This is a transcript of the interview between Trailhead Health and Energy Practitioner and Reiki Master, Nicole Pugliese.
Question for Nicole: The work you do is called energy work, and you have various tools that you use within this energy work. Without going into the specifics of each tool, because most people don't understand what they are, could you explain what energy work is? What does that mean for you?
Nicole: I like to use the analogy of going to the dentist. So when we are little, our parents brush our teeth, and they teach us how to brush our teeth. And then when we get to be a certain age, we start to go to the dentist. And we hopefully go at least twice a year to get them cleaned, and then if there's anything bigger needed, the dentist will take care of that. And we go home, and we continue to brush our teeth at least once or twice a day, and if we are really good, we floss. But what would happen if we didn't do that in between? Of course, the work of the dentist would be fantastic, it would still be doing its job, but if we didn't ever brush our teeth in between, we would find detriment and illness in our teeth along the way. So our energy is a lot like that. And wouldn't it be nice if we all knew how to manage our own energy? To clean and clear it, to balance and that it was as easy, as brushing our teeth. So what I can do for people is be that dentist. And sometimes its more often than not, and then at other times, it's more like maintenance. Once people learn to manage it and take care of their energy.
Question: Nicole, you have many tools that you use to help people with managing their energy or clearing their energy. Do you teach these tools to your clients or do you just clear the energy for them?
Nicole: So two different things, when I do clearings I do just clear the energy for them. So initially sometimes people will come every week or every month or when they feel it is needed, and along the way they observe and learn things about themselves and so naturally start to learn to navigate and manage their own energy. But I also do teach and bring tools to that as well. I teach Reiki, and I teach other tools to help people navigate life and also just to get to know and love and understand themselves and to live more in alignment with themselves.
Question: Nicole, what are some of the reasons why people feel like their energy is blocked? What are some of the common things that you've observed, when people start wondering why they feel blocked or what's wrong with their energy.
Nicole: Sure. That's a good question. Why do people sometimes come initially? I would say the most common reason is feeling unsettled, anxiety or there's a big change going on in their life. The common theme amongst all of it is wanting to have some kind of change. Whether it's going off to college or moving house, possibly changing career or having a health issue, a physical health issue or not sleeping well and just noticing a sense of "oh I'm not as calm and relaxed as I would like to be and I'd like to change that."
Question: One of the things that you have been able to do in your career as an energy practitioner Nicole that a lot of other energy practitioners aren't able to do is you have been able to break the barrier with the Western Medicine side of things. There's a beautiful picture of you working in Dr. Ron Hansen's office. He's an MD who works on people's knees and joints and different issues and then here you are, right before he does his procedures, kind of helping people manage their energy. Going into the procedure, coming out of the procedure, helping with being more relaxed, maybe even affect their pain in a positive way or affect their perception of pain. That's huge, to watch you and Dr. Ron work together. How do you feel about it? What is your take on this sort of Medicine working together with Western medicine?
Nicole: I love working together with Western medicine. My take on it is that what I do can only compliment Western Medicine. And the real first experience that I had with that was when my husband was sick, and we were taking him to Mayo and getting chemo and radiation and having surgery and all of these things. And the one thing that helped him get through all of these things was energy work. So it complemented everything that he was doing. As a practitioner, what I see is people relaxing in the environment. I also have worked and love working during the procedures as well. So before the procedures, during and even after as follow-up, both that day and throughout the coming weeks to just support the healing. What I see is aside from just a calmness during it, it's just, a variety and open-ended what people say that they experience. And of course, we can never say oh this is because of the energy work. We can never make those claims. We can't claim anything like that. However people do say that they have less pain, are sleeping better, are feeling better more quickly. They are just calmer. Take less pain medication, and so I'm loving, I'm loving working with the Western medicine community. I see it as a compliment and a completion. You really can't have one without the other.
