Ready Set Reiki

Episode #146 Transforming Grief: Michelle Sloan's Spiritual Journey Through Reiki

• Tracy searight • Season 3 • Episode 146

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Michelle Sloan's spiritual journey began over 35 years ago when she attended an Al-Anon meeting during college – a pivotal moment that sparked her lifelong dedication to healing work. Today, as a Reiki master with specializations in end-of-life care, certified Access Bars facilitator, ordained minister, and grief counselor, Michelle brings a wealth of wisdom to this profound conversation about healing modalities that transform lives.

The magical moment when Reiki found Michelle offers a touching glimpse into how healing practices enter our lives precisely when needed. When her father was diagnosed with ALS and received Reiki sessions, Michelle witnessed firsthand the profound calm and presence the practitioner brought to an otherwise devastating situation. This experience planted the seed that would eventually bloom into her own healing practice spanning multiple modalities.

Michelle eloquently bridges the perceived gap between spirituality and religion, explaining how Reiki exists comfortably at this intersection. "We're all energy. That's proven scientifically," she notes, grounding energy healing in observable reality while honoring its spiritual dimensions. This perspective offers a refreshing framework for those questioning how energy healing aligns with their faith tradition.

Her work with grief counseling reveals a deeply compassionate approach to emotional healing. "Grief doesn't go away, it waits," she shares, highlighting the importance of processing our losses rather than suppressing them. Through her workshops, one-on-one sessions, and classes, Michelle creates safe spaces for people to sit with their emotions and transform grief into wisdom. Her practice extends beyond death-related grief to encompass relationship endings, trauma, and significant life transitions.

What resonates most powerfully is Michelle's "60 seconds of courage" philosophy – the idea that transformative healing journeys begin with just one minute of bravery. Whether you're curious about Reiki, struggling with loss, or seeking to expand your spiritual practice, this conversation offers practical wisdom, heartfelt stories, and a roadmap for healing that honors both scientific understanding and spiritual truth.

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Ready Set Reiki is a journey
From the curious beginner to the Season Master Teacher
All Energy workers of all systems and all levels.

Speaker 2:

This is Ready Set Reiki, a podcast about Reiki, the universal energy life force, from the curious beginner to the seasoned master teacher, welcoming all systems, all lineages and all levels. Reiki is a journey and not a destination, and on this Ready Set Reiki journey, I refer to myself as a guide rather than host, as I too am traveling, supporting others and learning on this Reiki journey as well. And with that said, I am your guide, tracy C Wright. Joining me today on my journey is Michelle Sloan. Now she is a spiritual practitioner trained in the study of science of mind and the art science and skill of affirmative prayer, grief and trauma counseling. Further exploring an interfaith journey, she became an ordained minister through Universal Brotherhood Clergy and expanded into wedding and memorial services.

Speaker 2:

She is a certified Reiki master with additional Reiki certifications in end-of-life and hospice care. She is also a certified Access Conscious Bar facilitator. She is licensed to practice professionally and bound by a high code of ethics with respect to your privacy. She is licensed to practice professionally and bound by a high code of ethics with respect to your privacy. She has practiced across the United States and Europe, leading classes, meditations, workshops, reiki sessions and self-Reiki healing circles, both online and in person. Her specialty lies in one-on-one sessions and counseling, utilizing both spiritual principles and healing modalities. Michelle, welcome to Ready Set Reiki.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much, Tracy. It's lovely to be here.

Speaker 2:

All right. Well, let's begin our journey together, so tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 3:

Well, sure, let's see. I currently live in Florida and I have always been a seeker, explorer when it came to self-help, and people always say, how did you start your journey? And I would really say like the turning point for me was over 35 years ago, when I was in college. I saw a church flyer that was inviting people to do Al-Anon. At the time it was in the church where we studied on a college campus and I went and that really began my path. If I have to dial back and think about what is that one turning point? And that was it. When we unravel our pain, our trauma, and we reset to our natural state, which is thriving, our world opens up. And that really just propelled me into seeking and searching and retreats and workshops and wellness therapy.

Speaker 3:

And then 12 years ago I became a practitioner at the Center for Spiritual Living and it's a two-year program very similar to a master's degree in spirituality.

