This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 35 Reiki Energy Healing, Chakra Balancing, Power Of The Crystal With Athena Bahri, Part 1.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Amy: 0:28

Welcome to Nirvana sisters. We are so excited to chat with Athena Bahri today and also Katie and I are live in studio together, which is a first since we started so it's really exciting to be together. I'm visiting Katie and her family for the weekend. So Athena Bahri is the founder and creator of crystal Reiki healer one of the fastest growing online presences for Crystal and chakra education and Crystal Reiki healing. Hailing from a Hollywood dynasty, the niece of Rita Hayworth and cousin of Ginger Rogers and Donna Reed amazing. Athena had a career as a successful actress as Athena casino before leaving her life of glamour and paparazzi to create a life of peace and energy healing. Today, she is a certified Reiki master crystal Reiki master and chakra healer, leading retreats, clinics and workshops. And where are you leading workshops Athena, because we need to join and have a little Nirvana sisters retreat there.

Athena: 1:25

Oh, I would love for you to do that. That would be so much fun. Well, during the pandemic, we've been doing mostly everything with Zoom. Everybody else right. And then I have a beautiful crystal studio close by called Rock paradise. They're going to be opening I'm so excited in January. And I'm not sure when this is going to air but in January, they're going to be opening their event center basically and over there between classes and courses. And there's so lovely, like they're just some of the most genuine people have a gorgeous crystal shop and they hosted my book signing and release, which was super exciting. And they're like, please come teach you. I'm like, Okay, sure. Yeah, we could do that. So, you know, it's, it's going from like in person to zoom and now back to in person slowly as the world kind of begins to reemerge. And yeah, if you guys were ever on this side of town, I would love for you guys to come.

Katie: 2:23

Okay. All right. Well, why don't we kick it off with our nirvana of the week? I'm excited to hear both of yours. So Amy, why don't why don't you go first, I want to hear yours.

Amy: 2:33

I would say it's visiting you in West score. So as our audience knows that they've been following keeping up with Katie she said a journey to move to Connecticut and she's been in and out of suitcases. So it's just nice to see Katie and her family finally settled in a beautiful home. I'm we're looking right now at these gorgeous autumn trees. And it's just I'm really happy for them. They're getting settled into their new beautiful home and new environment. So it's just nice to see you guys happy and settled. So that's my Nirvana and love. What about you, Katie? Well,

Katie: 3:04

my nirvana is also you coming here. But in addition to that last night, when Amy got here, my eight year old made her a welcome kit. And it was the cutest thing. It was a bag it had it said welcome to Connecticut. There was a welcome stuffed animal dog. There was toiletries. There was like a notepad and pen and paper the whole nine.

Amy: 3:26

Yes, it cosmetics lipstick. Yeah, it was it was through hospitality. It was super cute. Yeah.

Katie: 3:33

What about you Athena? What

Athena: 3:34

was your Nirvana leave my Nirvana this week. It's been an it's been a very interesting week. So my Nirvana out of it. You know, there's always a silver lining, we had a passing in the family. So this silver lining and all of this is that we have had, all of the family really come together and celebrate the life and the love that we all have for each other. And it's been so important for my kids, especially because they're seeing relatives that they haven't for, you know, ever in their lifetime. They're visiting from Iran. And just to see the whole family together like this, even though we've had, you know, this moment of tragedy, we've also turned this into this gorgeous silver lining of love and of unity. So that was my nirvana for this week.

Katie: 4:27

Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing and we're sorry for your loss. But I can see bringing the family together how how healing that

Athena: 4:33

cooperative miracle thing, you know, it's the cycle of life, you know, everything. You know, you have like when when a new baby is born, it's this big disruption and, but suddenly the family is all together. And it's the same thing with a passing and even though it's, you know, there's hard moments to that. The silver lining in that is you're bringing everybody together and you're celebrating love and you're celebrating the life of that person that was such a big part of your life. So that's really one of the special things if the cycle of life

Katie: 5:02

asks you to fly, wow, okay, well, I want to get started because I feel like we have a seminar to cover your book is phenomenal. It's such a really beautiful kind of how to guide to do everything that we're gonna dive into. And personally, I've always been really interested in Reiki, but I know I don't know much about it. Yeah, I know, I know nothing about it. I really don't even know how it works or anything. So how long have you been teaching and practicing Reiki? Let's start there.

