Wisdom Rising

Rebirth of the Soul: How Christine Turned Abuse into Spiritual Empowerment

• Christine Renee, Isabel Wells, and Shantel Ochoa • Season 1 • Episode 30

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If you've ever wanted to know more about host Christine Renee's personal journey and spiritual awakening, this episode is for you!  This is the first in a 3-part series of interviews where our Moon Rising Shamanic Team takes the hot seat guests on the show.

TW // Sexual violence and emotional abuse.
Imagine hitting rock bottom, enduring abusive relationships, and engaging in a fierce custody battle. That's where Christine Renee found herself before she surrendered to the divine and transformed her life. Her spiritual journey, rooted in her Catholic upbringing and witnessing the quiet power of Reiki, led her to establish the Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. Christine's story is not just about personal healing; it's a testament to the power of embracing self-worth and trusting that personal healing can ripple out into the world.

Christine shares her experiences of spiritual reawakening, starting with her Reiki training in Alaska and reigniting through shamanic practices. Her journey highlights the importance of self-care and self-worth, showing how these realizations helped her build a successful Reiki practice and online community. The conversation delves into her evolution from a Reiki-focused identity to a broader shamanic perspective, encouraging others to embrace their spiritual gifts without limitations. Her transition from Reiki Cafe University to the Moon Rising Shamanic Institute marks a shift towards authenticity and empowerment.

We explore Christine's journey of embracing authenticity and confronting fears, which led her to live a more vibrant life. Hear how she works with individuals in her shamanic Reiki practice, offering personalized sessions that foster deep transformation. Christine's insights into facing resistance and expressing one's truth provide a framework for continuous growth and transformation. Join us in discovering how Christine's story of resilience and spiritual growth can inspire you to embrace your own authentic path.

Moon Rising Rebrand + Story Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1743307/episodes/15552269

Christine's Story Original Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1743307/episodes/13234441

Learn more about the Soul Rising Course: https://moonrisinginstitute.com/soul-rising/

Moon Rising Shamanic Institute Links:
Website: https://moonrisinginstitute.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/moonrisinginstitute
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/moonrisingmystics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonrising.institute
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@moonrisinginstitute

Book a session with Isabel: https://calendly.com/into-the-deep/schedule

Book a FREE 15 minute connect call with Izzy: https://calendly.com/moonrisinginstitute/connect

Book a session with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/90-minutes-intensive

Book a FREE 10 minute connect call with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/10-minute-connect-call-srpt

Speaker 1:

It's time to remember your divine purpose and limitless potential. Welcome to Wisdom Rising, the official podcast of Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. Join shamanic Reiki practitioners Christine René, isabel Wells and Chantelle Ochoa as we guide you on a journey of radical self-discovery and spiritual guidance. Each week, we'll dance through the realms of shamanism, mysticism, energy healing and personal development to illuminate your path to true healing and self-sourced wisdom Through weekly inspired conversations and interviews with leading spiritual and shamanic practitioners. We are here to help you acknowledge, reconcile and balance your energy so that you can awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within. Welcome back to another amazing episode of the Wisdom Rising podcast. I'm your host for today, isabel Wells, and I am so excited and honored to introduce the first episode in a three-part series we'll be doing here on the show every Friday in December. Typically, on Fridays, we interview amazing guests about their expertise and wisdom, but for the next three Fridays, you'll get to hear interviews exchanged between your Moon Rising team members. If you've ever wondered what our own personal journeys or spiritual awakenings were like, these episodes are your chance to learn more about us and feel more connected to us on a personal level.

Speaker 1:

In today's episode, I have the honor and privilege of interviewing our Moon Rising visionary, christine Rene, as she shares her journey from where she began to where she is now. You'll hear her share how she grew up in a Catholic household where Reiki was the norm. How she transitioned into a career in midwifery that introduced her to Reiki healing. How the process of her Reiki awakening led her into healing from multiple abusive relationships and struggling through a custody battle for her son that left her at the end of her rope and in what she calls a rock-bottom experience. She shares how this experience of being at the complete end of her resources, both spiritually, mentally and physically, led her to releasing everything to the divine, and how this decision was the pivotal moment in her life that allowed her to step into her self-worth and courage and eventually led her to opening Reiki Cafe University. From there, we explore how her journey has continued to evolve and the healing that she's doing now behind the scenes, as well as what she believes to be her passion and purpose here on this earth as she supports her clients and students at Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. This episode is truly a testament to the power of stepping into your own self-worth, surrendering and trusting in the divine and knowing that your own healing can heal the world.

Speaker 1:

Please note that this episode does have a trigger warning for sexual violence and emotional abuse. If these topics might trigger you, please proceed in alignment with your best and highest good. In addition, we would love to hear your top takeaways and support for Christine and all of the amazing gifts that she brings to the table over in our Moon Rising Shamanic Mystics Facebook group. Our hope for this episode and for the series overall is that it will help you to connect with your own purpose and passion, because we believe that we find healing in solidarity and by sharing our stories. We hope to show you who we truly are and encourage you to embark on the pathway to find your own highest, truest, most authentic self. So, without further ado, let's meet Christine Renee. Further ado, let's meet Christine Rene. I am so excited for this special Friday episode of the show. We're doing something a little bit new here and I am here today to interview our wonderful visionary for Moon Rising Shamanic Institute, christine Rene. Christine, I'm excited to have you on as a guest today.

Speaker 2:

I love it because we haven't done these in a long time and we always are growing in our community, our listeners, and it's time to get reacquainted with who our team members are. So I'm super excited to come on as the visionary. That's who I am. I really feel embracing of that title. I really enjoy it. It really resonates with me embracing of that title.

Speaker 1:

I really enjoy it. It really resonates with me. Beautiful, and we'll get to what the visionary is and does for Moon Rising towards the end of today's interview. But I would love to just take us back to the very beginning, because in order to understand who you are, we have to understand where you've been and how you got to where you are. So if you take us back to the beginning, tell us a little bit about how you feel your journey with spirituality really started.

