Stop Asking For Permission To Be You: What if Your Authenticity is the "Next Level"?

The moment you think you’ve “lost yourself” is often the moment you’re finally ready to come home. We sit down for a heart-to-heart about what it really looks like to remember who you are when you’ve spent years caring, giving, leading, and holding everything together and now your body, your emotions, and your spirit are asking for something different.

I talk about authenticity as a lived practice, not a branding word. We get into how people-pleasing, perfectionism, and constant performing can layer over your true self until joy feels far away. Through the lens of Reiki, energy healing, emotional release, and nervous system regulation, I share what I see in sessions all the time: when you create space for stillness and support, creativity returns, confidence steadies, and your intuition gets louder in the best way. We also unpack “nudges,” synchronicities, and what changes when you stop asking permission to be you.

There’s a bigger wave happening too. More people are waking up, including the ones who used to roll their eyes at anything spiritual. I share how to meet that shift with compassion and grounded language, so you can be a safe place for someone else without dimming your own light.

If you’re ready to go deeper, I also share ways to connect through Reiki training and a small-group awakening cohort designed to help you return to your truth with community and care. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs the reminder, and leave a review so this healing ripple can reach more people.

Classes and Cohort:

ONLINE: : https://calendly.com/angelreikijourney/online-usui-holy-fire-reiki-i-and-ii-july-24-25

IN PERSON: https://calendly.com/angelreikijourney/in-person-usui-holy-fire-reiki-i-and-ii

AWAKENING Cohort: https://calendly.com/angelreikijourney/3wks-your-journey-starts-now-level-1-awakening

Transcript

Season Two Welcome And Purpose

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello, welcome to season two of the Sacred Soul Sisters Podcast. Oh my goodness, we are in 2026, and I have never been more ready for this year. Oh my gosh, the year of the fire horse. Well, welcome before we get too far ahead. Welcome to the Sacred Soul Sisters Podcast, a sacred space created for awesome souls who have spent years caring, giving, leading, and holding it all together, and are now feeling the quiet call to return to themselves. However, the call may be just getting a little louder this year. I'm Justina. I'm a Reiki master teacher, healer, nurse for over 20 years, transformational speaker, retreat leader, uh workshop leader, and this podcast is an invitation to you to allow your inner soul to slow down, soften, receive, and remember who you are beneath those roles and responsibilities and expectations that you've been carrying, but also to ignite the fire within you. To remind you how awesome you are. I'm so happy you're here. So here we talk about real healing, not the bypassing kind, but the kind that beats you exactly where you are. We explore energy, spirituality, emotional release, nervous system regulation, divine support, and what it truly means to live in alignment with your soul while navigating this crazy real life, right? So you'll hear heartfelt conversations, intuitive teachings, gentle practices, and soul-led interviews. They're all designed to help you clear energetic blocks, reconnect with your inner wisdom, and reclaim your vitality without guilt or burnout. Right? Like we are done. We are done messing around. I am so fired up about this year of 2026, and I cannot wait to hang with you this year. So thank you so much for being here. This is the place where you don't have to have it all figured out. But it is the place where your strength is remembered, your light is reawakened. And if this resonates with you, I would love for you to follow the show. Please leave a review. It helps the message reach so many more individuals that need it at this time. You can also visit my website at angelrekyjourney.com, scroll to the bottom, sign up for the newsletter to receive soulful updates, upcoming offers, gentle reminders that you are never alone in this path. Come connect with me on Instagram at Angel Reiki Journey and join the conversation. Or you can find me on LinkedIn where I share reflections, teachings, and ways to bring this work into your life and leadership. You are never meant to leave this alone. You belong here. And I'm so glad you are here. So take a breath and welcome to the Sacred Soul Sisters podcast. Disclaimer, you should always check in with your physician, your psychiatrist, your counselor, or anyone else assisting in your care prior to deciding that you would like to take any of the recommendations, the suggestions, and our thoughts on any of the subjects that we discuss in the podcast. Thank you so much.

