Episode #208 Andrea Ochitwa What If Calm Is A Skill You Can Train

Crisis work changes your body, even when you’re “fine” on the outside.  Andrea Ochitwaspent nearly two decades in emergency communications supporting people through high-stress, life-changing moments, and eventually had to step away due to occupational PTSD. We sit down together to talk about what recovery really demands: time, nervous system awareness, and tools that help you feel safe inside your own skin again.

Andrea shares how Reiki found her twice, first through an unexpected table session that opened the floodgates of release, and later through formal Reiki training that helped her rebuild steadiness and trust. We unpack common misconceptions about Reiki (yes, including the “religion or cult” assumptions), and we get honest about what ethical Reiki practice should look like: confidentiality, consent, non-judgment, transparent training, and clear boundaries that include referring out for counseling or medical care when needed.

Then we go somewhere you might not expect: Reiki in photography. Andrea explains how self-Reiki helps her enter animal spaces grounded and calm, how she asks permission before offering Reiki, and how that respectful energy can support domesticated animals and even wildlife. We also cover practical regulation strategies you can use today, from breathwork and nature to meditation styles that actually fit your nervous system.
Andrea is a Calgary-based wellness facilitator, meditation teacher, and Reiki Master with nearly two decades of experience in emergency communications with the local police service.

Through her work in emergency services, Andrea developed a deep understanding of stress, trauma, and how chronic pressure affects the nervous system. This experience eventually led her to pursue training in meditation, energy healing, and trauma-informed wellness practices.

Today, Andrea combines her background in crisis support with holistic wellness approaches to help people reconnect with calm and balance. Her work includes guided meditation sessions, mindful creativity workshops, Reiki sessions, and nature-based wellness experiences. Andrea is passionate about creating safe and supportive environments where people can slow down, reduce stress, and nurture their wellbeing.

If you’ve been curious, skeptical, or simply burned out, come listen and decide from lived experience rather than rumors. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with your biggest Reiki question.

Transcript

Welcome To Ready Set Reiki

SPEAKER_00 0:20

This is Ready Set Reiki, a podcast about Reiki and all energy work, from the curious beginner to the seasoned master teacher, welcoming all systems, all lineages, 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, learning, and supporting others on this Reiki journey as well. And with that said, I am your guide, Tracy Seawright, and this is Ready Set Reiki.

A Free Reiki Community Invite

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Hello, Reiki family. Reiki blessings to you one and all. Another adventure we're going on today. But before we begin, I have to tell you about a special place on Facebook. Now, here it is the Reiki Business Collective. Here we're sharing, supporting, and serving. Well, Christian Stone does an amazing and wonderful job supporting and encouraging one and all. Here is connecting with your Reiki business community. Now it costs zero dollars to come on to this group here, wherever you are on your journey. Now, maybe you're not even thinking about business. Don't let that business word fool you. Wherever you are in your Reiki journey, come join, be a part of the community. You will not be sorry. Well, back to

Meet Andrea Okiwa

SPEAKER_00 1:28

our journey. So I'd like to bring on a wonderful and amazing person here. It is uh Andrea Okiwa. And she is a Calgary-based wellness facilitator, meditation teacher, Reiki master, photographer with nearly two decades of experience in emergency communication with local police services. Now, during her years working with emergency services, she supported people through highly stressful, often life-changing situations. Now, this experience gave her a very deep understanding of how stress and trauma affects the nervous system and ultimately led her to explore practices that helped calm her nervous system and restore calm and balance. Now, today she brings together her background and crisis support with meditation, Reiki, and trauma-informed wellness practices to help others reconnect with a sense of peace and grounding. She facilitates grounded meditation sessions, mindful creativity workshops, and wellness experiences designed to help calm busy minds and support emotional well-being. Now, she also integrates her Reiki practice into her photography using calming energy techniques to help animals feel safe and relaxed during a session. Now, this approach not only helps domestic animals settle during a photo shoot, but also allows her to photography or photo wildlife in a way that feels respectful and non-threatening. So let's give a warm Ready Set Reiki welcome. Hello, hello. Hi there. How are you? Welcome to Ready Set Reiki. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate this.

