Episode 36 - Interviews and Stories From Dynamic People: Amy Hannum

In the first episode of Ready To Connect’s new series, Interviews and Stories From Dynamic People, we sit down with Amy Hannum — an interior designer, fine artist, energy worker, and Reiki Master.

Amy shares her journey of blending creativity, healing, and intuition through her work and life experiences in an inspiring and thoughtful conversation. You can find more information about Amy and see her work at www.amyhannum.net or on Instagram @paintdragondesign.

Want to share a story or experience connected to today’s topic? Send us an email to readytoconnectpodcast@gmail.com or reach out to us through our social media. Consider becoming a supporter through Patreon and get access to bonus content. Get Ready To Connect!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of their affiliated organizations.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Hey everybody, welcome back to Ready to Connect. I'm Lisa.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

And I'm Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

And Heather is not with us today. Um, but she'll be back, no worries. We're gonna have a wonderful, we're moving off from the Haunted America series and our live taping, um, which was wonderful, and we really enjoyed it. Moving into a new series, which I am gonna call, and I hope you guys don't mind, uh, Interviews and Stories from Dynamic People. How's that sound?

SPEAKER_03 0:51

That sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Okay, and we're gonna have our first dynamic person today, and we'll get to her in a moment. But before we start, Ryan, what have you been up to? Oh, that's a good question.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Let's see. That's why I ask it, because it's I know I haven't really been up to too much, like enjoying the nice weather here and there. And um, you know, I I wanted to ask too, because I know we've talked about like different energies and whatnot, and also Heather mentioned put possibly that it's like, you know, seeing fairies and everything, and I feel like I may have seen fairies like this past weekend. Like that energy. Whoa! Yeah, yeah. So I was gonna ask just because I feel like I haven't experienced this before, but just from listening to uh both of you talk about it now, is it when it kind of looks like fireflies or lightning bugs or something, but it isn't, and I kind of just saw it out of the corner of my eye type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Is it during the day you're saying this? During the day?

SPEAKER_03 1:51

It was actually out, it was it was at night the other day. So maybe it was a firefly.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Well, you could definitely tell a firefly, right? Definitely, but yeah, some of the air fairies definitely do twinkle like that. Oh, okay. If you were to lay down like today would be a great day because it's very sunny outside. And if you lay down on the grass and stare up, right? Not directly at the sun, please people who are listening to. But if you notice the little sparkles or little twinkles, those are air fairies.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

So yeah, no doubt. You probably did notice something and see something, sure.

SPEAKER_03 2:25

Yeah, yeah, it was definitely some type of energy, but I just I yeah, I didn't know exactly what it was. And I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna ask the next time we meet.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

So you know, it it's springtime, rebirth, renewal. You get a lot of elemental energy around this time. So maybe, maybe it makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Yeah. Now, do you think it could have been because I I was walking the dog by the woods? Would I see them more by the woods?

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Oh, absolutely, yeah. And actually, what's fun to do when you're walking out in the woods is look down and maybe you'll see some of the little fairy homes and stuff. Oh, like look for like moss rings or just little ring stuff um small stones that are in rings. Look for little like things like that, circles, little circles.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Yeah, okay, okay. I feel like I saw some like clovers in a in a circle, but that's about it so far. But that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

All right, I'll sometimes up on a hill, little hills, yeah. In Ireland, there were like little hills you would you would find. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Well, I'll definitely be on the lookout for that next time I go out. So that's pretty cool. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. Um yeah, that's pretty much what happened recently. Like not too much, really. But how about you? I well, I know you had quite an adventure. Can't wait to hear about this.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

All right, so this past Saturday was independent um National Independent Bookstore Day.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

So independent bookstores all across the nation were hopefully preparing events and you know, special things happening in their store for their patrons to come. And Connecticut has a Connecticut bookstore trail. They have a book trail. And the idea between the book trail on this particular weekend, which starts off on Saturday, is to there's 29 bookstores on the book trail. I'm sure there's more than 29 independent bookstores in our state, but there are 29 on the book trail that are in a passport. And if you can visit all 29 in the weekend and get a stamp, you can submit that um information to be in a drawing. And if your name is picked, you win a $50 gift card to each of those bookstores.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