Speaker 2:

You know that's. It's an interesting question because I feel like it was during my childhood. You know, my dad was doing Reiki, and a very quiet, hush, hush way during the 1980s, as any of the Reiki practitioners were at that point, and I remember, like listening to the door trying to hear Reiki and hearing my father I mean it's weird, because Reiki doesn't supposed to make sound but my brother's knee was like crackling and popping back into place and so I had this very like whoa, that was cool. And and then having my being in on a conversation with our Catholic priest and my dad asking for permission to do Reiki and getting that blessing from a priest about Reiki. And then there was the time when, you know, I, my best friend's father, was dying of leukemia and he passed in in his home and I spent the night there that night to comfort my best friend and he came to me like very viscerally full figure in the room present with me and told me to watch over her, you know. So there was, there was lots of really brilliant, potent opportunities for spirit to interact with me as a child. And then there was there's just growing up in a Catholic church that it was totally okay that I was this oddball mystic amongst them talking to statues or really having visceral feeling, holy spirit, energy in that room and in that space. And so I kind of because that was my upbringing I thought that spirituality was Catholicism, because they didn't know anything different, right. And so I figured, well, I'm so good at this, I must be a nun, right Like by the time I was 16, 17, 18, that was the plan, because it was just so obvious that I was so naturally spiritually gifted. And so it really kind of threw me for a loop when I finally made it to a Catholic university and saw something different than the Catholicism I was raised with, right Like.

Speaker 2:

I grew up in Portland, oregon, and a very, very progressive church. We had 26 languages spoken and it, you know, they were doing like gay wedding ceremonies behind the bishop's back, like they were. It was very, very progressive. We had a rock band, you know like the whole thing like it was so different than like your typical Catholic upbringing. I was really really lucky that I didn't have religious like your typical Catholic upbringing. I was really really lucky that I didn't have religious trauma going growing up. I actually had, was really supported in that space.

Speaker 2:

And so when I got exposed to oh, here's the other side of Catholicism, I was like, well, that's bullshit. Like I really started seeing the hierarchy and I started seeing the corruption and started like all of the things, like that that worldview just came crumbling down and then I was left with well, I'm still really spiritually awake, I'm really spiritually aware and through a series of events, I ended up leaving that Catholic school because I was hypersensitive in the chemistry lab of all things. And you know what? I'm hypersensitive in all areas of my life. So it doesn't really surprise me, but going into a chemistry lab would make my whole body turn bright red. I'd become really irritable and like cuss out the professor and like I was just horribly sensitive to the chemicals and that space. And so they basically said you can't go into biology, therefore you can't go into environmental studies, you can't go into nursing, you can't go into any medical professions. And I was like, well, what the freak am I doing at a private school? I'm not going to pay private school prices to figure out what I want to do when I grow up, all right.

Speaker 2:

So I went back home and I was kind of fumbling through for a year and I picked up a book called the Red Tent and it's like my favorite book. I love this book and because it has that real religious connection to it, so like and that was my, my vibe at the time and it was introducing midwifery, it was introducing women's work, it was introducing paganism, it was introducing idols, it was introducing all of these different concepts in a religious setting from a woman's perspective, right. And so from that point I was like I think I want to be a midwife and I had this real understanding of like I've always wanted to be a healer, I've always wanted to go into the medical arts. It's why I was trying to go into biology. Midwifery allowed me a path to do women's work, to do healthcare without the chemistry, without the biology, without the heavy sciences. It was herbology, it was spirituality, it was connecting with women on an energetic and emotional level to help them birth their babies at home. And those two that reality just was like oh well, that totally makes sense to me.

Speaker 2:

And so I ended up with a bunch, like at a midwifery school, and they were all Reiki practitioners, they were all these wise women and they, they teased me, they said that I came into the space as a Catholic school girl and I left a Supreme goddess, you know, and they nicknamed me queen Christine, and I was just such a year of transformation, of like really shutting away this old identity of the meek, the coy, the, the soft and really embracing my true, authentic self, which is pretty outspoken, which is pretty like I have all of my vivaciousness, like I'm. I'm pretty, I'm pretty comfortable speaking what I believe in, true, If I have an opinion, if I have an opinion, I'm really ready to share it Right. If I don't, I'm like whatever, I'm open to learning different perspectives. But, um, that training taught me so much because I went from a very type, a personality of trying to control, trying to be a straight, a student, trying to seek validation and approval from my superiors, to going what feels good, and that is a huge freaking shift. And that is a huge freaking shift and I think that's really where I did really started the beginning of my spiritual journey was that recognition Like yeah, it's innate, like it's always been with me, but then bringing it into adulthood in a way of finding my inner truth and flow with women who accepted me for who I was and to teach me how to let go of what really wasn't serving me or the community, and like being that mirror back to me, like he would kick me out of the room, like Christine, you're stressing out and your stress level is affecting everyone else in the room.

Speaker 2:

You need to go sit outside for a minute, like. And I was, like that's great, I think that that's that's what we should be doing in elementary school, like why, like let's have energetic awareness of what we're projecting, right. And so it was such a it was a profound time in my life to really understand what energy was. And then, how does that impact these beautiful portals in our life? The portal of bringing new life into the world?

Speaker 2:

And seeing that witnessing birth, witnessing women at their most vulnerable state, and then recognizing this is a spiritual experience and there's no sin involved in this. There is no original sin. Like that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, right. So I think that's really where it all started. And so when I ended up at a birth center in Alaska, I was being trained in Reiki at the same time. So I was attending births with my Reiki training and you know they would ask me questions like where's the spirit baby in the room, and I would have to energetically tune into where the energy of everyone was and wasn't in alignment and was the spirit baby inhibiting the process of the flow of the labor. You know, like I, so I had such a unique opportunity to learn about myself, about women, about energy, about Reiki, about herbs, like all of the things, and I it's just such such a blessing, like I love that starting point in my journey.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it's. It's fascinating, knowing your journey the way I do, to see all of the times that it pops its head up that midwifery background in the training that you do now. And so obviously you you left us here at this birth center in Alaska. You're learning Reiki, you're learning midwifery and you have this huge journey to get to what was when it started, Reiki Cafe University. So what was that transition and journey like in the stages going from wanting to be a midwife to being a really amazing Reiki instructor?

