Seeds of Self-Love, Episode #3
Highly sensitive people are often empaths and vice versa. Being a highly sensitive people (HSP) or empaths impacts your life in both positive and negative ways. This is especially true if you haven’t figured out how to work with your sensitivities and natural inclinations. Its a Catch22: you can be instrumental in helping another person to heal or see life in a new way, or you can find yourself caught up in their dramas too deeply. Empaths and highly sensitive people need to regularly practice self-care and self-love, or you’re going to be burnt out.
You might not know it, but reiki for empaths is one way you can practice self-care and self-love. Self-care as an empath and/or a highly sensitive person is critical because being a highly sensitive person can be hard. It means that you need energy and self-care in order to think of others, instead of yourself all the time. Now, what is reiki? It is a holistic healing method that helps you connect to yourself.
In the interview we discuss these and more: What is it like to get reiki? How can it help you to have more self-love, less stress, and more clarity?
What did you get out of this interview that you can use to help you improve your self-love?
Who is the guest? I’m Leslie, a stress management facilitator and owner at Peace of Movement. I help people strengthen the dynamics of their inner dialogue and heal past emotional wounds so they can achieve more inner peace. I love to guide people on the path toward discovering how to help themselves feel better and have more energy. I want people to be out of pain, to find relief from anxiety, to sleep better, to feel at peace when they move. I offer one-on-one Reiki session and also teach classes for meditation, protection, manifesting as well as offer Reiki Attunements. You can get in touch with her at peaceofmovement.com and @lesliecareync ( onIG)
Get more support on your psychic journey and the unfolding of your intuition and awareness by scheduling a private reading with me. Go here and book your reading.
Also, note: I will not comment or contact you, saying that I have a special message for you. I will not say there is a special reading for you and ask if you would like to hear it. You can come to me to book a reading, if you desire. Of course, you are special and loved. Spirit always has something to say and to share with people, but I’m not going to coerce you to work with me, because I think that is unethical.
Lots of love, your psychic friend, Rachel.
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Prefer reading to watching? Here is the video transcript of the interview with Leslie Carey.
Video Transcript:
Leslie: If you wanna talk about pulling in any essential oils or crystals. There’s just such a dynamic to how we help ourselves and how we heal ourselves. Mm-hmm but I think the important thing to know is that it is possible. It’s just being open to having those experiences because in our culture it might be kind of new, but it’s not in other other places,
Rachel: Hello everyone. I am interviewing healers, creatives, people of the world. All about self love, the seeds of self love and practical self acceptance . Today I have a wonderful person of the world. Leslie, I’m very excited to have her here. She is a Reiki practitioner. A stress management facilitator, which I think all of us could use a little bit of that management and facilitation right now. I’ll let you introduce yourself, Leslie.
Leslie: Thanks Rachel. I’m Leslie Carey and my business is Peace of movement. I am a stress management facilitator. I enjoy helping other empaths and people that are highly , sensitive navigate using self-help tools and recognizing their energy from other people’s energy, meditation and Reiki.
Rachel: Mm, wow. That sounds amazing. I know, so I’m an empath and highly sensitive person, and I’ve worked with some people to learn more about it, but. It’s one of those things. When you realize that you are, that all of a sudden you’re like, Did anybody write a guidebook for me? what am I supposed to do?
Rachel: and so I’m so glad that you have, it sounds like so many tools ready to just connect with people. You understand what are some of the difficulties that happen as a highly sensitive person or empath, and how to work with those. So I love that.
Leslie: Yes, there are, there are definitely some really good books, which I’m more than happy to share, and possibly, you know, provide for you that people watching, if they’re interested, can follow up and look into, but it is a challenge to navigate.
Rachel: But when you do see some keywords, Which make you recognize? Oh my gosh. Yes. I am really sensitive to my surroundings. How do I go forward? You know, it is important that we there are tools available. It’s just using them yes. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Below, during the interview or after people can look, your website will be below and we can also put some resources.
