to create changes in the subtle and the physical body in this same vein. As above so below, as within so without. 

Science now recognizes that everything is energy. When we zoom in on the physical world, really far, all we have is vibrating energy. There’s nothing solid about anything in the world we live in. It’s all energy. It can be hard to wrap the mind around physical objects not really being solid, but it’s what we know now to be true. This quote from the physicist Erwin Schrödinger illustrates this well in the quote below. 

“What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space. Particles are just schaumkommen (appearances).”- Erwin Schrödinger 

Aside from the quantum world, there’s also something to be said for unseen energies that we already know exist, like light waves, sound waves, electromagnetic energy, and heck, even wind. There’s an entire world of invisible energy that can affect us both positively and negatively. Though science has not completely caught up with the idea of humans having the potential to spark healing through touch and other psychic abilities, I believe it's something many ancient peoples have known all along. 

We spend so much time tending to and caring for our physical bodies, but what about our energy, our essence. 

Should You Try Energy Work?

If you feel called to try any kind of energy work, I suggest trying it. The bigger questions that you'll need to ask yourself are what kind of energy work you want to receive and who you want to work with. These are not questions that I can answer for you and will require some research and reflection.

As someone who's received a lot of different kinds of energy work, the best advice I can give you is that you'll know when you know. If you feel pulled to work with someone, honor that, and then do a bit of research about them, which I cover in the next section, to ensure that they're in alignment with your values and are working ethically. If you get any internal nudges that someone is or isn't a good fit, honor that.

Who Can Practice Energy Work and Can I Practice on Myself?

There are a lot of grey areas and different opinions within the answers to these questions. I will do my best in this short space, but please know that many feel differently and that this is a short answer to big questions.

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this post, it’s that you can perform energy work on yourself. It is not something you need to pay hundreds of dollars to receive. There are many great energy work tools that you can use on yourself, some of which I will share here. Personally, I think it can be extremely powerful and healing to learn different ways to manipulate and heal your own energy. I discuss some of this in my “Understanding Auras” and “Understanding Chakras” books, which are great places to start. 

Regarding who can practice on other people, here are some suggestions and questions I always ask myself.

What is their training? Notice I said training, not Certification. Certification is not always a necessity in the case of energy work. Sadly certifications can actually be quite misleading and are not equally accessible. In fact, certification processes often leave out the very people who have trained in indigenous cultures and lineages. 

Many certification processes end up being watered-down versions of traditional energy work methods. Furthermore, they could be actively causing harm to the indigenous peoples they came from. 

Certification is not always bad, but it’s important to ask some follow-up questions and use discernment when hiring someone with certifications in the energy work methods listed below, like, “Where did the certification come from?”, “Who did they train with for the certification?” and “Were the indigenous and cultural roots respected in the certification process?”. If these things aren’t stated on a person’s website who’s offering energy work, you have every right to ask, and I’d encourage you to do so. 

Benefits and Risks of Energy Work

The possible benefits of energy work are vast and will vary from method to method. I'll dive into specific benefits for each kind of energy work method I discuss in their respective sections. Here's a general list of benefits I've personally experienced from different kinds of energy work.

• can induce deep calmness and anxiety reduction

• can help you feel closer to the spirit realm and connected to All Life

• can aid in the balancing of the chakras and subtle body

• can spark physical healing (energy work should never replace the guidance of a medical professional)

• can bring messages from loved ones and spirits

• can help with the removal of unwanted or stagnant energy

• can be supportive in processing shadow work and trauma (energy work should never replace the guidance of a trained therapist)

• can offer a deep sense of feeling held

• can give greater perspective on life issues

• can help with decision making

• can bring about a general sense of peace and ease

Are there any risks to energy work. Yes and no. Some forms of energy work are riskier than others. The practitioner is actively engaging with your energy for energy work like Reiki, Shamanic healing, and intuitive healing. This is a very intimate and vulnerable act. If you are highly sensitive to energy, it will be of utmost importance for you to be clear about what you do and do not want to experience and make sure you're a good fit with the person you intend to work with.

This is why it's so important to do your due diligence about who you decide to receive energy work from. If you find someone you'd like to receive energy work from, I suggest going within and asking something like, "Is ____________'s medicine in alignment with my highest good?" Notice what comes up. Beyond this, always be sure to run anyone through the questions offered above about who can practice energy work.Another risk is having too high of expectations. Remember, you have autonomy over yourself and your energy. If you go into a session thinking that the practitioner will be able to fix all of your problems in one hour, you might leave pretty disappointed. Energy work is not meant as a cure-all (though in some rare cases, it can be) and is intended, in my opinion, to be a catalyst for healing. I view energy work as a tool to spark healing, soothe the energy body, and open the door to spirit, but oftentimes, it will require further work from you as well. Also, who among us is truly perfectly healed? Here in physical, we will always have something we're moving through.

The Fine Print

Before we dig in, I have a few important things. See, I told you this was a big topic!

1. Energy work should never take the place of a trained medical professional or therapist. Though energy work can affect the body, and physical healing can take place, it should never replace the work of a doctor. We are multifaceted beings who require multifaceted care. I love receiving energy work, but you better believe I’m going to the hospital if I break my arm.    

1. I am not trained in all of the energy work methods mentioned below. As I mentioned above, I have experienced or administered and have thoroughly researched all of the methods I share here. I will link experts trained in each energy work method so you can experience it or learn more about them.

1. This is a non-exhaustive list of energy work techniques. I simply did not have room to share more energy work methods and techniques here, but I will list some more at the end of this article. 

Ok, let’s dive in!

Reiki 

I think Reiki is what most people think of when they hear energy work, but energy work is quite a diverse practice, as you'll find from this post. Here’s one explanation of what Reiki is from a past blog post by Eryn Johnson. 