Speaker 2:

You know, I it was really hard. Those were like some of the. My darkest years was like I was in Alaska, but also in Alaska I was raped. I had, I had a date, rape experience, and it really pushed me over the edge to recognize that I can't just trust everyone to keep things safe. And so I went from having this really negative experience and like not shaking it off Like I couldn't shake it off well, and from there like the birth center didn't work anymore, like I didn't want to be with these women anymore, because it was actually someone at the birth center who was like you should go date this guy and uh, and so it just it didn't feel okay. So I really kind of pulled back. I ended up in a relationship with someone who was very controlling, and so everything was like a reflection from that point forward, of like going into my dark days, of like being controlled by men, being in relationships that were emotionally or physically or sexually abusive in some way for a handful of years and just not having my self-worth. And so it was like I hit the pause button on Reiki Um, when I entered into my first marriage, like he would call me a witch, he would call me a bitch, he would call me all these names and really going the veil was over my eyes to ensure that I was in a relationship with him.

Speaker 2:

Like when I met him I thought that's the father of my child, not the person. That's not my soulmate, that's not the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. That's the father of my child. And so I had to complete that soul agreement to bring this child through this man. And there is so much nasty past life intertwinings in that. But it was really like ignore all red flags, get into this marriage, have this child and then freaking, wake up and going oh my God, where the hell am I at? Like this is not okay. I've forgotten who I am completely.

Speaker 2:

So, between Alaska and my first marriage, those were the hardest times, but it didn't stop. It didn't stop when I left, when I got my divorce. Like I needed to hire a lawyer who basically looked like Mr Clean in a suit to like physically. Like I needed that to like have him look asa bodyguard. Like I needed someone to kind of show up as a bodyguard for me and he was great.

Speaker 2:

But the custody battle lasted 10 years, constantly having to be in stressed out mama bear mode, trying to protect my son from his emotionally abusive father and the court system basically saying parents are legally allowed to be bad parents is what they told me. And so, even though I had counselors stand up for him in court cases, I had, you know, lots of testimonials where this is clearly an emotionally abusive relationship. The court system didn't care. And so, having to be in that fight, flight, stressed out PTSD mode for many years and to really have not any kind of spiritual practice at that point, like I, it basically was like not only put on hold, it was like it was buried, it was completely buried. And there came a point where I, thank God, ended up with a therapist who was also a shamanic practitioner and she was like, let's do some shamanic training to really help you connect with your guides, because your guides are going to help you through all of these things. Your guides are going to help you through the custody battle. Your guides are going to help you navigate new relationships. Your, your, your power animals are going to be there to help heal you. And I'm like, yeah, sure, let's go. Like I'm.

Speaker 2:

I have always been very spiritually available. Um, like spiritual stepping into other worldly realities has always been easy for me. So when I started my shamanic training, she typically taught people for about five to six weeks. Well, I stayed on with her doing shamanic training for six months until I was now leading her other like graduates and and circle, and so I had this really beautiful opportunity to reconnect with my spirituality through that process and bring it forward in a way of going. It's still there, still all available. How can I create a practice to connect with my guides and trust my guides and what they have to show me? And that comfort of having my spirit team with me really allowed me to own my energy again, to claim my energy again, to come back to myself again, and that's when the Reiki was starting to come back into my life as well, and so I'm forever grateful to be open to the shamanic world in this way. And and then it just kind of started shifting into.

Speaker 2:

I started I was in a new relationship and, um, that partner was the complete opposite and it was totally done on purpose. I was like I want whatever's opposite of that first marriage. That's what I want. I want the man who is physically so much smaller, who's clearly has a spiritual flair to him that is so super meek and mild. Like I just wanted. Complete opposite. I needed a healing relationship to be able to align my energy or awaken my energy again, and it was beautiful and I was able to start like. It was still like.

Speaker 2:

It wasn't easy. I don't think and I think a lot of our listeners can relate to us Like when we're on that healing path and it's been dark and it's got the PTSD and there's been abuse and there's all these things, it takes time, it takes a lot of freaking time, and so some days it was, it was good and some days it was bad, but overall I ended up having my second child and she broke me. She knows it too. She broke me and the fact that the the pregnancy was really difficult. I was having sickness every single day for the first, like 33 weeks, and then by 35 weeks, I had five dislocated ribs, like it was not an easy pregnancy and, um, I really couldn't do anything. Like it was just like.

Speaker 2:

And while this is all going on, I'm still flooded with anxiety. I'm still flooded with all of these heavy emotions of the custody battle and I'm feeding that to my daughter. And so it was, and so of course she's going to come out freaking colicky right. She wasn't ready to come out and she, she cried for like a year and a half and like I didn't sleep for a year and a half, and so then I got diagnosed with an autoimmune that is kept getting heavy and the fact that now I have PTSD that I'm still working through. I now have autoimmune that's been developed and my mental health and stability is like in the freaking ditch because I'm not sleeping.

Speaker 2:

Everything in my being is going into this child who, her nervous system is completely out of whack Right and so, and therefore, like my husband at the time, his nervous system was out of whack, he wasn't in a good place, my son wasn't a good place, it was not a good time, and yet we were making it through and I had to get to this really rock bottom place because that whole time I wasn't surrendering, I wasn't giving my life to service of the divine and I was still in mama bear mode of trying to make it all work and trying to make it happen and trying to survive and there came a point where I just had to let go of my custody of my son. It was like I can't. I can't do it. It's either someone's going to die in this process. Like I, my mental health was not good and so I had to let something go.

Speaker 2:

And I basically remember the day I was like I'm letting go of custody of my son, I am quitting my job, I am dedicating my life to Reiki and meditation, and if it's not one of those two things and I'm not available for it, I have to take care of me. And that is the day that, like my life changed. I was able to come to a space of I need freaking help, whether that is coming from Western medicine, whether that was coming from a therapist, whether that was coming from going to just finding a new study, and what I really ended up studying was the chakras. And that really supported me so much when I started understanding the chakras as a roadmap to healing. Like, of course I've got a freaking autoimmune that's based out of my solar plexus.