Remembering Who You Were First

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to the Sacred Soul Sisters podcast. I'm your host, Justina, founder and creator of Angel Reiki Journey, uh, host of your beautiful podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am an Asui Holy Fire Karuna Reiki master teacher, an intuitive healer, a lover of community. My mission so much is to create every pocket of community that I possibly can in any place, in any time, uh, anywhere. It's just, it's so strongly on my heart. And I am someone who believes with every single fiber of my being that we are all here to remember who we truly are. And when we step into that, some serious magic happens. So today I really want to have a heart-to-heart with you. I don't want to add more things to your to-do list. Like, this isn't about um trying to change you, trying to improve you, or anything like that. It's not about you trying to gain another achievement, not add another thing on your checklist, right? I want to talk about remembering. You guys, this has so much to do with my upcoming cohort as well, uh, awakening, because oh, there's just so much that goes into being a freaking human around here, right? So remembering who you were before everyone and everything around you tried to tell you different. Because if you're listening to this today and you're having moments of feeling exhausted, disconnected, anxious, overwhelmed, or like you lost your way, uh, I want you to hear me very loud and clear. You are still in there. I see you, but you're still in there. The real you, the authentic you, the version of you that came into this world with your own dreams, your own gifts, your own intuition, your own purpose, your joy, your curiosity, and your unique blueprint, you're still there. You have just simply been covered by layers, right? Layers of so many things, responsibilities, expectations, survival, all the layers of the quote, life rules, unquote, that were handed down from generation to generation, or literally into your DNA from ancestors. There's so much today. I want to remind you that your journey isn't about changing who you are, it's about returning to you, returning home to you. So much of the work that I do through Reiki, energy healing, retreats, workshops, community building is centered around helping you. I am talking to all of you, and especially women, helping you to peel back those layers because somewhere along this crazy life, a lot of us learn that being ourselves just it wasn't safe, really, right? We learn to people please, we learn to stay quiet, we learn to make everyone else around us super comfortable. We learn to prioritize everyone else's needs before our own. And we learned exactly how to wear each and every mask we needed to in each and every situation. We learned how to perform. And after years and years, sometimes decades, of doing that, we forgot what it feels like to be fully ourselves or or who are you, right? I see this every single day in my sessions. Women come to me, men too, and all believing they need healing. And while healing absolutely happens, it absolutely does. But what often starts to happen as well is something even better. They start to reconnect to who they are. It's so magical to watch. They begin remembering, they begin reconnecting to the parts of themselves that they thought were completely gone. Their creativity starts to return, their confidence returns, their intuition strengthens, their joy. Their joy begins to emerge again. If you're feeling like today that it's been a long ass time since you have felt joy, true joy, I'm here to let you know it's there. We just gotta get to it. And we can. And really, one of the biggest things, again, this has a lot to do with the upcoming cohort. One of the biggest, most important pieces is they start to learn to trust themselves. They start to learn to trust the nudges, trust the intuition. Because honestly, your soul it's always known the way. Your soul has always known its purpose and throughout this healing process, your soul gets to remember your gifts, your soul gets to remember why you came here. The noise of life just got crazy loud. But when we get quiet, when we create that space for healing, reflection, stillness, community, and connection, something magical happens, and we begin hearing ourselves again. I know some of the stuff I've spoken about before, but Spirit is so on me about just continue to repeat, continue, continue, continue. People need to hear this, they have got to hear this, and I can tell you from very personal experience, there is nothing more freeing than aligning with the authentic version of who you are. Oh my gosh, there is nothing more freeing. Because when you're standing in that authenticity, you are well, you don't have to ask for permission. And quite frankly, it doesn't even occur to you to. When you are in your authentic self, when you are in alignment, you are in this frequency, this vibration of energy, this incredible feeling that you don't even have that thought for a minute about like, oh gosh, maybe I maybe I shouldn't say this, or maybe I shouldn't. Everything just flows. Everything just flows, and you are able to be a non-judgmental person to yourself. So much of it is us just oh my gosh, talking ourselves out of everything, right? Hello, hello, hello.