Life Story And Early Roots

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Wonderful. Now I told our listeners just a little bit about you, but I know there is so much more. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Sure. Um, I was born and raised in Calgary here in Canada. Um, been fortunate to have been able to travel extensively in my life, um, lots of different places. Um, but I have lived one other place as well, and that's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So I know we have a little bit there in common.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

We actually do. We actually do. So we're in Pittsburgh, uh just outside.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Um, it was on the north end where I was living at the time. Um, oh gosh, Oakmont. No, yes, Oakmont, I think. I can't remember. This is 30 years ago now. So I'm testing my memory here. Um, but yeah, I lived there for six months with one of my sisters. She had uh a youngster and um she wanted some assistance with the little one, and so I went down. Um, but uh speaking of siblings, I'm the youngest of five girls. Um, and I have uh nieces and a nephew and two fur babies. I have a cat and a dog.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Beautiful, beautiful. Well, we're here for the reason of Reiki energy

Reiki Arrives Twice Through PTSD

SPEAKER_00 4:31

work. So tell us about Reiki. When did Reiki come into your life? Did you find Reiki or did it find you?

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Oh, good question. So it actually found me twice. So the first time, um, I was this was back in about 2005, and I was um I was about five, six years into my career as an emergency communications officer. And I was struggling a little bit, and and one of my sisters saw that, and she said, you know, I think I think it might be a good idea for you to go and see a friend of mine. And she said, you know, go and check her out. So I found her and she said, Do you know what Reiki is? Nope, not a clue. So I said, you know what, I'm here, I trust you. Yeah, my sister would not send me wrong, send me me somewhere wrong. So I um I got on her table and had an incredible experience. It was very eye-opening, and part of it though was that I felt I felt a little bit weird because I was opened up and cried and cried. And I thought, oh my gosh, this is weird, this is really strange, what's happening to me? And she assured me that it was normal and I just had things to release. So I as much as I was really interested in that and curious about it and fascinated by it, I I didn't go back. So fast forward now to 2019, where I ended up having to leave my my career um due to occupational PTSD. And um I was sitting on the computer one day, just scrolling through Facebook, and up pops this ad for Mount Royal University, one of our local universities here, Reiki training. And it was right in my face. And it was like, hi, hi, come on, I invite you. So I did. I started my training in 2019. Um, and and you know, I don't think I'll ever look back. It's been amazing, it's been quite a journey.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Beautiful, beautiful. I mean, working in the field that you are working in, I mean, hats off to you. Thank you for all of that you've done. You know, it's really a stressful, you know, profession.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

It is, it absolutely is. And this ended up being a huge part of my own healing journey.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Beautiful.

Misconceptions About Reiki

SPEAKER_00 7:20

So, what surprised you about Reiki?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Um, well, I think that it's far more common now than I knew before I was trained. Um, I think you don't necessarily look for things when you don't know about them. But at the same time, after I was trained, it was everywhere. Everywhere. I had people popping up going, oh yeah, I'm a Reiki master, oh yeah, I'm a Reiki master, I've trained in. And so I thought, okay, this is fascinating. This is so cool. Um yeah, so they're either trained in it or interested in it, or they are just kind of curious, but shyly curious about it, you know. So yeah, I thought that was that was that's a huge surprise about it.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Right. When I began my journey, I had one good friend that she was a bit, you know, really into this, and she said, give it a try. And I Googled and I found a teacher and I didn't know anybody, and then as soon as you get trained, it's like, oh yeah, I do that. And like, wow, like it was some kind of secret.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Then they admit that they're exactly goodness.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

So standing where you are today looking back, what are some misconceptions that you hear about Reiki?

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Excellent question. Um, there's a lot of people out there that I think believe that it is really um connected to religion. Um, and the people that don't think it's connected to religion think it's some kind of cult. I've had that as well. And I've had people say, you must be a devil worshiper. And it's like, nope, promise. I'm Christian, it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, I grew up as well. Yeah, my we I grew up in a very Bible-based home, you know. My mother was the word of God. And when I started doing yoga, it was like, absolutely not, you're gonna go to hell. Um, when I was playing the sound bowls, she called them the demon bulls, you know, just like absolutely horrific. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Yeah, yeah, that's a that's a that's a big one for sure.

Trauma Healing Takes Time

SPEAKER_00 9:59

So working in emergency communication with a local police, you you've seen a few things. You've probably seen people at their worst uh through their struggles. But what has been a big one of the biggest challenges or struggles you have faced in your own healing journey?