Speaker 2:

That revelation changed how I looked at the world, because I was, like, of course I have ulcers all over my large intestine. Of course I'm pissed off. Of course I'm mad. Of course it's that I've lost my complete identity to this first marriage and I'm so angry, I'm so stopped up by that. And so recognizing the emotional conditioning that led to my physical health problems was really the kicker and like, okay, if I can now look at solar plexus and go, what are the emotional things tied to that? Okay, low self-esteem yeah, I got that. It's the negative self-talk Yep, got that too. All of those lack of self-respect, lack of self-worth, lack of self-love. There is no self-care practice. I am completely people-pleasing at this point and taking care of everybody else and making sure that they're surviving when I'm barely keeping my head above water.

Speaker 2:

So I was realizing the emotional conditioning that led to the physical health condition and that really was the kicker to really launch me forward because I was starting to do the work. I was starting to realize I had to come to a place of self-respect and self-love and self-care and going. I am worthy of the time it takes for the self-care. And if every mother knew that, you know what I mean. Like I really felt like I needed to start making myself a priority and I did and it was like choosing me every single day. And what could I do for myself every single day? I didn't have my son. I didn't connect with him really for six months because I needed just a time out. I just needed that time out to get my energy back in flow at least a little. It didn't need to be 100% there, but I needed to find my footing again. I needed to have a foundation beneath me and when I started doing the self-care work through understanding the chakras, I I was starting to gain this confidence of going.

Speaker 2:

I'm, I'm, I'm really good at what I do, whether that is birth work, whether that's Reiki, whether that's shamanic like. I have all of these tools and I'm getting the call. And you know, spirit has always wanted me to do the spiritual work Like. It's always pushed me there and I always told myself, well, I'm not good enough, or it's not going to bring enough money, it's going to be a waste of time, or whatever it was like. Whatever my self-talk was, I had to, you know, put that aside and let that go and to say you know what I'm going to try anyway.

Speaker 2:

And so I started teaching shamanic guided meditations for each of the chakras, and so what it was was I would go into this yoga studio and I would set my intention. I'd call in the directions, I'd set my intention, like I'm doing a shamanic guided meditation to go to the upper world or lower world, depending on what chakra we're working on for this chakra and I would just I would literally just channeled information, like I had no preparation, what was coming out of my mouth. I just channeled the guided meditation every single week and it became really popular. People would show up, they loved it. They were having these emotional releases, they were connecting with their guides and after class I would just say well, if you want some Reiki sessions, I'm available for that too. And that's literally how my Reiki business started.

Speaker 2:

I was just letting spirit lead. I was just showing up without any expectation of what was going to happen. And that's how I built my practice. And I just told spirit. I was like I need to make it least enough to cover the rent for the space and for my childcare services, and if I can get more than that, fantastic. And it didn't take long, like I just had to start showing up and that really that's all. It was. Just had to start showing up and that really that's all it was. I was just showing up.

Speaker 2:

The people came, they enjoyed the work, they came to sessions, they wanted more and then they wanted more and they wanted more. And I remember having this client and she is still a client to this day. I mean, she's been probably a client now for 10 years where she came to the guided meditation and then she came in for sessions and then she was like, I'm just here on vacation. Would you fly to Ohio and do a workshop, a retreat, a day retreat for my, my congregation, her Methodist church? And I was like, yeah, I can do that, you know. And I just I just showed up once again, I'm just saying yes to the opportunity that showed up and I went. And then, on the way at the end of those events, that went amazing. We were on the way to the airport and she was like, gosh, I just wish I could work with you more. And I'm like, well, I can offer coaching, we can do this online. And she was like, yes, how much? And I just threw a number out and she said yes.

Speaker 2:

And so it was constantly this the universe is bringing me the clients, the universe is bringing the people into my world who needs to be in my world. And all of a sudden, I had a pretty thriving Reiki practice. I was teaching Reiki on a regular basis and I had so many students that I was like I need to put them in a place so that they can keep asking questions. And that's how Reiki Cafe, the online group, started my Facebook group, which is now Moon Rising Mystics, but that's how it started. I was like I have all of these students. I need to put them somewhere so they can contact me at any time, and so then I was online. Now I'm on Facebook with a Facebook group with all these students in them, and now more and more people are joining who aren't my students, but they have a ton of questions and they are not getting the support that they need, and so I'm now supporting people online. So I'm like, okay, I better take an online training of how to do business online, and that's 2016. I took my first online training course about how to do business online and it just has taken off from there and it's.

Speaker 2:

It always goes back to how's my self-worth, how's my voice, how's my alignment, how's my embodiment of spirit, how am I doing? And then it reflects back to me and my clients and my students and the numbers that we have. We continue to grow. Like that's how I met you, isabel, like I literally was like all right, universe, if you want me to do this, you need to send me the right person, and then Isabel shows up, like the next day. And that's how easy it can be when you put yourself in a position of like. I am in service of the divine. How does the divine want to move and work through me? I'm fully available. I need the universe, divine, to support me financially, to support me with the people and resources around me, with everything that I need, so that I can continue to do this work. And it just keeps. It just keeps getting better and better.

Speaker 1:

You know, it's something I always I always love hearing your story and your progression, because I think a lot of people today think, oh, christina Nene, she's that shamanic Reiki coach and it's it's. There's often this perception. I think, that you, you know, you knew from day one that Reiki cafe was what you wanted to do. You knew you wanted to be a teacher and you just you went out and did it.

Speaker 1:

And what I love about you sharing your story is it's so very much the opposite of, in a lot of ways, you could look at it and say all of the things that you thought you were going to do ended up not being the case, but you were so open and willing to let spirit guide you that this is where it ended up.