Reiki Certification Dates And Details

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Can you believe we are almost halfway through 2026? Oh my gosh, this year has just been flying by. Guess what? I have something exciting to tell you. So I have been asked multiple times if I would teach Reiki online. And I will be officially teaching my first online time in July of this year. So July 24th and 25th, if you are interested in getting certified in Usui Holy Fire level one and two, please look into this. My link will be in the show notes. It should also be in my Instagram bio and then on my website. I cannot wait to meet you. It will be amazing. It's two whole days. We get to go through some deep, deep healing as we get these amazing certifications and you get to feel the Reiki energy within you, around you. Oh my gosh, it's so amazing. And if you prefer to do the traditional route of in-person, that's still available as well. I will be teaching another in-person level one and two in August. So August 22nd and 23rd. So, real quick again, if you want to do the online course, it's July 24th and 25th, 2026. If you want to do in-person, August 22nd and 23rd, 2026. All right. I look forward to hearing from you. Okay, now back to the episode.

Trusting Nudges And Following Flow

SPEAKER_01 12:07

But when you tap into that authentic self, the version of you that the that version just knows. Just knows what to do, where to do it, what to say. And what I witness over and over, and my favorite part about all of this is that when people start living from that place, life begins to shift. So many opportunities appear, the right people arrive, the synchronicities increase, you guys. I really need to like sit down and write out all of these insane stories of how synchronicities have worked. You're gonna hear about one for sure, um, in depth a little bit more uh in the next several weeks um when I do my announcement on July 1st, uh, and about how that came together, and about it was purely from trusting the nudges I've been getting. Truly learning to trust. All these doors start opening, and you get connected to this person, who's connected to this person, who's connected to this place, who's uh before you know it, you are in a space your soul has always wanted to be, and you know that you are able to make a difference there, and you are able to pour light and love into people that need it, and it's oh my gosh, you guys, it's so freaking amazing. It's so amazing. And it's not happening because the universe is finally paying attention to you, it's because you're paying attention to you, you're finally aligned with who you came here to be. You're not pushing all that continued resistance against your soul, you are you are grooving with it, you are grooving with it, uh, you are grooving with it. Hey, oh my goodness. Yeah, see, had I not been in my authentic self, I'd have been all up in my head about what just happened there. Anyway, so it doesn't mean that your life becomes perfect, it doesn't mean that you get to step completely out of the 3D world because you don't, you know, but man, it makes life so much more meaningful, so much more expansive, so much more joyful. The amount of time I spend in gratitude, which is also, you know, a way to elevate your frequency, it's a beautiful byproduct. But you can't help but spend time in gratitude when you are feeling in alignment. It's really it just goes hand in hand. I mean, you follow these nudges, and you can't help but feel more and more alive and more and more expansive and more and more grateful. It's so beautiful.

Gratitude And A Collective Awakening

SPEAKER_01 15:11

You start just busting at the seams with this gratitude for your spirit team, for Mother Gaia, for the universe, for Jesus, for Buddha, for Mother Mary, for Princess Diana, for your mother Teresa, for Padre Pio. I'm just giving a shout out to some of my spirit team people, but whoever's on your spirit team. And other people's spirit teams, right? We have so many in the unseen world that are working together. Oh my gosh, the gratitude for the countless number of guides, teachers, angels, ancestors, energies of love that continue to support humanity during this incredible time of awakening. I truly believe we are living through some serious, profound shifting. People are starting to wake up all over the place. It's it's like um it makes me think of if you've ever had a cold and you take a drink of ice cold orange juice and you can feel it going through your body, like, or you're having like you're at it's a really, really hot day, and you haven't been able to get a drink of water all day, and finally you get like a big glass of ice water, and you're like, it's this feeling of just amazingness and gratitude. And it's like this light switch is starting to turn on, and so many, and and they're turning their heads sideways and they're leaning in and they're like, Wait, is there something to that? Oh, that's odd. It feels like I just heard this a few minutes ago and I'm hearing it again. Or you know, I for some really weird reason I felt like I was supposed to turn right, so I did. And I just talked to somebody who turned left the way I always go, and and got an accident. Like is something happening? And I can assure you it is. There is so much more. And I tell you this information to make sure that you keep your awareness open to this, that the people around you are people that you would never expect or maybe would often look at you like, oh, you're you're a little woo-woo, little cray cray, yeah, you always think things a little bit off, are gonna start asking you more and more questions, are gonna start saying, like, hey, like I I don't know if I think like you do, but I have to say, like, something's a little odd here. Like, can I just run this by you?

