What If Your Healing Could Ripple Through Generations: Soul Rising Graduate Shares Her Teaching Impact

A middle school classroom can feel like a storm of emotions, hormones, and stories and that’s before we even get to the hard parts of history. Our guest, public school educator and Soul Rising graduate Lola Reddy, shares the real behind-the-scenes work that helps her stay steady: daily Reiki, clear energetic boundaries, and the kind of deep healing that changes how you respond when life is lifing. 

We talk about what drew Lola into Soul Rising during a major personal transition and why “self-work first” isn’t a slogan, it’s survival for caretakers, parents, and empaths. Lola breaks down her simple morning Reiki routine (breath, chakra focus, intention, and a protective bubble) and explains the difference it makes in patience, clarity, and classroom culture. We also explore somatic movement, matriarchal lineage support, and shamanic journeying that doesn’t require perfect visuals to be powerful. 

Then Lola shares unforgettable moments of synchronicity: a Fire Horse journey that later mirrors a real tunnel-to-light experience, Lunar New Year symbols appearing in ordinary life, and a power animal story that moves through fear, grief, and surprising support. We also go into what it means to teach slavery, lynching, and discrimination truthfully while protecting students’ emotional wellness, and why mentorship and community matter when you’re doing spiritual growth without the guru model. 

If you’re craving grounded spirituality, practical energy hygiene, and a path back to self-sourced wisdom, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a teacher or empath in your life, and leave a review so more people can find the work. 

Lola asks that if you enjoyed this episode, please consider donating to Foot Soldiers Park to preserve Selma history at https://footsoldierspark.org/donate/

If you are interesting in joining Shantel Ochoa for Soul Contract & Alchemizing Archetypes Masterclass, learn more here: https://moonrisinginstitute.circle.so/c/soul-contracts-archetypes/

Moon Rising Shamanic Institute Links:
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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@moonrisinginstitute
Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://moonrisinginstitute.kit.com/spiritguide

Book a session with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/90-minutes-intensive

Book a FREE 10 minute connect call with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/10-minute-connect-call-srpt

Transcript

Welcome To Wisdom Rising

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Wisdom Rising, the podcast of Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. Join shamanic Reiki practitioners Christine Renee and Chantel Ochoa as we dance between worlds of shamanism, mysticism, and energy healing. Each week we illuminate your path to self-sourced wisdom and attune you to the whispers of wisdom rising from within. Welcome back to another episode of Wisdom Rising. I am your host, Christine Renee, and today we have on a special guest, Lola Reddy, who is one of our Soul Rising graduates. Really excited to hear her story. She is a school teacher. She has so much wisdom to offer us on how she is making a change within this system and how her life was fully impacted by our Soul Rising program. So I'm really looking forward to hear her story. But before we do, I have a short PSA from Chantel, who is starting her archetypes class and soul contracts class tomorrow, her master class for the summer. So we're going to listen to that, that sound bite over the next few minutes, and then we're going to dive right into the interview. And I hope you enjoy today's episode.

Soul Contracts And Archetypes Invitation

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Hi everyone and welcome to today's podcast. This is just a little intro to introduce you and to invite you to my eight-week Soul Contract and Archetype masterclass. I am currently offering a discount of $111 towards your tuition, towards this program. And I really just wanted to give a moment to share with you what I feel about this program because it is something that has really helped me in my life. And knowing soul contracts and how to work with my archetypes has helped me to not just heal, but to alchemize, to manifest, to create the desired reality that I want, because I'm able to work through the victim, the saboteur, the prostitute, my inner child. I actually can see them in real life, in real time, and within my energy, within my behaviors. And because I can do that, it's helped me to recognize that I am in control of my life. I'm a co-creator of my own journey. And this is being offered to you now because there comes a point in life when you realize that you're not here to live anyone else's story. You're here to remember your own. And it's important that we do that. Your soul contract is an energetic blueprint that your soul chose before you even arrived here. Your lessons, your gifts, your relationships, your challenges, and the purposes that you were meant to live through, to grow through that were here to shape you on your own journey. And your archetypes reveal how you move through those experiences. They uncover the hidden patterns, the strengths and wounds, and the soul gifts that influence every area of your life, from relationships to careers and abundance and personal growth. And in this master's class, we're going to deep dive into all of it. All of it. And when you can really feel that energy, you know you can embody the alchemized, the light version of them, which is the warrior, the lover, the magician, the sovereign being within yourself. So you'll discover why certain things keep showing up in your life, what your soul is here to learn, and how you stop, you can stop fighting your path and start working with it. This isn't about predicting your future. It's about understanding yourself on a deeper level than ever before. And when you understand your soul contracts and your archetypes, things begin to make sense. The struggles that once felt random reveal their purpose. The gifts that you overlooked become more clear, and the next steps on your journey feel aligned instead of forced. So if you have been seeing my post, if this has been pulling at you, if you have been called to really deep dive or to learn something more about yourself, if you've been going through all the techniques and all the different healing methods and talk therapy and everything, and you're still feeling like there's just something that's missing, this might be it for you. And so you already know within. It's about you integrating the information and about it showing up in your real life in real time. And so if this calls to you, please go into the show notes, click on the link, learn more about this master class, and hopefully I'll see you in class tomorrow. Have a great day, everyone.

