Chelsea Harris

01

Tell us about yourself as a person and as a healing professional.

As a person, I have been told I am caring, empathetic, and people tend to feel good after they spend time with me. I like to lift people up and help them put things in perspective. From a professional standpoint, I try to give people a judgement-free zone where they can take off their masks and share whatever they are going through. This might be anxiety, relationship issues, spiritual awakening symptoms, or even strange experiences that are outside of the norm. In my own life, I've been in the place of needing that guidance and not really knowing where to turn.

02

What is Integrated Healing?

It's a combination of energy work, massage, and working with pressure points. When people are in a heightened state, sometimes the energy work won't be an impactful, so I often like to work with the body and help decompress the nervous system so that the energy work can actually be received. Within each session I move between the different modalities, depending on what the client needs in the moment.

03

What drew you to this work?

I feel like I was somewhat born into it. My auntie was a Reiki practitioner, and I took my first Reiki training course at 15 years old. I remember being even younger than that at a sleepover in grade five where one of the girls had hiccups and I asked if I could help through energy work, and her hiccups went away! As I got older, I started as a volunteer, working with an Elder in a First Nations community while my 9 to 5 job was being a pharmacy tech. As my own anxiety escalated, I knew I needed to change something in my life, and the thing that felt right to me was helping others through these healing modalities. Since that turning point, I have started slowly building it into a full time practice.

04

What is the hardest thing about specializing in integrated healing?

The hardest thing for me is balance. You want to be able to give and hold space and it's easy to give give give all the time and then you end up depleting yourself. I know I must look after myself - I can't bypass my own health and wellness, and this has been an eye-opening lesson for me.

05

What do you love most about your job?

I love connecting with people in a real way. I don't love small talk and having to be super-composed. In this work, I meet someone new and within twenty minutes we are having the deep conversations. Integrated healing allows me to cut right to the chase and connect with people in an authentic way.

06

What is the one thing about energy and body work that most people don't know?

Most people don't know that the body naturally wants to heal. What I do is simply give in a little nudge to start the momentum. It's so easy to get caught up in stagnation, and I'm just a facilitator - you are fully in charge of the process. Also, energy work doesn't need to feel “woo woo”!

07

What would you say to someone who is unsure about trying integrated healing?

I would say, "Just try it." This work cannot push you anywhere that you're not ready for. I would also say, "If you are drawn to this work, some part of you is calling for this on a spiritual level - trust that. This is as gentle (and profound) as it gets."