That's a lot of books, which, as you know, I would love. Um if you can't get to all 29, but if you can get to fifty at least 15 of them in the weekend, you can submit for $25 gift cards from all of the things. Still a fabulous prize, right? Wow. Well, my sister-in-law, who's just as much a reader as I am, and I, we do these what we call sister days. We do one a month where we do something fun. And I picked the book trail weekend, which she was totally on board with. So we spent the whole weekend starting Saturday morning until Sunday evening. Obviously, we slept, but we traveled to all the bookstores to try to well, we attempted to get all the bookstores so that we could um submit for this prize. And we wanted to, you know, purchase things at these gift stores to give them, you know, to support them, to support our independent bookstores rather than buying our books off Amazon and um the larger boxstore type uh venues. So we had a blast and we had so much fun. And um unfortunately we didn't get to 29, we got to 25.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Oh, so close.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

So close. There were four that we couldn't get to, and it's because they closed at four o'clock on Sunday. If they were open to five, we could have done it. Um, but at some point you just say, we're not gonna make it, so let's just enjoy you know what we have left that's still open. And I did, I purchased probably about 20 books. Well, I have about 20 books. Three of them I think were free. They had a lot of different events going on, and um, you know, wheels you could spin for a free prize, and uh some were like uh free, what are called ARCs or advanced reader copies that are past their past because they're not advanced anymore. That the the actual book is now out, but these bookstores are given advanced copies, you know, to read. We had such a blast, we had so much fun. Um, and you know, my sister-in-law is amazing, and shout out to Sherry. We just we we really get along and we had so much fun. So that was the weekend, but to kick it off the Friday night before, my husband is in um a chorus called Rock Voices. Oh, and they had their concert Friday night. So Friday night we were going out to see this concert out at Trinity Hall Theater in New Britain.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

Oh wow. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

I it wasn't just me, Heather and her boyfriend came, my brother and sister-in-law came, my neighbors came, you know, good friends came to all to watch him sing, and it was a lot of fun. And um, so you know, we had a great time there too. So we started the weekend strong with Friday night, and then my sister-in-law-law and I had a great weekend. So I just it was like a book lover dream, book lover dream weekend for me. So yeah, really exciting.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Wow. Well, happy to hear that.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So wow, well, it was really great energy. And speaking of energy, I can't wait to get to our uh guest today. So our first guest today for our series of um interviews and stories from dynamic people we've met. We have um Amy Hanoum, who we met when we did the fair for the Astrological Society. We met Amy, she was there to do um some energy healing, but let's have her talk about herself, uh, a little bit of her background, and then we'll get right into some of the questions we have for you, Amy. How's that sound?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Sounds great. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Yeah, so my name is Amy Hanoum. I am a Reiki practitioner, and my background is in architecture and interior design. Uh, that's my first degree, and then I went back to school for sculpture. So they've all kind of blended and mixed, uh, but I practice interior design, Reiki, and art.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Yeah, I found that really interesting when I went to look at your website that you have them all three represented there, you know? And because your work does span art, design, and energy healing, really curious to know how those paths did that they come separately. It sounds like they did initially, but how do you how do they intertwine for you? Or do they?

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yes, they absolutely intertwine for me. I want to say when when I was a very small child, I grew up in a town that was known for its architecture. Um, it was actually Alden B. Dow, who was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. So for people who know Frank Lloyd Wright and his prairie style architecture, that is the kind of architecture I grew up with. And it was designed by Alden B. Dow, um who is a son of Herbert Henry Dow, and that is Dow Chemical, Dow Corning. So that is the town I grew up in. Um but Alden B. Dow built all basically all of the buildings that I grew up with: my church, my library, um, all of my schools, my community center, my theater center. So architecture really played a huge role in my life, in that I was very keenly aware of how a building steers you through it. Right? We have hallways and stairways and doorsways. And the more people travel those paths, the more of an energetic trace they leave, sort of like a remnant. Okay, yes, a little bit like residual energy and hauntings. Exactly. Yes, yes, something like that. So so even as a small child, I remembered being very aware that this is the path that people follow. So when I studied architecture, I was really in love with manual drafting. I still am a manual drafter. I manually draft my floor plans, and when I arrange furniture, it's all to make the space easy for people to move through. And of course, that depends on who the people are, how many people live in the house, how they use the house. And all that information goes into how I design a space. Because the easier we can move through a space, the better the space works for us, and everything just flows. And that's very much the same with energy. You want to avoid blockages or you want to dissolve blockages so that the energy can flow freely. And that is, to me, in my mind, very, very similar to how you create space or a floor plan in a building.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