Rachel: I know when I first realized that I was highly sensitive, my counselor gave me a book. I think it was called a highly sensitive person’s workbook, I forget the title, but I noticed Susan Orloff has a book and I’m sure there are more, but it, it seems like there are more resources even now than there were 10 years ago or five years ago.
Rachel: So yeah, you can, the word empath, people are understanding that and what it means and what it means to them. Yeah. Ever before. yeah. And tell me, so did you come to this work because you were, or are an empath and a sensitive, and these are tools you gained for yourself, or is it more as you worked with people, you realized some things helped them more than other things.
Leslie: That’s a good question. A little bit of both. Mm-hmm I feel I noticed. The better. Uh, the more I practiced meditating the more I practiced keeping myself centered and balanced, the more energy I had, the more centered I felt, the better I responded to things. But also paid attention to what my triggers were.
Leslie: And then I was a clinical massage therapist for 12 years. So I also noticed in clients the differences between when they felt out of sorts, how that presented in their body as opposed to when they didn’t. Mm. Yeah. Oh, that’s amazing. And did you start practicing Reiki along with massage? Like bring it on as a, as another offering.
Rachel: How did that work out? When did you start doing Reiki?
Rachel: I became a licensed clinical massage therapist in 2006. I actually was, uh, graduated. I was living in Chicago at the time. And Rick, you know, Reiki kind of chose me. It might sound really weird. I definitely, I was not interested in all at anything abstract mm-hmm abstract ideas and maybe a lot of us, uh, were like that.
Rachel: And a lot of people still are, but I, I feel it’s a lot less mm-hmm but. I wasn’t interested or looking to do Reiki it, but my first experiences with it were really incredible. I felt really light. I felt really balanced and centered and just expanded. So I felt a whole bunch of different feelings and I became a Reiki practitioner in 2007.
Rachel: Mm. And really it’s something I just did for myself first. I didn’t necessarily use it for other people. But I found myself using it. It, or just kind of coming out during. Massage sessions and it just gave me almost another set of listening ears, just kinda enhanced how I was helping people.
Rachel: That’s kind of how I used Reiki. Then it morphed into. Me feeling like one of the best ways I could help other people was to kind of tune into their inner dialogue and recreate something that helped me, uh, with that. Helped me sense that, and that became my main focus, cuz it just seemed like there was such a big benefit for just showing people how to help themselves feel better.
Rachel: We were all very capable and powerful. And that is why my main focus became what it. Wow. I love that. Yeah. And it makes me think, I mean, I love massage too. I mean, who doesn’t, even though I can self, you know, there’s some parts I can’t get to, but the way I’m hearing it, it sounds like if I got a Reiki session and then you share with me what, what the experience is, you.
Rachel: Kind of shine the light on some of my inner stuff going on, then I can do something about that. It sounds like it gives me something that then I’m empowered to work with it, as opposed to it’s like a one and done kind of thing. Am I understanding it? Does that sound like a good way of looking at it?
Leslie: Exactly. And I think that It is an abstract idea to think that our emotions play a physical part in our bodies or that they can manifest themselves physically. Because if we fall down, we hurt ourselves. We, you know, uh, break a bone. We, you know, get a cast. Maybe they can get physical therapy or acupuncture, what have you.
Leslie: And then our arm or a part of our body will start to heal. And we know that it, the specific accident. That we hurt ourselves, but emotions are a little bit trickier. Sometimes we don’t know why our back hurts. We don’t know why our shoulders hurts. We don’t a headache. We don’t know why we have certain constant pains.
Leslie: And it’s an opportunity just to explore the, your emotions. Wow, because we store them in specific places. And you know, what I noticed is when people were coming to me for a massage, they didn’t necessarily wanna diagnose themselves in that way, which. Is what made me feel like, but this is what I like doing.
Leslie: So I want people to come to me that know that they wanna get and find out what is going up. Why are they feeling stuck? Mm-hmm why are they feeling unbalanced? And let’s just dig a little bit and just change, uh, some of the responses we have to things that bother. Mm, so we can feel better in our body.