Athena: 5:35

Okay, so practicing Reiki, we're going on, I guess for like five years now, which is like woof, that was fast. And then teaching about a year and a half now, I really felt like I needed to, you know, really settle into the knowledge and really become familiar with how it works and the practice and channeling that energy before I felt comfortable sharing that and teaching that some people dive into the teaching right away. And that's, you know, great for them. But for me, I felt like the more I knew, and the more I worked with this energy, the better teacher it would be. So and then, of course, I kept studying, I got my first Reiki master, and I felt like, oh my god, this is so amazing. I need more, I need more. And so then I studied with another master. And then I studied with another master. And it was after this last one learning the Japanese lineage that I really kind of came into my own as a Reiki Master and I have been teaching and working with others since and it's it's been such a joy. So

Katie: 6:41

when you say teaching, are you teaching other people how to become Reiki Masters? Are you teaching people to do Reiki on themselves?

Athena: 6:51

Well, if that depends on what level that the person wants to learn, so what's interesting with the book is and it was really important for me, because Reiki is a gift that should be enjoyed by all you know, and in, in the Reiki circles, there's a lot of secrecy around it, there's a lot of like, you know, this kind of raised raised noses about, you know, how we shouldn't share and you have to, you know, really go through the process of learning before you can enjoy this energy. And I just kind of disagree with that ideology. As we learn in Reiki all the way through, it's that it is everywhere, and everybody has the opportunity and the ability to channel this now how, how open your channel is really, you know, becomes apparent as you study. But you know, for level one, that's a gift for everybody. So in the book I have, it's, it's called a self attunement, but it's really, it's really me, I made sure the publisher, both for the audio and the print, gave me the final cuts before it went to print. So that I could do my Reiki blessing, my attunement, on that on those pages on those words, to really make it an authentic and valid attunement for people and just to allow them to be open. And so my publisher was really accommodating in that way, she was lovely, and like, made sure like, oh, we gotta get her this before we send it out and gave me the time to work with it. And so in Reiki level one, this, which is really your introduction to Reiki, and being able to channel for yourself, for your immediate friends, family, loved ones, even your pads, you don't learn so much about the pets and level one, but you definitely learn how to channel this energy and just tune in is really what it is you're tuning into it. And then if you decide, you know, you really love this, and this is, you know, this is for you, you feel called to it, you can then go ahead and continue and actually study it, you know, as a practice, but for just our general population just for you know, our moms or sisters or brothers, you can have access to this beautiful healing energy and really take your power back in healing yourself, because that's what I did. And it's just been such a gift and a blessing on my own life. I feel like it's something that deserves to be shared. So then, you know, if you want to go on and really get into it and be a practitioner, then you would definitely need a Reiki Master to help you and guide you and, and that's where I can help with that. Or you can find someone you know, that you really resonate with, because that's going to be important.

Amy: 9:40

Just stepping back for a second for someone who doesn't know what Reiki is at all. Can you kind of give us a overview of what it is what it means. What if it works? Yeah, it does. Yes,

Athena: 9:52

what works. So Reiki is an energy healing modality. And it is Reiki stands for or means translates universal life force energy is also, you know, it's like the highest vibration of love, right? You are channeling this beautiful just think of it as love. So when someone is working with this and they're not familiar with the energy Well, when you think of love, you are raising your, you know your vibration to this, which is essentially Reiki. So for example, you know, let's say you have a little one, and he or she falls and scrapes their knee, the immediate response initially is to put your hands over the auchi, and then you know, mom or dad or whoever the caretaker will is will come over and and also do the same thing. There'll be touch involved. And sometimes you know, it'll be like my, you know, kissing the booboo on the head or on the knee. And you know, for that child, suddenly, it feels better. Well, why does it feel better? Is it just a comfort thing? Well, you know, as we believe in the energy healing community, you are channeling that divine energy and that love to the source of where the hurt was where the pain was. And it works like this in in everything in life in our emotional pain or physical pain or mental pain, heartaches. You know, everything you can think and I guess you could envision like channeling as in, kind of like calling, calling in this divine healing light. Now, depending on your faith, Reiki has no affiliation with any kind of faith. So it's really personal to the person, you know, depending on your faith, let's say you know, it's in God, it's in universe source, spirit, plants, whatever, people are really drawn to just think of your channeling that love and that energy from your higher source to your your place of pain. And by doing that, you're really like loving on that, on that area that needs healing. So that's kind of the best way would know how to how to describe what we're doing when we channel Reiki energy. So just think of like,