That's that's really fascinating. It's really kind of interesting how you put them the two together. And I noticed that your art that you do is very three-dimensional too. And is that does energy inspire that as well?

SPEAKER_01 11:26

I've always been a three-dimensional thinker, and it's really only probably in the past 10 years that it was made known to me that not all people can visualize three-dimensionally. And that was really news to me. I just thought everybody could do that. My husband can't. So yeah, so when I when I go to someone's house and I'm um looking at their space and evaluating it for a job, I can redesign a three-dimensional space in my head very quickly over and over and over again, um, with different themes, different styles, different periods, different furniture. I can envision what's going to fit where, and I can just do that all in my head. And I thought everybody could do that. Um, and so when I learned that, you know, people have a hard time visualizing and they can't imagine a room a different color, that really was a shocker to me. And it really made me value my own gifts.

unknown 12:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Even one of the art mediums, sculpting that you um studied, that's three-dimensional thing. Not everybody can look at a block and see what's inside of it and sculpt down to what's inside of it three-dimensionally, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:42

So yeah, and what's really funny is that um people are like, oh, I need to draw something. Amy, would you draw this for me? And I said, I really am not that great at drawing. Like when I practice, practice, practice, I can get really good, but it takes a lot of effort. So for me, to sculpt something is so much easier than to draw it. So I've just always been a three-dimensional person or multi-dimensional, I should say.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Being an energy healer myself, and I'm sorry, Ryan, I'll let you ask the next question after this. I know I'm monopolizing the questions, but being an energy healer myself, a Reiki practitioner myself, I know my origin story, how I fell into um energy healing. And I even know the origin story for my business partner and how she developed um her gifts or her realization that she wanted to work with energy and help heal net. I guess I'm very curious. When did you first realize you had a sensitivity to energy? You know, was there a defining moment that shaped that for you as far as in your life to decide to become a Reiki practitioner?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

I it's something that I was always aware of. Um, for example, one instance stands out. I was at a cast party for one of the many plays I've been in, and I was young, I was probably 14, and we're all hanging out at a friend's house, and we're all just sitting on the floor, hanging out on the furniture. And I noticed that my friend's shoulder looked red and yellow to me. And it was kind of like I was looking at her, and it was just like faintly superimposed this color over her shoulder. And we were a very touchy-feely, uh affectionate group. And I and I said, Hey, do you, you know, do you want a do you want a back massage? And she said, Oh yeah, she said, my right shoulder has really been bothering me. And I said, I can see that. And and instead of like, you know, like a massage, because I hadn't, I wasn't trained in massage, my first step was literally to lay my hands on her shoulder. And that's all I did was put my hands on her shoulder and it felt hot to me. Um and then my hands, she said my hands felt hot. And I just left my hands on there for about five to 10 minutes. And then I followed up with, which I had no knowledge of, but I followed up with acupressure points down her spine. And I had no teaching of that. No, you know, no one taught me how to do that. No one taught me to feel for the dimples on either side of the spine. It was just something that came very naturally, and it was, it was kind of like what her body wanted. It's kind of like when I if you've ever like scratched a dog or a cat and you know just where to touch them and where they like to be touched and how hard to touch it, that's how it is with Reiki with me. I just know. And people are like, oh my gosh, how do you know that? And it's it's really hard to describe how I know it's almost like the body is sending me messages that I hear in my mind's eye. It's not like a whisper in the ear, it's just like a knowing.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