“Reiki is a specific kind of energy work. It’s an energy healing modality that was channeled by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan. The word Reiki itself means “Universal Energy.” It’s Universal energy, spiritual energy, the energy of oneness, that can be channeled from one human being to another to facilitate healing.

Reiki has its own intelligence. You don’t have to be special to give Reiki, which is one of the things I love about it. We all have this energy within us–it simply gets awakened through a process called a Reiki attunement.” - Eryn Johnson 

Nowadays, it’s relatively easy to become “Reiki certified” and be deemed a “Reiki Master.” This is where like I mentioned above, it’s important to do your research and have discernment when seeking a Reiki practitioner.

The most insightful information I’ve heard and read about traditional Reiki has come from Marika Clymer, trained in traditional Japanese Reiki. If you are interested in receiving or learning more about traditional Reiki, I highly suggest learning more about Marika’s work. Visit her website to learn more or book a session here. Listen to an interview with her on the Living Open podcast here, where she discusses traditional Reiki and decolonial energetic healing. 

My personal experiences with Reiki have been wonderful. In my experience, it’s a very gentle form of energy work that always leaves me feeling like I’m floating in the clouds. 

Crystal Healing

Working with crystals for energy healing is great because it’s so accessible. You do not have to have an innate psychic gift to perform it on yourself, there’s loads of information available about it, and a few basic crystals are really all you need. Some good old quartz is my favorite go-to!

Crystal healing is based on the belief that because crystals are perfect crystalline structures, they can stabilize or shift the energy of other things and people around them. To learn more about crystal healing, check out this blog or my book “Understanding Crystals.”

In my experience, I do think you need to be pretty sensitive to energy and patient to notice this kind of energy work as the shifts can be subtle and happen slowly over time. Although, this isn’t everyone’s experience! For this reason, you’ll often find that crystal healing is combined with other kinds of energy or bodywork. It can be a standalone form of energy work, but it also makes a great compliment to many practices.

I highly suggest my friend Ashely Leavy of the Love and Light School of Crystal Healing to learn more about crystal healing. If you’d like to receive crystal healing, Ashley has recommended two of her former students, Samady Medina of Crystal Gaia and Peyton Johnson of Sol Energy Healing.

The Energy Alignment Method (EAM), The Emotion Code, and Applied Kinesiology

I’ve lumped these three together because they’re all based on variations of muscle testing. However, they do vary and are practiced and taught in different ways. 

Applied Kinesiology (not the same as Kinesiology) was developed in the early 1900s by an orthopaedic surgeon named R.W. Lovett. He used it to help determine the effects of Polio on his patients. It’s since been used and further developed by a variety of medical and energy work practitioners. Applied Kinesiology is based on the idea that when there is dis-ease or blocked energy within the body, muscles will be weakened, and subsequent muscle testing will yield a different response from the body. 

I’m most familiar with The Energy Alignment Method (EAM) by Yvette Taylor and The Emotion Code by Dr. Bradley Nelson, so that’s what I’ll focus on here. 

EAM uses a sway test (a form of muscle testing) to identify blocked or unhelpful energy patterns in the body. It then uses a series of unique steps to release the unwanted energy and ends by calling in the desired energy. The emotion code works similarly and uses muscle testing to find “trapped emotions” but uses a different method for releasing the trapped energy. 

I would probably tell you that this energy work modality was quackery if I hadn’t tried it myself because it almost seems too easy! Over the last year, I’ve worked with a wonderfully talented coach who uses EAM named Maria Saraphina. Not only could I feel the energy leaving my body when we did the EAM (I’m super sensitive to all things energy), but I also noticed marked differences around all of the issues we worked on. 

Personally, I prefer EAM to the Emotion Code and have benefited greatly from working with the EAM. I found the emotion code to be a bit harder to follow and appreciate that the EAM takes additional steps to call in desired energy. 

You certainly don’t need to hire a coach or practitioner who uses this method to benefit from it. It’s actually pretty straightforward to learn and try it out on your own. I suggest starting with Yvette Taylor’s book about EAM here or The Emotion Code by Dr. Bradley Nelson here. My friend and coach Maria also offers a free instructional video about EAM that you can find here. 

Breathwork and Pranayama

This is another powerful healing method that’s been under some controversy in recent years. Depending on who you ask, breathwork is pranayama (the ancient yogic practice of breath control). Still, some believe breathwork is a practice of its own, rooted in various other ancient practices. I’m not here to tell you which is true, nor have I done the necessary research to offer you an answer. Wherever you land, I do think it’s important to offer credit where credit is due. 

Pranayama is an ancient yogic practice that is one of the eight limbs of yoga and translates to “breath control” or “control over the life-giving force.” Breathwork pulls from a variety of cultures and practices. Both use a series of breathing techniques to control and move the flow of energy within the body. The idea is similar for both that by controlling the breath, one can create shifts and healing in the physical, emotional, and energetic body. 

I can not speak highly enough of the benefit of practicing some kind of breathing technique, whether it be pranayama or breathwork. I find it helps to calm the nervous system, get into a deeper state of meditation, helps to release stored trauma, and can activate intuition. The benefits of practicing pranayama or breathwork are vast. 

Like many of the other methods I’ve mentioned here, breathing is certainly something you can do on your own. However, the results can be intense. Pranayama and breathwork are not practices, in my opinion, that will always leave you feeling like you’re floating in the clouds (though it can). It can be incredibly emotional and physically draining. If you do want to practice pranayama or breathwork but do not have any prior experience with it, I highly suggest seeking the assistance of a trained practitioner to assist you, whether it be online or in-person. There are many group and solo sessions available by countless practitioners. Here’s a list of some I recommend. 