Meet Lola And Her Why

SPEAKER_02 6:15

And now let's go ahead and dive in today's episode with Lola Reddy. Welcome back to Wisdom Rising. I am super excited for our special guest today. Lola Reddy is one of our Soul Rising graduates, and she is a public school educator, and she is in this deep work of providing a space for her students to really break generational curses and to provide really nurturing spaces. And I just love that she wanted, she asked to come on. She wanted to come on to tell about her soul rising journey with us, as well as like how she has gone from being just a lifelong learner, a lover of history and podcasts and learning and growths and all the things, and really has seen her story play out and really accepting how the life is just lifing and playing out. And just really excited to have not only this eighth-grade humanities teacher with us, but also a budding entrepreneur and future author. Welcome to the show, Lola. Thanks for being here. Hi, Christine. Thank you. Absolutely. So we don't have an agenda. So I'm letting our listeners know there's not a tight agenda on this podcast, but there is a story that wants to be shared. And I think one of my favorite things to do on the show is to really hear stories. I love telling in stories. I love listening to stories. And I know that when you joined our Soul Rising program through Moonrising and Shamanic Institute, it was it was a process. It was a change. It was like there were things being really worked on. And I would just love to know what how you want to share your story. What was your perspective? Where, where have you gone? What are you excited for next? All of the things.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Yeah, thank you. Um, so when I started, when I joined Soul Rising, is because I was really in like a transitional space. And I knew I wanted to do some additional deep healing work. And I, you know, healing is a lifelong journey, right? So I've been through several rounds of healing, thinking I've gotten everything, and um went through a very kind of traumatic um life upheaval. I thought I was going one way, ended up going a completely different way. And I was like, whoa, what is happening? Um, and I just wanted to make sure that I was really digging deep into like what else is kind of under the surface for me so that I could um process it and just have the tools to be able to respond to life as it happened in a way that is going to be healthy for me, for my family, for um those connected to me without completely derailing me. So um my sisters have done Reiki for a long time and I never really understood like what they were doing. Um, but I started listening to the podcast, and then I think I went on like one of the um webinars that you all did, and you called my name as like having uh, you know, or like an opportunity to join. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna go for it. I'm just gonna go for it. I'm gonna get some new learning and we'll see what comes up. And so much has come up.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Right. And I think that's it. Like sometimes there's a lot of different personalities that need an invitation that need the like, here's a step, you're invited, here's a step, you're invited, here's a step, you're invited. And I love that you really recognized it as an invitation. It like that there was here's an opportunity that could be the next doorway into something deeper, something that's gonna help me support me in this process. And you were just, I really feel like you were yes from the beginning. Like it was just like it made sense all the way around for you. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

So I just I I love that you guys started with you've gotta do yourself work first before you can help others. And being that I am a mom and I work with children, I wanted to make sure that I was in a good, healthy place so that I could be my best for my students and for my children.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

And I think that's so important. And I think, you know, it's just like when I hear of people teaching Reiki level one and two together and like they're missing the point. It's the same thing in Soul Rising. It's like we got, we have this huge opportunity to do the deeper work so that when we step into the practitioner role, we're really ready for it. And I love that, you know, there's this opportunity to deep dive. Like we can stay superficial level in Soul Rising, and you're gonna get that superficial kickback. Like you're still gonna get benefits, but if you put your energy in, you're gonna get some deep things back. And there's there were so many students in your cohort who are ready to like go full in. And it was so amazing. I love watching students go, okay, here's the coursework, here's the workbook, here's the activating actions. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna try it. I'm gonna be like the fool of the tarot and just go like, here I go. I'm just gonna know that I'm in a contained sacred space while I do this work and see what happens. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Yeah. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Yeah. So tell me about how that process was for you. Like you had you have your kids, you have your day job, you're around, I'm sure, middle school energy. Can be a lot. I have a middle schooler, I get it. And um, and you were like, I'm going to make myself a priority.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yeah.

