Seeing Energy Since Age 3: Gifts, Shadow Work & Why All Paths Lead to the Same Love | Stefani Michelle

What does it look like to grow up in a body that never stopped receiving? To see other people’s traumas and darkness in grocery stores before you’re old enough to understand what you’re seeing? 

In this episode, Heather Zimmerman sits down with Stefani Michelle — author of Chakras and Shadow Work, Reiki Master, interfaith minister since 1996, and founder of Primal Heart Healing — for a warm, grounded conversation about lifelong gifts, spiritual development, interfaith ministry, and what it means to teach others to embrace their own energy without fear.

Stefani shares:

•       Being telepathically connected to her mother’s dreams at age three — and what it took for her parents to respond with curiosity instead of diagnosis

•       Growing up seeing energy around people in public spaces and the fear, overwhelm, and isolation that came with it

•       How her mother became a full-time astrologer and meditation teacher to support her daughter’s gifts — and what that kind of unconditional belief looks like

•       The weekly meditation circles in her home growing up, and how being witnessed by a community of women helped her find her footing

•       Becoming a Reiki Master and interfaith minister at age 20 with Reverend Catherine Barley — and the Sedona retreat that started it all

•       How she trained herself to turn her gifts on and off using sensory triggers — and how that practice eventually became second nature

•       Why she never reads anyone without permission, and why consent is as much about the healer’s safety as it is about the client’s

•       Her 30 years as an interfaith minister, including a deep love for weddings as the purest expression of heart-centered energy

•       Why she believes every religious and spiritual tradition is speaking the same truth in different language — and what she hopes her upcoming Primal Heart Sanctuary will create

•       Love Unshadowed — her 12-week course on opening the heart and building real connection, with lifetime access to weekly group Zoom calls and a supportive community

•       Her book Chakras and Shadow Work, available on her website and Amazon

Connect with Stefani Michelle:

•       Website: http://www.primalhearthealing.com

•       Book — Chakras and Shadow Work: primalhearthealing.com and Amazon

•       Course — Love Unshadowed (12-week, lifetime community access)

Connect with Heather Zimmerman:

•       Website: https://www.divineascensionco.com

•       Book — Becoming Divine: available on Amazon

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Everything You Need to Know About the Ascension of Humanity, the podcast where ancient wisdom meets modern science and spiritual evolution gets real. I'm Heather, an energy healer, channel, and spiritual coach with Divine Ascension Company. Each week, we're diving deep into the mysteries of human consciousness, spiritual awakening, and the profound transformation happening within us and around us. But here's the thing: we're not doing this with our heads. We're bringing neuroscience, psychology, quantum physics, and cutting edge research to the table alongside meditation, energy work, and timeless spiritual. It's happening right now. The awareness we cultivate and doing we do it in ourselves. Whether you're curious about how life literally requires your brain. Or what compared between your heart and mind. You're in the right place. Not as abstract concepts, but as abstract wisdom, and scientific understanding. And here's where it gets even better. In our bonus episodes, you'll hear from real people sharing real stories. These are the warriors, the healers, the everyday speakers who've walked through their own darkness and found their light. They'll share their breakthroughs, their struggles, and the resources that actually help them along the way. Because personal growth isn't a solo journey, and you deserve to know you're not alone. So whether you're just beginning to question the nature of reality, or you're deep in your spiritual practice, this podcast is your companion on the path. It's time to expand, to awaken, and to rise together. Let's begin. Most people in the spiritual community can tell you exactly when everything cracked open. A book, a crisis, a single experience that changed the whole trajectory. My guest today cannot, because for her, it was never closed. Stephanie Michelle is the author of Chakras and Shadow Work, a Reiki master and interfaith minister since 1996, and the founder of Primal Heart Healing. She has been in the metaphysical world her entire life, starting at age three, when she realized the nightmares she was having were actually her mother's thoughts and dreams she was telepathically receiving. In this episode, Stephanie and I talk about what it's actually like to grow up seeing energy around people, the fear, the overwhelm, the isolation, and how she learned to turn that gift on and off rather than letting it run her life. We get into why she became an interfaith minister and why she deeply believes that every path to God across every denomination is expressing the same love through different language. We talk about permission as a sacred practice in healing work, how she trains the metaphysical muscle the same way you'd train any other skill, and her 12-week course, Love Unshadowed, which is one of the most thoughtfully structured offerings I've heard about in a while. This is a very grounded, warm, and deeply resonant conversation. Let's get into it. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode. Today we have a very special guest. Her name is Stephanie. She is an author and a healer, which healers always have a special place in my heart. How are you doing today, Stephanie?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

I am doing really good. Thank you for asking.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Nothing special going on today. Awesome. Are you having good weather or are you in that big snowstorm that's going around right now?