Speaker 3:

So a licensed spiritual practitioner is someone who is highly spiritual conscious and has a deep understanding for spiritual nature of life and thrives to deepen their personal relationship with the divine. So with that it allowed me, through Center for Spiritual Living, to teach classes and workshops, meditation and lead services and officiate. And I did that for quite a while, you know, in time and life happened and I explored living and loving. And then COVID lockdown happened and I utilized that time to expand my Reiki practice and I became a UC Reiki master and I studied on specializing in end of life hospice Reiki and I did that at the Sanctually Hearing Arts and I did that online, which was a very interesting way to do your Reiki master certification. And then I decided to move to Florida in 2001. And it opened a doorway like either I was going to attach my practitioner license to a local center or take that dive into ministry, and I chose to become a licensed minister through the Universal Brotherhood Beautiful. So here I am, yeah, exploring and living my best life.

Speaker 2:

So when did Reiki come into your life? Would you say that you found Reiki or Reiki found you?

Speaker 3:

Reiki found me and this is really an interesting story. My dad was diagnosed with ALS and somebody had gifted him five sessions of Reiki and I was in my late twenties and I was just happened to be there the day the Reiki master showed up and opened the door and just feeling her energy and her vibe and we were all nervous. My dad had a terminal illness and he was just so calm and present and receiving of the sessions and I thought, huh, I think I might need to look into this and explore what is Reiki right. So that was my first introduction to Reiki and explore what is Reiki right. So that was my first introduction to Reiki. Reiki can be a beautiful gift.

Speaker 3:

I mean, and there's a difference, I think, between this is I grew up Catholic and I grew up in the church and I went to Catholic school and there's that difference between spirituality and religion and I think we were mentioning this in an email. Whereas spirituality, it really involves practicing meditation, mindfulness, energy healing, like Reiki, and it often is about finding that inner peace and that purpose, that deeper sense of understanding life, and religion tends to be more structured, more practiced and more of an organization style, including rules, regulations, rituals, and I think spirituality has a tendency to be more flexible, more personal, about mindful practices. So we lean into that inner peace and purpose and I think from there we find our individual growth. And then, if I have to think about it, versus religion, again, it involves community, it involves shared beliefs and it involves more structure, right, right, and spirituality has that interpretation right To where religion can be more doctrinated and structured. But both spirituality and religion really offer that sense of a meaning, a meaning and a connection, but it's just approached in different ways.

Speaker 3:

The goal really is can be for me, it is interchangeable where Reiki, yes, falls under spirituality, but it also has principles and practices. It has rules, it has requirements, right, whether those look like symbols or mantras, but so does religion. So there's a lot of similarities and all we need to do is really do is really trust its force to work through us and with us. But that's very similar to how we connect to God or spirit or universe. So it's that universal life force and energy. That's who we are. And so I think, when I think about Reiki and then beginning my practice, I was really looking forward to just expanding into being more fulfilled, and so Reiki aided for that. For me, it aided in my spiritual journey and I think, whether you're religious or spiritual, or a wellness seeker, you're religious or spiritual or a wellness seeker.

Speaker 3:

We don't really have to title it. I think what sums it up is our purpose is to love. That's our highest energy, whether you're religious or spiritual, and that means loving all parts of you that feel misaligned, traumatized, and so sometimes I utilize prayer to get there, and sometimes I utilize a Reiki to transmute the energy that blocks us and allows us to move into love Like it's. It's an enlightenment right that people seek like, but, simply put, it's just the study of your own spiritual awareness that connects us to that presence, and I think that's what people are seeking when we say that lightness, that joy, that higher vibration, whatever we choose to call it. And that's what draws me to religion, to prayer, to ministry, to Reiki, because it's all the same but different in the words and the way we practice it.

Speaker 2:

Very well said. So, as you are out, you are navigating this wonderful journey that you're on, as you're out, serving and helping others. What are some misconceptions about Reiki that people have?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, there's definitely some myths out there, but Reiki isn't religion and it doesn't replace a medical treatment. But it can and it does work alongside those Reiki practitioners, as you know, channel energy to promote healing. It's a hands-on approach, it's not magic. Our bodies are magnetic vessels and they know how to reset, to heal, to reveal, and healing is really aligning. To me, like people think that world healing is very woo-woo, but it's more aligning and we're all energy. I mean that's proven scientifically. We have electric impulses that zap through our bodies right To stimulate our muscles and our cells and our neurons, and we're carbon-based and we are built from energy Like it flows, but energy flows. And then there's that gesture, right that practicing the energy gestures follow and open up that pathway to feeling light aligned. So for me, reiki is that well-being experience that assists you to operate to your highest potential, both emotionally, mentally and physically. I think the more consciousness you pour into your body, the more vibration it has to heal. And so it's certainly been around many, many, many years. Of course, in the United States not as long, maybe the 60s, you know, 70s kind of depends on if you're in Hawaii or the main mainland. But I think it's important to consider adding Reiki to your healthcare plan it's having to me an additional insurance plan because it's very complimentary to improving your health and your wellbeing. I mean, we know it's used in oncologist offices and for cancer treatment centers. That's probably the main area where a lot of people do volunteering because it does relax your nervous system and it aligns your chakras, which are your energy centers. It does help maintain the pain management and it does boost your immune system and it's most certainly aids in the recovery of injury or illness. So, yes, what it is not is it's not magic and it is a science to it.