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Time. Time has been a really interesting struggle. Um, because I think there are certain expectations on people. Um, you know, when you break your leg, say, um there's it's kind of clear, you know, you've got a break, we cast you, we might do surgery on you, we get you into physiotherapy, um, you know, do a little bit of massage therapy, and you'll be walking again in six weeks. Um PTSD is not like that. Right. So it's time is is a very important struggle.

unknown 11:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

It's so interesting because you can pity someone, you know, when you see them with the outside wounds, but they're not realizing the internal, you know. When I do um sound balls, being a trauma-informed teacher is important. I lived in an I live in an area where there's a lot of service, right? A lot of military veterans, police officer, border patrol here. Right. You never know. And you have to be conscious and aware that a particular sound could trigger something. Absolutely. And you don't want them to be there and just struggling and having just to push through it when it's supposed to be the stress-reducing modality, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

So it's one of those things that you can't really see, but you need to be conscientious and aware. And I always tell them, like, you know, if you feel it coming on, and you know, I'll hold space for you, just put your hand finger up, and you know, I'll I'll shift it. We'll you don't have to be there and struggle.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Yeah, that's a beautiful way of doing it. Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Yeah,

Choosing Practitioners And Ethics

SPEAKER_00 12:13

yeah. So when it is time for you to get an energetic tune up, what are some qualities that you look for in a Reiki practitioner?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Oh gosh. Hmm, well, I think that uh unfortunately, like in a lot of um modalities, there are people that are in it for, I'm gonna say it the wrong reasons, um, not just because I disagree with how you know people are, but you know, if you're just in it for money or if you're just in it for, I don't know, the the money thing is a big thing for me. Um people need to be invested in others, you know, and so that is very important to me that they're they're invested in the client, somebody who listens, somebody who understands about confidentiality. That's such a big thing. Um, and non-judgment, non-judgment, right? Yeah, those are important to me.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Yeah, sometimes I feel like I'm the reiki police, and it's a struggle, it's a struggle because you see things, and then you'll have some people say, Well, you need to work on yourself and question why that bothers you. And what about me? I just don't want people to feel they get ripped off because of course for these trainings, they're paying for this service, and there needs to be a standard, like a waiver, right? Yes, have the waiver signed, right? Have transparency. Um, you know, I've seen where someone will start promoting that they're a practitioner or a master before they even finish their training, you know, or I see that they're taking other materials from another practitioner and using it as their own. And it just blows my mind sometimes. So I don't really look at it like, oh, it's about me and ego, but it's like I just feel bad for people who are entrusting this group person with their time, their money, their energy, and that person's not being authentic.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

I think it's just the ethics of it that kind of bothers me. Um and just saying, well, I'm not a part of I'm promoting this, but I'm really not a part of that. It's like, oh my goodness, oh my goodness. But now that we have such a variety of trainings out here and accessibility of things online, there's a lot of people that go and go on demand because they're like, this is great. I can be a Reiki practitioner for $9.99 and I'm up and I'm running, right? And so there's a lot of controversy out there where you have individuals saying it has to be in person instead of online. And you know, I'm for if you have a live teacher, you're like how we are communicating right now, great. But if it's an online on-demand thing, that's a great resource after you connected with a physical person that you can connect with.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

We are on the same page, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Yeah, it just seems that how it's kind of shifted and changed, and then you have in the community where people are judging, right? And but the whole thing is love and service. This is what we're here for, right? Yes, whether you're doing angelic Reiki, whether you're doing Celtic Reiki, rainbow reiki, we're all here for love and service.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Exactly. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

So, what advice would you give someone who is just entering spiritual work?

Advice For New Spiritual Students

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Oh my gosh, take your time. Um, read a lot, but you also have to remember um at the same time, when you're reading, reading other people's, you know, manuals or books, a lot of that is other people's opinions. And so I think you really have to take that into account. Um, just like a lot of other things, um, find peer-related or peer-reviewed studies, uh, find gray literature, um, find a teacher that you mesh with. Uh, I think that's gonna make it a lot easier, a lot smoother to be able to have that relationship with uh with your teacher and to be able to continue your your relationship with your teacher. Um and this is a big one is keep a journal um through training. Yeah. Um see if you can find somewhere to volunteer your time as um providing Reiki services. Um, I mean, some places won't take you that as far as I know until you're a Reiki master, but you know, get there and and use that, use that time and use your use your abilities, use this skill. Um know that it's okay for people to doubt the work. Not everybody has to believe in it. Um and just because you're getting into Reiki also doesn't mean you have to work with clients. You know, you there's no expectations in Reiki. You can go into it and you can just have it there for self-care.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Right, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