Making Time For Deep Healing

SPEAKER_01 12:24

So um, interestingly enough, there was like um an opportunity, a different opportunity earlier this year where a nonprofit came to our school and um they were piloting a program to be able to provide teachers with additional income because they know that educators don't get paid a lot. And so uh they chose several schools, and our school was one of them. And out of our school, they chose several um educators, and they were like, we're gonna give you $500 just for you. Do what you want with it, don't spend it on your classroom, that kind of thing. Like, invest in yourself. And I was like, okay, this is a blessing, I will take it. And I'm like, this is obviously the course was more than $500, but it was a good start, like to be able to invest in myself. Whereas, you know, I'm a caretaker, I take care of everyone else, and I don't often take the time to care for myself. And so I just made myself a priority. I'm like, I'm gonna choose me. I'm gonna set aside um one to two days a week just to take care of me and do some learning in a new space and um be able to get some healing for myself. And so I would work, you know, Monday through Friday, and then on Friday evenings, I would decompress from the week. Um, and then on Saturday, I just would rest and I would do a lot of the learning on Saturdays and Sundays, and then um I would come to the class on Sunday evenings, which was just like a really great way for me to center myself before I got started into the new week.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Yeah, like a full weekend reset almost. Yes, absolutely. Do you have um do you remember you having like a favorite activating action or topic or video?

Lineage Support And Movement Practice

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Like what was the thing that like really like, oh, that made me that made me dive in?

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Okay, I'm trying to think because it's been a while. Um there were so many. I um I think one of the very first things that we did when we had to call in um those that we wanted to join us on the journey. Um, and I I called in um and I think we did like mothers and grandmothers and like women, that kind of thing. Um, that really stuck with me and it came back to me later on. Um, so that was very cool. I really love that. Um, I love the journeying, uh, obviously. And then the activating actions, um, there was one I I'm sorry, I can't remember all the names now, but like the dancing, it was a movement practice. Movement practice, man. That really was full body. It was so it felt so good to just kind of let loose. And that was great.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

For sure. And I love how like so you kind of started with the went on on our it was a welcome call, like our very, very first call. Yeah. We do this practice where we welcome in our matriarchal lineage of our grandmothers, our great-grandmothers, our ancestors from our maternal line, and you can energetically feel them all like show up with you. And so it can be a really powerful like practice, and it's something that you can do all the time, like knowing that I have my grandmothers with me. I have all of these loving ancestors, my grand, my grannies ready to hold space and be my warrior and be my nurturer and be like be whatever it is that I need. Like I have that energy, I'm calling that in. So I love that that was impactful for you. Yeah. And the movement is really like key too. Like, I really have been even creating more of the movement, like somatic practices in the coursework because I feel like if we can do it logically, if we can do it in our head, if we can figure out our patterns, but how do we embody it? How do we bring it into our physical space? And so dancing out the seven directions and what does that feel like? Can you can you move like the wind when we're calling in the east? Can you flow like the water when we're calling in the west? Like these types of practices, like it's showing you that it doesn't, you don't have to have it all figured out. Like you don't need to know you don't need to know all of the things, just but we all were given a body. We all have a body. We all have this human suit on this planet earth where we have the opportunity to choose to move it, to breathe through it, to sound through it. And when we activate that way, what shows up? What layers are ready to release? It's like just even taking a big sigh, letting out a big sigh can like de-stress uh one's being. Like, how does it like so much of our stuff gets trapped in our hips, trapped in our lungs, trap like trauma is stored in the body? And so it's like movement is a really beautiful piece. I love to encourage all of our students. Are we moving through this? And I mean it literally, like, are we moving our bodies?

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I I grew up as a dancer, and um, so I loved I love dancing. My daughter is a dancer now, she totally loves it. She told me the other day, I think I'm gonna be a veterinarian and a dancer for the rest of my life. And I was like, that's lovely. I love that for you. Um, and then I I did a lot of running for there was a good chunk of time in my life where I was running lots of long distances, half marathons, and training for marathons and things like that. Um, and I always just found so much peace and joy in my runs. Um, so like I I definitely am someone that needs to move and things come through me as I am moving. So those it was still, it was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Yeah.

Journeying Signs That Show Up Later

SPEAKER_02 18:25

And then you mentioned the shamanic journeys. So I love to like, do you have a story or something that your takeaway of like what that practice means to you?