I totally I always tell people their body talks to me, and that's how I know.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Yeah. Yeah. So that was the that was the first thing. I had had premonitions before that, um, which I also didn't know what to do with that information. I had deja vu when I was about six years old, and it was a really silly thing that I was looking at, and I was thought, well, I've seen this before. And I'm thinking, well, what the heck is going on? I had I had no idea. So I just kind of piecemealed it together. But it wasn't until my formal Reiki training much later in life, when I became a Reiki master teacher, that I thought I really have to do something more with this. Cool.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Wow. I kind of wonder if maybe perhaps is it connected to a past life.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Well, you know what's really funny? I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

No, go ahead. Yeah, I just find it fascinating because you said that you were like you weren't trained at the time, but you just knew what you instinctively just knew what to do. And it just I find it so fascinating. So I'm just I'm just curious if I know this is probably not in the questions, but I'm just asking.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

So well, I'm I'm really glad you asked that question. Um, because I'm a skeptic.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

And when people ask me to explain how I know things, it's very tricky because I I'm like molecular communication. But the when I so when I started practicing Reiki and I started seeing these colors, they mean different things. But I started getting this information and I'm like, where is it coming from? And I didn't believe in past lives, and I didn't even really believe in chakras. I thought when I saw a chakra poster, oh, it's a pretty rainbow. Isn't that pretty? And and how cool. But the same thing with past lives. I thought, well, I don't really believe in them, but at the same time, the law of uh conservation denotes that um matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but can be manipulated, you know, and and altered. So if anything, um, and I've seen past lives in clients, which maybe I should tell you that short little story. Um, I was working on a patient and I was called to work on the patient's shoulder. And when I laid my hands not on the shoulder but above the shoulder, um, I got this movie in my mind's eye that was playing. And because my eyes are closed during the session, so I don't get distracted by everything else. And and I saw this movie in my mind's eye of a man walking sort of what looked like through aqueducts, like old Roman aqueducts, and another man came running up and stabbed him in the shoulder in the back and killed him and robbed him. And at the end of the session, you know, because and then like the the image disappeared and the yellow disappeared on the shoulder, and that told me the healing is complete. And at the end of the session, I'm being told once again by you know, guides, guardians, whatever you want to call them, I'm being told, tell your patient what you saw. And I'm thinking, I can't say that out loud. You're gonna think I'm crazy.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

My patients would not think I'm crazy when I say something like that. But yeah, I get what you're saying. Most people would, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:24

So the lesson was for me. Yeah. Because when I told my patient what I had seen, they said, Oh yeah, a psychic told me that. Yeah, we get that a lot. And I was like, Oh, okay, so this is not a surprise to my patient. This is a surprise to me. And and the message was I needed it to be uh confirmed and validated because and now I'm like, sure, you know, past lives, it passes the law of conservation. It's okay. It makes sense. It's a big wild world out there, and and and we need to pay attention to all the fascinating things that are going on beyond politics and you know, daily day living, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:10

Absolutely, absolutely, yeah. You know, you talked about the uh chakras being just pretty colors and stuff like that, you know, people um not understanding the scientific um significance of the colors of the chakras and how it relates, and even the colors of the seven layers of an aura and how that relates to the universe and to the colors that you find in this, you know, our our rainbow created by sunlight and water vapor and the frequency of energy of that and how it relates to the energy in your chakras or your body, how we're really all connected. And there's science to back it up, and it's not just this woo-wee, woo-woo fun, pretty thing, you know, and even when we choose as artists colors to work with. And right, as he was a graphic designer for people, when you choose colors for people's logos or website, right? It's meant to convey a certain type of energy.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Absolutely. And that's something that was also reinforced, you know, in going to interior design school. It was, you know, textiles and um and color, you know, color psychology, color theory was huge in in art and architecture.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Yeah, yeah. So it sounds like you've you've you hit on a lot of things I had already wanted to ask you with just that one little story. Exactly. I was thinking the same thing.