My friend that got me into this, um, you know, we went to and I went to introduce her to somebody, and uh she goes, Well, I do Reiki, but not how Tracy does it. I just only do it on myself. And I turned to her and I says, But what you do matters. Yes matters if you you don't have to teach, you don't have to have clients. You just getting up and giving Reiki to a tree, right? Or to yourself so that you're not getting upset around your coworkers or snapping at somebody that cut you off in traffic, that's important as well. And I like how you said about the different manuals. When I studied Azui Rahijo, we had a how to create our own manual. So we would take our teacher's information and then create our own. And then, you know, by the time I went on to other different systems, I was realizing, oh, some of this is inaccurate. And I remember seeing a post on Facebook about someone who said, This is my master teacher's timeline. And on the timeline, we know when Ozui sensei was born, we know when he died, and the timeline put him as five years old, connecting with the energy. And I said, Hey, you might want to check that. And he was absolutely not my my sensei is absolutely correct. So you have so many hours of the training, many of them, the average is like eight hours, right? Yeah, a one-day training. You can only fit so much in there. And if you have questions, do the research. You have Justin B. Stein out there who's trying to put the pieces together of things that Madame Takata once said that people just thought as lies, and he's trying to find the truth behind things and he's finding it. You know, they uncovered, you know, his CV, you know, Azui Sensei's, and it's piecing it together, what he was doing from 23 up to the time he connected with the energy, and things are making sense. Like, oh, we just think he went on a mountain and boom, here he is, and he's starting right, and not realizing all the work that came prior to that, yeah. So, yeah, so be very mindful and careful. You can connect with somebody amazing, the manual may be uh okay, but you know, go out and do your research and stay relevant too.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Yeah.

Books That Shaped Her Practice

SPEAKER_00 19:50

So what books do you recommend?

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Oh, um, I there are some books by Penelope Quest that I quite like. The Reiki Manual, um, self-healing with Reiki. Um, and I did some my medical Reiki training under Raven Keys. Um and so she what brought me into that was her book, Medical Reiki. And I found that quite fascinating. Um, and I'm really into animal Reiki. So when I did some searching, I found Kathleen Prasad, and she has written a number of books, and she is a wealth of knowledge um on the subject. So she dedicated her life to it. So she's got she's got a lot of information to offer. Um, yeah, those so those those are kind of the the main ones.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Yeah, and I've been blessed. She's been on Ready Set Reiki as well. So amazing. Yes, I'm uh trained also in animal Reiki, the ICRT and animal reiki.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Okay, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

And um one of my articles was uh here in El Paso, there was a dog that was left at the border because you can't bring dogs as you come over. And my friend adopted this dog, and I gave her the attunement, the placement of the energy. So little Luna jumps on the table and puts her little paws. Oh my gosh, I love it. So Luna loves, so it's called Luna's purpose. So um, yeah, from the border to to giving Reiki.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Oh, beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, yeah. So that's beautiful. So beautiful. So, what other services, modalities do you offer?

Modalities She Teaches And Offers

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Um, so I'm a meditation teacher. Um, I do in person as well as online when it's requested. Um and Healing Touch Practitioner Apprentice, which is if you're not familiar with Healing Touch, it's similar to Reiki. Um animal pract sorry, animal Reiki practitioner teacher through Kathleen Prasad's SLED Animal Lead Method. I teach Reiki for humans and animals. Mindful workshop, which is really lovely. I may be um offering or co-facilitating workshops on neurographic art in the near future. And that is a fun one. Um I also I do a few things. Um I also do equine assisted learning. I'm a facilitator for that. And I am in my training for equine facilitated wellness. Um yeah, so lots and lots of good things.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Yeah. And going back to like um, you know, things to find in a practitioner, you know, you're constantly evolving, growing, learning. So that's another green flag because we're building ourselves, right? We're building that energetic toolbox. Yes. So and then you know, the photography with the animals, that's just absolutely beautiful. I mean, you think you're even like doing like family uh photo shoots, right? To bring Reiki in for infants. I mean, that it's endless possibilities, yes, to bring that in. So I was interviewing someone yesterday, and she was combining hairdressing and her salon with Reiki. So that's like the new thing kind of coming here. But you figure photography, and this just shows you that you can merge it with anything. You know, I do smoke up, and here we are with photography. And what a beautiful thing to come up on the animal, not to frighten them, to send them Reiki with permission, right? Always absolutely so beautiful.

