Many of us reach a point where we have the dream job, the nice things, but a nagging sense of imbalance lingers. We crave more.
This is a story of Stephany Sandoval, a Reiki Master Practitioner, who was happy to tell us about her journey to finding purpose through Reiki, and how she can help you achieve greater wholeness. We’ll explore what Reiki is, how it works, and the positive changes it can bring to your life. Let’s embark on this path to wellness together!
When did you first know that being a Reiki Master Practitioner was your calling and how did it come about?
I come from the corporate retail world. I had just landed my dream job, the position I had been working towards for the past decade, however, once I was there, I felt like something was missing. Stress was completely taking over my life, I struggled with weight gain and debilitating migraines. I had learned to live with migraines for over half of my life, but during this moment, they had turned into chronic migraines and I was getting 15 a month. My migraines were in control of me and I started searching for a cure that wasn’t medication with long-term side effects. At the same time, I had to drag myself to get to my 9-5 job regardless of a migraine or not, I was traveling a lot and had no time for myself, which was also killing me.
Back tracking a little bit, my father passed away a few years ago, and I’ve had many wonderful dreams with him, I know that he is my Guardian Angel and is there to protect and guide me through my darkest moments. It was December 12, 2022, about a month after his birthday, we were having a holiday raffle at work and I was just thinking to myself, there has to be more to this life. Just before I walked over with the rest of my team, I said a little prayer and asked my dad for guidance, I needed him to send me a sign of what I can do with my life, I was yearning for a sense of purpose, which my retail job was not giving me. I had started to realize that I wanted to do something more with my life, heal myself from my constant pain and maybe be able to help and be an inspiration to others. When I spun the wheel for my raffle prize, I grabbed the smallest one on the table. When I opened it, there was a deck of Guidance from your Angels Oracle Cards. It was such a powerful moment, and I knew instantly, my dad had heard me, and this was his sign.
That night when I got home, I did my first card reading and I asked for guidance on what to do with my life. The card I got was “Energy Work” and the message was to look into energy healing, such as Reiki, so that I could heal myself and heal others. I had never heard of Reiki before, so I just ignored the message and continued living my life the same way as before.
Fast forward to April 2023, I was again questioning my life purpose, and wanted to take a break. If you’ve ever seen the movie Eat. Pray. Love, I wanted to be in Julia Robert’s shoes and take a long vacation to find and rediscover myself. But I thought to myself, that’s a movie, how can anyone just leave everything and go travel for a year. My boyfriend saw how much I really wanted and needed a break and told me to look into a retreat close by, even if it was for a week. Within an hour, I had found and booked the perfect retreat in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Since the moment I first arrived at this retreat, I felt like I was home-with myself. I reconnected with my mind, body and soul and decided I wanted to bring that sense of peace and grounding to my real world, I made a promise to myself that I would make myself a priority. I changed my diet, started exercising, meditation and journaling consistently. I was now on the path to finding my soul’s purpose!
Upon my return, on Father’s Day, I brought out my oracle cards, and asked my dad and my angels, once again, for guidance on what to do next- the same card came up – Energy Work. I immediately started doing research on Reiki, and read about all the amazing benefits of it and here I am. A year later, with my own, growing business, migraine-free, on no medication, and happier than ever before!
What services do you offer?
I have many services that I offer and the amazing thing about energy work is that it can travel through time and space, so I have in-person Reiki sessions, distant Reiki sessions which is so amazing because I can treat a client that is 100 miles away from me or even in another country. I also offer reiki for pets which is great to help reduce anxiety and stress from dealing with changes at home to coping with illness and surgery recovery. I recently partnered with a friend of mine that is an esthetician, and we offer Reiki Facials, which provide a relaxing and healthy skin care experience by focusing on healing your skin from the inside out.
It is also a very exciting time for my business, I am expanding and building a community of other women entrepreneurs offering wellness retreats. I am working on creating a safe space for women to indulge in self-care, learn more about having a balanced nutrition, relax with a facial, massage or reflexology session, wake up to sunrise yoga or tai chi class and end the day with a sound bath at sunset.