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Oh no, I'm in Arizona. It's gorgeous.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Awesome. So why don't you go ahead and get started and just kind of share who you are, what you do, and a little bit about your story for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Sure. I am Stephanie Michelle, the author of Chakras and Shadow Work and the founder and owner of Primal Heart Healing and soon-to-be Primal Heart Sanctuary, a faith-based organization. I have been in the metaphysical world my entire life and working professionally for about 30 years. I've been a Reiki master and interfaith minister since 1996. And I was in education for 15 years and retired in 2019 and fully embraced the metaphysical world and working in the healing, intuitive healing realm then in 2019.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Awesome. Awesome. So what kind of got you started into all of this? Become writing your books and getting into the spiritual world.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Right. So there was no starting point because there was no ending point. So what I mean by that is when I was very young, the earliest that the stories go back is when I was three years old. I was telepathically listening to my mother's thoughts and dreams and articulating what I was, I was saying that I was having nightmares and I was explaining the nightmares, and my mother realized that those nightmares were the horror novels she was reading. Oh my gosh. And so she became a full-time astrologer and a meta meditation teacher in order to really understand me and understand my gifts. And they never she nurtured those into me. And I was learning for the first time with her name was Reverend Catherine Barley. And that was the first person outside of my mother. And it wasn't, I mean, and then there's just always been more enhancements as the years gone on, but there was never a moment where this world was new to me, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Yeah, absolutely. Wow. So that's pretty amazing that you were able to telepathically access your mother like that. That's many people don't have experiences like that. What was that like for you, especially at such a young age?

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Oh, I love that question. It was actually pretty scary, to be honest with you. There were a lot of nightmares because essentially what was happening is I was telepathically picking up on a lot more noise than just my mother's thoughts. And I was also astroprojecting very early. So I was seeing a lot of dark energies and dark entities, and it was scary. And I so my biggest gift is being able to see, physically see energy around people. And it it wasn't, it wasn't fun to say the least. Both my parents really truly refused the way of diagnosis, you know, what's wrong with my kids? Some doctor diagnose her and give her medicine. Like they didn't believe in that. They they also refused to label me in any way, which you know, growing up, seeing everyone else kind of not have these strong emotions and strong pulls and open vision. You know, sometimes I just wanted a diagnosis. I just wanted to know what was wrong with me. I didn't want to necessarily believe my parents, but it not because they weren't loving and kind and gentle, but you just everybody goes through that stage where, you know, they think, well, my parents don't know anything. They're just my parents. But now, you know, I could not have asked for a better setup. And of course, I'm part of that school of thought that I did ask for that setup. I knew exactly what I was getting into. And I'm extremely grateful, even though it was very difficult to come out to this side of being grateful.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Yeah, absolutely. And I can relate because I'm I'm an empath, so I wasn't seeing the energy around people, but I could feel them. And I didn't have parents who took the same mindset as you. They did take me to go get a diagnosis, and I couldn't understand what was happening because I was feeling everyone's energy and everyone's emotions and everyone's trauma all at the same time, that I never learned how to differentiate what was mine and what wasn't. I was just chaos all the time. So I never learned, you know, what emotions actually felt like because it was just chaos all the time, so much all the time. And I ended up turning them off for quite a few years, which I don't recommend doing that either. But coming from that perspective and going through those lessons the hard way and still coming out and being grateful for my experiences because they were important for my journey. It's just interesting to see how, you know, if something had been different, especially for your situation, like if something had been different, your life could have turned out much, you know, much different than it is now. So that's that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah, absolutely. And and that's one of my biggest passions is helping people find their way back to their natural state and their natural intuition and and embracing being able to see or feel energy without being scared of it. Understanding what the different cords of energy are that are coming out at you and being able to interpret them and understand, you know, what's yours, what's somebody else's, what's deep-seated, nurtured thoughts that really aren't yours by nature, what is influenced into you as opposed to organically grown from you. That is what I teach. It is, I thrive in that. I I'm so passionate, I would do it for free if I could afford to live for free. That's how much I enjoy what I do and I feel it's so necessary. And it helps, I've seen it help all of my clients when they can finally embrace, you know, their chaos, but realize it's not chaos and embrace their weirdness, but realize it's not weirdness, you know, all of those labels that we've attached to recognizing they have just been labels to diminish our power.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Yeah, absolutely. And that's amazing. And I I feel the same way. I'm I'm passionate about what I do too. And if if you know, we didn't have to pay to live, basically, I would do it for free as well. So that's awesome. So, what did you do after, you know, your your mom obviously took some steps to help you understand what was going on with you, but how did you learn to control that, to protect yourself, to kind of make that, you know, part of your everyday life without it interrupting everything?