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Yeah, so I I teach history and I like to start with like the land, which is what we started with in our class too, the land and then the original inhabitants of this land. And um, and so as I was learning and preparing for my classes, I was learning so much about indigenous culture, and I read a lot of books, um, like the shaman, um, it was like sage shaman healer sage. That one, yes, it was so good, and and that came up, I think, in our class. I think someone mentioned that book, and I was like, yes, yeah. So just the idea of the shamanic journeying was just very powerful. And I love that you also explained, like, we are not taking on this culture as if it's ours, we are honoring this practice um and the people who started it and are continuing to do it. And so it didn't feel like we were appropriating anything um and taking it on for our own benefit, but it was it was just very powerful to be able to get into that trance-like state and journey to different places and use our uh whatever comes to us, you know, our imagination, but also it it was it's I've been amazed at how it's like actually shown up in the this world. Yeah, yeah. I was like, whoa, wait, that was a journey. How did that just happen in my real waking life? So it was I I'm at a loss for words for just like how powerful it is. If it's like it's very real.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Yeah, it's amazing the the mirrored effect between ordinary reality and non-ordinary reality, and how when you are on the process and you set the intention to do non-ordinary work, to meet your power animals, to invite the the wisdom that's coming from the earth in. And then let's say nothing happened on your journey, like didn't happen that day. The intention is still held, and then it's gonna overflow into your ordinary reality life and be like, and there's the sign, and there's the feather, or there's the whatever that's showing up. Do you remember an instant like that for you?

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Um absolutely. So one was um it was one that we did with Chantel when we did the journey to the fire horse um for the lunar new year, and um that came back like I went on a physical journey. Um and I remember when we had when I did the original journey, in my journey, I went through a very dark tunnel and I emerged into light and like a flower that was coming out of the ground and opening up. And I remember thinking, that is very strange. Like I don't know what that is. But then I actually experienced it in real time, like in real life, walking through a tunnel. And I remember as I was doing that, I was like, whoa, this is just like my journey. And walking up through the light and coming out into the open. And I was like, something is happening right now. And I could feel it because it was, I had already experienced it on the journey. And then I think it was the next day or the day after, I actually went to a place for dinner and they had, and it was a church, but they had the whole decoration, everything was all about the fire dragon and the lunar new year. And I was like, wait, what? And it was like I was going through this journey, and then it manifested in my real world. And I just, you know, I got chilled, and I just I still am getting chills, just like seeing how that played out.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Yeah. And I love hearing those stories. Like we hear them from students all the time. And I think it's like sometimes I have to re-emphasize to students like, don't feel bad if you're not getting the messages in the actual class, in the actual journey class, because it's going to show up in your life. Just keep holding space for the intention. Pay attention, listen, notice, follow your intuition. And the answer is going to reveal itself to you. Right. And so I think there's a lot of people who really want that movie screen, full listening, full color, full movement picture of what they think a journey is supposed to be. And I'm like, that you're setting a high bar. And it's like I've been practicing, I've been doing this for well over 15 years, almost 20 years. And it's like sometimes I don't see in color. Sometimes there is no movement. Sometimes, you know, like, and sometimes there is no voices. Sometimes it's just feel the fur of my power animal. And that's what I need. And that moment, that's what I'm gonna get. And it can be just as powerful doing that as the like getting all of this information. Like sometimes we're not in a place to receive all of that. And so it's kind of like I really trust the process of like, if our guides, our helpers, our spirit team are showing up with the fullness, that's exactly what we're ready for. And if they're like, nope, we're just gonna give you this one sliver, then that's exactly what we need in the moment. And there's so much wisdom in trusting that process and not judging yourself over that process that so much can just be like, oh, I can try okay, so nothing showed up, and I have the faith that the trees are gonna talk to me or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. So what else do you want to share about your soul

Power Animal Doubt To Trust

SPEAKER_02 25:06

rising journey? Is there anything else that's like standing out to you that you're like, oh, this part was amazing, or this part I really struggled and I overcame it?

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Or so one thing I was gonna say, uh, the power animal. I I was like, I'm not sure that I'm like really seeing my power animal. Like I didn't want to project, I didn't want to like make it up. And um and and so like the first time I did the journey, I there were like all these snakes, and I hate snakes. I was like, this can't be it. I am not, and then you know, I was like, it felt like big cat energy, and I couldn't see like what kind of big cat it was. And then like the next day, a cat, like the a little tiny baby cat, shows up outside, and it my mom is afraid of cats, she's always been afraid of cats, but she sees this cat and brings it inside. My daughter's been asking for a cat for forever. We get the cat, and I'm like, okay, so I've been trying to figure out my power animal. I felt big cat energy. Now there's this baby cat that's now in our home. And um, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna try again. And again, I um like the next journey, uh, it was more big cat energy, and I was like, oh, okay, and it felt like lioness. So I was like feeling confident, okay, I think it's lioness. And then the baby cat that we the kitten dies, and I was like, whoa, what's happening? Wow, why did the cat die? Like, I was so confused and like, did I get something wrong? But then um my husband, which we are separated, but he shows up in a way that he had never shown up before, and he gets a new cat for my daughter. And I was shocked because it was so new um that he did this this great thing for my daughter. And we so we still have our cat, our lovely cat um named Dusty, and she is a big ball of energy just pouncing all around. Um, and so when I am meditating or having my quiet time, she will come and sit near me or sit on me or lay on me. And um it was it's just another reminder that like I have my power animal with me and I have a physical one here also to um hold space.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Yeah, it's really um it's really beautiful to see like just because we make these come these connections doesn't mean life is not gonna keep lifeing. You know, our pets die unexpectedly, life still happens, and it's this this growth factor of how am I gonna respond now? Right. And so it actually like opened this opportunity for your husband to show up in a new capacity that you could be grateful for.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

