Cynthia M. Chase, MSW, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, Reiki Master, and founder of Reiki Fusion, an integrative healing practice. Her transformative near-death experience in 1974 led her to a deep understanding of the connection between spiritual energy and the physical body. Through her work and writing, she shares practical methods for healing, hope, and living with a higher perspective. Cynthia shares her insights with MysticMag.
Your journey from skeptic to spiritual guide was profoundly shaped by a near-death experience. How did this event shift your understanding of consciousness, and how does it inform the work you do today?
My near-death experience completely transformed my understanding of consciousness. Before my car accident in 1974, I was an atheist who believed that we simply “live, die, and do the best we can in between.” The NDE revealed that consciousness exists beyond the physical body – I experienced myself as pure awareness without physical form yet with complete cognition and emotional capacity.
This revelation showed me that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not merely physical bodies with temporary consciousness. I discovered that our essence is light and love, and that everything is deeply interconnected in ways invisible to ordinary perception.
Today, this understanding forms the foundation of my work as a healer and spiritual guide. I help clients recognize their dual nature – both physical and spiritual – and access the infinite love and wisdom available to them. Whether through Reiki Fusion, psychotherapy, or “psycho-spiritual therapy”, I guide people to experience their own radiant light essence and connect with the universal energy that sustains us all. My work is about helping others discover what I learned in the Light: that we are never alone, never abandoned, and always supported by a loving universe if we simply allow ourselves to perceive it.
“Celestial Lessons” bridges ancient spiritual insights with modern psychology. What challenges did you face in integrating these two disciplines, and how do you see them complementing each other in personal transformation?
Integrating ancient spiritual wisdom with modern psychology presented several challenges. First was the language barrier – spiritual concepts like “chi,” “life force,” and “soul essence” don’t always translate easily into psychological terminology. I had to develop a vocabulary that honors both traditions while remaining accessible.
Another challenge was navigating skepticism from both sides. Some in the psychological community view energy work with suspicion, while some spiritual practitioners are wary of reducing transcendent experiences to psychological phenomena. Finding the balance required deep study, practice, and personal experience in both realms.
Despite these challenges, I’ve found these disciplines profoundly complementary. Psychology provides valuable frameworks for understanding our patterns, traumas, and cognitive processes, while spiritual practices offer direct experiences of our deeper nature beyond these patterns. Modern psychology helps us understand why we suffer, while spiritual wisdom shows us who we truly are beneath that suffering.
Together, they create a holistic approach to transformation. Psychology helps us identify and work through our wounds and limitations, while spiritual practices connect us to our inherent wholeness and the universal love that ultimately heals us. This integration honors both our humanity with all its complexities and our divine nature with its infinite potential.
Reiki Fusion is your innovative healing modality that blends Eastern energy work with Western psychotherapy. Can you explain how this approach works in practice and how it differs from traditional Reiki or talk therapy?
Reiki Fusion is a dynamic combination of energy healing and shamanic journeying that evolved from my recognition that healing happens most effectively when we address both energetic imbalances and psychological patterns simultaneously.
In practice, a session begins with the groundwork of a psychotherapeutic approach – a conversation about what’s happening in the client’s life, establishing a therapeutic connection and bringing awareness to patterns and challenges. Unlike traditional Reiki, which primarily focuses on energy transmission with minimal dialogue, Reiki Fusion creates a dynamic interplay between energy and consciousness. And unlike conventional psychotherapy, it directly addresses the energetic dimensions of our challenges rather than working solely through cognitive understanding.
The entire process aids in the release of toxic energy, provides deep relaxation, and creates conditions of trust in oneself. Clients ultimately become their own healers with my guidance as a seasoned traveler. This creative fusion of enlightened practices fosters the release of blocks to the manifestation of your most cherished dreams, helping clients experience healing on multiple levels simultaneously – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Many people are curious about accessing higher states of consciousness but may not know where to begin. What practical tools or first steps do you recommend for those starting their spiritual awakening journey?
For those beginning their spiritual journey, I recommend starting with simple practices that can be easily integrated into daily life. The first is conscious breathing – taking just five minutes each day to sit quietly and observe your breath. This simple act begins to shift awareness from constant doing to simply being.
The second practice I suggest is the Morning Activation I describe in my book. Upon waking, place one hand on your heart and one on your lower abdomen while still lying in bed. Connect with the statement: “I am both my body and my radiant light soul essence.” This acknowledges your dual nature and sets an intention for experiencing both your humanity and divinity throughout the day.
Nature connection is another powerful entry point. Spending time outdoors with full presence – really seeing, hearing, and feeling the natural world – can spontaneously trigger experiences of expanded consciousness. The beauty of nature often naturally quiets the mind and opens the heart.
I also recommend exploring different meditation styles to find what resonates. Some people connect with visualization practices, others with mantras or movement meditations. The key is finding what helps you experience the spaciousness behind your thoughts.
Finally, seek community. Whether it’s a meditation group, spiritual book club, or workshop setting, being around others on a similar path can provide support and accelerate growth. Remember that awakening is not about reaching some distant goal but about removing the barriers to recognizing what’s already here – your inherent connection to the love and light that is your true nature.
You teach all levels of Usui Tibetan Reiki and offer specialized training in Past Life Regression. How do these practices contribute to healing trauma, and what breakthroughs have you witnessed in your clients through this work?
Both Reiki and Past Life Regression offer unique pathways for healing trauma that complement traditional therapeutic approaches. Reiki works directly with the body’s energy system, which often holds traumatic imprints even after cognitive processing of events. The gentle flow of universal life force energy helps release these energetic blockages, allowing many clients to experience deep relaxation and safety in their bodies, sometimes for the first time since their trauma.
Past Life Regression, whether viewed literally or metaphorically, provides a powerful framework for addressing traumatic patterns that seem to have no origin in current life experiences. By exploring these narratives, clients often gain perspective on recurring challenges and can release emotional charges that have persisted despite conventional therapy.
The breakthroughs I’ve witnessed have been profound. One client with chronic neck pain discovered through Reiki that she was energetically “carrying the weight of her family.” As we worked with this metaphor both energetically and psychologically, her physical symptoms dramatically improved, and she established healthier boundaries in relationships.
Another client experienced debilitating anxiety around water despite no water-related trauma in this lifetime. Through Past Life Regression, she accessed a drowning experience that resonated deeply with her fears. After processing those emotions, her water phobia resolved, allowing her to enjoy swimming with her children for the first time.
What makes these modalities so effective for trauma is that they bypass the cognitive mind, which often develops protective mechanisms around traumatic experiences. By working through energy or expanded states of consciousness, clients can access and release trauma patterns that have remained inaccessible through talk therapy alone, experiencing healing on levels that words alone cannot reach.
If you would like to find out more about Cynthia M Chase, please visit https://cynthiamchasebook.com/