Leslie: So we have more energy.
Rachel: Yeah. Oh my gosh. So many good pieces. Well, one like on a personal level, I’m so proud of you for seeing. Oh, this is the part of working with people that I like the most. And instead of being like, I hope they come and wanna work on this, you’re like, no, no, no, no. I’m just gonna really like lean in and focus all on that.
Leslie: And I love that you made that choice and follow that, that intuition, or just that yearning that that was what made you the most excited? Well, th well that is part of what Reiki. Helps you do it helps you, you know, it does help clear away it, it helps. You connect more to yourself, your higher self, make it really so.
Leslie: There’s not as much hemming and hawing over decisions you should make. It just makes it a lot more comfortable to go forward with what you’re feeling, because decisions we make anyways are even if they don’t necessarily turn out. What we think they should. There’s still a, there’s still a lesson in there somewhere.
Leslie: Right. So there’s really no bad decision making. Yeah. And that’s one way how it helps. Someone like me, that will overthink things. How is this decision gonna affect 50 years from now? yeah, I mean, I love this wonder and I, I can’t do that anymore. Yeah. Just have to be right here right now. Oh yeah. And it good choices.
Leslie: And I mean, it’s frankly what got me into Hendersonville, North Carolina, mm-hmm , you know, trust me, we needed to move, you know, and. Going with that. Which is a big, it’s a big deal, but so Reiki has a way to just kind of clear out all the other junk mm. And make your own self connection really strong. Mm. Oh gosh.
Rachel: I love that so much. Yes. And I know, especially back to this empath connection, when you’re an empath, it’s really easy to. Not even realize you’re doing what everybody else wants you to do. And it might not, it might be specific people, or it might just be like, this is what society says I do next. So I do that.
Rachel: And, and if we don’t ever, or have a regular practice of connecting to our own soul and looking at it and dealing with all the other things that have come up, we might never pay attention. I like that it helps us connect to our souls more. And there was something else that you said that I thought was pretty cool.
Rachel: Well, one, I wanna kind of walk back a little bit, cause I know what you mean about it being abstract. And I think we’ve spent so much time in human history looking at certain things. So it’s like, we know how to talk about math and. Technology kind, depending on the technology and all these other systems, but we haven’t had a lot outside of the arts that really delve into things of emotions and how those impact us.
Rachel: But I just think about when you see somebody who has fallen in love, like it’s obvious that their emotions are totally transforming them, you know, or someone in grief, same thing. So it’s like, we know when, if we can think about an extreme emotion that we’ve experienced or we’ve seen other people experience, we know it affects the body.
Rachel: And so then it’s like, well, if it does, when it’s extreme, All of these other daily emotions can affect the body too. Yes. And how we respond to them is different or behaviors control lack of control. There’s so many.
Leslie: Nuances to our emotions or how we perceive them or view them or process them we’re in different stages of processing trauma.
Leslie: Yes. So I mean, that’s even more reason to be really compassionate. And patient with ourselves and also meet ourselves where we’re at. Mm-hmm , you know, like I used to think I didn’t have time to meditate because it seemed like something I had to change my lifestyle to be that type of person when actually it’s just simple and I incorporate it and.
Leslie: Slowing everything down means that I have time. Mm. Yeah. That is not feeling like I had time to just slow down. Mm. So, uh, I’m a really big fan of being gentle with yourself and just meeting yourself where you’re at and when you are having emotions come out just really to just examine them a little bit, instead of being afraid.
Leslie: Of them. Mm.
Rachel: Yes. I love that. And you know, when I first I think you’re the first person I asked more or one of the first about, tell me about Reiki, cuz I’d heard about it, but I felt like I wanted to hear more. And then that line that you just said really stuck with me and made me feel like there’s something valuable here, thinking that it meets us where we are, helps us meet ourselves, where we are.
Rachel: Just the compassion within that and the accessibility of it. And just patience of, we don’t have to be 10 steps ahead or already achieved or all the things we can just be where we are in this moment and be what we feel and, and, and, and go from there. Yes. And, you know, it’s kind of like, you know, we’re not trying to levitate here.