Speaker 1:

And, of course, it ended up being better than you ever could have imagined because it was divinely chosen for you. But it really highlights as well, I think, the idea that, even though it might be simple, right Of you saying I just need to stand in my worth and be in service to the divine. It's not always easy and you had to make some really hard choices and work really hard along the way, and I know that there are going to be those out there who especially hear about the custody of your son and think that that's a really difficult decision to make, and I'm curious if you could speak a little bit to some of those hard decisions that you had to make and how you look back on them now that you're on the other side.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, that's a great question, and I think this, that all of it was really hard and the fact that like, shamanically speaking, like the visual I would get is like I was on the edge of the cliff and my spirit guide is literally pushing me down, like pushing me off the cliff, Like I have to take the jump, I have to take the leap and just trust that it's going to be fine. On the other side and I struggled so hard, I pushed back for years arguing with spirit and I still freaking do. I am like in the spirit world I feel like I'm a freaking toddler. I have tantrums all the time, Like of course, you're going to give me that lesson. How dare you? Like I am ridiculous in my spiritual life.

Speaker 2:

Um, when I go visit my spirit guide, I feel like I have moved from maybe that toddler to now I'm the rebellious teenager and I'm just pissed off all the time with the assignments that I'm given. Like I'm like really, and and so, yeah, it's, it's, it's very much. I think it's the hardest decision any of us can make of going. I am going to trust that this is all supposed to be the way it is and I think now my biggest proof is in my son, because I am so blessed to have him in my life. I and he's amazing I am so incredibly proud of my son to have having gone through this very traumatic childhood and having, uh, this full-on custody battle like two parents who not just don't like each other, Like we hate each other.

Speaker 2:

You know like there's that level of you know when I remember taking my son to a past life, regressionist at like, maybe he was 13, 14. And she basically was like they're doing great this lifetime, they're not killing each other, they're like that's the comparison, right. Like every lifetime I've had with my ex, we've killed each other. We're like mortal enemies. And here's my son in the middle of it who chose to come in to reconcile that Right. And so he's now 18 years old. He's a straight, a student. He's going to college and finishing up high school at the same time. He's he's got his head on and he knows how to meditate and he knows when to call his therapist and he knows how to set boundaries and he is the kid who I don't have to worry about and he tells me everything. And I don't know any parent of a teen who is like, yeah, I know exactly what's going on in my child's life, and I do. I feel so incredibly blessed. And when my son reflects on his child he's he will say I know exactly why I have the dad that I have and I know exactly why I have the mom I have, and I and I needed both of those energies to become the man who I am today, and I'm like that statement right there usually takes 20 years of therapy, right, like he's. He's done the work and I'm like I am so glad that the one thing throughout everything that I did went in the custody battle was to make sure he had a therapist, like I made sure it was legally required that he needed therapy, and so he's been therapy since three. So ever at all of the trauma that he went through he had a third party licensed professional to work through the motions with him and he is the most self-aware teen that I know. And so do I feel bad about the way it happens. No, I, I'm also in a place of self-awareness of my ex. His father is my teacher. Isn't the best teacher I could have possibly had for myself, for my son, and it was chosen this way Like, yes, past life mortal enemies, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

But when, in those in-between space of lifetimes, when I say I need someone who loves me so much that they are going to kick me when I'm down, who will abuse me, who will make me so upset and so mad, who's going to be the person to love me that much, to put me in that situation, to recognize that I am valuable and I'm going to have to pick myself up and do the freaking work and not have it be easy. And and he said yes to that so, like from a very crown chakra point of view, he is my guru and the more I stepped into my authentic truth, it was so interesting to watch. Like the last three, four years he's been in therapy, he's we're able to communicate better now than we ever have been. He's shifting and changing. Yes, he's still an asshole apps freaking Luli, like he is. And I can say sounds like this needs to be discussed with your therapist and not me. And he there's no pushback right. Like I can tell him things going that's something you're gonna have to work out with your son, not me. Like I'm not available for that and he'll take it and leave it alone. Like I'm no longer under any kind of energetic attack. Why? Because I recognize him as my guru and I can be my broken record and have those emotional, physical and energetic boundaries. I see him maybe once a year. I've already told my son if he ever gets married, I'll pay him to go elope. I'm still not interested in sharing space with him, but I can see why it all happened the way it did, and that was my biggest teacher and that has helped me so much become the practitioner that I am, that I have the empathy that I do, and also like that willingness to see people and their hurt, see people and their trauma.

Speaker 2:

Being able to work with someone who has CPTSD, I get it, you know. Like I feel, like I have, that I can be in that role and watch them suffer and know that that suffering has a reason and purpose, right and so. And a lot of people can't do it to the point now where, like my biggest work is allowing people to show up and just be kind, doesn't make any sense to me. Like I'm still. I'm still working, I'm still working on me of going you know what. Maybe I am worthy to just have someone show up in my life and take care of me and like, love me the way they do and be nice. But it's such a foreign concept because it's not something I've ever experienced before, that it's still. We got layers to work on.

Speaker 2:

Like I think that's also what I want to share is like the healing doesn't stop it's. Let's continue to bring the awareness forward of how was I raised, what? What beliefs did I develop in that? Are they limiting? Are I making myself small to make other people feel comfortable? Am I still in that pattern? Am I still doing that? Maybe I am. Okay, let's time out back up, sit and like, reflect, do some journaling. Maybe I do need to see a therapist or have another coaching session with Isabel or whatever it may be, like a reading with Chantel, and like I do those things.

Speaker 2:

And so I think there's this projection that if you're a spiritual teacher who've been doing it for 20 years, like I have, that we got it all figured out and I feel like, yeah, I got a lot of it figured out and there's still more work to do, like I don't think the work stops. And I think for me it's how can I show up in my most authentic truth on a day-to-day to continuously inspire those that listen, or show up for the webinars or whatever it may be for you, like, how do you consume our content? Like that's the goal is to help reflect to you that, like we're not perfect no one's perfect Perfection doesn't exist. This is a messy mess down here on planet earth and we're just spirits in a human suit doing this work, and it's so that we can have this spiritual evolution and to really recognize who we are and when we can peel back all of those layers and just accept ourselves with our desires, with that divine inspiration, and show up in the world. In that we get a shine, our light, which then reflects everyone else who also can shine their light. They can say you know what? I'm not perfect, but I'm still showing up, I'm still doing the things, I'm still doing the work, and it becomes easier and easier and easier the more self-awareness we have and the more tools and the toolbox we have to come into that alignment. And that's my purpose.