For Pranayama, Susan Barkataki offers online and in-person yoga teacher training from a lens of respecting the cultural heritage of yoga. 

Eryn Johnson, who shares posts here, often offers breathwork sessions here. You can also read a previous blog post by Eryn that dives deeper into breathwork here. 

Chauna Bryant also offers breathwork sessions and coaching options here. 

Shamanic and Intuitive Healing

I saved this one for the end because it’s the energy work field I work in, so I knew it would be the longest section! In my experience and personal practice, I’ve found a lot of overlap between shamanic and intuitive healing, which is why I’ve put them together. Shamanic practitioners often offer a wider array of services aside from energy healing, but for the sake of this post, I’ll be focusing on it as an energetic healing modality. 

I’d also like to make it clear that I’m using the term shamanism as an umbrella term here, as the term itself is rooted in Siberian practices from the Tungus people. Shamanic-like practices have been found in cultures worldwide, similar to the Tungus people and often referred to as core shamanism. This is a much bigger topic that I will speak to another day! Intuitive and shamanic healing is based on the idea that energy can be accessed, manipulated, and healed by people with psychic and intuitive gifts that have been initiated or trained in this kind of energy healing. Traditional healing in this way can be found in nearly all indigenous practices. 

Healers working in these modalities can “see” (objectively or subjectively in the mind’s eye) or sense (clairsentience) misaligned energy, blocked energy, cords, and physical issues. These healers can then remove, balance, or heal the energy through in-person or distance sessions. The healer will often enter a trancelike state to perform this kind of work but not always. Similar to Reiki, proximity is not necessary as all energy is connected. This work often relies heavily on collaborations between spirit guides and helping spirits from both the practitioner and the client.

My introduction into this work began when I received my first shamanic healing session in 2013 from my now mentor Robin Afinowich. It was the most impactful healing session I’ve experienced, but I will save my story and initiation into this work for a later post. 

This is a healing modality that you won’t find many certifications for because people are often born or initiated into this work and taught through lineages of teachers that don’t always honor certification the way so many do in the West. 

Of course, as for recommendations, I suggest my teacher, Robin Afinowich, but she only offers local sessions in the greater Phoenix area and is generally booked out.

Another intuitive energy worker I deeply respect who I’ve heard speak about her practice often is Judea Star. She also co-hosts an amazing podcast called Spirit Speakers, which I highly recommend! You can learn more about her or book an intuitive healing session with her here. 

Other kinds of energy work

This is truly such a brief introduction to energy work! There are so many other powerful kinds of energy work that I didn’t have room to discuss here. Some of my personal favorites are sound healing, acupuncture, and reflexology. 

Phew, my friend! Did you make it to the end with me? If you did, I hope you enjoyed and learned something from all of this information. As always, if you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with someone you think will enjoy it too. If you have a question feel free to comment on social media here or reach out via email here. 

The Importance of Pleasure + 3 Pleasure Rituals

We are spiritual beings, but here as humans, we have bodies. Our bodies experience a wide range of sensations and emotions — fear, anxiety, shame, joy, love, pleasure, and many more.

Pleasure is one of the things that feels so specific to having a body - something that’s available to us through the tactile, through sensation, through what we can see and feel and touch.

One of my favorite quotes about pleasure comes from the classic The Ethical Slut: “pleasure is a worthwhile goal in and of itself.”

Many of us have learned in our society that prioritizing pleasure is selfish, unnecessary, and even wrong. But pleasure is our birthright, and as the quote above shares — it is worth pursuing. We all deserve to experience pleasure. 

In this blog, I’m sharing three rituals to help you tap into pleasure. Scroll down to read them!

Before we jump into the rituals, here's a list of ritual items that correspond to pleasure. Any of these items can be used to help you set the intention to invite in more pleasure. They are in no way necessary, but if you have them on hand, feel free to add them to any of the following rituals.

Pleasure Correspondences:

Crystals- rose quartz, garnet, carnelian, ruby

Element- Water

Colors- pink, red, orange

Tarot cards- The Empress, Queen of Cups, The Sun

Plants and scents- Rose, sandalwood, ylang ylang, patchouli, cinnamon

Shell- CowryEnergy points- Sacral

1. Presence Ritual

To me, one of the key ingredients to pleasure is presence. Many of us aren’t present throughout our days for many deeply valid reasons, from trauma to busyness, but when we aren’t present with our lives, I believe we miss out on a lot of the pleasure available to us in the moment.

For this presence ritual, all you’ll need to do is bring presence to something you’re doing in your day. Here are some examples of things you could try doing more mindfully to experience the pleasure within them:

• Taking a walk

• Eating a snack or a meal 

• Gardening

• Watching the sunset

• Having a conversation with someone you love 

• Listening to a song you love 

• Listening to a poem over audio 

• Moving your body in some way (yoga, dancing, running, etc.)

• Having sex (solo or with others) 

Whatever you choose, try to ground yourself beforehand with a few breaths, a hand on your body, petting your animal companion, or doing something else that feels grounding for you. 

Throughout the experience, try to keep your breath deep and truly notice your embodied experience. When you feel yourself drifting back into your mind (I can almost guarantee this will happen, and that’s okay!), try to just notice that, release the thoughts, and return to your breath. Just keep showing up with your breath and your presence, and see how it helps you attune to the pleasure that’s available to you at this moment. 

2. Exploring the Senses Pleasure Ritual

This ritual is inspired by a group experience I took part in at Spirit Weavers a few years ago called Pleasure Stacking.

For this ritual, you’ll want to gather items that can stimulate the senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch). Get creative and use what you have around you! What items in your space open up possibilities for you, feel delicious, or spark curiosity? 