unknown 21:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Um really curious. Now I know that when we spoke back during the fair, you were talking about how you put together some um uh seminars or talks about energy work. And you were very passionate about um people understanding that Reiki healing or Reiki energy and other energy forms of healing, they're not all the same as one. Is that what I was getting from? Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Sure. Uh, I would encourage people to come see my talk for deep information because the talk essentially just scratches the surface of uh seven different healing modalities, including Reiki. And the reason I developed the talk was people are using Reiki as a catch-all term for all energy work. You know, people say, Oh, I I'm a Reiki practitioner, but they've never been attuned. And Reiki, you know, Usui Reiki, Makao Usui was the founder of Reiki. Uh Reiki is a very specific form of energy work, one of many forms of energy work. Um, but in order to be a Reiki practitioner, there's a direct lineage that connects you to Makao Usui that is passed down from you know teacher to student. And there's a lineage that is very important, which is not so prominent when you're dealing with things like um acupuncture or reflexology. You know, people might want to know who your teacher was, but in Reiki it is imperative. You know, you well, although now they're talking about people think you can become a Reiki master online.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

I I think I think there are a lot of programs out there that will teach Reiki in two, three hours and say you get attuned. I mean, we've had students online um in other in other states and stuff, and energy is energy, it can go anywhere, and you can, you know, you can certainly give distance healings and energy. You can actually attune at a distance. I've done it. But um, but to say you can learn everything you need to know to be a master within one day or whatever online, I think is is you need to have hands-on practicum work, you need to have uh mentoring. Uh that's my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Um I agree completely, and and I'm very strict, I'm not uh high what takata strict, Madam Takata, who is one of Usui's original students. Correct, or that she was. I uh yeah, I I do firmly teach the lessons separately. You know, Reiki one for me is specifically an introduction and self-practice. I believe you should have a firm knowledge of your own body's energy before you start touching other people.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Because talking to our students, so like-minded we are, Amy, in that regard.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

Yeah, right, because you have to know what's your energy and how do you ground yourself before you go touching other people. Otherwise, you know, if you if you're not properly grounded, you can pick up other people's stuff that's that's going on. And so I teach Reiki one as self-practice only, and then I teach Reiki two as practice on your family and friends for free, or but to instill value because that was something that was very important to um Usui Reiki is instilling value in Reiki. And how do you value something that you give away, right? You could barter, you could trade. So I was doing a lot of that when I was at Reiki level two, and I stayed on each level for more than a year. I really, I really wanted to know what I was doing before I was practicing professionally. So I would, you know, friends, families, pets, but there was always some sort of a trade involved. And then I teach level three is more like, you know, what kind of a surface are you practicing on? How do you practice? What's the business end? You know, how do you make up a massage table or do you use a zero gravity chair? So for me, the the master teacher level is for you are preparing for a professional practice. And that a lot of other people teach that way too, but I I would not tr attempt to make someone a Reiki master teacher in a weekend. I just think that's an overload of sensations and and and yeah, uh for for me, I really appreciated taking six years to become to practice to the level that I yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Definitely yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Did that answer the question?

SPEAKER_03 26:36

Once again, you answered numerous questions, I believe, and that one response. So thank you for that. Let's see. So uh yeah, so what are you currently creating or exploring that it's like that it excites you the most? Anything upcoming to discuss?