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Well, that's a good question. I fought really hard to not let it interrupt. I I guess I I could say up until the age of 20, it did interrupt. It interrupted a lot. There were a lot of moments in my childhood where I couldn't control the expression of energy that I felt. And I did my embodiment of all of that did disrupt the environment and the situations I was in. So every, but here's a tangible like way that we can explain it is that every Tuesday night my mother taught meditation at my house when I was growing up as a child. And so I was always part of those groups, and that you know, her generation of women really helped me understand what was going on, and they were very supportive and encouraging of me. So I would do past life regressions like for these women. I would see their past lives, and and they were so supportive and so encouraging and so grateful for my gift. It helped me balance out the chaos that I had among my peers. It helped me balance out the way that I felt about myself going through hormonal changes, having that support, not just from my mother, but the women she brought into the house. And then in my early 20s, finding my own group of women that then taught me, you know, what Kundalini energy was and what the Akashic records, my mother had done that too, what Kundalini and Akashic records were. But being able to find a source of information that was completely separate from her was really validating. It it brought it into a real world setting. So that being able to find that helped me feel not crazy. So eventually in my early 20s, I was able to step inside and embrace mainstream society. You know, I went to college, I didn't really start going to college until 20. I put it on hold for a while. And then eventually I wound up getting two master's degrees and being able to integrate the the education, the academia with the metaphysical helped me turn the switch on and off.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

So I can it's always present, but I know how to make it so small. So for example, right now, having this conversation with you, I'm not reading you at all because I I don't I it makes me angry when people intrude and just give readings and here's my energy, and here's, you know, let let me jump into your thoughts without your permission. Absolutely. I have learned because it makes me angry that somebody might do that to me. I intentionally practice to be able to not have my energy and and the reading and the site be intrusive to other people. And that came in my early 20s when I started going to college and when I started learning from Catherine, because I wanted to be able to walk among, you know, my university without being overwhelmed the way I was overwhelmed in high school. So it was just a really a matter of practice. And now the other thing that I did over the years is I kept a steady practice. What I mean by that is I use the same, you know, Nag Shampa and Sage. I use the same music for the past 30 years. I when I want to turn it on, I can turn it on instantly because I trained that metaphysical muscle to certain triggers. So in the first couple of years, when I wanted to move back and forth, I gave myself a home for that metaphysical brain and energy with the music and the sounds and the scent. And I allowed my ego energy to thrive over here without that. So I gave myself a trigger to turn it on and off. And after I finished, I guess, exercising that or training myself, I didn't need it as much. I didn't need the tools to turn it on and off. Now I can just move between the two brains, the two energy systems, just by saying, Hey, Keller, do you want a reading? Okay, great. You know, and then you say yes, you give me permission, or whatever that permission barrier is, I can just get into it. You don't have to give me your name, your birthday or anything, because I can just by you giving me permission, you're saying, here's my energy, have at it.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Yeah, absolutely. And that's so important, getting the permission. One of the things that I teach is horizontal partnership. It doesn't matter, like I bring in energy to bless my food, and I thank my food for you know making the sacrifice to give my body energy. I bless my water. And it doesn't matter, like, even the words I put out in the universe on my website or my blog or you know, even this podcast, like there's a sense of permission and gratitude that has to go along with that. And that's no different than dealing with people because it is intrusive. And it is like, like when I was younger, I would meet people and within you know a few minutes, I would know their whole life story. But I'm like, first of all, I'm not gonna tell anyone because it's not my business. I had to learn how to kind of shut the door on that unless I had that permission because it is intrusive and it is scary for people because so many people wear masks and they don't want you to see that, first of all. Second, secondly, a lot of them aren't even ready to face it themselves. So you're, you know, potentially putting them in this precarious situation where you're like, oh, here's this thing about you that you're not ready to face yet, but I'm gonna kind of throw it in your face anyway. And that's not what being a healer is about either.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Right. And it's not safe for us as healers to do that. Their response or reaction can be fueled with the ugliness and the darkness and the unhealed trauma that you're seeing in them. You know, our we could just be compassionate and wanting to help. And if they're not ready, their their reaction can be dangerous. And, you know, unfortunately, that is another aspect of how we grew up as children and learning that that isn't always helpful, you know, it's just part of the growing pains, right? Is keeping yourself safe and keeping others safe at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm curious, what made you go? You said you went into the interfaith ministry, what made you decide to go down that path?