Speaker 3:

We know that energy is who and what we are, and so, with that, I think you have to try it to understand it. You know it's like how do we know? That's true. Like I always like to stay in question, sometimes we have our beliefs about what's good for us and what's bad for us around, either what's been downloaded to us from our ancestors or what we've heard but maybe not experienced ourselves, and so to stay in question around what it is, the best way to do is experience it, to know. You know everything works, sometimes right. We align it with different things at different points of our life and it's a matter of staying in possibility and willingness right. There has to be that window to receive, like we're all good givers, but are we willing to receive? And that changes your experience.

Speaker 3:

In a Reiki session or in a Reiki circle, or like tomorrow night I'll do a sound bath, I pair with a gal who does sound healing, sound bath, and then I do the hands-on Reiki while the sound healing is happening. So it's a real high magnetic energy of self-care, because self-care is how we take our power back, and so for me it's a really good intro to Reiki because people are starting to experience sound healing. It's nice to go to a therapist and talk through your trauma or your situation and work through your approach and your healing, but there's nothing like sound bath or Reiki when your only job is to lay there and receive right and just feel like you had amazing massage or you just woke up from the best night's sleep ever. I mean, that's really what you feel like after a Reiki session. And it's always different, right, because we're in different, we're different, we're changing and everything is unfolding minute by minute and I can say sometimes I can be agitated and restless, sometimes I can fall asleep, sometimes I can feel tingling, sometimes I'm like anticipation, like please just get me on the table, like I always feel different, no matter what's going on in my life. And that's what I like about Reiki.

Speaker 3:

It's a wellness modality and there's a lot of modalities. Right, there's a lot of healing modalities and so I always encourage people to try them. We do a great. It's like a taster event here in Florida, in Jupiter, at the Third Eye Institute and Mystic Shop, where everyone gets to try a session and we'll have like five or six wellness healers and it's 20 minutes for $20, which is a great investment and you could try multiple.

Speaker 3:

And so the concept is you don't know what you don't know until you try it. So I always encourage people just to try it and have their own experience with their own body, with their own mind, and see what happens, because sometimes it can be physical, sometimes it can be emotional and sometimes it can be very spiritual. So, again, the energy moves. The idea is to quiet the mind and allow the body to do what it does naturally, because our minds want to. They're just going all the time. They move on before our bodies do. And what do we do with that stuck trauma, pain, emotion, that there's no time for right, because we live in a world that's so overscheduled and so busy. I feel that it's good to reset. There's only so much you can manage Before you need. We do it out to our computers, we delete our hard drive, we have an external, we're holding the storage, but we need to be doing that to our bodies, and so I find Reiki to really be beneficial in that way too, if that makes sense, right.

Speaker 2:

So you help so many people on their journey, help them with their challenges, their struggles. You even are, you volunteer as a grief counselor, you know, with hospice and embracing the importance of grieving mindfully, what has been the biggest challenge or struggle that you have faced in your own healing journey?

Speaker 3:

Sometimes, when you can be in deep pain, you can be paralyzed and it's to honor where you are, honor just. Your body needs to rest, sometimes in the healing of whatever you're experiencing and then to search out. I mean, I know, when I got divorced I didn't want to be stuck in a bitter, angry, abused situation. I wanted to heal and my focus was I might not know how I was going to get there, but my job wasn't the how. That was up to God, that was up to spirit. My job was to be willing. My job was just to keep that focus of searching out. So I was doing Reiki, I was doing meditation, I was seeing my minister, I was in support circles, I was traveling, I was in nature, I was doing everything I could to assist in the healing, in the transferring of those emotions.

Speaker 3:

Because grief can often be misdiagnosed. It can manifest as stress, as hopelessness, isolation, depression, even overwhelm and anxiety and we have a lot of overwhelm and anxiety in our world, right. But also, grief isn't just about somebody, like a death in a family, right, or a loss of a loved one. Grief is an end of a marriage, an end of a relationship, any significant trauma or change that has caused loss in your life, right. So we experienced grief then and while I was doing my studies at Center for Spiritual Living, one of the criteria was to take this particular grief class and the book is called Grieving Mindfully. And I was so connected to the book because it changed and altered my perception towards grief and helped me heal. Because it changed and altered my perception towards grief and helped me heal that anytime somebody I knew would lose somebody, I would gift this book. But I was finding that nobody was reading it and I was thinking this book is amazing and then I just had the calling to start teaching it Because it's a book that has a lot of practices. But then the more classes I take and the more studies I do podcasts I might listen to the class has evolved into more of trauma and grief.