Amy: 12:07

someone comes to see you, they would typically come because they're trying to overcome something or they have something they want to release, and then you would help them to do that using Reiki healing does that,

Athena: 12:19

once it's like that, sometimes it's a matter of releasing, you know, I'll have a lot of clients that come that have, you know, childhood traumas, and we work through those traumas and help them to release that emotional attachment to the trauma, obviously, I can't go back and erase it for them, I can't take it back, it's already done. But you can go back and remove the emotional attachment to that pain. So then the person can go move forward and, and heal and, and I'm, I'm not necessarily the healer, I guess I'm the I'm the channel, I'm the conduit, I'm, I bring in that energy for them. And then it's up to the person to really open and receive this so that they can heal. So I'm just kind of setting the stage, it's kind of like when you have a car when you you know, you have to keep it clean, you have to give it some Neosporin you know, a band aid, but your body is what does the actual healing, not the band aid, not the Neosporin that's just right, setting the stage. So it's much the same with Reiki but I'll also have people that come that have, you know, chronic headaches or anxiety is a big one, especially during the pandemic, I saw a lot of people for anxiety it was it was incredible what kind of surge we had an anxiety and depression and doing you know, performing Reiki for them and they did a lot of distance work during this time. It really helped them just calm, you know, take a pause and calm on, you know, that stress and those nerves and so that they can continue with their life and be productive and enjoy their relationships. When we're struggling with these kinds of emotional and mental issues really does affect everything in our life, you know, our careers, our families, our relationships. So being able to give them that kind of sense of peace really helped them to be able to move forward and, and have some clarity and their purpose and balanced chakras is always you know, a plus, right? Because when everything is flowing within your energetic body, you know, everything in your outside world works better to you're like manifesting that balance into your physical world. So that kind of makes sense.

Katie: 14:33

Absolutely. And and you just mentioned chakras, when you are performing Reiki is it it always involves balancing one of the seven chakras or multiple chakras. Is that always part of the practice?

Athena: 14:46

It's always part of my practice. Yes, when I work with someone, you're really able to tune in to their energy and when you when you do this, they call it bias and scanning but it's basically you know, holding your hand and above them, and you can just feel where there's something out of alignment where there's some kind of, you know, you can call it a blockage, you can call it an imbalance, it's, it's all kind of the same thing or just, you know, an area where energy is not flowing. And you'll also feel worse in areas pulling more energy, like, yes, please, you know, like that kind of that kind of sensation, I guess. And, you know, so I'll definitely work on the chakras. And sometimes it's more than one most often, it's more than one just because, you know, they all work together, they're all you know, like this, if you just imagine like a Trinity saying, like an eight, if you have any dip in any area there, you you know, the whole thing doesn't flow. So usually you'll have a couple that are an applies to whatever's going on in their life, they're often the clients are surprised, like, wow, that's, you know, yeah, exactly. Like, I'm not able to speak from a place of love, because I'm actually hurting hearing my heart center. So what's coming out doesn't, it's not what I mean to say it's just coming from a place of pain. So working with those two chakras, just, for example, really opens that flow and helps them one to heal and to, to be able to share their own truth and from a place of love with those around them. So it's, it's interesting, and then a lot of the time to will, for example, you'll have a blockage down it, so your root or your sacral chakra, and this is also a place that they're having a lot of pain. So working on that area, you're, you're working on that pain, but you're also working on, you know, opening that flow of energy, you know, it's almost like a protection mechanism from the body, like when you have pain, it kind of shuts down, you know, your muscles get tight, everything kind of shuts down and pulls in, and it works the same energetically. So we want to we want to open that and allow allow energy to flow and allow the person you know, the best stage that we can give them so they can heal. Okay,

