Start your healing journey with a complimentary Discovery Call

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Start your healing journey with a complimentary Discovery Call

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Start your healing journey with a complimentary Discovery Call

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Surrender

Are you ready to surrender?

“Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you—all of the expectations, all of the beliefs—and becoming who you are.”
— Rachel Naomi Remen

The first time I totally surrendered, was on December 2, 2018, when I became sober. That was the beginning of my holistic journey. I started my formal trainings in 2019, first as a recovery coach and now most recently in Holy Fire® Reiki in 2025. On the way, I also became certified as a health coach, mindfulness mediation practitioner, sound meditation practitioner, and breath work facilitator.

Some of the modalities resonate with me more than others. The main focus of my business is sound healing, and mindfulness meditation, but I offer an integrative approach to wellness with alternative therapies to meet people where they are at. Unless I have benefited personally from any therapy, I do not offer it to my clients.  

Although I immersed myself in my last two trainings – a 10-day program in pranayama breath work and Holy Fire® Reiki, and learned a lot, these therapies weren’t as healing for me others–so it didn’t feel authentic to offer them to my clients. It wasn’t until this past May, when I was doing some deep personal healing work, that I totally surrendered to breath work and Reiki. I reached out to my teachers – David Elliott and Nicole Rutsch – and had private sessions with them both.   They both instructed me to continue with a 21-day follow up. After the 21 days, my transformation and healing were powerful. I had surrendered and am now ready to offer both modalities to my clients.

Dictionary Definition of Surrender: to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand, to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another, to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner, to give (oneself) over to something

Often when one thinks of surrender, it is fear of the unknown, of what is unfamiliar.

The presence of fear is often a sign that you are relying on your own strength. When we come to rely solely on our own strength and power, we limit ourselves from the opportunities or solutions that may lie beyond our field of vision or awareness. When we surrender to a strength and power of something greater than ourselves, our fear dissolves as we make room for a new host of possibilities and opportunities. We acknowledge that there may be a plan that far exceeds our own vision or understanding of our present circumstance or life. Of course, this doesn’t absolve us of responsibility or the need to take action, but it does open the door for guidance so that we can take the next right action.

By surrendering, it can help one to stop struggling, pushing and striving your way through life; you give up the negative aspect of it.

Surrendering to Alternative Therapies: Opening the Door to Healing Beyond the Conventional

In our fast-paced, results-driven world, “surrender” can sound like giving up. But in the realm of healing, surrender is often the exact opposite – it’s the conscious choice to release control, open our minds, and allow the possibility of a different kind of wellness journey.

For many, this path begins with a leap into alternative therapies – holistic and non-conventional practices such as sound healing, Reiki, herbal medicine, breathwork, or energy work. These approaches can be profoundly transformative, but they often require something conventional medicine rarely asks of us: trust in the unseen. It includes being open minded, willing, and vulnerable.  It doesn’t mean that we abandon Western treatments. These treatments can go side by side and can work together.  Many national cancer centers offer Reiki to their patients, prominent addiction centers offer sound healing.

Why Surrender Matters in Healing

Surrender isn’t passive. It’s an active decision to move beyond skepticism, fear, or the need for immediate proof, and to instead invite curiosity, presence, and receptivity.

When we cling too tightly to expectations, we can block the very shifts we’re seeking. Alternative therapies often work subtly, affecting the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are difficult to measure in the moment. By surrendering:

  • We allow our nervous system to relax and reset.
  • We open to deeper emotional release.
  • We invite intuitive and energetic shifts that support long-term healing.

The Gift on the Other Side

When you surrender to the experience, you give your body, mind, and spirit permission to explore possibilities outside the predictable. You may find:

  • A greater sense of calm
  • Pain relief or reduced tension
  • Emotional breakthroughs
  • A renewed trust in your own inner wisdom

 

Surrendering doesn’t mean losing control. It means partnering with the process — allowing space for something new, something ancient, and something uniquely yours to emerge.

Healing is not always linear, and it’s rarely one-size-fits-all. Sometimes the most profound changes happen when we stop trying to “make” healing happen and simply let it unfold. Surrender is not the end of the fight — it’s the beginning of a more harmonious relationship with yourself and your wellness journey.

A few of my favorite Practices That Invite Surrender

  • Sound Bath Meditation– Immersing in vibrations that bypass the thinking mind and reach the nervous system.
  • Reiki Energy Healing– Resting into stillness while allowing the practitioner to channel universal energy.
  • Breathwork – Letting the breath guide the release of emotional and energetic blocks.

BREATHWORK

1. Calms the Nervous System

  • What happens:Slow, rhythmic breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest-and-digest” mode).
  • Why it matters for surrender:When the body feels safe, the mind naturally stops gripping so tightly to control. This safety allows you to release the constant scanning for danger and soften into the present moment.

2. Loosens the Mind–Body Grip

  • What happens:Brings awareness to subtle physical tension and mental chatter.
  • Why it matters for surrender:By noticing and relaxing these micro-holds, you literally train your body to let go. Surrender becomes not just an idea but a felt experience.

3. Dissolves Overactive Thinking

  • What happens:Breath focus shifts attention away from looping thoughts into a rhythmic anchor.
  • Why it matters for surrender:You stop wrestling with the “story” and instead rest in sensation, which breaks the mind’s habit of controlling outcomes.