Speaker 3:

So I do that as a workshop, as a one-on-one session and as an online class, because in today's societal structure it really suggests that we just ought to remain stronger than our grief and we ought to just push through it and get over it. And that is the worst feeling ever if you're in grief, because you just you don't align with that right, because this is very self-destructive and it really prolongs our pain, because grief doesn't go away, it waits. And so, instead, if we choose to grieve mindfully which would involve being present and aware of our emotions, our thoughts, our feelings, you know, while we move through the grieving process, we're able to transform grief to wisdom, because grief can be very energetically draining and it can be hard for people to seek help. There's a lot of great support grief groups. That's one of the things I do when I volunteer. I call families a few months later after they have lost their loved one and I walk through their options about grief support, what it feels like, so they can identify with their feelings and I put them in the right direction through how to get help. But really, grief can be a bridge that helps us meet ourself and it gives us an opportunity to allow, to honor what was, but also we grieve what could have been, and so, more importantly, we need to grieve and accept what has changed. And how do we do that? We need tools, we need techniques, we have to add them to our tool belt of life, and it's true that when we suffer a loss, a part of ourself is lost, and so navigating through that everyday loss can be extremely challenging without any tools, because it doesn't really matter.

Speaker 3:

When I was in a grief so when my dad passed away from ALS, that's when I found grief counseling, because I was very far away from my family, it was across the country and I learned that it doesn't matter that if it was last week, last year or even a decade ago. It's never too late to heal your grief or to find new ways of being. And I learned that in that class because somebody had been in the class that was grieving their grandmother, who was like their mom and she had passed 10 years ago, and this gentleman was a minister and he was non-denominational, which is what I associate myself with. And there was, you know, workbooks and journaling and meditating, and that helped me a lot. And it really just becomes about the question of what if you turned your grief into action or your pain into power, like what if you felt it, all the emotions and the feelings, until you felt clarity or desire or hope.

Speaker 3:

When we stay in question around what's possible, then there's choice. When we have a conclusion of I'm never going to get over this, there's nowhere to move to, you've decided something. But when we stay in a question like what's possible now, even just a general question. We might not get the answer in that moment, but the universe, god's spirit, shows us right. It shows us in signs, symbols, synchronicity, goosebumps, a phone call, whatever it may be a class flyer and we take action. And then our world opens up. Right.

Speaker 3:

That's how we always say I just wish they would send me a sign. And I remember that when I was moving through a transition, is God, please just send me a sign? And I remember getting off the airplane and saying we're glad you're here. I'm like okay, there's my sign, I mean. But we have to ask, like our angels, our guides, our spirit, they're waiting. We have to ask, ask for help, ask to be shown the way. And I was just talking to a friend this morning also about we're always willing to pray for someone else and bless someone else, but are we willing to do that for ourselves? It's almost like you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you put on someone else's. It's the same thing with grief or healing or any other type of wellness modality, Like you can't help someone else unless you help yourself first.

Speaker 3:

And that's really about mindfulness, because mindfulness facilitates our growth, right. It helps us to develop open attitude towards life. It assists us to cultivate acceptance, maybe even forgiveness or compassion, not just towards yourself, but to others. Right, it's said, we grieve as deeply as we love and that's one reason why everyone grieves differently because we love differently. We love differently at different times, to different what we're attached to or different people or different relationships. So, like in my classes and workshops and sessions, I help individuals process their emotions in that healthy way where they can find the acceptance and peace.

Speaker 3:

And we do practice all of the tools and techniques meditation journaling, practice all of the tools and techniques meditation journaling, whether it's guided, you know question journaling, inner work and breathwork. Breathwork is another huge and it's free. It's right where we are, wellness modality, which is now becoming I love all the breathwork exercises we can find in classes and workshops and retreats are even adding them in now, because, you know, the human spirit is meant to thrive, no matter the level of trauma or grief. That's our natural state. So, learning about either grief or trauma and just gaining that comfort and begin to transform your grief into wisdom. It's about mindfulness, right, and being emotionally and spiritually resilient. That's the goal, right? We're not meant to stay wounded. We're not meant to stay in our trauma, we're meant to move beyond that. And so I think there's many, many ways, many things that are out of our control. And we live in a world where everybody wants to be in control of their emotions, of their environment, and I think that's our biggest sense of falsehood. And if we can just say the only thing we can control is our reaction, and just say the only thing we can control is our reaction right, or what we choose to do next, and we keep it that simple and know that we have everything we need right where we are, well then that's the first step.