How To Find Andrea

SPEAKER_00 24:08

So, where can we find you? Are you online? Are you in person? If someone's interested in a session or service from you, I am online and in person.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

So if anybody out there is in Calgary or Calgary area, I do in-person sessions. Um, and I can actually go to people's homes as well because I have my table and will travel. Um, but I work out of two different um studios as well. Beautiful. Um, all of that can be found on my website, which is goodspiritwellness.ca. I'm also on Instagram. That's goodspirit underscore wellness. Somebody else stole it the other way, I guess. And on Facebook is good spirit wellness.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Um and yeah, and I do distance work as well. So of course nobody has to be right beside me.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Beautiful, beautiful. Well, you know, keep waiting for that name to pop up. So when I started, I had feather sister, right? But someone had sister, so I had to put the feather sister and I put a letter in the mail, you know, maybe once a year saying, Hey, we'll sell you it for $10,000 for feather sister. And one day I got an email and said it's available and I was during some kind of sale or whatever, but I got the name. But of course, by then I already was the feather sister, the feather sister. So I thought, well, I better grab this. So I own the feather sister, feather sister. Amazing. So you never you never know. You never know. So might pop up when you least expect it. Well, that is our last question for this part of our journey. And I'm going to guide you into the second part, which are questions from social media and from Reiki students.

Reiki Photography With Wild Animals

SPEAKER_00 25:59

So here we go. Number one. How do you integrate your Reiki practice or Reiki into your photography?

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Okay, that's a great question. So thank you to whomever answer asked it. I frequently photograph wild animals, as you know, wild horses mostly, but also wolf dogs at uh a local wolf dog sanctuary. Um, and both both of these species have can have difficulties with humans um for some obvious reasons and some not so obvious reasons. And I find that using self-raiki, first of all, to take me into a situation, um it calms things right down. It calms things, it you know, these animals, these intuitive, beautiful animals, know I'm not there to do any harm at all. So starting with self-reiki is amazing. Then when I go into the area, say the the sanctuary, if I'm walking through, I offer Reiki. I always ask permission, of course, like we were talking about. And then I offer Reiki to these animals, and if they accept it, I get some of the best shots. I get fantastic facial expressions, and I get these fantastic poses. It's like they're giving this to me as a gift. Um, and in the in the areas where the wild horses roam, um, you know, I I again go out there with self-reiki, and these animals are not those that love humans in some of the spots. A lot of them are used to photographers, though, so they'll come trotting up to you. But in the really far into the backcountry, I work with my energy very, very closely. And I can tell you one experience that was absolutely beautiful. I had driven way into the backcountry and I was up on this ridge, and the there was a if you look down the hill, there was a herd of horses down the hill, and I got some beautiful photos there, but there was a band of three horses about maybe 50 feet from me, and I thought, okay, calm, energy, center, ground. You know, I need them to know I'm not gonna harm them. And I offered the Reiki to them. They came up to me, one of them came so close, I put my hand out because I thought, ooh, you know, and wild, wild animals and humans don't mix. He touched my hand and he blew out his air on my hand, and then he just kind of took a step back, and it was this moment. I think I had tears in my eyes, and I was just thanking him and thanking him and thanking him, and and then they moved off a little bit, got some beautiful pictures of them. Um, so that's with the that's with animals, um, but I also with wild animals, anyways. I also work with domesticated animals, and you know, these these guys are are some that have been abused or that have had bad experiences with humans. So energy is so important, you know. My mom, I'll tell you, she loves what I do, but she saw me interacting with an animal one day, and she said, Do you realize that animal never took their eyes off of you? And I said, Well, I saw it looking, you know, a couple of times because I was watching as well. But then I'd close my eyes and and she said, It just you could see the body just kind of melt. And they were just so okay with being there. Um gosh, yeah, it's it's when I when I work with human clients, same thing. I offer that. And some people kind of look at me and go, uh no, which is okay. Um, and some people, you know, the the difference is palpable when you when you see uh that change. It it's just it's it's really beautiful uh when people are kind of okay, I'm going to sit like this, and then you work with a little bit of energy, and it just it's so calming, it's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Okay, right. Yeah, are your photos on display anywhere where people can check them out?