Question: Sure...You also have had this amazing ability to help the healers, so to speak, help the healthcare professionals. I know Dr. Ron Hanson himself has gotten energy work done with you. He raves about it. But you also work with chiropractic offices and yoga centers and you kind of work with the healers, with the practitioners. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Nicole: Yes! I love working with them as well. You know we as people who go to the doctor, to the chiropractor, the medical doctor, do a yoga class.... great wonderful. But what about those people! They need some self-care too, right?And also it's a fantastic way as a group, for the staff of the chiropractor's office or the staff of the yoga studio to be cohesive in how their practice or their business runs. So whether it's specifically about healing or if it's a financial center or whatever it is, this work creates more cohesion and collaboration, and you know, we see each other, and we're on the same page. It's a reminder. So if I'm using this energy tool, and you're using this energy tool, and we've agreed that this is how we're moving through our day or how we're going to be manifesting our vision as a business. Then we see each other in the hall or in meetings and.... First of all, we have a really beautiful clear structure that's
honoring ourselves and each other, and secondly, it's just physical reminders of what we're already committed. So we're supporting each other in spades in that way.
Question: Sure...That makes a lot of sense. If we were to describe energy, in terms of energy medicine, how would you explain that?
Nicole: In terms of energy medicine... so I think that question means if energy was medicine what would it be? It would be Food for the Soul. It would be the alignment pill. You know the pill for alignment. It would be the pill for the procedure for awakening all of the self, and it would also be... Sometimes in medicine, they say go home and do your exercises. So it would be the practice of using the tools to continue the alignment, the awakening of the self. And... I guess I'll just share then the benefit of all of that is harmony and balance.
Question: Whats the best way for people to get a hold of you. How do you prefer to work with people?
Nicole: Most of my energy work is done over the phone. So. people will call in, or I'll call them. We've made an appointment either by email or by texting. That works really well for me. And so whichever way people reach out to me initially is great. And then typically we meet. I call them at their time, and
we have a little conversation to explain what I'm doing, and most of the time
we are still on the phone throughout it. Although, occasionally if people would
like or if it just is showing up that way, we'll hang up the phone, and they'll go into meditative state space, and I'll do my work. And then call back at the end. But most commonly we are on the phone, and I'm clearing or sending Reiki, and we do it right there on the phone.
And what that looks like for me is, I set up my space exactly as if someone is here with me. So I have a table like a massage table, and I connect with the person energetically. And it's like placing them on the table, and then I work with them whether I'm seated or standing and whatnot. And I work along the energy of the person from a distance. Because energy doesn't know time or space. It permeates all of it. And you can tell this because when you walk into a room, you can kind of feel like okay something just happened in here. But that thing isn't happening right now. That thing already happened. So the energy is still there, it's already gone through time. So, that's one way to understand it. And then space as well.
There's this great exercise that I'd like to show it to you. It's when you can put your fingers little apart from each other and open and close. Oh
and then you kind of feel... If you can do that a few times, eventually you'll feel something. And here anybody can do this. It's not magic. It's physics. So you feel eventually ....you'll feel like a buzz or pressure or heat. Okay so then once you've got that down you can do that exercise, here's the top of the table and here's under the table and you can feel...Oh, it went through the table. Or you can go around the door. Here's one part of the door and the wall and here's the
other and you can feel it through the wall. So you see it travels through space and it's just why I'm here, and the client is in Australia on the phone. Energy can travel that far. Another analogy for that is when a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, it can create a tsunami in Hawaii. It travels just a teeny bit, a teeny little flutter of a butterfly can create that someplace else. So it knows no time and no space.
And I also really like to work with people over the phone. Long distance because it allows them the preciousness of being in their own space, in their own home. So they can be in their bedroom, or their living room or wherever is relaxing for them. Wherever they can find a quiet space, have this work done, without having to drive or having to go someplace, and then afterward integrate it right away. Often, what I see when I do in-person treatments is, well.... first, people arrive, and they've just left their office or home or school or whatnot and driven all that way. So first we have to get back to Ground Zero from the drive. And then when they're done. They are refreshed or relaxed or whatever experience they're having and what do they do, they go, and they get back in the car. And I have heard so many times from people that it would just be nice to be able to get in the car but then not have to drive to any place for a while. Right? So being at home allows them the possibility of integrating right where they are. And it's interesting for me too, because in person I often ...well..... I get impressions, their information. And I'll get that about the home even if we're in person but when they're at home, it's just more palpable from my end.
Conclusion: Thank you, Nicole. This was a really good introduction to energy work. I'm sure we'll be talking to you about more, as questions come in from our viewers. Thank you for your time today.
Nicole: Thank you, my pleasure!