Speaker 2:

Like that, I truly feel alive when I get on camera, when I get in front of the mic, when I show up for my students, like I love it, I absolutely love it. And I don't understand, like I still struggle with this one. I don't understand why people work and do things that don't feel good, like that's my biggest confusion. Like now that I used to do that, I used to hate my job and hate the way I live my life and have the big struggle and now that I just said yes to spirit and going okay, I'm going to trust you, I'm going to trust that. You're going to show up with the right people and the right amount of money and and all of the things. And I'm just going to, I'm just going to do me. I'm just going to keep showing up and my authentic voice over and over and over again.

Speaker 2:

And yeah, I might trip up sometimes and I'm going to ask for help. I'm going to ask for help when I trip up and I'm going to find my energy again. I'm going to find my power, I'm going to find my wings, I'm going to remember who I am and from that point, life is freaking good and it gets to be good. We can allow it to be good and that's that's my message. That's what I want everyone to recognize is that it can be good. It's not all going to be perfect. It's not all going to be smooth sailing Like. I don't think that exists. I don't think it exists. We came here to do the work, and everything in our world is going to reflect and mirror back to us what we still need healing on, and that's what we get to do. That's what we get to do.

Speaker 1:

And you know what I love about this is because I've been with you for so many years now. I've I've gotten to see how this most recent chapter of your journey has continued, like you said, to shed the layers and have you step into your authentic truth. And I always I giggle sometimes because I think of you in your eras of your hair, like your hair evolution to me really represents your spiritual journey, because at the very beginning of Reiki Cafe, you had your dreads and they were gorgeous and amazing, and then for a while your head was completely shaved and now you have your like beautiful, lovely, bouncy, curly hair and it just to me it's. It's something that I know is so simple, but it it has been really fascinating and humbling to be able to watch this chapter of your life where I think, like you said, you had Reiki Cafe and there was this perception that you've got it all figured out. You've done your work, you are who you are quote unquote meant to be, and yet in that eight years you've still shifted and changed and transformed so much.

Speaker 1:

And it's not that your healing journey has finished or that, like you said, you have everything figured out, but what you do have figured out is this framework for how to do the work when you need to do it, and you know how to transmute that to others and help other people find their own framework, and you never pretend to be anything different, and that is something that I love so deeply about you is there is never this pretense of I am perfection and you need to do it my way. It's always I found my framework, let me help you find yours, and that's so incredibly humbling and rare to find in a teacher, and so I'm wondering if we you know, as we step into this final chapter, of where your journey is right now, if you want to give us a little overview of what happened in those, you know, eight years, from when Reiki Cafe University had their Facebook group to where we are now, which is completely different.

Speaker 2:

You know, I think the biggest thing is that that authentic truth has always been like my mission and purpose, like our brand value. I want to be authentic and there came a point, probably a few years ago, that I realized that I was hiding behind the title of Reiki cafe university, like I'm a part of the Reiki community, and that I wasn't being my full, fullest, authentic self in that and and that there's definitely, especially in America, like this is what Reiki practitioners look like, what the how they act, what they do, what they say, what they can't say. And there it felt, it felt tight, it felt like I was squeezed into yet another box. And you know, for years we've been talking about let's get rid of the box. I'm so tired of the box, right, like this is not okay and the Reiki industry, especially in the U S, it's just another freaking box. And I was so tired and exasperated by the Reiki community and you know we started the podcast and we'd have Reiki practitioners on. I'm like, oh my gosh, it's just like I'm just over the same story and the same framework. And and then, you know it, I I felt like I couldn't speak to the full truth of what shamanism is for me because it didn't fit in that box and I can't not be who I am. I like if I show up for a session and power animals are there or Archangel show up, I'm not going to deny that and I don't feel like other Reiki practitioners should too. So is that Reiki? Like when I'm I'm still like a Reiki geek, like I love the history, love the traditional ways, so that we know where we come from, and I love going to Japan, right, like so, seeing that and really studying with Bruce Taylor of, like, very traditional methods.

Speaker 2:

I knew what I was doing was not that, and it didn't fit into the American way either. You know, the American way really felt superficial to me, and so I wanted to say yes to all of my spiritual gifts, and I want all of my students to say yes to all of their spiritual gifts and not try to confine them, right, and so when you say I'm a Reiki practitioner, it doesn't make sense to me and my students Like, like it's too limiting. It's too limiting. Am I an energy worker? Am I light worker? My star seed, am I what all of these other ones felt? So much more available because it wasn't restrictive, right, and so calling myself a shamanic Reiki practitioner or shamanic Reiki trainer made more sense to me, like, yes, reiki is the backbone, reiki is the underlying foundation of love and light. But ultimately, what I'm doing is helping you strip away everything that is not you so that you can be your authentic self. And the way we do that is through the tools of shamanism.

Speaker 2:

And so it was about a year ago. It actually was. It was like a year ago oh my gosh, that blows my mind. So a year ago I am in like I was just getting out of my second divorce, I was trying to find my feet. I was just just bought my townhouse and a co-housing community and I'm just trying to find my balance. And so I wasn't super in the flow of the Reiki cafe university. It just didn't.

Speaker 2:

I felt like I was being quiet and I was trying to find my feet as a single woman, a single mom doing doing business. And I went into a deep meditation and I was basically told everything that you know about Reiki cafe needs to go away and we're going to do a full rebrand and we want you to step more fully into your authentic self as a shamanic practitioner. And I remember coming out of that and going oh my God, isabel's going to hate this. That was my first response, because everything had to change, like the face of the company needed a full facelift. I needed a full facelift of the energy, of what I was projecting as because I felt like Reiki was was too tight, it was too I couldn't. I couldn't take up space, I couldn't move, it felt suffocating.