And that would that's really beautiful, and it's like, and you can still have a a relationship with the spirit world, even though it it felt like maybe there was a some fear going on with the snakes in the beginning, and going, and my power animals with me, and I've got I've I've got it. It's okay. And I love how cats do that with snakes, they just bop them on the heads, they just think that they're they're like so um the antagonist to snakes, cats. Yeah, thanks for sharing that.

Daily Reiki Before The Classroom

SPEAKER_02 28:50

Yeah, so has there been other opportunities where like life is lifing and you feel like, oh, I responded in a much different way than my past version of me would have?

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Yeah, so every day as I would um get to work, I would I always try to take time either in my car before coming in the building or in my classroom before my students enter to just do my reiki practice and put the bubble of light and protection like all around me to um because I am an empath, I do soak up a lot of energy, like other energy. And with middle schoolers, there's a lot of energy and a lot of hormonal things that are happening.

unknown 29:38

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

Um, and so I found out on days that I was good with doing my Reiki for myself, I was way more patient and calm with my students. My thoughts were more clear. I I feel like the learning was better that day, like the teaching and the learning was better. Um, and then there were days when I was running late and I like, oh my gosh, I didn't do my Reiki. And it's it felt chaotic. So I would just be like, okay, let me just take a moment, do my Reiki, and then it would kind of like smooth out a little bit for me. So I there's something to that. And I'm like, I don't want to go one day into my classroom space or around a lot of other people or any day without making sure I do myself Reiki because it is so protective for me to just hold in my energy and keep other people's energy at a little bit of a boundary space.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

Yeah. Yeah, it sounds like um the program gave you an opportunity to practice your own ritual, your own like starting. Like, here's some possible tools and like techniques. And then you're like, because we encourage all of our students, like make it for you. Like, here's so many, here's a buffet table of options of, and we don't want you to be copycats of Chantel and myself. It's like figure out what feels good for you and say yes to you and create that practice. So it sounds like it's Reiki based. Do you want to give a little more explanation of what that looks like?

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Yeah, so I start every morning um and I just rub my hands together, um, you know, for a little bit of time, just kind of activate the Reiki, and then I take three deep healing breaths. Um, and then I um I take time and I do several more healing breaths, and I say the um Reiki statements just for today, and I finish those um statements, and um, and then I start with my heart chakra, and I just spend time and I just like send love and light to my heart, and um I will say something like um, may I lead today from my heart, may I um show love to my students today, may they see my heart um in the words that I say in my in our interactions. Um, and then I go through each of my chakras and I just you know do Reiki all the way down my body, and then I will just like give gratitude and thanks. Um, and then I will close out with just like a bubble of protection all around me, um, where I can still feel others energy, but it is at a safe distance, so I'm not absorbing all of their energy. Um, but I can still access them and they can access me in a in a way that is, you know, healthy for me.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

Yeah. Yeah, it sounds like a couple things came through, like you making a priority that you're worthy to take the time to do the practice in the in the morning before you get to the classroom. That's huge. And I think I think there's a lot of people who are who will make up this because I just don't have the time, uh, you know, or I I needed the it just is like they're not feeling worthy to do the practice, right? And you making the time and noticing when you skip a day, it is not okay to the point where you have to stop what you're doing in the class and be like, nope, we're doing my little Reiki practice. I think that that that speaks volumes because it can be that simple. It can be that simple, but you have to know that you're worthy of it and then to take action and do it. And so I love that, especially for the empaths out there listening, which are probably the majority of our listeners. Like we all can take that time and just set ourselves up of like, how do I, what's my intention for today? What am I bringing forward in the world today? And what what does my energy need to be its best version? And for you, it's like I need to be in this energetic bubble so that I can feel people pushing in when they're pushing in and recognize, oh, they're there needing my intention, but I don't need to absorb it all. That's their stuff. Yeah.