Helping Skeptics Without Judgment

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Remember to approach them with a non-judgmental compassion and yes, yes, you can and share with them some of your experience. Like, don't blow their mind. Like, I don't know if I would like start out with like, yeah, this Octurian and uh this Lemurian, like they sat down and talked with me last night um while I was sitting outside feeding an orange squirrel. Like, I don't know if you know, you want to like start with that, but um, you know, like talking to them about how you've had intuitive moments, how you have felt guided in different things, how you have heard something that really resonated with you, you know, and be open to that. Sometimes when we're caught in our 3D world and life is so busy, and we have someone that has ridiculed us for years, and they present to us now asking a question, like, and really you can see the wheels turning in them, like, hmm. Now, there's some people that are definitely not eager to tell you that they're wrong or that they shouldn't have been so ignorant to you. Let's be real. And with that, sometimes your initial human reaction is like, oh, now you want to come talk to me. Now you think I'm not woo-woo. Hmm, yeah, I ain't got nothing for you. But that's not what we're called to do. You can think that thought for a minute, but just set it aside, take a deep breath, and remember how you felt when all this stuff first started happening. Oh my gosh, one of the biggest things that I tell people right away is you're not crazy. You're not crazy. Because you guys, I felt like I was so freaking crazy. I felt like I was losing my damn mind up in here 24-7. I was like, I'm losing it, I'm losing it. No one thinks of this stuff. Like, what is happening? What the hell do you mean? I saw a purple frog in a session. Like, what is going on? Right. But so many people, as they're waking up, all these different questions are starting to come in, and all of these different things they're reflecting on, and all of these moments that they ran into the quote woo-woo people, and they're like, Oh shit, did they maybe have something going on there? Like, was there something to that? Yes. Yes, oh my goodness, and remind them like so many of the answers they're looking for aren't even on the outside of them, they're within them. The next level of all of humanity is on the other side of authenticity, right? So the more people we can help guide through this process of stepping into what ignites their soul and their joy, and they get to be in that authentic self. Oh my gosh. Because really, like the world doesn't need another version of someone else, right? The world doesn't need more robots either. No pun intended, since robots is becoming a real thing, right? And robots are cleaning people's houses and things, and I don't know, that part I I don't know. I could really use some help at the house. I'm just saying, but um but I mean in the human form, right? We don't need more cookie cutter people that have followed all of the conditioning and all of the rules and can't answer questions about themselves. Because they're grasping at what they've been told they're supposed to like or what they're supposed to do. And really, the world needs you. The world needs the real you, the authentic you, the soul-led you. And when you have the courage, or you help someone get the courage to step into that version of yourself, or that version of them. Hey, you got a question.

Awakenings Cohort Return To Truth

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Are you ready to make the journey back to yourself? Are you ready to return to your truth? Okay. Well, I think you're ready to start the new cohort. So, level one, awakening, return to your truth is a three-week intimate group experience for women. Okay. If a quiet shift is happening inside you, you can't go back to who you were and you're not quite sure who you're becoming. Know this. You are not lost. You are awakening and you don't have to walk this path alone. I'm trying to create something that I would have really, really liked to have back in the day when I went through my first awakening. And to have somebody to remind me I'm not crazy, to remind me I'm safe, to help me support myself in the journey and to help support me along the way. So again, this isn't about fixing you. It's about remembering who you already are. This is so awesome. But you get to witness, understand what's shifting inside of you, reconnect to your body and feel safe again, navigate emotional and energetic transitions with care, and begin trusting your inner voice and guidance. Let me say that last part again. You will learn to begin to trust your inner voice and guidance. You may still argue with it from time to time, but you will be, oh my gosh, you will be able to start to tell the difference. Is it just mind chatter or am I actually being guided by my inner voice? So I'm so excited. The link is on the website, right? It will be three Wednesdays in a row. So it's a three-week cohort, July 29th, August 5th, and August 12th. If you're unable to make it, that's fine. There will be a recording. It's from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Only having, I mean, very small group we're doing to make sure that we all stay in a safe, sovereign place. So sign up as soon as you can, and I'll see you there. You need to be such an example to let somebody else do that. I'm really trying to make part of my mission to really, really taking a moment to those people that I learn from, those people that do step in their authenticity and I learn from them to tell them thank you. Thank you for answering the call. Thank you for stepping up. Thank you for trusting your soul because it has shined a light on me, and now I feel like I can do that too. I'm telling you, when you do that, your healing becomes such a ripple, your courage, your authenticity. And suddenly you get to get to a point where you're not just transforming your own life. You get to have the opportunity to help transform the world around you. You get to help raise the vibration and the frequency around you.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

