For Tanja, jewelry is more than just adornment—it’s a soulful form of expression and empowerment. Whether it’s a bold statement piece for standing out or a cherished heirloom passed down through generations, each piece holds symbolic significance and memories.
Tanja’s journey into jewelry making began during a period of burnout at work and a challenging relationship with her manager. Seeking solace and a creative outlet, she embarked on a wire wrapping class and discovered a newfound passion. As she delved deeper into the craft, she found herself drawn to the spiritual properties of crystals, incorporating them into her creations with purpose and intention.
Learn more about this fascinating woman with the latest MysticMag interview.
Can you provide an overview of your practice as a Reiki Master and Certified Breathwork and Mindset Coach, and how you integrate these modalities into your work with jewelry?
Yes! The jewelry came first. It was meant to be a hobby to help me cope with stress. I had just completed a master’s program, with the original plan of growing at the company I was working at. I ended the program burned out, and on top of that, had a new manager at work. It became an uncomfortable working environment with her, everything completely changed for me. Instead of celebrating my graduation, I was growing anxious about work, desperately trying to find a new job, and feeling lost because nothing had gone to plan! A friend suggested that I seek a new hobby and I signed up for a wire wrapping course with the community college. I would have not ever imagined it at the time, but this planted so many seeds for me. The jewelry introduced me to crystals, the crystals introduced me to the idea of healing, healing introduced me to meditation, meditation introduced me to Reiki, and Reiki introduced me to Breathwork… and here we are! The path all made sense when I realized that this whole healing journey started with me trying to recover from burnout and a toxic work environment. Now, I go to organizations and offer these healing modalities so employees can learn to manage burnout, establish a better work-life balance, and overall create healthier work environments.
Reiki, Breathwork, and Mindset Coaching offer unique approaches to healing and personal development. How do you combine these modalities to support your clients’ well-being, and how does jewelry play a role in this process?
Ever since this experience, I have taken an interest in establishing healthy work environments from job to job, including as an organizational change consultant. I bring with me 15+ years of professional work experience at all levels of an organization from entry-level to leadership, expanding across multiple international settings. In my coaching practice, I combine organizational knowledge and wellness practices to offer 1-1 coaching to emerging and experienced leaders by identifying the blockages preventing authentic leadership, establishing rituals for productivity, and reconnecting individuals to a healthy work-life balance. During each session, I will provide a mini consultation to the employee so they can continue to incorporate balance into their daily routines. During the Reiki sessions, we will focus on creating rituals that will focus on opening or balancing a Chakra. This pairs well with crystals, so, commonly, I gift a client a bracelet with crystals that can remind them of their strengths, remind them to breathe, or empower them with any other reminders of what they are working towards.
Reiki involves channeling universal life force energy for healing. How do you infuse your jewelry with Reiki energy, and what benefits do your clients experience from wearing energetically charged pieces?
One thing I love about jewelry is that we specifically adorn ourselves with pieces that will support us throughout our day. When we have an interview, we’ll wear our lucky earrings. When we have to give a presentation, we’ll wear a statement piece. During a ceremony, like a wedding, we exchange rings. Jewelry commemorates milestones, the obstacles we have overcome, the statements we seek to make, and serves as reminders of what we have achieved. When I make jewelry, I love to consider what special occasion it might support someone with, but, whether we realize it or not, we all give our jewelry a special meaning and channel the energy we need from it.
Breathwork and Mindset Coaching focuses on techniques for relaxation, mindset shifts, and personal growth. How do you incorporate these practices into your coaching sessions, and how does jewelry serve as a tangible reminder of clients’ intentions and goals?
Breathwork uses our breath to tap into our autonomic nervous system. We can manipulate our breath to manage our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. By doing this, we can create a sense of calm, focus, energy, or relaxation, depending on what is needed. This can be a critical tool for managing a team in a work setting. Imagine being able to start a high-stakes meeting with some calming breathwork beforehand, or starting that last meeting of the day, when everyone has the brain fog kicking in, with a high power/ energizing/ pick me up breath?
On an energetic level, breathwork balances our masculine and feminine energy. Just like with the Chakras, an imbalance can manifest in our thoughts, behaviors, and actions. I created an assessment that can help me understand energetic imbalances in the workplace. In breathwork sessions, we focus on breathwork practices that will bring clients back into balance. Just like with Reiki, jewelry can serve as a reminder of growth opportunities and commemorate our transformation.
Can you share examples or stories of clients who have experienced transformation or healing through your combined approach of Reiki, Breathwork, Mindset Coaching, and jewelry?
The biggest breakthrough with clients is coming back to a place of work-life balance. As a Burnout Coach, I work with a lot of clients who carry the weight of their organization on their shoulders. They approach work with a high level of stress. This not only affects their ability to enjoy work and have meaningful relationships with their team, but the stress infiltrates into their personal life outside of work. Burnout is draining. Helping people reclaim their lives and rediscover joy is one of the greatest rewards of this work. If a piece of jewelry can be a seed to that journey, like it was for me, it is well worth it!
As a practitioner of these modalities, how do you create a supportive and empowering environment for your clients, and how does jewelry enhance their overall healing journey and well-being?
More than anything, the jewelry is a part of my story. It was my ticket out of burnout. Now, it serves as a means to connect with clients and share something that helped me turn my life around. When I was burned out, I didn’t see it. I didn’t know it. I thought it was normal to be tired and uninspired by work. Jewelry, and my own experience with burnout, is a story I can share with clients. I’ve been where they are and I know how good change can be, I know how different their life can be.
Feel free to connect with me if you have any questions or want to share your story with me! I’d love to hear from you:
www.linkwellnesscoaching.com– Burnout Coaching
www.cielonublado.com– Jewelry/ Personal Blog
