Embarking on a profound journey of self-discovery and spiritual exploration, Nicole Corbett, founder of Life Path Healing, delves into the intertwined realms of shamanic practices and hypnosis with a deep sense of purpose and curiosity. Reflecting on her upbringing, Nicole recalls early encounters with Buddhist and Taoist teachings that ignited her passion for meditation and energy awareness. Despite initially resisting the call to healing, serendipitous encounters and divine guidance led her to embrace a path rich in shamanic training under the mentorship of Sandra Ingerman and, later, a captivating exploration of hypnosis. In her interview with MysticMag, Nicole unveils the synergy between these modalities, sharing insights into her unique approach to healing, which seamlessly integrates spiritual guidance, energy work, and clinical hypnosis. Through her transformative HypnoShamanic Healing sessions, Nicole empowers individuals to navigate profound inner shifts, offering a beacon of hope for those seeking lasting positive change in their lives.
Can you share more about your personal journey and what led you to explore both shamanic practices and hypnosis?
Looking back, it’s interesting to see the way my life has been guided. I happened to meet several Buddhist and Taoist teachers in my childhood who taught me meditation and to notice energy. I fell into an advanced Reiki training in my early twenties. A friend introduced me to a teacher offered a year-long shamanic training under the supervision of Sandra Ingerman. It seems that no matter how much I shied away from being a healer, I was offered training and support without having to look for it.
I never intended to publicly practice shamanism but took the training to deepen my own spiritual practice and learn to work with guides. Over the years my guides have prompted me, and I have usually resisted. They were pushing me toward healing work, but I didn’t know how to go about doing that. I focused on my day job until I was laid off and knew nothing was going to go smoothly until I started following the guidance. A TED talk took me down a rabbit hole of studying hypnosis and when I attended the training, I instantly recognized the shamanic element in hypnosis. They both use a state of trance to connect to deep healing.
Please can you tell us a bit about the services you offer?
My most popular service is a 5-session HypnoShamanic Healing which combines hypnosis and shamanic healing in a specific way. We start with eliminating triggers combined with a soul retrieval. Then, we go into shadow work to release suppressed thoughts and feelings. Next, we deepen self-acceptance and expand the client’s energy field so they are protected – this is especially important for empaths. Last, we envision their intention as fulfilled and continuing to blossom out into the future. This sets an internal template that makes it easy to follow their intended path.
I offer shamanic energy healing where I use spirit helpers to open the flow of a person’s energy and offer guidance from their guides. I also offer clinical processes, like Brainspotting which is an offshoot of EMDR. I enjoy combining different modalities to fit what works best for each person.
How did your shamanic training influence your approach to hypnosis, and how did you discover the overlap between the two modalities?
Typically, hypnosis uses inner resources for healing, but the process is so similar to shamanic healing. Step 1. set an intention/goal, step 2. go into trance/hypnosis, step 3. call in a guide/resourced part of the self to effect healing.
Not wanting to be too woo-woo, I tried to stick to clinical hypnosis, but my guides kept pushing me to combine these modalities. Little by little I added spiritual healing to the work and have been guided to create a powerful process. Watching my clients receive so much benefit from it, I was encouraged to do more.
Could you explain how intuition and shamanic healing enhance the spiritual and emotional healing experience for your clients?
Hypnosis gets at the deep-seated patterns and triggers we need to release in order to move forward. Including Spirit in the process broadens the healing to an energetic and spiritual level. Rather than doing a shamanic journey to heal my client while they sit and wait for me to tell them what happened, I utilize hypnosis, so the client is on the journey with me. When they participate the experience is much more profound.
Hypnosis offers deep emotional healing, and the shamanic work builds a lifelong connection between the client and their spirit guides. They are able to feel/experience the connection, so they can recognize it when they journey or meditate on their own. They get direct messages rather than hearing someone else translate the guidance for them. My process strengthens and validates an individual’s own intuition.
For individuals who may be exploring their own spiritual or healing journeys, what advice would you offer to those seeking lasting positive change in their lives? Are there any practices, mindset shifts, or daily habits that you believe can make a significant difference?
One part of the homework I give for my HypnoShamanic Healing clients is what I call heart-breathing. This is where you visualize universal light coming into your heart on the inhale – as if you’re breathing right into the heart. On the exhale, you expand that energy out from the heart to all parts of yourself. Over time this practice opens the heart and pulls us out of the head. When our energy shifts from head to heart, we are calmer and at peace. We can let things go more easily. It is a powerful starting place for opening intuition.
Another practice I teach is to call in a spirit guide and spend time feeling that experience. We tend to call on help and then pile on a lot of questions or requests. People often have a hard time differentiating whether they’re talking to themselves or receiving advice from a guide. That’s why it’s important to establish a strong sense of recognition with a spirit helper. Spend time with them in gratitude and get to know how that connection feels. For some it may be a physical sensation, while others feel a sense of love and support, and another person may feel an energetic shift. Get to know how it feels when you connect through love and gratitude first. Then, when you ask for guidance, you know it’s coming from your guide because you recognize that connection.
You can combine these two practices and imagine your guide is in front of you and you’re breathing from your heart to theirs and from their heart to yours. This is a great way to feel that flow of connection without muddying the waters with a request.
Do this practice for at least 5 minutes a day. Even on the busiest of days, we can spare 5 minutes before bedtime. Be gentle with yourself when your mind wanders. Don’t scold yourself but congratulate yourself for noticing the mind wandering and bring yourself back to heart-breathing. You’ll be amazed at the difference 5 minutes can have when you make this practice a daily habit!