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Well, right now I'm uh I'm a little bit in a moving transition. So that's taking up a predominant amount of my time. I uh spent the winter in Vermont because I'm an avid skier, and uh I am moving to uh Chester, Connecticut. So right now all of my things are in storage except for the small amount of things I had with me in Vermont. Um so I have my turtleneck on. I, you know, I'm still have all my wet winter clothes. Yeah. So, but what is really exciting is um the talk that I'm giving, which is Reiki Reflexology and the many modalities of energy work. Uh, and I get really excited talking about energy work, and I am really excited to introduce people to not only Reiki, but how Reiki is different from other modalities and how other modalities operate. And it and it and it's really just kind of a mind expander for people, and I'm just really scratching the surface. Um, but there's so much information there, and there's such rich topics that I mean, I've given the talk twice. The first time I had a dozen people, the second time I had about 20 people. Um, and I'm gonna give the talk again coming up in old lime on April 29th. So just this Wednesday. Um so I'm really excited about that talk. I'm excited to see where that's gonna take me. Um, hopefully, you know, I'll be doing bigger talks and things like that. Maybe people will invite me to come speak. I love to travel. So if I had the opportunity to go to other places and give this talk, I would love to.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Well, that that was my uh next question because most likely this will air after your April 29th talk, unfortunately. But um, I would love for you to share how people could reach you if they were interested in having you come um as uh a speaker or maybe to run is it a talk, or were you willing to put together a workshop for people or to understand more? Um, or where else can they find you? Do you have any fairs coming up? Yeah, if you could share any of that, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Um so we met at the um Astrological Society of Connecticut's New Age Fair, and their next one is coming up June 7th. Um, if this if the show airs before June 7th, it will. Um yes, and that is happening at the Pitkins Center in Weathersfield, Connecticut. That's from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And I will be the Reiki practitioner there. Actually, a friend of mine who practices Reiki said she just got invited as well. So there might be two Reiki practitioners there. Um, and then there's usually a sound healer and there's a Thai massage therapist. So they they kind of it it changes depending on availability. Uh, but the the new age fair is a great place to come because I'm doing sample sessions instead of a full hour, it's 15 minutes. But 15 minutes is enough to connect it. Yeah. And uh, you know, people forget where they are when they open their eyes, they're like, oh, you know, they they're the looks on their faces is great. First of all, they look super relaxed, and then they forget that they're in a public space because they're so grounded, so connected. Um, they're having their own experience with me, which I love that that can happen in a really crowded space, that you can help someone get so grounded that they forget where they are. And I I just think that's fantastic. Um on that note, I feel like it's really important for me to say that um I I am a Reiki practitioner and I am a facilitator, I am a conduit, I help people ground and I provide a safe space for them to process. And that's what I feel like I'm really doing. I some of the other healing modalities, it's more about uh the practitioner doing something to the patient and making something happen. Where sometimes those things come up in a Reiki session and I have to treat it with like non-Rakey with other healing modalities. Um but mostly I feel like I'm a facilitator and that I'm providing that space. And I think that's really important that I'm not a magician. I'm not, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 31:34

I yeah, I do, I do. In fact, um, you know, Heather and I talk about this all the time that um the best thing you can get in order to get the most out of a Reiki session and what it can offer for you as the person receiving is to listen to the practitioner of what they picked up on that your body told them basically. Your energy told them you need to do a lot of times. I think people that lay on the table just want you to fix everything and make it all better, like an aspirin takes the headache away, right? And they don't really maybe participate in that their own journey of healing. And um, so but those that do participate, become participatory in that, and maybe make their Reiki um experience not to be a one-time use thing, but to be a consistent practice of health and wellness, they do far better and they reap the benefits so much more. Um, yes, can I help relieve pain or anxiety or depression or grief when you come see me once? Sure, I can relieve stress once, but it's not gonna be sustainable unless you're willing to work with me. And I mean, it's like, can I make my teeth strong and white with one brush of my toothbrush and never do it again? No, you have to keep up that practice, correct? I equate it to that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Um kind of like manifestation, right? You don't just dream what you want to dream, you actively move toward it. And and I think that's the same with a so uh my clients who are um suffering chronic pain, you know, fibromyalgia, uh, Lyme disease is a really fascinating one to work on. Um, but a lot of people like that, they really do need that. Um, I call it uh a like a recharge or you know, or a boost, you know. Oh, do you need a boost? Yep, I need another session. So um but but like those types of patients who are dealing with chronic pain, they will come to see me every week because you know, because they they're overwhelmed, their body is overwhelmed, and they really need that that touch or that connection. Um, but some people they they get it, and when I'm guiding them through the breathing process and getting them grounded, they remember and they'll actually do some of the breathing and the focusing on themselves. And I that is huge because that's really what's going to promote further healing, is when people take five seconds to take a really deep breath and feel their feet on the ground, you know. Oh, I don't have time to meditate. Well, do you have 10 seconds? Or you could be in an elevator and you could take a really slow, long, deep breath in, and you could feel your feet connected to the earth. And as you exhale, you can imagine everything you want to get rid of just flooding down your legs into the feet through the elevator into the ground. Boom, 10 seconds.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