Teaching Hard History With Care

SPEAKER_01 34:00

And because I do teach history and I I have to teach hard topics sometimes. Um not pretty topics. So it's not like I can ignore things that are happening in the world, and it's not like I can just, you know, uh teach about how to do two-step equations, you know, like there, you know, that's not like very triggering for some people. Uh um, math can be like people can have math anxiety, but um the topics change for me daily. And so when I have to teach really difficult topics like um slavery or lynching or um discrimination, things like that. Um, and then you see and hear some of the same language in the news and in current events, it is a very tricky place to be. And I I found that it reiki and setting my intention every day at the beginning of my class and beginning of my day helped me to be able to explain really difficult topics in a way that was protecting myself and my students. Um, so that they too did not start to take in this heavy information and kind of like spiral downward. Like it's super important for me that I'm also protecting their mental um and emotional health and wellness.

unknown 35:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

I'm like, you should teach a class on that. All the teachers need to know how to do that, right? Like, I think there's there's a bit of like we want our children to know the history. We want them so that we're hopefully not repeating it. Um, and we don't want them to have a triggering reactive uh experience of of understanding this is this is how our country was born. Right. And so it's like um super crucial. And I and I would love to know more about the classroom space because I know that one of your intentions of teaching is to do this multi-generational healing aspect. And so you're a history teacher bringing up this history, which has like um almost a cultural burden, like we have a cultural burden, historical burden, and we're bringing it into the awareness of our children, and we're helping them recognize that just because it happened in the history does not mean we need to continue the process. Right. How does that work for you?

SPEAKER_01 36:44

You know, I I stand in my truth, and my values say I'm not gonna stand here and lie to children. Yes. You know, I I grew up in the South and I grew up in the state in which I teach. And I remember like thinking, I didn't, I don't remember learning about this stuff. Like, what was I just checked out, which is very possible, you know, as a middle schooler and high schooler. I I might have been checked out. Um, but I felt like if I had known my own history, then maybe I would have processed the world differently and maybe I would have moved differently in the world and made different choices for myself. And I just didn't want to deprive my students of that opportunity. So whether it is financial literacy, like, do you know how to manage your finances? Here, let's let's go through this. Um, I don't remember learning that in school. And um, so it's important to me to make sure that my students walk away with actual skills, knowledge, um, and uh strategies for how to make choices for their own lives. Um, not not up to me to decide what those choices are, but here's the information and you can choose to do with it what you want, or you can forget it. It's your choice. But I just didn't want my students to walk away and feel like they missed something. Like I didn't want them to get to my age and then like I wish my teacher would have told me this. Like, I trusted them and they did they did not tell me the truth or they didn't tell me everything. Um, and it's also tested and it's in our standards, so I have to teach it anyway. So I'm like, yeah, I know it's controversial for some people, however, it is in our state standards, and it is important information. Um so I teach it as that.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

How did Soul Rising help you stand in that, stand in that truth of this is my intention and my work?

SPEAKER_01 38:53

I think um, I think it was when we got to um our solar plexus and you know, that power, that strength, and like I can feel it in my body. I can feel like I've got to draw up that

Choose Yourself And What Changes

SPEAKER_01 39:09

that strength that it's in there and it lights me up. And my students can tell when there's something that I'm very passionate about because it lights me up, and they're like, whoa, I better lock in today because you know, um, we're we're learning some good stuff. And then I could see it in their faces, you know, to ask those questions. And so it just made me be like really present in my body and attuned to my own um feelings and emotions and thoughts, and then as well as my students.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

Yes, I love that. I love that. Well, it sounds like you are doing really amazing things for for your students. I wish that there was a replicate button. Want to come tutor my child over the summer? Is there anything else you want to share with our audience, like who might be interested in Soul Rising, but they're on the fence? Is there any a message that you would have for them?

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Um, I would say choose yourself. If you are on the fence and you think you're sitting and you're listening and you're like, man, I I'm thinking I need to heal myself. I'm thinking I need to learn more about myself. I've got some underlying things and I'm not even sure what it is. You know, I would say choose yourself. Take that, take that step. Um, and then be patient with yourself as you go through it. Um, it's a very detailed process, and I loved every bit of it. It felt very thorough. Um, and I'm looking forward to the next class because I want to sign up for the next course. Absolutely. Um I I mean, and it I think that anybody that is like kind of considering it should really think about making that investment. If not now, then the next time around. Um, and everybody experiences it differently, but it it was just, I will, I'm forever grateful and I will not be the same person. Like, I'm not even my therapist was like, you're not the same person.