Speaker 3:

I recently was at a memorial service and someone was speaking about this close friend of mine who passed away, that her biggest saying was you just need 60 seconds of courage to start anything. And I've been thinking about that a lot since I've been to her memorial service and I think it's true memorial service, and I think it's true. What if it just takes 60 seconds of courage to do really almost anything? You know to feel the fear and do it. And it was like I was just chatting with my sister. I'm like, oh, I got to go, I'm getting ready to do a Ready Set Reiki podcast and she said okay, you're going to be great. I've heard all your other podcasts, you've got this. And I'm like do I feel nervous or do I feel excited and ready? It's our wording, and when we break down our emotions, we kind of stay in the surface of emotions, sometimes Like I feel scared. Well, is it scared or nervous or is it worried? And we can hone it.

Speaker 3:

Teachers do this all the time with children, you know, with faces or signs, to get them to identify what they're feeling, so they can express themselves. And I think we forget this as we get older and we move through our life is what are we really feeling? And so for me, it's like allowing yourself to be trusted, like trusting yourself, trusting your word, trusting your heart, trusting your intuition, but, more importantly, trusting your individuality. We're not all the same. We don't have the same fingerprint, for a reason. We have different experiences, we have different journeys, but honoring your journey is going to look different, right? So that's the only way we're able to really come to the acceptance of who we are.

Speaker 3:

Like shining your light. Your light is here, it's needed, you're on purpose, and I think people forget that as well, they're just kind of. We get into this robotic state when we become overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities or keeping up with the Joneses. But I love the wave of what's happening right now in healing modalities, whether it's grief and trauma, counseling or Reiki or access bars or meditation or breath work or going on retreats or even being in nature. Whether you're a massive hiker or runner, what are you doing? To be with you? It's silencing the mind and allowing your heart to speak. For me is the goal. I don't know if you find that.

Speaker 2:

Right when it's time for you to get an energetic tune-up. What are some qualities that you look for in a Reiki practitioner?

Speaker 3:

Oh, this is a good question. Yes, I try to stay open because everybody has their unique way of practicing Reiki. So we learn it and then we tweak it right. We learn it and then we tweak it right. Whether you use crystals or oils or mantras or symbols, or you're singing or music or not music like it's always different and I like to explore, you know, whether it's holy fire Reiki or it's a more of a gentle Reiki, or if it's somebody who's hands above hands on. There's so many different ways and the reason why I like to search out different Reiki masters or practitioners is there's always that one saying or one thing that I'm going to take into my practice. Right?

Speaker 3:

So going to the same Reiki practitioner isn't what I do. Practitioner isn't what I do. But I try to gauge myself by going there at least two times a year because I get to check in with my healing, if I stay consistent with one type of healer. So that allows me to like where have I grown? How is it different in my body? But if I'm trying other Reiki practitioners, then I feel like it's more expansive for me.

Speaker 3:

So I'm not a girl who collects things or has favorites where some people are. You know, I trust my intuition, like I feel into it. Like when you were saying to me today like well, we're having something happen at the house and I'm going to have the dogs, that still feel good for you, and I was thinking we feel into it, right, because I have to trust my intuition, I'm like still feels good to me. So that's kind of how I choose. Sometimes I'll look at photos online or names, or how far it is, or do I want to go north or south? Is that a yes or no right? Just asking your body sometimes works. So I don't know, I might not really have that one thing, but I certainly try to utilize my knowing.

Speaker 2:

So what advice would you give someone who's just entering spiritual work?

Speaker 3:

Yay, keep going, don't stop, is one thing for sure, because certainly if you're asking a question or your body is seeking something, then the answer is there right. So I say it's not about judging anything, right. Sometimes we want to judge it as weird, strange, odd. I can't do that. It's really more just about allowing your nervous system to align with whatever that aligns with and I say, everything works sometimes. But also it's good to know what's out there. When I moved to Florida, my spiritual community busted open and I really wasn't expecting that because I had just thought, oh, florida is, you know, sunny and you know more of the East, of the California vibe and maybe a little older. And it wasn't that at all for me. It was more about I really like I never had heard of access bars. I didn't even know it existed, but it had been around for near over 10 years, maybe 20 years at that point and I thought, okay, what I don't know, I don't know, so let me try this. And then it was one of these things where I didn't expect. This is how I experienced Access Bars.