Yeah, that's a good point. I'm gonna have to remember that next time I'm in an elevator.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Going down. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Yep, yeah. I always say I always say to uh clients that talk about no time to meditate, or there's too much going on in the house, or like Ryan, you have um you know your pup in your apartment and stuff that's gonna want your attention, Watson's gonna want your attention. So before you actually leave your car, drive home, you park, do some breathing exercises then. Take five minutes, 10 minutes for yourself, not even 10 minutes, five minutes for yourself to just kind of reconnect yourself, um, you know, breathe in and then go through the door. Because yeah, it's hard when you walk through the door, you have kids, and uh, you know, apparently dogs are much more uh demanding of their owner's time immediately through the door. My cats, they take a beat maybe five minutes, and then they're all over you, but yeah, so yeah, you could always do it that way. So before we end up, I just want to know um if you were meeting somebody new just on the journey of developing their or coming into their own um intuitive or creative gifts, so to speak. Is there a one good piece of advice you can give them?

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Begin a meditation practice.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Oh, thank you. Yeah, there we go. And uh before we leave you, uh we just want to thank you for being with us today. And just uh could you share with your contact information you'd be willing to share? How can somebody reach you if they'd like to um hire you for a talk or a Reiki session or check out your design uh you know, gifts and all that stuff? Where can they reach you?

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Yes, I would say the best place to start is my website. And I actually own two domains. So you can go to paintdragon.com, that's P-A-I-N-T Dragon. People think I say pink dragon. So to clarify that. Uh, and the other thing is amyhano.net, that's a m y h-n-um.net, and that will show you everything that I do. And there's a contact page, and I would say that's the the best place to start to familiarize yourself with my work is to go to the website. You can my more personal fun, wacky stuff is um on Instagram. So I would say I'm very involved in the Burning Man community, and so build interactive art sculptures and then burn them, you know, things like that. Uh so Instagram sometimes has like a little bit more fun, personal things, but you can get in touch with me either way. Um, and my business will be opening uh in June in Chester, Connecticut. But once again, of course, if you want a distance session, I like to do that over the phone and I can you know guide people through the process. But you can make appointments online through the contact page, you can ask me questions through the contact page, and that's a great place to start.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

Yeah, and you can always um meet Amy in person June 7th at the Astrological Society's New Age Fair, and that's in Weathersfield.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Yes, Weathersfield, Connecticut, at the Pitkins Center.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Um, so uh thank you for being with us, and you're gonna love Chester. I was just there on the book trail. There's a wonderful little romance bookstore in Chester, Connecticut. Gardens and hikes and all that stuff around. So anyway.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been a joy talking about my passions with both of you.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you. I mean, this is quite uh inspiring and enlightening. So thank you for sharing your experience.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

You're welcome. Well, if I'm back, then we can talk more about hauntings because some of that has come up in Reiki sessions too.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Oh, okay. We'll have to target that.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Oh, look at his eyes. You just piqued his interest. He wants to think next time.

SPEAKER_01 38:54

I'm already to connect. Oh, great. Well, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

That was an amazing interview with Amy, don't you think, Ryan?

SPEAKER_03 39:04

She was absolutely yeah. I I feel like I learned so much.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Yeah. Um, I do hope people check her out. Uh check out her website and you know, go visit her June 7th at the New Age Fair. Um, those fairs are fun. We had a great time. Um, but before we go, I do have an affirmation. Do you want to hear it? Sure.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Yeah, let's hear it.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

All right. I flow with the process of positive growth and change.

SPEAKER_03 39:31

Oh, that's a good one. I feel like they're all good ones, but that was a good one.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

Well, I chose that one because today's tarot card card pull was um the death card or the release card, which means um accepting of change. Something is ending and something new is beginning. So the process of change. So that's one. I think that I flow with the process of positive growth and change. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

That's powerful.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

Yeah. All right. So we'll be back in your ears next week and to connect with you then. Until then, be blessed, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

Thank you for tuning in to Ready to Connect. If you're interested in exclusive behind-the-scenes content, be sure to like, share, and follow us on social media by searching for Ready to Connect Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. And for those looking to further support our podcast, consider subscribing to our Patreon at patreon.comslash ready to connect podcast. And until next time, get ready to connect.