SPEAKER_01 21:02

I have always had from a young as far as I as as far back as I can remember, I have always felt in my heart that if it is true for you, then it is true. Meaning whatever denomination you believe, whatever you feel is happening in the spiritual and religious realm, if it is opening your heart and creating a connection for you, then it is a hundred percent real. And who am I to say, you know, this path is more righteous over this path? If it is doing something in your internal being and allowing you to express unconditional love, then that absolutely is God's expression and God's truth, no matter what. Denomination or non-denomination, it comes through, or energy system, it comes through. And I have always, always felt that way. I have always been able to have conversations with people who are deeply religious in many religions, denominations, spiritualities, thought process, philosophies. I've always been able to have conversations with them and essentially translate what they're saying and understand what they're saying into my body of language and how I understand God's energy, source energy, universal energy. And every single one of those people that I've had those interpersonal connections with, real connections with, we're all saying the same thing. And we're all feeling the same energy and the same love. And so when I found Catherine, what I was working in a health food store on Long Island where I grew up, and we had this trade magazine, I think it was called Creations Magazine. And in there was an ad to go to Sedona. And I saved up my money and I would drive to what Glencove, which was six towns over or whatever, and I would give Catherine essentially my paycheck, you know, keep taking my money until I have afforded this week in Sedona. And this was like in 1995 or something. And when we went on the trip, it was my first time here in Arizona. It was Sedona. We were there for a week. We were hiking, meditating, learning. And she had expressed to the group at the end of the retreat, essentially, that she was starting a seminary school. And so I was so excited. I could not contain myself. And I said, yes, absolutely. And basically, all my paychecks, I was going to Hobster University, working and doing this seminary school and learning with her because I already felt like I want to embrace and I want to learn more about religion, not less. And I want to understand why people gravitate towards these and why they fight to be right instead of just loving each other in their different thought processes. I've always understood it was simply just a difference in language and a difference in interpreting energy. And so I wanted to really, and I understood that intuitively, not cognitively. So I wanted to have some information and background on what that really looked like in the text. And it felt right. Everything worked. And so for the last 30 years, really what I've been doing, besides the coaching and the healing and the Reiki, what I've loved to do with my with being an interfaith minister is weddings. Because to me, love is the answer. I know that sounds cliche, but it's a heart-centered, we're opening the heart chakra and that union and being part of an agreed space of expressing love is the greatest feeling in the world. And I understand that most religions are based in heart-centered energy, which is what draws people in. And then to, you know, just be part of a wedding, you're everybody is saying, hey, we're here to celebrate love. So that's what I've mostly done with my 30 years of being an interfaith minister. And I've literally loved every single minute of it. So yeah, so now I it, you know, I'm at this point in my business and career where I want to offer more and I want to teach more. And I just really believe that creating Primal Heart as a Primal Heart Sanctuary is going to help me do that. And a couple years ago, Catherine passed away, and the sanctuary, so what I was part of on Long Island was called the Sanctuary of Peace and Harmony. And she passed away, and then her twin sister passed away. And I don't think that the Sanctuary of Peace and Harmony is in existence anymore. I don't know if anyone else took over. But she had started such amazing work and she healed my heart in a way that truly no one else could have. And I know that she is part of my journey still, even from the other side. And I feel like this is just what I'm the next step, what I'm supposed to do.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Yeah, that's amazing. And that's one thing that I've always said about religion and spirituality is like we're all saying the same thing. It's all based out of love. It's all based out of, you know, Christ consciousness, loving each other, treating each other like the same, being one, and having the same basic core principles, just we're all using different language, we're all saying the same thing, just using different words, different symbols, different, you know, leaders like Buddha or Krishna or Christ, whoever you want to look up to. But it's all basically down, if you break it down to the bare bones, it's all the same thing. And I I look forward to the day where people who are in those, you know, stricter religions and they can really open up and start listening to the fact that we are all saying the same thing and have that more love-based approach to the conversations, to the meditating together, to praying together, to whatever it is, because it really is all the same. It's just however that truth presents itself for you. It's still, like you said, if it's a heart-centered practice, if it's opening that heart, that doorway to love, which is the basis of everything, energy is love, then why not? You know what I mean? Why not take that and run with it? Because it could really lead to some amazing things. I think the world would be much different.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Yeah, absolutely. And I can't wait to open the doors and invite people in of different denominations and be able to sit down, you know, among the round table and have those discussions and be able to share that understanding. And I really think that people are opening up to that. I think the only warriors left not open up to that are the leaders of those stricter areas of thought. You know, the the community members, I feel like, are really recognizing, and not all of them, of course, but more than definitely in the 90s, more than in the 80s, even more than 20 years ago, people are starting to recognize like, hold on, we're we're all in this together, and we're all saying the same thing, and we're all seeking a heart-centered connection. Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Well, I think you're doing amazing work in that. I I've done some of my own research into religions, especially at the beginning of my journey, and really dove deep into a lot of those trains of thought, and I commend you for it because it's a lot, it's a lot to process going into all the different religions and teachings, and it's a lot, so good for you. I'm I think that's truly amazing. And whatever you decide to do, if you decide to do your own school or teach your own courses or whatever, however, I can support you, I'm I'm all about it. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Thank you. Yeah, I do hope to have more offerings and in terms of teaching and and branching out into that area of bringing faith-based people in whatever their faith is together. Because basically, faith is just the opposite of fear. That's all it is. And I think it's time for for people to really embrace that it is okay to have faith. And it is okay to use fear when fear stops you from getting hit by a bus. But but we should never use fear as a barometer of life. We should always use faith as a barometer of life.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Absolutely. Awesome. So if someone is interested in learning more about your book or the services that you do offer, or even to have you, you know, take care of their wedding, how would they be able to find you?