Speaker 3:

I was at a festival. It was like a wellness festival and there's music and they were doing chanting and there was great vegan food. It was so fun and they just had a bunch of modality workers and it was like another thing. You know, $20, just try it. And I laid on the table. I'm like I don't even know what this is, but I could feel my body Like I could. I was thinking about things I hadn't thought of in a long time. I was seeing colors, I was feeling light and joyous, like I was listening to my body. My body was just saying I want more of this. And when you get that feeling, keep going. And so I said how do I see you off this event, outside of this event? And that's when I got into doing full session and then taking the courses and the classes.

Speaker 3:

And the more I learned, the more my life was changing, the more I was deleting the hard drive, so to speak. And so then I think you can stay on something for a while and then be like, okay, I want to try something else now. You know, the variety is the spice of life. The same thing goes for wellness, healing. You know, I'm not a girl who eats the same thing regularly either, like everyone, some people are very regnant in what they eat every day and then maybe splurge on the weekend. But I am, I like that variety, I like the variety of having that big umbrella, even in my spiritual practices of you know what I offer and cover practices of of you know what I offer and cover it's. It's.

Speaker 3:

I had to keep changing my, my, so it's Dwell and Reiki was my original company, but then it became so much broader, so much bigger. When you're allowing yourself to float down that river of of wellness, of aligning, of resetting, you don't know where it's going to take you, but you just, you know, trust the raft, you're on type of a thing. And so with that, like, yes, I do grief counseling and it is my passion and it's it's I can sit with emotional pain, it's one of my gifts, it's, you know, it's my area of genius. You know where a doctor, a nurse, you know they can sit in a different type of trauma where I couldn't, and so that's opened up to the grief counseling. But I have my Reiki background, I have my ministry background, so it allows me to do weddings, which you can find me on the Knot and WeddingWire, and it allows me to do memorial services and I'm finding a lot of people now are non-denominational, right, they're doing a lot more memorials versus church services and whatever works, because it's evolving.

Speaker 3:

You know, we're an eclectic society now and so it's unique and you can plan almost anything out of the norm, and that's one of the reasons why I like to offer those services, because it's a good balance, right, it's a good balance to do grief and death and loss and trauma and then celebrate love, joy, you know, weddings, connection, and for me, that's what I like about having an entrepreneurial business is what do I want to do today? Yes, there's structure, but also there's no limits, right. If we live in a world of limited possibility, how does spirit want to use me? And I just try to trust that process as much as possible. And so that's what I would say to anyone trying.

Speaker 3:

Anything new is trust yourself, you know, trust that you're safe, trust that there's a way you know, and look for the signs, look for the symbols, ask People always want to help people. They ever noticed that we always want to. What can I do to help? How can I support you? Do you need anything that we utilize our resources in people of? How have you experienced fullness? How have you experienced healing? You know what are some of how have you experienced fullness, how have you experienced healing? You know what are some of the things you've done.

Speaker 3:

When you start asking people, they might tell you about a spiritual coach, a Reiki master, a minister, a class, a workshop or drumming on the beach. You know this is. Or I saw yesterday the silent disco. You know there's so many things that that in a body and moving your body and moving energy can happen in a lot of ways. Right, just doesn't happen in our minds. Right, it can happen through movement and through quieting our minds. So there's a lot of ways to align, to heal. So search them out and find what works for you and don't be afraid. There's nothing to be afraid of when we're trusting our instinct. Yeah, so I guess that's my advice. All right, Thank you. In a really long sentence, a long, long sentence.

Speaker 2:

Right. So what books do you recommend? And they can be books that are not about Reiki, anything that you have read along your spiritual path.

Speaker 3:

Oh, my gosh. There's so many books. Grieving Mindfully is the number one book that I'm recommending. It's on my website. You can find the link there because that helps with the tools, the techniques, so that's a great book.

Speaker 3:

Um, darius Merritt Jones writes some really good books and I've just read um when Fear Speaks, and I really am enjoying that book and a lot of the times that I try to read one book a month and add, you know, maybe a paragraph or a thought or an approach into my classes and workshops, into my classes and workshops. Also, kyle sees, um, he does some great stuff, um, really motivational and um, a lot I share his stuff a lot. He does 12 principles, uh, to wellness, and it's just about remembering. You know, sometimes we can hear something, read something, see a photo, but it doesn't speak to us. And then there's sometimes we read it or hear it and it's like we're seeing it for the first time. So I like to save my books and I like to reopen them and randomly, you know, open a page and think, huh, okay, okay.