SPEAKER_02 41:20

That's what we want to hear, right? Like, I think we have so many students who have been in therapy for a long time, which is great. I'm so pro-therapy. Like, if you need a therapist, you need someone to process like therapy is fantastic. Love therapy, and we hear statements like that. Like it it moves things very quickly through the through our first lower four chakras. Like,

Practitioner Training And Mentorship

SPEAKER_02 41:44

there's a reason why we focus on them because in that you have all of your childhood trauma, your sexual trauma, your self-love and self-confidence, self-respect. It has like, how am I doing in my relationships? Like, that's all the first four chakras. And every month we deep dive into one of these first four chakras from root to heart. And so I think that's a really powerful statement is like when our therapists notice, when our families notice, when our friends are like, wow, you have boundaries now. What's up with that? Like when we have this recognition, it's like you are being more of all of who you are meant to be. And the things that aren't meant for you are gonna fall away faster. And the things that are meant for you are gonna be drawn in faster. And so I love that. Like it was a profound experience that you've had this um, this time with soul rising, and now you're you're ready for the practitioner level. So for our listeners, we have our four-month soul rising program, and then we have a practitioner program that it's soul rising, but now you're learning how to do the shamanic journeys for others. It's the learning how to do chakra spinning for others, it's learning how to do the cord cutting for others, the soul retrievals for others, and really understanding how to approach ourselves. Like the self-healing continues. It's like really understanding that we are, we have so many different aspects of ourselves. And where's those inner, if the inner critic is still there, where is it coming from? Who is it defending? Who is it protecting underneath it? Right. And so, really coming, like I'm really excited to be developing more of the practitioner pieces because it's like, yeah, once you know how to shamanic journey, it's like, yeah, I can teach you how to do cord cutting. Yeah, I can teach you how to do these ceremonies. Fantastic. Love that. But the the personal work continues because if we can understand ourselves and why we attract the people into our lives the way we do, uh it's like, oh, it's because this is where this uh this internal protector that says, I'm not good enough or I'm I need to make myself small, is trying to protect something else. And when we can have that real true recognition of where those voices are coming from, we can. Support them, we can love on them. And so doing this, like I'm gonna teach how to do a shamanic process called aspecting. Okay. And it's really like looking at our different parts and hearing the voices within ourselves. And part of that is like learning how to shamanic journey into these different aspects of who we are.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:22

Right. So it's it's deeper than just I'm gonna go meet my higher self, which we do the rising. It's I'm gonna go meet this version of me who is in the victim role. I'm gonna meet this person who doesn't think I'm good enough. Like because it's part of me, right? And so when we can get through all of these things, what happens is that we become more integrated and more in our fullness of who we are and not shaming and rejecting parts of ourselves. And when we have that, the ego lessens so that we become better practitioners, yeah. Right. And so that's that's the goal. Like I want everyone in Soul Rising Practitioner to feel really comfortable and confident being a practitioner. And so we continue to do the self-work portion just as much as continuing learning skills and practicing. So in the first Soul Rising, we do shamanic journey calls where we teach how to shamanic journey. Well, in practitioner, it's practicum calls. I'm gonna pair you all up, and then you're gonna do, okay, we're gonna do a chakra spin for this other person, we're gonna do cord cutting for this other person, we're gonna learn how to do it online. We're doing distance Reiki, distance shamanic work, and having videos to demo how it's done in person as well. So it's very like I think I get really passionate about this because I feel like everyone needs this. Yeah. You know, it's agree. Everyone, every like just how I feel about Reiki. Everyone needs Reiki level one. Yeah. Right. And so the the practitioner will be moving from uh heart through crown, right? And so it's like, here is like almost the completion of it, right? And so it's so juicy. I so love it, and I love, love, love supporting my students. I'm so glad that Lola, you're coming back for the practitioner portion. Absolutely. So good. It's so good. And you know, I and I think the other thing with my our students is that we are we try to be so available, right? Like we really try to be like, if you come with a question in between courses or postgraduation and you are like, I'm struggling, we're gonna be like, we're here, right? How can we support you?

Online Learning Benefits And Integrity

SPEAKER_02 46:40

Because I feel like that development of mentor student or teacher student or whatever you want to call those roles is so incredibly important. And I feel like the if you go back to the way Reiki was done, like, and I think part of it is I was trained in an apprenticeship style. Like I have a lived experience of what an apprenticeship is, and it's so based on your relationship, like what wisdom can be offered, and it also has so much wiggle room of going, it doesn't need to look like the way I did it. Here's the here's the model, and you go do it your way. Trust your intuition. Here's some ethical boundaries, right? Here's some trauma-informed information, you know. Like we'll definitely cover those things too, because we want you and all of your clients to be as safe and held as possible. And at the same time, we're so comfortable with like go mix your modalities.