Leslie: yeah. You know, it’s like, let me just, get my game plan. you know, my, my day that kind sometimes it’s all it is is let me not like be angry or freak out or let me have the stamina to tolerate. Listening to baby shark. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm yes, whatever, you know, just let me, you know keep myself together and yeah, like I can participate and, and not just respond.
Leslie: Mmm. Be my thoughts and be so that I can just be present and enjoy my family or my surroundings myself. Mm-hmm not feel like I’m just having to get through the day. Yes. I love that. I appreciate. Where I’m at in life and you know, it, that’s not always easy to do, and I know I need help. And so just having different tools and being able to slow down helps me live, uh, feeling a little bit more free.
Rachel: Mm, thank you so much for sharing that because I love when it feels that. Things like you’re sharing are practical as well as spiritual because sometimes I feel, and I mean, you can disagree with me if I’m wrong here, but. I love spirituality, but sometimes, like you say, it feels like way out there and almost like a luxury and, and yet getting through the day and enjoying my family and not being annoyed to hear the same song again and again, like that is pretty much life.
Rachel: And so it’s, it’s nice to enjoy life rather than, oh, let me rush through this moment or endure this moment. And like this Fring, like pushing through kind of way. uh, and so I like that it can help bring that to us. And that seems incredibly valuable actually, and not at all a nice to have, but like a, gotta have it.
Rachel: Exactly. Yeah. And I think, you know, most of us, from what I’ve discovered, you know, we wanna do the right things. We wanna be the right parents and we wanna meet our kids and help them thrive. And if we don’t. Set that example for them, you know, if we’re responding or overreacting to maybe little things I feel it’s also setting an example, so.
Rachel: Just showing them how we breathe through being annoyed , which is definitely something my kids can mirror. people like take a deep breath, do it so much, especially. But I’ll also communicate with them too. Like I’ve got so much going on in my head right now. I can’t answer your questions. Can you wait a few minutes?
Leslie: For mom to give you my attention, you know, and just communicate and talk with them. And I feel like having a better sense of what’s going on in my own mind and my own body. Helps me helps me, but then I’m, I’m sharing that with my family or mm-hmm you know, I don’t feel good or my back hurts, so I’m in pain, so I don’t feel like.
Leslie: Joking around or, you know, just being a little bit more transparent also.
Rachel: Mm. Yes. Oh my God. And I used to have, I didn’t used to have that awareness for myself or being stressed out when I was gonna go to the grocery store or the airport or on a road trip. So being able to communicate, Hey, I’m probably going to be a little bit more rigid.
Leslie: So just understand that mm-hmm so that they’re so that they also don’t feed off of that energy so that they know like, Hey, if I say this or that, I, I need you to listen to what I say. Hmm. Yes. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And that self awareness is such nice modeling for them too. Cuz then like you say, they don’t start making a story in their head.
Rachel: I mean, depending on what age they are, that might be happening anyway, but you you’re empowering them to see you going through this process and oh gosh, that just sounds amazing. Do you find that since you. Either you as a Reiki practitioner or the people that you work on, like the more that you either do it yourself as a practitioner or when people come and get the sessions, like the ripple effects kind of go out from there.
Rachel: Absolutely. Yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely. But that a doubt. Yeah, definitely. mm-hmm . And what about so let’s say, I know you focus on empath insensitive, but if somebody doesn’t know if they are sensitive or they think that they’re not, do you think they would still notice something from a rapey session that they got, or would it just feel like.
Leslie: A relaxing nap. doesn’t like a relaxing app. Yeah. I didn’t know. I was a sensitive person really until I had a Reiki session. Oh, wow. But I would say Reiki helps you feel relaxed because it’s freeing up blocked energy. Mm. So it’s allowing energy to flow. It’s Your own energy being refreshed. So it’s nothing that is coming from me.