Could you tell us more about Reiki itself and how does it help a person make positive changes in their life?
Reiki (ray-key) is an ancient Japanese healing modality that brings life force energy to the body to help restore balance and harmony to the body’s energy field.
The word Reiki is made up of two different Japanese words: “Rei” = universal or higher power and “Ki” = life force energy. Reiki represents the “universal life force energy”. The belief is that there is an unseen energy that flows through all living things. This energy is believed to be around us at all times and is believed to be what creates and sustains life.
Generally, Reiki helps to reduce stress, pain and worries, balancing on all levels – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual – which allows the body to heal itself. Reiki puts an individual into a meditative state, and can help bring awareness, mental clarity, and harmony with the universe. If appropriate action is taken, it certainly will have an amazing impact on multiple areas of your life. I encourage my clients to keep a journal to write down any insights or visualizations that come up during their Reiki Healing Sessions. This process can help guide your next steps.
How can a person align their Mind, Body, and Soul?
We have to be very mindful about what we put into our bodies, anything from that food we are consuming, what we are watching on tv, what music we listen to, and who we surround ourselves with can have a huge impact on our mind, body and soul.
For the mind, it is important to start your day without scrolling through your phone! I like to start by saying prayer, then doing a meditation and focusing on my breath, I say the Reiki Principles, which are “Just for today I will not worry, just for today I will not get angry, just for today I will do my work diligently, just for today I will be grateful for my many blessings, just for today I will be kind to myself and all living things.” I have 2 dogs, which I adore and I take on a walk first thing in the morning, and this is a mindful walk, in which I have no phone with me and I am observing and listening to all of nature around me.
For the body, I personally workout 4 to 5 times a week. I love strength training and seeing how I can challenge and push myself everyday. I know the gym isn’t for everyone, but taking any sort of class is great, my personal favorite ( and these are just a few that I’ve done throughout the years) are yoga, dancing, kick-boxing, playing a sport- just anything to move your body. Also fueling your body with a balanced diet is crucial, an easy way to put it is having a colorful meal, make sure you get your fruits and veggies in but also some sort of protein and carbs, who doesn’t love carbs right!
For the soul, it is doing some sort of spiritual practice. Whether that is practicing meditation, which is a great way to stay grounded and focused. Practicing journaling and gratitude, the combination of these two, personally helps me shift my energy from negative to positive and helps clear my mind. Connecting with nature is a huge one for me, this helps with staying in the present moment, and you can reconnect with nature by something as simple as drinking some tea with honey, going for a mindful walk, going to the beach, putting your feet in the sand and going in the water if it’s not that cold, nature just has so much healing power. And finally, one that we all hear about a lot but don’t necessarily do, getting enough sleep, ideally 7–8 hours a night, can help your mind, body, and soul rest and manage stress.
What can a person expect from your sessions?
During a reiki session, the client will feel their connection to the healing energy of Reiki flowing through their body. Usually my clients feel heat coming from my hands and feel many sensations throughout their body including tingling and numbness in certain parts, pins and needles, they get the chills, and have visualizations and have a sense of floating.
By stimulating the body’s natural ability to heal itself, Reiki promotes a sense of calm and tranquility. Whether it be chronic pain management, post operative discomfort, or sports injuries, Reiki can help reduce pain levels and enhance the body’s ability to heal itself.
Reiki is a method of dealing effectively with stress, and its use can lead to living a happier, healthier, more abundant life. People who live happy, healthy and abundant lives aren’t people who don’t have stress in their lives; they are people who have learned to deal with stress in a healthy way.
What do you love most about your profession?
What I love the most about being a Reiki Master is that I have the opportunity to help others navigate through their own life challenges. Everyday I am living a fulfilling life where I am making a change in people’s lives in a meaningful and impactful way. But Reiki has given me way more than that, it’s been the door to endless opportunities that I couldn’t not have dreamt up. I am on a mission to help transform the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people, but I cannot do that alone. I am trying to create a community of like-minded people who are into health and wellness and like to share their own story to inspire others. I also want to empower other women entrepreneurs to grow their own business, while supporting one another through exciting collaborations.