Here are some things that I have used for this ritual to inspire you: 

• Crystals with different textures 

• Silky fabrics 

• Eye mask 

• A delicious tincture that tastes like cacao  

• Fruit  

• A CBD pre-roll  

• Velvety fabrics 

• Scented massage oil  

• Incense  

• Candles 

• A chain from a necklace  

• Sensual music  

1. Once you select the items you'll be working with for this ritual, set yourself up somewhere you feel comfortable - I like to lay down on a yoga mat on the floor.

2. Light your candles and incense if you’re using them, and start to breathe deeply and tune into the senses.

3. The intention of this ritual is to connect with pleasure through the senses and through the body. The only guideline is to use your tools intuitively and keep breathing!

4. Try to really stay present with sensation. You might start by rubbing oil on your body and massaging yourself, experimenting with different pressures. You might trace the chain from your necklace over your belly, taste your tincture or fruit, let your music wash over you and find organic movement, breathe in the scent of your incense, or wrap yourself in different fabrics.

5. As you work with this ritual, notice what happens in your body. Notice what feels delicious in your body, what just feels weird, what your body wants more of. Can you give yourself what you need?

6. As you keep tuning into the senses, allow any organic pleasure mantras to arise like “I deserve pleasure,” “My pleasure is sacred,” or “My pleasure matters.”

7. Notice, too, if shame arises or thoughts telling you that you don’t deserve pleasure, it’s not okay to feel good, etc. Allow these thoughts and feelings to be here - it’s okay! They’re important information. See if you can breathe into them, honor them, and return to your journey through the senses.

8. Take as much time as you need. Remember that experiencing pleasure is your birthright.

9. When you’re ready, close this ritual by placing your hands somewhere on your body and speaking some loving words to yourself, to your body, to whichever parts of you need it.

Ritual to Open to More Pleasure

This ritual is intended to support you in feeling in your body where you hold blocks to pleasure - and moving them out in a fun way. 

In my opinion, it’s not only our tears and pain that move energy and blockages. We can open to more pleasure, and we can move blocks out of our bodies in a fun and playful way as well. In this way, we become open to experiencing more pleasure and create a new pattern in the body. 

For this ritual, feel free to put on some music and create a sacred space, whatever that means to you - (maybe lighting candles or incense, or not - you are a sacred space so you don't have to do anything but you can if you'd like!).

You’ll want to be somewhere you can be comfortable, like in your bed or on a yoga mat.

1. Once you're set up and comfortable, start to feel in your body where you hold blocks to pleasure. I recommend starting by sitting in meditation and breathing deep, feeling these places that are present today (and if you can’t feel anything, that’s okay too).

2. When you feel ready, start to move those blocks in a fun and intuitive way. Just play - see if you can let the moving of these blocks itself be fun and pleasurable.

3. You can use laughter, orgasm, shaking, yelling, roaring, moaning, hissing, vibrating, circling, dancing, moving, or anything else you can feel into or think of to move these blocks out of your body.

4. Can you let it be pleasurable? Can you let it be fun even to heal and explore and transmute? Let your creativity and intuition take over when it comes to moving these crunchy, sticky places out of your body.

5. When you feel complete, take a moment to breathe and notice your new state. Can you feel where there is more space, more openness, in your body? How does your connection to yourself feel now? Breathe, notice, and perhaps take a few moments to explore these questions and process your experience in your journal.

Looking for more pleasure-based rituals? Check out this blog post for more rituals for Beltane!

3 Ways to Understand the Health of your Chakras

When it comes to working with chakra energy, one of the first questions I receive is how to know if your chakras are blocked. Like all things relating to energy work, there are a variety of ways to approach working with your chakras.

Before we dive in, the most important thing for you to understand is how you receive extrasensory information. I dive deeper into this topic in a past blog post here. If you don't know what kind of "clair" you are, I suggest you give it a quick read. You can also check out a graphic I created below for some of the most common clairs. 

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In this post, I'll break down why understanding the health of your chakras can be beneficial to you in everyday life and in your spiritual growth. I share three methods in this post, which you can apply to understand the health of your chakras and, in some cases, heal them. 

Why would you want to understand the health of your chakras? 

As above, so below. As within, so without. I refer to this adage often because it's so applicable to spiritual work. What goes on in your energetic body (auras and chakras) can also manifest in your physical body and vice versa. 

Understanding the health of each of your chakras will shed light on your physical health, current life situations, future path, and where you may want to focus your energy. 

Let's dig into some ways to start working with and understanding the energy of your chakras. 

Understanding the Polarities of Each Chakra

Understanding the traits associated with each chakra will enable you to ascertain the health of your chakras quickly. This method can take a bit of time, especially if the chakras are new to you. You'll need to have a deep understanding of the polarities of each chakra. What I mean by this are the traits of each chakra when they're functioning optimally, and the shadow aspects of them as well when they're blocked. The expression of each chakra can range from overly open, balanced, to totally blocked, or somewhere in between. I discuss this more in this video. 

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Here's an example of how this technique can be applied. Have you ever felt overwhelmed and like you can't focus? These are all manifestations of a blocked or stagnant root chakra. The root chakra is responsible for your sense of safety and connection to the earth. If you're feeling this way, the next step would be to take action to activate and balance your root chakra. This could mean simply taking a break to go for a walk outside or performing a quick root chakra meditation. 

Here are my top suggestions to gain a better understanding of the polarities of each chakra. 

• If you want to dive into understanding the chakras right now, find blog posts on each of the chakras here: root chakra, sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, heart chakra, throat chakra, third eye chakra, and the crown chakra. 

• I also cover the chakras in The Goddess Discovery Book V1, The Ritual Deck, and in my new book Understanding Chakras. These are great options if you'd like ritual suggestions and tools to go along with each chakra. 