Speaker 3:

And there's also Melody Beattie. She does a great 365 book to the heart. So that's really inspirational for me. I try to read that in the morning and sometimes I think I need to write. One of these I think that's on my journey is to put what I know and how I feel and what I'm inspired about in writing for your legacy to live on. You know, it's nice to. I was thinking about that today when I was preparing. I have so many notes, notebooks, word documents you know things in my texts that I think how do you put it all together? And so, yeah, books are a great resource. So are podcasts.

Speaker 2:

So what services do you offer? Do you offer classes, trainings, workshops, events?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely so. Some of the services I offer are one-on-one sessions, whether that could be access bars or Reiki, and also can be grief counseling. I offer most of my services online and in person. And then I love workshops. I love in-person workshops and online workshops. So I'm always changing, always evolving.

Speaker 3:

So usually at the beginning of the year January, february I do a visioning manifestation workshop and then I do my grief online workshop classes three times a year, and that's starting in September. And then we do my grief online workshop classes three times a year, and that's starting in September. And then we do April and then February, because it takes a while for, I think, people to get brave enough to register. And then I do a lot of monthly workshops. Mostly if I'm traveling, I can team up with somebody and I like to travel, whether that's, you know, to Las Vegas or anywhere in the East coast or North Carolina the tendency to stay on this coast more often now, and so they can.

Speaker 3:

One of the things I'm really into now is, like I think I mentioned earlier, was the sound bath Reiki events, and those are monthly and, again, those are super healing. People love them, them. It's a great networking connection. That's another reason why I like to do workshops in person. You make like-minded people, but you make a special connection. You know, when you listen to each other, heart to heart, some, you open up a space, there's expansion, something unique can happen, and so online is very convenient and it works, especially if they're recorded, which I like to do, because everyone has a busy lifestyle, but yet in person there's a dynamic that just doesn't match. So, yeah, so it's Reiki Access Bars, grief and Reiki Circles so those are all found on my website in person and online.

Speaker 3:

And some of the other services, like I said I mentioned, were ministry and doing efficient services for weddings and for memorials, and it's Palm Beach Wedding Efficient. So I kind of branched out a little because it is a little bit separate than wellness modalities, and I have tagged myself and built a storefront on the Knot, which is a really popular wedding site and wedding wire, and that's really fun. It's really fun to see what it takes to create your special day, your vision, and one of my specialties is creating vows, special vows, personalizing and customizing the ceremony for them, because every love is unique, right, we have a lot of backgrounds and it's important to capture that for me and create that day, that's a lifetime memory. So, yeah, I like my umbrella's big, and if people say do you? And I say not yet, sometimes, and then I might go and create it, so you never know what I'm creating next.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so if someone wants to book a class with you or event online or in person, how are they able again to get in touch with you?

Speaker 3:

Yes, so my website is dwell in spirit. Everything is there. You can book online, you can contact me. So it's dwell in spirit and the social media sites are similar. Dwell in spirit. Dwell in Reiki If you're just seeking Reiki. It's dwell in Reiki If you're more about the other healing modalities and efficient services. Dwell in spirit and dwell in Reiki.

Speaker 2:

All right, beautiful. Well, that ends the first part of our journey together, and I'm going to continue to guide you to the second part of our journey, which is questions from listeners and social media.

Speaker 3:

Excellent.

Speaker 2:

Here we go. So number one what inspired you to become an ordained minister?

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, what inspired me was what's next? Right, there's always another layer. We always have that ceiling, what we think we are, until we have a new thought right and it's kind of that gate that's not really locked. And when I thought, well, what is next? Why not be a minister? Like, what does it really take? It takes myself to be seen, to share who I am and to be willing to be guided and be led. And so that is what inspired me is am I willing? And the question was yes.

Speaker 2:

Very good. Number two, as an ordained minister, how do you explain Reiki to those who question where it aligns with their faith?

Speaker 3:

Yes. So I think we touched on that a little bit in the beginning where Reiki is very interchangeable. You know, it's not magic, it's energy, it's based on rules principles. It's based on rules principles, it's based on something that's also spiritual, but in the way it has a connection, a connection to your inner self and to your higher self, and that's very similar to religion. So for me it's very parallel there, similar to religion. So for me it's very parallel there, and so you can be very religious and still utilize wellness modalities, you can be very spiritual and still go to a church, right? So there's no real boundaries anymore. It's just what I used to have a mentor that used to say God told me. And then she would tell me what God told her, and then I would say well, how can you argue with God? It is just like okay, then you have to do it Right, then follow what you're hearing, what you're being led to do. What's your path, what's your journey?