Katie: 17:01

this is this whole thing really blows my mind. And I just want to say this really quickly, I pulled up your book, which by the way, we should say the name of your book, raise your vibes energy, self healing for everyone. It's a beautiful book. So when I went into the chakras, the seven chakras crown third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral, and root. And then in the book you explain which chakra is responsible for, for what areas and what you're going to feel when they're off and what you're going to feel when they're working well, et cetera. Some of this blew my mind. I mean, really helpful. I honestly. So the adrenal cortex, the route and the route is like your lower back, right, like down and down in your

Athena: 17:48

one word? Yeah, maybe. So yeah,

Katie: 17:51

I have adrenal insufficiency. So my adrenal cortex is a hot mess all the time. And I always have problems there. I'm always like, very, very tight and very sore. Anytime anyone like massages my lower back in that area, it actually hurts, it doesn't feel good. So that really kind of threw me. And then you know, I have thyroid problems. So it says like expressions with creativity and communication are unable to speak your truth or creative block. I get that all the time. And it drives me insane. So this really it's like it's so spot on, it really kind of, it just blew my mind. So

Amy: 18:26

and what we're looking at in the book, for our listeners, it's a chart that basically lists out all the chakras, and then it has, what it is how you should feel the emotional energy signs of imbalance. And so it's a really like simple kind of breakdown breakdown of what it is and what it means. So you can really go through it and determine if you're, you know, have a blockage anywhere. So in terms of how you're healing people, and this is just because I've never done it before, and probably our listeners are new to Reiki as well. If let's say, you know, Katie's having imbalance in her route or her lower back area. What do you actually do? Is it crystals isn't meditation like what's the process,

Athena: 19:05

I'm a crystal Reiki master. Well, I have a Reiki Master but then I love crystal Reiki. So using crystals as healing modalities and tools to add to my practice, I find really helpful for example, because let's say you know, you're you're having an issue with creative block, right? And you want to deal with this right now. But when you're going in for your Reiki session, Reiki is being pulled to your root chakra where you're having, you know, your adrenal issues, right. So you you want it over here, and Reiki intuitively is like Oh, but we need to work on on over here. So what's really nice about and you know, when you enter crystals, is you're able to kind of focus and direct energy to where the person really wants that place that focus where they feel like they want it and it's important, while Reiki also will be channeling to where you know for your highest good where you really need it. So when you're working with the chakras, you know, you always want to start at the bottom and work your way up, right. So when you start, you have that really strong root chakra, it's much easier to, you know, kind of go up the ladder there, to keep everything balanced and everything whole. So think of yourself as like, you know, you're like a balloon, right? And his everybody wants to work on like, third eye, for example, you know, he's like, I want to be open and intuitive, and psychic, and all this stuff. And it's like, okay, that's all great. But you're this balloon. And if you're working on that third eye alone, your balloon is just like floating up in the sky with no anchor, right, you're just, you're just kind of all over the place. But when you when you work on your root chakra, and you have that strong, steady base, you know, you're kind of free to fly and free to explore. And so that's really important. And a practice when you're working on a person is to give them that strong base, and then work on the other chakras to make sure everything is open and balanced, but they stay grounded. At the same time, you know, all of these, these issues that we have that come up really manifest from where we're out of alignment energetically. So it's kind of like, hopefully, you could think of it with manifesting when you're manifesting. And you're thinking, you know, I want that house in Connecticut. But then at the back of your mind, you're like, but I can't, I can't get it because I you know, my jobs in Maryland, or, you know, I can't quite afford that mortgage, and you start giving yourself all these reasons that you can't You're it's like you just sabotaged your own dream, you just told yourself, I want this. And that's it. No, I can't have it. So you know, when you're working with Reiki, it's really nice. You can also channel that energy to, you know, what you're manifesting in your dreams and what you want for your life so that you're, you're also unblocking your own, you know, self sabotage. And that's really helpful for clients that come in to I mean, everybody's different. So whatever everybody's, you know, their focuses, crystal energy works really well for their specific focus. But then Reiki will also help them where you know, they need it most for their highest good. So it's, I really find that it's a beautiful union. And crystals are from the earth, right, so it's this beautiful grounding energy as well. While Reiki is universal. So you have that gorgeous spirit source universal energy. So it's kind of like you give them that strong base, and they're safe to fly. Does that, that kind of, yeah, make sense of it for that. For those that don't know how Reiki works? That's kind of that's kind of how it works. It's really, it's really a beautiful thing. It changed my life in the most amazing ways. I mean, look, I'm here talking to you guys now. I mean, it's so it's, it's I've met so many wonderful people and, you know, wrote a book and healed myself to it.