• For deep dives into understanding each of the chakras, I suggest Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith PhD and the Complete Book of Chakras by Cyndi Dale. I'm particularly fond of Dale's book as it offers information on chakra systems from around the world. 

Feeling Chakra Energy with your Hands

If you consider yourself clairsentient and feel energy easily, this technique will work well for you. Even if you're not clairsentient, I encourage you to try, as anyone can learn and acquire new kinds of psychic abilities!

Your chakras are spinning wheels of energy, continually taking in and emitting energy. If you have the gift of clairsentience, you'll be able to feel this energy coming out of your body. I share the best way to get started with this technique in a previous post that also has a video breaking this technique down. Click here to check it out. 

Essentially, you're going to want to get yourself into a meditative state, activate the chakras in your hands by rubbing them together and begin to hover your hands above where each of your chakras is. You may start to feel a bulge of energy push your hands out as you come near each chakra. How far the chakra comes out from your body can be an indication of how under or overactive it is. You may also receive information about the health of each chakra as you feel into each one. 

Using a Pendulum to Work with Your Chakras

Pendulums are such a useful spiritual tool! If pendulums are brand new to you and you want to get the basics, check out this previous post here. There are SO many useful applications for pendulums, and understanding the health of your chakras is one of them. The technique I share here works well for doing chakra readings on yourself or others. If you're working on yourself or someone else remotely, you'll need a pendulum and a piece of paper or a drawing of someone with the chakras. You don't need anything fancy though and can even use a piece of paper with the chakras written down on it as a reference. Your pendulum won't know the difference! If you're working on someone else in person, all you'll need is your trusty pendulum. 

Before you start, ensure that you have formed a good relationship with your pendulum. You must understand how your pendulum communicates with you. Generally speaking, a clockwise swirl means "yes" or "open," and a counterclockwise swirl means "no" or "closed."

How to check your chakras with a pendulum: 

1. As with all spiritual work, take a moment to quiet yourself. 

2. Call on any spiritual support you'd like (guides, angels, ancestors, etc.).

3. Hold your pendulum over each chakra and ask if the chakra is open or closed.

4. The pendulum should begin to swirl one way or the other, indicating the health of each chakra. It is possible that the pendulum won't move at all; check out this previous post I mentioned above for more on why a pendulum might not move. 

5. Once finished, thank any spiritual aids you called on. 

As always, run any information you received through your intuitive filter, and if it feels off, you don't have to act on it. If you feel like the reading you received from your pendulum is accurate, you can now take steps to work with any chakras that may be blocked, stagnant, or overactive. 

The best thing about the pendulum technique is that after you've worked with a chakra that's a little off, you can retest with your pendulum. I'm often astounded at how quickly I'll get an open and balanced swirl from my pendulum after working on a chakra that needed some extra love. 

Breathwork Basics // Understanding & Getting Started with Breathwork

Breathwork has been practiced for centuries across many different cultures - Chinese, Jewish, the ancient Greeks, India, different tribes in Africa, and more - for healing, reaching ecstatic states, reaching states of extraordinary consciousness, self-discovery, and spiritual healing.

My definition of breathwork is consciously working with the breath for healing. 

We breathe every day, of course, but often we’re breathing unconsciously. When I first found breathwork through yogic pranayama, it shocked me how powerful it was to breathe consciously. Different breathwork patterns can bring up various things with you, offer varying levels of intensity, and creating a wide variety of effects.

In the book Holotropic Breathwork, author Stanislav From shares that the word breath can be translated to mean spirit or soul.  In Latin, the word spiritus is used to describe the physical intake of air but is also the word for spirit. 

Breath nourishes us on a physical level (we literally can’t live without it!), but for centuries different cultures have thought of breath a bit differently: as spirit, as life force.

In this blog, I’ll be sharing a bit about the benefits of breathwork, a few different styles of breathwork, and how to get started with a breathwork practice of your own. 

BENEFITS OF BREATHWORK

One of the things I love about breathwork is how different every experience can be. With that in mind, here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the benefits I have personally experienced through breathwork and/or witnessed clients experience: 

• Unblock creativity

• Open to your intuition

• Open your heart 

• Heal trauma 

• Feel your feelings

• Ground and drop into your body

• Calm your mind 

• Relax 

• Release stress 

• Release shame 

• Clear stuck energy from your body 

• Experience joy, love, and pleasure 

• Connect with yourself

• Connect with the Universe

• Find a place of steadiness and peace within 

• Heal unhealthy patterns

• Release fear  

I’ll share about three different patterns of breath to work within the sections below,  but please know that this is just a sampling of the many different breath patterns out there. 

DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING

We start here with a simple but powerful breath, also known as abdominal breath or belly breath. I find this breath to be relaxing, grounding, and centering. It helps us get into the body and release stress and tension, making it a great meditative practice. 

The intention of this breath is to breathe deeply in through your nose into your belly and exhale out of the nose or, ideally, the mouth. 

Your belly expands with your inhale (because of the downward movement of your diaphragm) and contracts to your spine with your exhale (because of the upward movement of the diaphragm). Breathing into your belly really means that the lowest lobes of the lungs, somewhere we don’t usually breathe into, are being filled with breath. 

This breath can be done lying down or sitting up, and I highly recommend placing one hang or both hands on your belly to really get a feel for the movement of the breath.

Try this breath out with five or ten rounds of inhales and exhales to start, then spend a moment noticing how your body feels. What sensations are present?

BREATHWORK

The style of breathwork I am trained in and facilitate is simply called breathwork and was taught to me by my teacher David Elliott. This breath comes from the pranayama tradition in India. 

This three-part active breath is intended to move stuck emotional energy, and it’s the most powerful breath style I know to heal trauma, open your heart, and move energy. With that being said, it is a much more intense breath than diaphragmatic breathing and has a few contraindications. 