Speaker 2:

And so, by changing from Reiki Cafe University into Moon Rising Shamanic Institute, I feel like I can talk about anything. If I wanted to talk about star seed stuff, if I want to talk about channeling, if I want to talk about power animals, if I want to talk about my relationship with the archangels, if I want to talk about whatever weird shit happens in my life, I can now talk about it in such a much more open way under the brand of a shamanic Institute, because shamanism encapsules so much. It's not only this very earthy, nature-based orientation, but it's also very galactic and it's both. And that's what Moon Rising and Shamanic Institute was all about. Our signature on our emails is from the cosmos to the earth right, or from the earth to the cosmos right, and it's both. This is this connection to both of these realms and everything in between.

Speaker 2:

And so I really really came through going holy crap, like oh my God, this is, this is, this is big, this is big. How are we going to pull this off? And and we did, we made it happen and it it wasn't something that we could do in a month, like we. I kind of told him like could we pull this off by January 2024? And I'm like no, there's no way. And so we sat with it and we processed and we started creating content, we started moving forward, knowing that this was going to happen.

Speaker 2:

And then we ended up, isabelle and I ended up at the Northeast Reiki retreat and it just validated everything I knew about the Reiki community and going, wow, like I just want to do so much deeper work. I want, yes, reiki is a tool and I love it. Like there's nothing wrong with the Reiki practice. It's that. Are we looking at our limiting beliefs? Are we looking at our core issues? Are we looking at what our values are? Are we looking at our desired realities? And in Reiki there's not a space to do those conversations when it's just Reiki, and I feel like there's so much more If we are going to fully embody our true, authentic selves and find our true divine mission on this planet.

Speaker 2:

We got to strip it all back and Reiki is like the gardening tool that that helps get the soil ready, but you still got to go through and pull the weeds out, and that's where the shamanism comes in. We got to the Reiki is tilling the soil, but we got to go through and pull all of the weeds and then plant Right, and so I absolutely love our work, I love what we do, I love how we do it, I love showing up and we get it. We get to do the work, we get to till the soil, we get to pull the weeds, we get to plant these new ideas for a better future for ourselves and our communities, and that's the life I want to live. I don't want to just till the soil and call it good. The weeds are going to come back.

Speaker 1:

And it's. It's it's been such an amazing process because, you're right, it's been a year now since I remember we had I had just come back from Alaska and we had a zoom call and we were talking about the next round of our course that we were going to do. And I remember this moment where we both we sat back and I distinctly remember us. At the same time we were like this isn't working. We're not supposed to be Reiki Cafe anymore. We need to be a shamanic school. And it was this.

Speaker 1:

Really, I had no idea that you'd had that meditation.

Speaker 1:

I had no idea that coming into the meeting, you were already on it, because it felt like such a divinely inspired thing where, at the same time, we were both just like you know what.

Speaker 1:

You had your vision, I had mine and it was like this is what's going to change and your energy has been such a strong thread through all of it of taking us from that conversation in November to when we rebranded in July, and we have a whole podcast on what that process looked like and all of the messages we received. And so, if you're interested in learning more specifically about that process and how we did the facelift and all of the messages and channeling and everything that went into that. I'll leave the link in the show notes. But I'm really curious looking at it now, a year later from the rebrand and just in the present moment of your journey, looking back and I know this is a big question, but can you boil it down to what you feel like your biggest takeaway thus far has been and what advice you would give to someone who's listening to this and going? I want to be able to do that too. I want to be able to heal my stuff.

Speaker 2:

I think the biggest thing would be, like you have to do the scary thing. If it, if you're terrified of it, if it's scary, if it's so far out, you're out of your comfort zone, that's exactly what you're supposed to be doing and you're going to, you're going to survive it. I think there's that. There's this resistance, like okay, I can't do it, I can't do it, and then you're, then you show up and you just do it anyway. And so whether that for you, is like going Facebook live for the first time, or if this is printing out a flyer and just making yourself available, whatever it is, whatever your scary thing is, it oftentimes is actually the thing that you're supposed to do. So for me, it feels like I'm continuously up against that resistance and going I'm doing it anyway, and I'm up against resistance and I'm doing it anyway, and I'm up against resistance and I'm doing it anyway. And it's for me it always comes back to am I living in my fullest, most vibrant capacity of who I am fullest, most vibrant capacity of who I am Right? And if the answer is no, why am I resisting it? Like I, I get to have the opportunity to be all of who I am, and so, whether this is in my relationships, whether whether this is in the business, whether this is in one-on-one conversations, like it doesn't matter, like I feel, like you can feel, that resistance, and you're like I'm holding myself back, I'm holding back my fullness. And why am I doing it? What am I scared here about? Is it rejection? Is it abandonment? Is it like it's all reflecting our core wounds, right? And so when we continuously do the work, it gets easier and easier and easier, so that when I show up and be like I'm still not doing the thing that I wanted to do, why am I not doing the thing that I want to do? Oh, there's that fear of rejection. Again, it's keep showing up. Well, let's keep doing it anyway. How can I create a space that I can show up to do the thing that I want to do and watch to see how it works, right? And so I don't think it's. I don't think that's like this. Here's this one thing. It's really pay attention, because I think a lot of people aren't living the life that they want to be living because of you. You're doing it to yourself, you're stopping yourself. No one else is stopping you. You're doing it to yourself, and there it's like a virus in our programming. Right, where's the virus at? How can we deprogram and upload a new code so that we can be more fully, authentically ourselves? And this is why I love these conversations, because when I have the invitation to show up fully as who I am, I do, I love it, right, and so it's.

Speaker 2:

I don't have any um like, it's easier for me in conversations. It's easier for me to show up, sometimes online than in my own personal world. Like I recognize that If I wanted to go do a channeling at the local yoga studio I don't know if I'm ready for that, but if you guys wanted me to, I'd be like, okay, like, and part of it's like that's my comfort zone. Like online at this point is so comfortable to me. I, I feel like you put a camera in front of me and I'm like let's go.