How freaking awesome is that? Yes. That's so amazing.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Oh my gosh. I want to ask you a question. Who would you be if you stopped trying to be who you thought you had to be? If there was nothing standing in your way? Who are you? What dreams do you have? What passions do you feel like are stirring up inside of you? What parts of yourself are waiting for you to reconnect to? You're in there. The real you is so in there. And they're just hanging out. Waiting until you're ready to fully embrace that authentic version of yourself. You guys. Oh, spirit is calling us so strong. Calling us so strong. Do everything you can right now to connect with others. If you've been thinking about somebody lately, reach out to them. See if you guys can grab a coffee together. See if you can go for a walk together. They're on your mind for a reason. That connection will benefit both of you. The community is so important. Listen to the nudges. Follow them. Honor yourself and remember how incredible you are. You are flipping incredible. Do you hear me? Do you hear me up in here? You are a magical, beautiful, illuminating soul. That is here for a reason, and I'm so glad you are. I'm so glad you are. Thank you for showing up today. Thank you for showing up for me today. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Thank you for following me on Instagram. Thank you for taking the classes with me. Thank you. Thank you for showing up for you. Thank you for following your nudges. Listen, I need you today to go out there. Put your chin up, put your shoulders back, put your chest out. You got this. You got this. Never forget. You're not here to be hidden. Do you understand? You are not here to disintegrate in the background. You are here to stand up and share your beautiful gifts with the universe. I am sending you so much freaking love, and I hope and pray that this episode empowered you in some way.

Stop Hiding Your Gifts

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Please, please, if this episode resonated with you, listen to it again if it'll help. Share it with someone who may need these reminders. And if you're feeling called to go deeper into your own healing journey through Reiki, through the retreats, through the community, through the workshops, through the intuitive guidance, I'd be honored and blessed to be able to walk beside you, you incredible soul. So trust your intuition, honor your soul, follow the nudges. Remember, you're not here to hide your light. I am sending you so much beautiful, beautiful, beautiful love. This is just Cena. You've been listening to the Sacred Soul Sisters podcast. And until next time, keep shining your beautiful light. And know, like you know, like you know, you're still in there. The real you is ready to come out.

unknown 30:46

Have a great day.

Soften, Reflect, And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Hi, before you go, hey, I just want to say thank you again. I'm so grateful you're here. Thank you for sharing this space with me today. And I hope that you can feel the sense of community. Every time you listen to one of these episodes, you're in community with not only me, but everybody else that's listening to you. And in that beautiful frequency that's created, we get to have our hearts infused with the love and peace and the hope that we have for each other. So thank you so much for that. So as you move back into your day, I invite you to take a moment to soften your shoulders, breathe into your heart, and notice what shifted for you in this conversation. How do you feel? I hope amazing. And if this episode resonated, please follow the Sacred Soul Sisters podcast. Take a minute to leave a review. Your words help this healing ripple reach other beautiful souls who are quietly longing for support, remembrance, and community. And stay connected. You can visit my website, angelreekejourney.com. You can book an Angel Reiki session there. You can see some of the other events that we have going on. And if you scroll to the bottom, sign up for the newsletter where I share soulful reflections, upcoming offers, and gentle invitations to reconnect with yourself. You can also find me on Instagram at AngelReikiJourney for inspiration. Connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm over there too. And remember, you don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to carry all this alone. You are deeply supportive, you are divinely guided, and you are worthy of ease and joy and magnetizing moments in your life. And I'm so excited for that. Until we meet again, take care of your beautiful heart. And know that it's okay to choose yourself. It's okay to offer self love to yourself, and it's okay to receive the love and abundance this universe wants to give you. So I will see you next week. Take care, bye bye.