Taylor Bratches‘ journey into energy healing and mysticism began with profound experiences in her early adulthood, including a true Kundalini awakening. These experiences led her to develop Somatic Channeling, a unique energy healing modality. In her exclusive MysticMag interview, Taylor shares her insights on Somatic Channeling and her dedication to guiding others on their spiritual paths.
How did you get into energy healing and mysticism and what sparked your interest in it?
I’ve been on a mystical path since I was a young adult, and psychedelics played a significant role in my journey. From a young age, I had profound mystical experiences on psychedelics, which set me on a course of deep spiritual seeking. When I was 21, I had a true Kundalini awakening, which was the most profound experience of my life. After that, life got really wild and sent me on a course of seeking and having what I now understand to be various initiations.
Mystical things were happening, including visions. For example, I once had a vision of the Shri Yantra, a Hindu symbol of Tantra, in my third eye, even though I didn’t know what it was at the time. In 2016, I had another major initiation in Boulder, where I live now. After dancing ecstatically for hours at a party and then sitting to meditate on a rock outcropping in the mountains, I started channeling for the first time, and that with my body, not my mouth. My hands and arms began floating and moving entirely on their own, making mudras and yogic postures. It felt like I was a puppet on a string, moved by a vital prana force energy.
This experience set the stage for what is now my own energy work modality, which I call Somatic Channeling. Initially, this channeling happened mostly on psychedelics, but I was determined to be able to do it sober. I forced myself to meditate intensively every day for a year and a half. It didn’t happen for a while, but eventually, one day in front of Yogananda’s Self-Realization Center in Encinitas, CA, I was able to do Somatic Channeling sober.
During the COVID years, I honed this practice deeply, working on myself almost every day. I discovered that my hands could feel textures, balls, knots, and densities in my energy field. Movements and mudras would come through to move the energy, and I started developing this modality. After mastering it on myself, I began working on other people. Now, eight years later, this practice is mostly my full-time work, and I also teach it to others. I recently hosted my first-ever practitioner training for this modality.
Interestingly, more people are waking up to Somatic Channeling organically, often in yoga and breathwork classes. They notice their hands floating and find me to help them hone this ability. It’s been a pretty wild journey.
Can you tell me a bit more about somatic channeling and do you use any other energy modalities?
I offer Somatic Channeling as my primary energy healing modality. Although I have been attuned and trained in Reiki, I no longer practice it. Somatic Channeling has proven to be an extremely powerful modality for me, and it has become my main focus. The energy work I do is fully channeled, performed while I’m in a trance state. Most days, I offer Somatic Channeling sessions with clients on a massage table. In addition to individual sessions, I also teach others how to perform Somatic Channeling. I also offer sessions that blend verbal channeling, where I receive and convey messages from my spirit guides and certain deities. This ability to verbally channel messages developed through my Somatic Channeling practice.
Additionally, I offer a deeper version called Level 3 Somatic Channeling. This involves extremely deep spinal manipulation, and it can sometimes lead to a Kundalini awakening. While I do this less frequently, it’s a new and evolving part of my practice that I’m still learning.
These are the energy work modalities and services I offer, focusing on the transformative power of Somatic Channeling.
What does it mean to be a Psychedelic Guide and what can you tell me about that part of your work?
Psychedelics have been a natural part of my path, which led me to become a psychedelic guide. In 2020, I began apprenticing with experienced psychedelic guides, learning the ropes and eventually guiding people myself. I primarily use mushrooms, specifically psilocybin, in my work.
As a psychedelic guide, I facilitate high-dose psychedelic journeys with mushrooms. I also develop and implement microdosing protocols for clients, creating structured systems and coaching programs to support them throughout the process. High-dose journeys are something I am very comfortable with, and I enjoy guiding others into altered states of consciousness safely, allowing them to explore deep parts of their psyche, being, and other dimensions. I also require my clients to do integration work with me after the journey, so they can weave the psychedelic experience into their lives in a grounded way.
I also gave a talk at the MAPS Psychedelic Science Convention in Denver, the largest psychedelic convention in history, called “Rave as Ritual.” My talk focused on how rave culture, through the combination of movement and psychedelics, can serve as a cultural ritual for healing and expanding states of consciousness.
While my primary focus is on energy work, I often combine it with psychedelic sessions. This integration allows me to offer energy work during psychedelic journeys, enhancing the overall experience and healing potential for my clients.
What can people hope to learn and achieve through your Coaching & Spiritual Mentorship?
While I’m not a licensed therapist, I often play a similar role for people, offering coaching and supportive services for those needing to talk and process their spiritual journey. Whether you’re just starting out and want to open up to spirituality but don’t know where to begin, or you’re an advanced mystic, I can provide support. I also help those who are ungrounded, experiencing spiritual emergencies, or even going through psychosis, by grounding them and assisting them in moving through these intense experiences.
People can gain a sense of support, perspective, and real resources to help integrate spirituality into their daily lives. This integration helps them move through the world with greater awareness, expanded consciousness, more compassion, and more love. My ultimate goal is to empower people and help them feel a deeply aligned sense of purpose in their spiritual journey.
What are your workshops like?
My workshops primarily focus on introducing and exploring Somatic Channeling as a new energy work modality that I’m bringing into the world. These workshops are designed to provide education and foundational practices in this modality.
On top of the workshops, I also offer trainings that are deep and more intensive, aimed towards people wanting to become Somatic Channeling practitioners. In the workshops, participants engage in group meditation and guided somatic movements to help them begin sensing their own energy fields. We do exercises like energy scanning and practice techniques that help participants understand and connect with their energy bodies. The workshops include discussions, Q&A sessions, and sometimes partner work to facilitate a deeper understanding and practice of Somatic Channeling.
The key aspect of these workshops is helping participants open up to channeling, particularly through intuitive body movements. While this form of channeling might feel unusual, it often comes naturally, especially for women and especially for those familiar with intuitive movement. My goal is to guide participants into becoming trance channels, using their bodies to channel energy in a new and profound way. This process helps pave the way for a deeper connection with their intuitive abilities and a greater understanding of energy work.
Is there anything else about your work that you’d like to share that we haven’t covered?
I think one thing I’d like to highlight, especially after the amazing training I conducted this past weekend, is the profound impact of Somatic Channeling. It’s truly an incredible modality that goes beyond traditional energy work.
Somatic Channeling isn’t just about moving energy. It’s a deeply integrative healing practice that involves the energy body, physical body, and emotional body. When we work with energy in this way, the physical body often reacts by moving into postures, shaking, or even crying. This happens because we’re releasing stored stagnant energy, trauma, emotions, rigid belief systems, or intense programming that have accumulated in the body.
As we clear these “knots” or densities, people experience significant healing. This can manifest as the release of chronic pain or emotional patterns that have been deeply ingrained. A lot of chronic pain issues that doctors can’t figure out are often the result of this stagnant energy that needs to be released.
The modality not only addresses current life issues but can also heal past life wounds. For instance, during a recent session, I helped clear a past life wound for someone, where the energy density in her left thigh was linked to being shot in war in a past life when she was a soldier, leaving her disabled in that part of the body – which affected her core identity (which affected her solar plexus chakra) and carried over into this lifetime.
Somatic Channeling can be a powerful initiatory mystical experience for those on a spiritual path. It’s about freeing the energy body and, in doing so, facilitating profound healing and transformation. The depth and breadth of this practice continue to amaze me, and I feel incredibly privileged to share it with others.
To learn more about Taylor and her work, you can visit www.taylorbratches.com and her Instagram page @somatic_channeling