Leslie: It’s your own energy system. And for most people it feels relaxing because they feel lighter. Mm. That sounds lovely. An opportunity to just Be in a state of feeling good. So there’s not necessarily like large aha moments. You know, people are constantly experiencing because there doesn’t necessarily have to be anything large.
Leslie: Sometimes it is just. Feeling lighter. That is what feels good. And then it lasts for about 72 hours. Mm-hmm so not even all the healing is done on the table, but and, and that can look like a lot of different weight, a lot of different things for different people or different sessions. Sometimes we difficult memories.
Leslie: Can surface to look at so we can acknowledge them and release them. Or sometimes you just get a surge of love. And so everyone has different experiences, so it’s hard to kind of say. What someone may or may not. Yeah, if that makes sense, but yeah. For the most part it can just be a relaxing time just to,
Leslie: yeah. Just to be moment mm-hmm .
Rachel: And do you notice, uh, so as a practitioner, when you’re working with somebody. What is that experience like? Cause okay. I’m picturing when you’re working with massage, like here’s a tense muscle. I gotta work. Not that you do it like I’m doing with my hands, but you know, the things. I’ve seen what it looks like when Reiki happens, but what does it feel like as a practitioner?
Rachel: Is it like that, but without muscles and skin and all that, you’re kind of feeling. Like the emotional body. I don’t know if that’s the term that’s used and I know this is abstract, so feel free to use whatever metaphors you feel relevant. You know? My husband put it really well. He said, you know, I think you’re good at.
Leslie: Deciphering what you’re sensing. Mm. And I’ll say we all have different gifts. Mm. So every practitioner I feel has something valid and authentic that they sense. So that’s why it’s also nice to see different regular practitioners too, because you’ll get something different. And everyone has a little different flavor.
Leslie: To them in a different way that they interpret what they feel too. So those things are also really exciting. And they’re wonderful opportunities. Yeah, I mean, to put it. I guess simply I am, I mean, I, I am just deciphering what I’m sensing, what I’m feeling, because it’s just something that has taken a lot of time.
Leslie: But I, I just feel or sense mm-hmm, what I need to share with someone. And. It usually does have to do with our emotions, but not everyone works that way. Mm. So depending on who you go to see, you could get something, a little different. There’s some Reiki practitioners that really hone in on herbs colors, or just all sorts of different.
Leslie: Parts of our being. So I don’t know if that answers it for you. Yes. And I love it too, cuz I’ve been thinking lately I wanna see a practitioner near me cuz I was thinking, okay, I’ve seen how you do it. I want to see someone else. And I love that you said that because it really, you know, from the recipient’s point of view, it makes me think about.
Rachel: Each person that I could see might illuminate a different part of the experience for me, I might discover, oh, I really like working with a person who works with color. I mean, I’m really into color. So now I’m like, I, I wanna go find somebody who does that. And then I know some, a woman who she does it.
Rachel: Sound or, well, I don’t know if sound is in the sessions, but she also does sound. And so I’m assuming sound is maybe somehow I’m a big fan of sound. Yeah. I’m a big fan of sound. Yes. Yeah. And so I love, you know, it goes back to the, it meets you where you are. It makes me think each practitioner has their own wonderful gifts and each person is like this wonderful.
Rachel: You know, dance, then slow motion dance. where you get to receive. And then when you go with your next Reiki dance partner, it’s a different type of dance. But it’s all helping you feel this relaxed state, which, I mean any one of us, I, I know if I have to make a decision. Calm clear, relaxed. Rachel makes mu makes the best decisions so, yes.
Rachel: And then I, I love to that. It seems like it can maybe make your relationships better. Like people probably feel a little bit more love and peace and calmness or this lightness. Sounds amazing.
Leslie: Yeah. I mean, if anyone wanted to talk further about like our chakra system, how we I mean, I can talk about that all the time.
Leslie: Even if you, then if you wanna talk about pulling in any essential oils or crystals. I mean, , there’s. Just such a dynamic to how we help ourselves and how we heal ourselves. Mm-hmm but I think the important thing to know is that it is possible. It’s just being open to having those experiences because in our culture it might be kind of new, but it’s not in other.