For any breathwork, you’ll want to talk to your doctor if you have a condition or health issue you’re concerned about. For this breath specifically, talk to your doctor before practicing if you’re in your first trimester of pregnancy, have a history of seizures, experience retinal detachment, or have an aneurysm. 

This breath can create a lot of sensation in the body, including vibration and tingling and/or numbness in different parts of the body. It can bring up memories, intense emotions like anger, and grief. Sometimes, folks will connect with a guide, or ancestor, or have another type of dreamlike experience. 

To practice this breath, you’ll want to either lay down or prop yourself up - just make sure you’re fully supported in whatever way feels best to your body. When you’re ready, breathe in through your mouth into your belly, in through your mouth into your heart/high chest, and out through your mouth. 

To try out this breathwork, start with just five minutes of breath followed by a few minutes of rest and integration. Or, check out the Zenned Out IGTV to breathe along with me in a short guided breathwork practice. 

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BOX BREATH

Box breath, or square breath, can help regulate the nervous system, lower blood pressure, improve sleep, and help you feel more relaxed - making it a great breath to practice when you’re feeling stressed or to relax before bed. 

According to the Mayo Clinic, the slow holding of the breath “allows carbon dioxide to build up in the blood, which enhances the cardio-inhibitory response of the vagus nerve when you exhale and stimulates your parasympathetic system. This produces a calm and relaxed feeling in the mind and body.”

Box breath can be done sitting up (recommended) or lying down if needed. To practice, inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for a count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 4 (this is internal breath retention). Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 4. Hold the breath out for 4 (this is external breath retention). So you’ll inhale for four counts, hold the breath in for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold the breath out for four counts.

You can change the counts to match your lung capacity, perhaps working with a count of 3 for a lower capacity for 8 for a larger one. You may find that your capacity grows as you continue to practice, as well. 

Try it out with four cycles of breath, then notice how you feel. 

CREATE A REGULAR BREATHWORK PRACTICE

The most incredible thing about breathwork is that it truly allows you to become your own healer. It’s a body-based, self-healing practice that is quite accessible for most folks. 

You now have three different styles of breathwork to work with - I recommend trying them all out, and seeing what feels best for you. Then, try committing to practicing that style of breathwork every day for at least a week for just a few minutes, journaling about how the practice made you feel after each practice. 

If you’d like to learn more about breathwork, I recommend checking out my wonderful friend Jennifer Patterson’s book The Power of Breathwork. 

Walking the Path of Infertility & 5 Spiritual Tools to Help

Walking the path of infertility was one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced during this lifetime. If you’re walking this path, I see you, and I send you my love and encouragement because I know how hard it is. For four years, I was unable to conceive naturally, and I tried all the things. Eventually, after four years of walking the infertility path, I became pregnant and birthed my sweet twins, Ellis Andrew and Lillian Hart. Here I’m sharing some of the tools that helped me through this journey.

Let me preface this post with a gentle reminder that your experience is unique, and so was mine. Please, take what you like and leave the rest. My suggestions are based on my individual experience and may or may not work for you. 

I’d want to be extremely transparent about all of the tools that I relied upon throughout my infertility journey. I am a huge advocate for therapy and found a therapist that specialized in working with women who were struggling with infertility (she actually went through IVF herself!). If you live in Arizona and want her contact info, please send me a note here. I also used a variety of holistic and modern Western medical interventions, including acupuncture, massage, herbs, IUI, and ultimately, IVF. IUI and IVF are not for everyone, and certainly has its many downfalls, but it was the path I chose. 

The suggestions I offer you here have less to do with becoming pregnant and more to do with loving yourself where you’re at. I believe, for me, that the acceptance and peace I found around this issue is what ultimately lead me to conception. This isn’t the case for everyone, and as I said, this is a deeply personal path that is unique to each individual. Be open, but, if something doesn’t feel like a good fit, that’s okay! 

Berkano card featured from The Ritual Deck.

CREATE AN ALTAR

Having an altar gives you an area to hold space for all of the big emotions that go along with infertility. Early in my infertility journey, I made an altar for my unborn child. If you’re feeling this, go for it, but I’ll be honest and tell you that I took it apart in a fit of rage and rebuilt an altar for myself. I was so glad I did, and here’s why. 

For me, so much of the infertility journey was me constantly doing and trying new things, often with little regard for my body and energy. I can’t tell you how many times Dr’s would say, “This procedure is perfectly harmless and painless!” only to discover that it was indeed painful and very emotionally taxing. I felt like a human pin cushion on an emotional rollercoaster. I needed a space for myself more than anything, not for my unborn child! My unborn children were totally fine; I was the one who was struggling. 

So, my recommendation is to focus on you and honor your feelings as much as you can throughout the process. One powerful way to do this is to dedicate a space to yourself and your feelings with an altar. Think of your altar as a container for all of the big things you’re not ready to face or need a break from. I would even visualize placing my big emotions in a safe little container stored on my altar until I was prepared to confront them. 

Check out the video below to learn more about creating an altar, embodying the mother archetype, and leaning into shadow for infertility.

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Altars work well for grief and hardships of all kinds! Click here to check out a post I shared a while ago about how to create an altar. 

EMBODYING THE MOTHER ARCHETYPE WITH BERKANO AND THE TRIPLE GODDESS 

You do not need to bear children to be a mother. This was huge for me in my journey. In fact, I even tattooed the Rune Berkano on my finger as a reminder. I decided to have Berkano tattooed on my finger after I came to a place of acceptance about possibly not being able to have my own children. I wanted it as a reminder that I could be a mother in a variety of different ways. Berkano is a Rune that represents creation, birth, and fulfillment. It is often associated with fertility and motherhood. 