4. Expands Inner Space

  • What happens:Deeper breathing creates a sense of expansion in the chest, diaphragm, and even emotional body.
  • Why it matters for surrender:That expansion helps you hold discomfort without collapsing into fear or resistance—key for surrendering to whatever is arising.

5. Builds Trust in the Flow

  • What happens:Many pranayama patterns involve a cycle—inhale, pause, exhale, pause. Over time, you see that every inhale will be followed by an exhale, every exhale will be followed by an inhale.
  • Why it matters for surrender: This rhythmic trust in the breath translates into trusting life’s own cycles—ups and downs, beginnings and endings.

REIKI

reiki

Surrendering with Reiki is about allowing the universal life force energy to work through you rather than trying to control the healing process or force an outcome. In Reiki, surrender doesn’t mean “giving up” — it means letting go of resistance so that healing can flow in the way it’s meant to.

Here’s how you can work with surrender in Reiki:

1. Set an Intention, Then Let Go

  • At the start of your Reiki session, state your intention in a simple, clear way — e.g., “I invite healing for my highest good”or “I release all that no longer serves me.”
  • Once stated, release attachment tohow the healing will occur or what the outcome will look like.
  • Trust that Reiki, as intelligent energy, will go where it’s needed most.

2. Move from “Doing” to “Being”

  • If you’re the practitioner, shift from “I’m doing Reiki” to “I’m allowing Reiki to flow.”
  • If you’re receiving, allow yourself to simplybe — no need to visualize or mentally track the process.
  • Think of yourself as a hollow bamboo flute: the energy plays its own song through you.

3. Use Breath as a Bridge to Release Control

  • As you inhale, invite in light, warmth, and openness.
  • As you exhale, imagine any tension, fear, or expectation leaving the body.
  • This mirrors the Reiki principle“Just for today, I let go of worry” — which is an act of surrender.

4. Call on Symbols for Trust and Flow

  • Cho Ku Rei: to ground and open the channel.
  • Sei He Ki: to release emotional resistance.
  • Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen: to send surrender into all timelines — past, present, and future.

5. Trust the Unseen

  • Healing may bring sensations, emotions, or memories you weren’t expecting.
  • Instead of analyzing or judging them, acknowledge: “This too is part of my healing.”
  • Remember, Reiki is not about forcing change; it’s about creating the conditions for transformation.

6. End with Gratitude

  • When the session ends, give thanks — not just for what you feel now, but for all that’s shifting in ways you cannot yet see.
  • Gratitude naturally moves you into a state of openness and trust.

SOUND HEALING

sound healing

Surrendering in sound healing is a lot like surrendering in Reiki — but instead of channeling universal life force energy through hands, you’re allowing vibration and frequency to do the work. It’s about releasing mental control so the sounds can interact with your body, mind, and energy field in their own way.

Here’s how surrender works in sound healing and how you can practice it:

1. Shift from “Listening” to “Receiving”

  • In normal listening, the mind analyzes:Is this pretty? Do I like it? What instrument is that?
  • In surrender, you allow the sound to wash over you without mental commentary.
  • You’re not there tojudge the sound — you’re there to absorb 

2. Trust the Body’s Intelligence

  • Vibrations from crystal bowls, gongs, chimes, or drums can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, slow brainwaves, and move stuck energy.
  • Your body knows what to release — you don’t have to consciously guide it.
  • Sensations like tingling, temperature shifts, or emotional release are part of this letting-go.

3. Use Breath to Soften Resistance

  • A few slow inhales and long exhales before or during the session signal safety to the body.
  • Each exhale can be paired with a silent mantra like“I release” or “I trust”.
  • This calms the analytical mind and opens the energy field to sound.

4. Release Expectations

  • Don’t look for a specific “result” — the more you expect something (e.g., “I will feel completely peaceful”), the more you tighten around it.
  • Sound healing works on physical, emotional, and energetic levels you may not consciously feel in the moment.
  • Let go of measuring progress; instead, notice what is.

5. Invite the Sounds Inward

  • Visualize the tones as waves of light or color entering through your skin, breath, or energy field.
  • Imagine them moving to exactly where they’re needed, without you directing them.
  • This imagery deepens the sense that you’re a vessel for healing, not the orchestrator.

6. Use a Surrender Anchor

  • Choose a physical cue that reminds you to let go — maybe unclenching your jaw, relaxing your shoulders, or uncrossing your legs when you notice tension.
  • In a sound bath, you can use the striking of a bowl or gong as your signal to soften again.

 

Think of it like floating in the ocean — you don’t control the current, you just trust the water to carry you. In sound healing, the waves are made of vibration, and surrender is what keeps you buoyant.

Despite my training and belief in alternative therapies, I was skeptical about the power of the breath work and Reiki that I was trained in! When I was experiencing emotional stress and anxiety, I decided to reach out of for help from those that I trained with. I surrendered to modalities that were out of my comfort zone and trusted the process. After a deep dive, I felt relief and the healing process was on its way. The emotional pain had dissipated, and you know what? My sciatica is all but gone – further evidence of the mind-body connection in pain management. I want to emphasize that these alternative modalities can be used in conjunction with traditional western medicine. If you would like to learn more please book a complementary discovery call to learn more!