SPEAKER_01 47:42

Yeah, yeah. And that's just good teaching. Like exactly what you described is what I do in my classroom with my students. Like, here's my final product. You do not need to copy mine. Matter of fact, please don't copy mine. Please take this information and bring yourself into it and then see how it lands for you. And like, so I find myself using now some of the same language that you guys use because it is just good teaching. Um and like even the apprenticeship model, like, okay, I have students in my class that are getting it. Okay, so you're ready to mentor someone and let them sit with you, and that is like also good teaching. Um so yeah, I I just I can't speak highly enough about your um your pro the program that you guys offer. Um, I did like originally I was I had signed up to do a Reiki um class in person with someone that I um had done sound baths with before. And um I reached out to her and just said, oh, I'm gonna be doing this other Reiki one class, you know, could I switch to Reiki two? And she was like, absolutely not. You cannot do these things online. And I was like, I'm so glad that I did not pay money because why are you responding like that? That's so harsh. And you don't even know what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 49:05

Right. And I think that's a really good point to make. Like a lot of a lot of people think that these teachings have to be offered in person. And I think there's a lot of benefits to doing it online. I mean, I teach both in person and online, and I have for years. You know, I've been a Reiki master since 2004. You know, like I've I've been teaching for a very long time. And what I notice is that when we do it online, we can take it in chunks. When we take it in chunks, there's time for uh integration. There's time for the information to land and the comeback with questions, right? Like I think about teaching a Reiki master's class. I'm like, yeah, I can do it in a retreat weekend, 24 hours of lessons in three days. Yeah, it's doable. Do I want to do it that way? Do I think they're gonna absorb any of this information that way? Kinda. Right. Versus I'm gonna teach this class and I'm gonna break it up. I'm gonna give little action steps. I'm gonna give little videos that are just like, here's your activating action, like do this five-minute practice, see how it feels. Right. Like, I think there's so much more than just being lectured at.

SPEAKER_01 50:11

Right.

SPEAKER_02 50:12

And as much as I love teaching in person, there's a huge part of me that I love doing online even more. I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around, like, I'm gonna teach this class in person. Like, uh fun, or it would be more fun online. It would be. Um, so like I definitely like I go back and forth, and I think just like you said, it reflects the teacher. Their reaction reflects the teacher. And I think, no, I'm a very overall, like I see myself as a fairly traditional Reiki teacher, not necessarily a shamanic teacher. Like, I've got a lot of looseness and like how things need to come forward. And I think the shamanic journey is the foundation. If we know how to shamanic journey, I think that was it for me. It's like I was so self-taught. I was trained to do shamanic journeys from a shamanic practitioner. And from there, I was like, well, I don't need another teacher. I'm gonna like I have my guides, I have my past lives, I have I have power animals, like I have all the teachers I could possibly ever want. And so it's like, I'm gonna journey to my meditation teacher in the spirit world, Sia, and and was taught gosh before people even knew what it was. You know, like I just so trust, like if you have a solid relationship with your spirit team, if you know how to shamanic journey, you don't need me. And I think that's my goal. Like, I don't want people to need me, right? I want people to be you. I and if you want me to continue to mentor and support, I can, right, but to know that you have all of your answers is so imperative, it's so important because I'm not a fan of the guru model, right?

SPEAKER_01 52:07

Even as a teacher, I with my students like, yes, I know the content, right? Like I went to school, I have a degree, that kind of thing. But and some of it is not intuitive, like some of it you definitely have to know. Right. But um, but how you use it, like how it shows up for you in the world, that is intuitive. Like you may see things in a completely different way than I see it or understand it. And we can learn from each other in that way. Um, and so I just I am such a huge, I'm in such gratitude for you and Chantelle and our whole cohort. Um, I could tell when y'all would hold space for me, knowing I had like a tough week happening. Um it's just been it was a it's a great community. Um and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

Absolutely.

Closing Thanks And How To Connect

SPEAKER_02 53:00

Thank you so much, Lola, for coming on. So appreciate hearing your voice, your story, your shares. And you know, we can do this again in like, you know, eight months after you finish the practitioner program.

SPEAKER_01 53:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 53:16

Beautiful. Well, thank you so much. And I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day. And to all of our listeners out there, thank you so much for listening and know that both our Soul Rising and our Soul Riser Practitioner training program are going to be available this fall of 2026. And if you have questions, reach out to me, check out the show notes for the links, and we'll see you then. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for tuning in to today's show. The Wisdom Rising Podcast is sponsored by Moonrising Shamanic Institute. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app and be the first to know when we release a new episode. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at Moonrising Institute, or visit our website, Moonrising Institute.com. Once again, thanks for sharing space with us today. And until next time, may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within.