Amy: 22:54

I think you said five years ago or so?

Athena: 22:57

Yes. Yeah. Well, I had well, now it's how many years were 21 years ago? Oh, gosh, him? He just getting away with me? Yeah, over 20 years ago, I had a really crazy car accident where I rolled over four times in a convertible on the freeway, just Oh, my basketball for those that don't have freeways yet landed upside down on the, you know, next to a mountain. And it was it was one of those, you know, Pivotal, life changing moments that I didn't realize at the time was so life changing. And I walked away didn't have you know, even a scratch. Every glass was shattered in my car. But when I got out and thought, yeah, no, it was It was wild. And the person who hit me didn't even stop like didn't even Yeah, don't even have no idea who that was. What happened. All I knew is it was a white car. So these beautiful women though these four four women and I think they were sisters to actually had pulled over and helped me and like got me managed to get me out of this crazy car and, you know, talked through to the paramedics and police because there they couldn't understand, you know, what's this girl doing? alone at night on the side of the road upside down? Like how does that even happen? You know, are you drinking like look, I'm like, No, well, like no, I he hit me. What do you mean like look at my car and they were amazing. They saw it they helped me through and even though you know they will they thought I broke my neck. So thank God I didn't apparently remember as a common injury. So I went through all the MRIs and all the testing, but they never checked my lower back. And so you know, within, you know, a year even I suddenly had like, I had episodes where I couldn't walk. And we found out of course, I had been married my husband who's a chiropractor, which, you know, know that divine timing. I was like, well, you marry him. It's like okay, so Oh, you know, he worked on me this poor guy, he worked with me for 16 years trying to help me manage my pain. And I take in all of it everything in western medicine I've tried, and you know, from pain pills to therapies to, you know, and then finally, and then surgery, I had a fusion surgery, my L five s one. And, you know, none of these things were were helping me was working. I mean, I really, and I had had three kids, meanwhile, which every pregnancy also put, you know, additional stress. And it got to a point where I was like, I can't I can't do this anymore. I don't want to live like this. And I, I'm always on edge, I'm irritated. I'm in pain, like, this is not the way I want to live. I've tried everything, like there has to be another way. There's just there has to be another way you can't tell me this is the end of the line, and I'm going to be on pain medication for the rest of my life. Like I am not going to accept that. And so when I went in for my fusion surgery, and by then I had started taking, you know, Reiki classes and started learning and I got my first master's at this point, which I really felt helped direct me to the correct surgeon. Because that was a whole nother story that we don't have time for Shambo kazoos. Oh, that was nice. That just the process of finding someone. And in the when I was in the hospital, in an incredible, incredible amount of of pain, like my jaw was rattling my, you know, I couldn't breathe sobbing, you know, very dramatic, you know, situation and my husband leans over me and this and that we're on like, day five post off and I should have been out of there day one. So we don't know what happened there. But my husband leans over me and he's like, a theme that you're a Reiki Master, for God's sakes do Reiki on yourself, like in the desperate plea and it was this like moment of like, didn't you know, like this, like, the lights went on. And I was like, I can do that. I can do that. Like, oh my god, okay, you know, when I started doing, you know, my hand motions and channeling energy to myself and 3045 seconds into this, my jaw stopped rattling my breath came back to me. Suddenly, I could see in the room, there were actually all these people there at that I didn't even know were there. And it was just this really incredible moment of validation from my work, but also just, wow, I can really do this. And you know, usually Reiki is done in this nice, quiet, serene, you know, you're on a massage table. And those lights, you know, are like, you know, music and crystals and maybe some incense. And it's so nice, like a spiritual massage, right? It's this beautiful spiritual massage you're receiving. This was not that kind of environment. This was like hospital traumatic pain meds, the whole works. And I was a disaster. So that I was able to channel this in such an intense moment in my life, and really receive that calm and that clarity. And that, you know, just a release of this pain from my physical body was really such an incredible moment where it was like, Oh, my God, this is not just something that's like fun, and I love it. Like, this really, really works. Like this is something that really works. People need to know, I need to share this, like, how do I do that? What's the best way to start sharing with people? How do I do this? And it was from there, you know, everything kind of, you know, took took a life of its own, it grew incredibly, it was like, wow, okay, yeah, so I'm right, like people need to know, and they were really drawn to it, it was really cool. And, and, and now we have raise your vibes that's out in the world, and, you know, hopefully serving its purpose in helping others and, you know, learn about themselves and learn how to take their power back, because I've tried everything in western medicine. And I'm not saying that Western medicine is bad, and we should disregard it. Absolutely not. Like I would never say that, because I've used so much of it myself, and my husband's chiropractor. So you know, that would be kind of counterintuitive, but they work really well together. It's almost like Reiki and crystal energy comes in and fills in the gaps where Western medicine, you know, lacks, they're really great at treating symptoms. But then Reiki can come in and get to the source. And so between the two it's just a really beautiful union between them and and I hope that's expressed and clear in the book, raise your vibes to because I definitely have used all of it. And the whole point of this book was to empower people to you know, take your power back your power. Gorgeous, incredible vessel, you're you're this body of how many millions and millions of tiny little pieces and cells and energy. And, you know, if you can work those together in harmony, you, you know, you can get to the root source of where you're having pain. That is because that pain is manifesting into your life into your physical life into your, you know, your, you know, your daily life, but also into your physical body. So by working on that source, and getting to the root of issues with something so gentle, as Reiki, you really have this, you know, a way of empowering yourself to heal. So you can be your own band aid, be your own Neosporin, you know, and help yourself to heal. So that's, that's kind of takes away from teaching. But that's okay, that wasn't the point.