SPEAKER_01 31:16

So currently uh primalhearthealing.com is my website, and I have one-on-one coaching. My book is on my website. You can also find the book on Amazon. I do have a course that is, I am so proud of this course. So it's a 12-week course. It's called Love Unshadowed, and it is basically opening your heart and building relationships and building connections. And what I love most about it is when you sign up and you get this course, you'll get every single day something to watch, a video, some homework, something to read, a slideshow. And you can do it at your own pace. And then every Thursday night is a Zoom group call. So a coaching call, and you have lifetime access to that group. So once you become part of Love Unshadowed, you can join the Facebook group and you can join the Zoom calls. So again, you'd work through the course at your own pace, but you always have that ongoing support system for as long as you need it. And you can come and go as you please. It's a lifetime membership to that Thursday night group, which is so exciting. We're actually this Thursday, I'm taking it's a small group right now, and they're all based in Phoenix, and we're actually going to meet in person for the first time. So I said we were doing a field trip. Once it expands and the we get more people that are outside of Phoenix, we will just always have the Zoom calls. But I wanted to take this opportunity while it's still small and Phoenix-based to do a field trip. And they're really excited to do it. They even said thank you that it was, you know, people need to connect and get out of their house right now. So I love that we're doing that. So primalhearthealing.com is my website, and it's pretty much all my social medias or Stephanie Michelle. You can find me with those two, Primal Heart Healing and Stephanie Michelle. Awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

Well, you're doing amazing work, and I am so excited that I got to talk to you today. Thank you so much for being on the show. This was an absolute pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Thank you, Heather. Thank you so much for having me. And I look forward to speaking with you in the future and doing collaborations. And I know where to find you.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Absolutely. I look forward to it. All right. If this conversation sparked something in you, I want you to know that spark is your soul talking. Come find me at DivineAscension Co.com. There's a whole new home there waiting for you. Services, resources, and a community of people who are done playing small and ready to remember who they actually are. I'll see you there. Until next time. Keep ascending.