Leslie: You know, other places, so right. There are systems, there are charts of where we store things and the reason, so we have, we do have tools to combat Kind of being in our head space too much.
Rachel: Mm-hmm yes. And that it is very easy these days to be in our head space a lot, but exactly. There’s another part going on.
Rachel: the rest of our, body’s like, don’t forget about me. so it’s so nice to connect back in there and yeah. Feel his emotions and all of that. And I love that you shared, you know, in a moment, I’ll let you share your contact phone stuff, but. That it’s not just Reiki with you. Either people can come in and there’s, there’s other elements that you’re bringing in, or that if the people are interested, that that can enhance the experience and it makes it a little bit more.
Rachel: Layered and, and have a, more of a richness to it. So, yes. And can you briefly tell, uh, me about distance Reiki? Because I know some people, you know, this is gonna go online. Some people might wanna connect with you who don’t live nearby, or even if they do with COVID times, they might not wanna be in a room with you on a table.
Leslie: basically all I’ve been doing is distant Reiki. Mm. Okay. So my client sends me an image of themselves about 15 minutes before the session Uhhuh. still 45 to 60 minutes long, but so I basically send the energy to the real time photo mm-hmm while the. Sitting or resting with music and and I have had, you know, first time Reiki clients or people that, you know, get it often.
Leslie: And it’s still you, you’re still having the same experience energetically mm-hmm , it’s nice to, you know, leave your home to go. Mm-hmm be in a. Studio that supports, you know, relaxation. Right. But you can also go to a park and lean against a tree if you want. There’s a lot of, I think, alternatives, if you’re trying to like, get out of your house.
Leslie: And yeah, for about 45, 60 minutes. You just will still receive the Reiki treatment. And then I call you my clients when this session is over and share then any messages I’ve received or any information that I’d have to share. Mm, that’s beautiful. And you know, yeah. I love how you shared.
Rachel: If you wanna get away, you know, here are the ways you can do it. And I know also some people are like, I don’t have to leave my house. This is great. And it might invite them to add more to their home that makes it, have that experience. Every time I’ve gone. I mean, gosh, your environment that you have set up is lovely, or if I’ve gone to a spa or a massage therapist, I always think, oh, I need to get more stuff outta my house.
Rachel: Have more candles, flowers, crystals, incense, whatever. And light candles. Yes. And so it might be an invitation if you are receiving it at home to say, how can I make my home feel this nurturing space today? my gosh, crystals. I know like I have crystals just absolutely every everywhere. Yeah. , it’s always been like a hands reach because I.
Leslie: Just, I love them. mm-hmm but we, the senses are important. Like what we smell mm-hmm having visuals just as well as things to comfort us, to help us relax and calm down are also reminders. Mm. You know, we see things oh, this means. It’s gonna project harmony in my family. Mm-hmm we don’t have to buy into that.
Leslie: You can buy into, you know, what me just thinking that is putting that in my mind. Mm-hmm and again, that ripple effect, then you are still wanting that it’s in the, the front of your mind that you’re having certain things to help you relax, or you’re having certain things to remind you Of whatever it is that you need, you know, and I say light the candles because I had a client who was in her seventies and she was just starting to kind of take care of herself.
Leslie: And she was getting massages and she says, light the candles. I have all these candles. I never burn them. She said, so light, you know, light your candles.
Rachel: Oh, I love that. Yeah. And you know what you were just saying, and earlier it made me think, I almost feel like Reiki is doing this, like decluttering of our inner space.
Rachel: You know, you said releasing the blocked energy and all that it, when you light the candle, it’s like, okay, we’re bringing in to our external space, all of these things.
Rachel: Tell us, in whoever’s watching how we can reach you. I’ll put all the info in the description box, but just, uh, remind them your name and where you can be reached and all that.
Leslie: Okay. So I have a website Peace of movement.com or Peace of movement, email.com with any questions.
Leslie: Excellent.
Rachel: Well, thank you so much, Leslie.