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Yeah, so uh I have a website for that too. It's good spirit photography. Beautiful, yes, good spirit is is kind of my kind of my thing. Awesome, wonderful.

Emergency Work And Client Support

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Number two, how has your experience working in emergency services helped support your Reiki clients?

SPEAKER_01 31:45

That's huge. So having been around people who have had very traumatic situations, um, unprocessed trauma, um, going through the worst days of their lives, you know, we never heard from people when they were having good days. So, you know, just having these people who constantly had it was it was a constant um call after call after call of bad. So in order to understand that, you have to start kind of leaning in a little bit. And when you lean in, you learn more. So with my clients, yeah, also a huge skill to have is is listening. You have to be able to listen.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Listen and be there, just hold space, right?

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Exactly, exactly. So when I'm working with clients, Reiki clients, they are all that is there. All I am is a sounding board. Um, I'm just there to hear what they have to say, to provide them a safe space to let go of whatever they need to let go of. Um, and I'm also I am very, very clear. I should say, I'm not a counselor, so I am quite clear that if there is something coming up, I will suggest counseling if they're not already involved in it.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

Right, right, right. Listeners, that's important. You know, we never diagnose, right? We never, and if it's something that's out of the realm of our expertise, you know, talk to your doctor, right? Seek medical attention, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

So yes, yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, that's I just want to provide a comfortable, safe space for people.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Well, thank you for that. Number three, in your experience with emergency care and encountering challenging and emotional situations, do you have a technique that helps you calm down during stressful times?

Breathwork And Practical Self Care

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Wow. So a big one for me is breath. Breath work. It is so important. We we really tend to breathe in our upper chest. You know, it's always that kind of just that upper chest, being able to exhale everything, being able to inhale everything as much as we possibly can. That's where the calming is. That's where that comes, that where that's where that's that comes in handy is uh just breathing. That is a huge one for me. I'm also really interested in just a lot of self-care, you know, um, acupuncture, massage, um, going for a walk. You know, it's not anything that has to cost anybody money. Going for a walk, hugging a tree. I know it sounds so so silly. Lots of wisdom in a tree, though. There is so much, and yeah, you just go and hug a tree. Um just enjoy being in nature. That is huge. Also, I'm a huge proponent of counseling and therapy. So, you know, those are those are I think the main things. Uh, you know, I'm I'm grateful that I was when I did my meditation teacher training. It was a 300-hour course, and we went through and learned so many different types of meditation. Yeah, and so I'm very grateful that I have that to fall back on as well.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

Absolutely. Because then you'll just find your right one because some of them, you know, it might not feel so good, and know that there's more. There's yes there. Yeah, very good.

Skepticism Is Okay And Closing

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Well, that was this last question. And as we've been talking, is there anything else you'd like to share or anything that you forgot about? The floor is yours.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

Oh gosh, wow, this is uh this has been absolutely incredible. Um, I think no, I think that just, you know, if people out there are curious about it, um, if they are wanting to experience uh a Reiki session, but are a little I don't know, skeptical about it, it's okay. You know what? It's Reiki is not ever, it cannot ever hurt you. So try it. Um if it's if you want if it's something you're interested in training in, try it. You know, again, there's no harm. This is just another one of those things that you can use to better yourself. So yeah, just jump in there.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Yes, it does. And tell our listeners again where they can get in contact with you.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Sure, of course, it's my website is www.goodspiritwellness.ca. Um, and uh my Instagram is at goodspirit underscore wellness, and Facebook is at goodspirit wellness.

SPEAKER_00 37:59

Beautiful. Well, thank you, Andrea, for taking time out of your very busy schedule and joining me on this ready setreek journey. I really appreciate it. I love it. Photography, Reiki, all that you do. We we do a lot of the same different uh same modalities, so I love that as well. All right, my beautiful listeners. If you'd like your question featured on Ready Set Reiki, reach out www.ready setreiki.com and check me out on social media. I'm Tracy C. Wright, and this has been Ready Set Reiki.