Speaker 2:

Right right, you know my background, very religious. My mother was Bible-based into the church, I was an acolyte in the church and so often people are surprised, since I do yoga and I do Reiki, that I am very religious. You know praying and having conversations with God, and so they're quite surprised because they don't make that connection that you can.

Speaker 3:

Interchange yes, make it your own. Yeah, and until you've experienced it, maybe you're not in truth around it, maybe you're in a belief that isn't really. You know, we upgrade all the time. We upgrade our beliefs right. We upgrade our values and our morals. We usually do that as we grow and we expand, and so why not try some wellness therapy?

Speaker 2:

Right, right. And for my mother, because of her religious background and her understanding of the word of God, the Bible, that she doesn't accept the doing of the yoga or the Reiki. This is not. She doesn't understand and feels that, you know, I'm not walking the path of the Lord by doing these things.

Speaker 3:

Well, reiki, really. I mean I think yoga just started in the pajamas and it was just stretching, right. I mean our society has turned it into something way more fashionable.

Speaker 2:

Oh, absolutely yeah, it turns it into it into gymnastics and circus artists.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I think it's about a mind-body-spirit connection. I don't think for me. That's what I believe. I mean, I know everyone has a unique belief around it.

Speaker 2:

Sure, but along the journey you may come across someone who has those deep rooted beliefs into well, yeah, this is not for me. This isn't a line.

Speaker 3:

And that's okay. I think the important thing is meeting everybody where they are. I think that's one of the things is what it takes for me as a minister, as a practitioner, as a Reiki master, as an officiant meeting people where they are.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Because it takes and that's the same thing with yoga as well and Reiki. That's what we say in my yoga class as you teach we take you where you are.

Speaker 3:

Mm-hmm. Yeah, and it's important because we see them as individuals, we honor their process. Right, it doesn't need to look any other way, but the way it looks. It's the idea of everyone can have their process. But I think it's just as important to honor that process, being in allowance, allowance for each other, allowance to what is and what isn't. That, to me, is a spiritual journey in itself.

Speaker 2:

Very good. So question number three I read on your website you offer grief counseling, helping individuals navigate emotions after loss, the end of a relationship or the passing of a loved one. Can you tell me a little bit about this service?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so it's different for everybody. Some people like to have a one-on-one session. They're not group people, they're very private. Some people like the idea of listening to somebody else heal because that helps them heal, so that would be more in a workshop. And then people don't want to attend because they're nervous or they can't fit into their schedule, so then they would fit more into the online grief. So I've really tried to expand it to what works for you, and the idea is to be able to sit with your own emotions and lean in. But the only way out is through, and so if we don't move through it, we don't get to heal. We don't get to it, we don't get to heal.

Speaker 3:

It's like when we are grieving, a lot of us want to shut down and we cap out. We don't want to feel the grief. Problem with that is, to that level, you can't feel the joy, you can't feel the happiness, you can't feel the celebration, so we cap everything. You don't really just have a choice. You just numb down or you keep it down, and so really I love watching people thrive. I'm a connector, whatever that means. I want to connect you to your next greatest good or I want to connect you to the next person that's going to enhance your life right. So in the training and in it's more about staying open and being willing to learn something new, right To try something a different way. And that's really what the grief counseling is about is just being in a safe place to sit with your emotion, to move through them right, so that we can be a teacher. Right as we get older, we teach what we know, we don't just point the way. The reason why we know is because we've lived through it and that changes what's possible.

Speaker 2:

Very good. Well, that was the last question, so, as we've been talking, is there something that you may have forgotten or a message that you would like to share?

Speaker 3:

you can take this time now um, I think if you're questioning anything, then seek the answer, because the answers will come, and trust that life is for you, like, it's not against us, and we're here for each other. Utilize the wellness category of many, many practitioners and utilize your faith and utilize the ministry. There are people who are here to support you If you're feeling lost or overwhelmed or anxious or not knowing you're not alone.

Speaker 2:

Okay, beautiful. Well, thank you so much, michelle, for taking time out of your very busy schedule to come with me on this Ready Set Reiki journey.

Speaker 3:

Yes, thank you so much. It was wonderful, tracy.

Speaker 2:

All right. All right, my wonderful listeners. So if you would like your question featured on the podcast, reach out at wwwreadysetreikicom, or check me out on social media. If you're interested in Reiki trainings or yoga and yoga trainings, reach out to Feather Sister, wwwreadysetreikicom, wwwfeathersistercom. And I'm Tracy Seawright, and this has been Ready Set Reiki. Thank you.

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