The Triple Goddess symbol is another symbol I used to tap into the energy of motherhood. The Triple Goddess symbol consists of the waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon representing the maiden, the mother, and the crone. This lunar reminder suggests that we can embody all aspects of the Triple Goddess at different times in our life. You don’t need to be young to act like the maiden, and you do not need to have children to embody the mother. Beyond the archetypes associated with the Triple Goddess, the moon phases also point to a reminder that everything is a phase and nothing is forever, just like the infertility journey. Read more about the Triple Goddess in a post I wrote here. 

You don’t have to have these special symbols tattooed on your body to work with them! But if you want to, by all means ;) You can add these symbols to your altar, meditate on them, create art with them, and wear them. 

MEDITATION

There are SO MANY choices to be made along the infertility journey, believe me, I know. Here are just a few, “Should I try IUI or IVF?” “Should I adopt?” “Should I stop trying altogether?” “Why do I think I don’t deserve to have children?” “Should I switch to a new Dr.?”, “Should I go the holistic route first?”, “What are my limits with this process?”. These are just a few examples of some of the big questions that went through my mind during my infertility journey. 

When life hands you any difficult situation, meditation is a powerful tool for a variety of reasons. Meditation will help soothe your possibly stressed nervous system to give you the space to feel and process some of the big emotions and questions connected to infertility. Once you’ve gotten to a place where you’ve experienced some of your emotions, meditation can help again by giving you clarity around any questions or confusion you may have about your path. 

If you’re new to meditation, I suggest trying a 5-minute meditation every day and then bump it up to 10 minutes a day when you feel ready. Click here to read a great blog post about meditation and how to start and stick with a meditation practice. 

My final IVF attempt that resulted in the viable pregnancy of my twin babes happened when my meditation practice was the strongest. I was actually hosting a two-week meditation challenge on Instagram at the time. I was the most at peace I’d been throughout my entire infertility journey and can say, honestly, that I knew I’d be okay whether or not my final IVF resulted in pregnancy. Now, I don’t think it was only my solid meditation practice that made this IVF attempt stick, it was a culmination of several things, but I know that it certainly helped!

CRYSTALS ALLIES

I saved this tool for the end because, though I do believe crystals are mega-powerful, I also think they can be a crutch. I like to use crystals in tandem with other tools, like the ones I mentioned above, not as a solo tool. Personally, I think crystals work best when their energy can be layered with other actionable steps. 

Here’s my list of crystals to help with infertility, bonus they’re all also great for pregnancy and connecting with Goddess energy!

Card featured from The Ritual Deck.

Moonstone- Moonstone, in all of its varieties, corresponds to femininity, the Triple Goddess, the element of water, and cycles. Working with moonstone can serve as a potent reminder that everything you experience is a phase. On a physical level, moonstone is said to help regulate cycles within the body. Moonstone is a gentle enough stone to keep in the bedroom on your nightstand or under your bed. 

Carnelian- There’s nothing like scheduled sex that will take the passion out of your sex life! Carnelian connects with both the root and the sacral chakra, making it ideal for connecting with your passion. It is also another stone that can help heal the reproductive organs. 

Rhodonite- If you’re in the trenches of infertility, you’re going to need a lot of self-love and self-acceptance. Rhodonite is here to help. Rhodonite is also said to help with fertility directly, but I relied on it more for its emotional balancing. When I was TTC and struggling, I had a rhodonite mala necklace created for me and used it often during meditation. 

Smokey Quartz- If you’ve been at this long, then you probably already know that that 2ww (two-week wait) is one of the most anxiety-provoking times of the month! Not to mention your hormones are at their peak! Smokey quartz can be your grounding and anxiety soothing bestie during this time. 

LOOK FOR THE SOUL LESSON AND DIVE DEEP INTO SHADOW

My last suggestion, and it’s a pretty esoteric one, is to look for the soul lessons in your infertility journey. I believe, before we are born, our souls decide what lessons we need to learn while in human form to help us progress. For me, this is where therapy and meditation really helped. It became evident to me throughout my process that I had a deep belief that I did not deserve to have children and that to be happy, I had to struggle. 

Much of my infertility journey involved getting nice and cozy with my shadow side (learn more about shadow work here) and negative the storylines I was choosing to live in. In therapy, I explored my beliefs about being undeserving and where they stemmed from through EMDR therapy. EMDR therapy gave me the tools I needed to explore these darker aspects of my life and ultimately heal them. 

My meditation practice helped me become more aware of when these stories would come to mind, so I could look at them with clarity and not attach to them. For me, this step was not the sort of thing I did in a day or even a week; it was a long process. 

I could obviously write about this for an entire book worth of writing! If you’re walking the infertility path and have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here. Remember, there’s a lesson in everything, even when it’s hard. Nothing lasts forever, and you are always supported!

I hope these tools offer you some peace and healing. I’m sending you so much love, hope, and strength for your journey, wherever it leads you. 

Energy Clearing 101 // For You & Your Home

At the smallest level, we are beings of energy. Your aura can radiate several inches out from your body and can pick up energy from people you don’t even know. If you consider yourself an empath, it’s even more likely that you’re picking up energy that doesn’t belong to you.

Stuck inside your home for weeks on end, you say, due to a virus? You’re in the right place! I’m going to share best practices for cleansing the energy of yourself, your space, and a variety of energy cleansing tools. Use all of them, one of them, or any combination. They’re all useful, and many of the tools suggested you might already have in your home. 

Tip: you don’t need to be a trained Reiki master to cleanse the energy of yourself and your space! These tools are great for the novice and expert alike. 

Why is Energy Clearing Important?

Your subtle body (energy body) is connected to your physical body. This is reflected in the phrase, “as above so below.” What this common phrase points to is that if the energy of yourself and your space goes untended, it will no doubt begin to manifest in your physical body and your actions, and vice versa. If left untended, this bubble of energy swirling around your physical body will begin to muddy up your home as well. 