Amy: 30:54

Beautiful. I mean, I've so many things to say. But I will say, it's like, that story is incredible. So thank you for sharing it with us. A couple of things I found interesting is that well, first of all, that take back your power just like resonated with me. Because I think a lot of times when you have an ailment, you kind of surrender to it, and it overtakes you. But if you kind of switch your mindset and take it back, then it allows you to bring in other things. So thank you for sharing that with us. But in terms of your story, it's incredible. And I also think it's really interesting that you were attracted to Reiki somehow before the surgery because it almost like somehow the universe told you you need to like look into this Reiki because when you have this surgery, you're going to be in pain, and you're going to need a way to relieve yourself. So it's just so interesting to me how that happened. Yeah, before and then it was sort of your calling thereafter. So that's just incredible.

Katie: 31:47

Yeah. And also to, to what Amy take your point, Amy of saying taking your power back. Like what you said you could have succumbed to years of just being in this pain and taking these pain medications and so many people do because they just have a hard time seeing that there can be so much more. And it's just so empowering what you've done and this book, I mean, it can really help people it's so beautiful. I personally from my own health issues know exactly what it's like to want to throw in the towel and to give up and you just you have to say no, it's like why can't we have optimum health? Why can't we feel great? Why do I have to succumb to this? So thank you. It's it's really empowering and beautiful.

Athena: 32:32

No, I'm I'm so glad that helps you and you know resonates for your own life because it's so true. Yeah, you take your power back, you've got this, you know, your your your goddess, get it, do it right.

Amy: 32:48

We hope you enjoy part one with Athena. Stay tuned for part two next week where we go into her book, raise your vibes and talk about some chapters that we think are helpful. We go through meditation we go through mantras we talk about signs and numbers and angels and it's just a really fascinating conversation. So stay tuned for part two. Thanks, Nirvana. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.