Speaker 2:

Like here, here is my full, authentic me, and it's there's no ego in that. Like I, just I. I love it, it feels good. And so for you, the invitation is what feels authentic, what helps you say yes to you, what makes you be fully who you are and now do more of that, because guess what, now it actually would be easier for me to go down to the yoga studio and do a channeling session, because I've tried it out somewhere where it is comfortable and now I can go do it somewhere where it's not comfortable. Keep pushing those boundaries.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful, and so, as your guest today, I'm going to ask you the question I ask all our guests If someone wants to work with you and connect with you, how can they do that?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I love that question. I was like what?

Speaker 1:

are you going to ask?

Speaker 2:

So if you want to work with me, reach out. I mean contact me, whether that's email, whether that's on Facebook, messenger, instagram, whatever it is like. Just reach out. And you know I do sessions. Um, I do one-on-one sessions and my sessions aren't the same for any single person. I think this is a big thing to realize.

Speaker 2:

As a shamanic Reiki practitioner, I want to utilize whatever tools and the toolbox that you specifically need. So everything is very personalized, whether that's soul fabric work, and we're looking at where in your current reality, your past life, your future, your, your celestial lifetimes, like whatever it is, like that's not supporting you being in flow where we can look at that we can work with doing soul retrieval and intrusive entity removals. And you know like the plethora of options is vast and it's going to be personalized. So specifically to you. I love doing chakra analysis to figure out where's our starting point and then doing a mentorship program over seven sessions, because then we can really dive in deep and that's really where what I like I don't I don't typically like to do one-off sessions because I'm like great, we've just scratched the tip of the iceberg and good luck. Like it doesn't make sense to me, like our healing journeys take so much more than that, and so I really encourage if you want to work with me. I do have a couple um mentorship spots open, um for for the new year and know too that really, uh, my favorite space is in our soul rising program.

Speaker 2:

So our four month healing program, self-healing program, is going to give you the tools to do the self-healing work, to work through those limiting beliefs, those core limiting values, those childhood wounds, all of it so that while you get trained to shamanic journey, to develop relationships with your spiritual team, your clairvoyant gifts, your spiritual gifts are going to awaken so that you can be your own guru, right, and so my goal for my programs and for working with me individually is so that you don't need me anymore. That's the goal. Like I want to give you all of the things that might be really intense in the beginning, because we're going to, we're going to dive in deep, we're going to do the work. But at the end, when you ask me a question, I'm like, well, did you ask your guide about that? Like that's going to be the reflection back. Like you have all of the information, all of the witnessing within you. Are you able to access it, and sometimes we need a little handholding on that process. Sometimes we need more tools and skills, and that's what our programs and mentorship offer. And so I really encourage you, like if you're stuck, if you feel like you're in repeated patterns, if you're on that self-sabotaging behavior like whatever it may be for you, if you don't feel like your life is in alignment whether that is with health issues, whether that is with your business and career, whether that is in your personal development, spiritual development, world, like if you're stagnant, let's bring the energy in. And that's really what. Where we're we're going with this is like how can we find our flow so that life can be a journey, like we're flowing like water rather than hitting our heads on the wall? That's what it feels like sometime. And so we have that soul rising program starting in January 26.

Speaker 2:

I'm super excited and we have early, early bird happening. Right now I'm kind of being quiet about it because we haven't announced it. Why? Because I don't want to bug you during the holidays, like, if you're interested, reach out to me, we can talk about it. We have discounted pricing going on right now and then in January we'll open it up to the public. So I absolutely love this program and I get to witness our students have radical life transformations.

Speaker 2:

We have so many testimonials that we can't even put them in the emails and on the website because we have so many. So know that if you are interested, if you want our Google doc with dozens and dozens and dozens of testimonials, we're happy to send that to you. But at this point for December, please just reach out to me directly. We'll jump on a call, I can walk you through what's all included in the program and we can start the journey together, and I cannot wait for this next round. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be amazing. So know that that is happening and I'm giving little taste workshops here in Arizona and Phoenix and Tucson, and then in Houston with Isabel to give you kind of an in-person taste of what we're going to be including in Soul Rising. And so know that a lot of what we do online is happening and we're going to be bringing in January some of those workshops online as well to give you a taste of what's going to be included and presented in Soul Rising.

Speaker 2:

But we hope that you'll want to join with us to rise and rise like the Phoenix.

Speaker 2:

Rise out of the ashes. Let's burn the shit down. That doesn't serve us and like, let's make it happen, because your life can be in flow too, and it feels so freaking good when you're there and we want you to be there and when you're there, you're going to shine your light so much brighter so that you're taking care of yourself, you're taking taking that light and sharing it with the people around you, whether that's your family, whether that's your spouse, whether that's your community, your friends, and we get this beautiful ripple effect not only directly in that way, but also in our lineage that generational trauma is going to be broke so that we're not passing it down again and again and again. And so there's so much healing capacity when you say yes to you, when you say, yes, I'm willing to do the work, yes, I'm worth the time, the energy and the money and the investment it takes to do it, and you can do it too. We want to. We want to have you say yes to you and let's take that journey together, like, here we go.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful. I love it. All of those links to everything Christine mentioned and anything we've mentioned throughout the interview will be in the show notes. You can send us an email at mystics at moonrisinginstitutecom, or email Christine directly at Christine at moonrisinginstitutecom, or you can at Christine at moon rising institutecom, or you can reach out to her on messenger or reply to one of our newsletters that goes out. But until then, thank you all so much for joining with us today. Christine, thank you so much for being a guest on the show. It has been an honor to get to hear your story. It is always so inspiring and humbling and I'm so blessed to be able to call you my coworker and friend.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I love it. Well, thank you all for listening to my story. Thank you, Isabel, for asking those potent questions and coming along this journey with me. It's been an amazing ride and you are such an integral part of Moon Rising and you're amazing. I love you.

Speaker 1:

I love you too, and to all of our listeners. We love you too, and until next time, may you awaken to those whispers of wisdom rising from within. Thanks for tuning in to today's show. The Wisdom Rising podcast is sponsored by Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app and be the first to know when we release a new episode. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, youtube and TikTok at Moon Rising Institute, or visit our website, moonrisinginstitutecom to learn more about our mission and find future opportunities to connect with our community of shamanic mystics. Once again, thank you for sharing space with us today, and until next time, may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within.