Cleansing your energy and the energy of your home is one of the fastest ways to lift your spirits. It also makes for good energy hygiene! I’m sure you’ve had the experience of going over to someone’s house, and the energy just felt heavy, or like it stuck to you even after you left? When you let the energy of yourself or your living space stagnate or pile up, it can begin to affect other areas of your life. 

Energy Cleansing Process

Before we dive into my suggestions for cleansing tools, let’s explore a few best practices for the energy cleansing process.

1. Dedicate time, 15-30 minutes, to the sacred practice of energy cleansing. Maybe even consider setting a weekly time to cleanse yourself and your space. Turning it into a regular ritual will mean you’re more likely to do it every week, and you’ll probably start to really look forward to it. I know I do. You’ll also probably start to become more aware of the energy building up in your space and how it affects you. 

2. Clean and declutter physically first. This will get you into the right state of mind to clean the energy of your space. This doesn’t have to be a thorough deep clean, but get your space clean enough that you’re not going to be distracted by any messes.

3. Get your energy flowing. I like to dance, do some yoga, meditate, or do some breathwork before I begin my cleansing process. Anything to get your energy going and raise your vibration a bit helps! This isn’t mandatory, but it will help get your prana (life force) moving and your energy flowing. This will make it easier for you to clear away stagnant energy in your aura. 

4. Know what kind of energy you want to bring into your energy field after you cleanse. Anytime you clear out stagnant or unwanted energy, it’s important to bring in the energy you want to fill up all of that extra space. If you skip this step, all of that cleared energy will likely just fill back up with all of the same stuff you cleared out. Some of the tools used for cleansing that I share below can also be used for bringing in some good energy. I like to use my energy, the energy of a higher power, candles, and selenite to bring positive energy, and I dive deeper into each of these below. 

Salt

Salt has been used as a purification tool since ancient times. From witches to ancient cultures, salt acts as a tool to banish all kinds of unwanted energy. My favorite thing about salt is how versatile it is! Here are three ways to use salt for energy clearing. 

• Take a salt bath

• Sprinkle dry salt around the edges of your house

• Make or purchase a salt spray by mixing salt and water. Spray it around yourself and your house. 

Card featured from the Ritual Deck

Smoke & Herbs

Like salt, smoke cleansing dates back to the ancients. A variety of plants have been prized for their energetic clearing throughout history and are still used to this day. You probably have some of these dried herbs in your spice cabinet!

I suggest exploring the plants used in your ancestral lineage for space cleansing first. If you want to rely on popular favorites like white sage and palo santo, be sure to do your research and ensure that you’re purchasing from a company that’s harvesting the plants ethically. 

Herbs and resin for energy clearing: 

• Rosemary

• Thyme

• Peppermint

• Sage- garden sage, desert sage, and blue sage are some great alternatives to white sage. 

• Frankincense resin

• Copal resin

You can burn sprigs of loose herbs, wrap them in a bundle for a smoke wand (learn how to make your own here), diffuse essential oils, or if you have fresh versions, you can simply hang them in your space for the aroma. 

Candles

Candles can be used for a multitude of purposes, including energy clearing. Candles are also a great tool for bringing in the kind of energy you want after you cleanse unwanted energy. To cleanse your space, I suggest a white candle. Light the white candle and walk around your space while visualizing a white cleansing light, clearing out negativity. Next, you can light a candle color associated with the energy you want to bring into your space. Learn more about candle magick here. 

Crystals

When it comes to energy cleansing, selenite is my favorite! Selenite is a high vibrational crystal that is queen when it comes to cleansing away unwanted energy. Selenite is often sold in wands and plates, which are ideal for energy cleansing. You can use a wand to comb through your aura or a plate to rest objects on that you’d like to cleanse. Check out the video below to watch a video of my cleansing the energy of my shop and using a selenite wand to cleanse my aura. 

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Some other great options are clear quartz, amethyst, and black tourmaline. Crystals are another tool that can be used to bring in the desired energy after cleansing. To do this, place some crystals out that represent the kind of energy you want to bring in. 

Crystal tip: Supercharge the cleansing power of your crystals by creating a crystal grid for cleansing. Learn more about creating a crystal grid here. 

Sound

Sounds are an incredibly powerful and often undervalued cleansing tool. Sound occurs from vibration; the vibration causes the air molecule around the source of the vibration to vibrate. The vibrating air molecules affect more than just your eardrums, which turn the vibrations into the sound you hear, but will match everything around it to its vibration as well. This process is called entrainment.

Use sound to cleanse yourself, your crystals, and your home. You don’t have to have expensive singing bowls to cleanse with sound either. There are a variety of sound healing tools available. Here are some of my favorites. 

• Tuning forks

• Gongs

• Chimes

• Chanting 

• Singing bowls

• Online frequencies (free and paid versions are available)

Learn more about sound healing here.

Your Energy and Energy from a Higher Power

Using your energy or that of a power greater than yourself (Goddess, God, Angels, spirit guides,  Source Energy, Universe, loved ones passed on, etc.) can be used for both energy clearing and bringing in the kind of energy you want. I like to use this technique in tandem with other tools. For example, if I’m using a white candle to cleanse my space, I will ask Source Energy to help remove stagnant and negative energy. After cleansing, I will call on ancestors and guides to bring in good vibes and inspiration. 

You can work with this kind of energy through visualization, asking for the presence of your higher power of choice, and by placing physical reminders such as pictures or amulets of your higher power of choice.

Energy hygiene will have a ripple effect on your life. Remember, as above so below, as within so without. Whatever is going on inside will reflect what’s going on inside. I hope these tips help to keep your energy clear and flowing, sweet soul!