Caroline Diani Chats with Lisa Thiele for Her 21st Pillow Talk

It was a chance encounter bumping into the brilliant and beautiful Lisa Thiele during the book signing of Travel Home at DIANI Living last October. We are both mutual friends of the authors, Caitlin Flemming and Julie Goebel and that day I learned she is an energy healer, master of Reiki, and had left the corporate world to seek a career with greater purpose. I've been working with Lisa since meeting in October, and developed the upmost respect for her technique and its powers for lifting mental blockages. I sat down with her to ask more about what she does, and how she got here so that you can all get to know her too.

Heart broken with grief from her mother's passing in 2014, Lisa turned to spiritual healing that led her to a path of healing others. As a healer, she uses energy medicine, sound, and plants as healing support to help cope with grief, release blocks, raise your vibration and even ease physical pains throughout the body. A woman whose sole goal is to help others, Lisa inspires me to learn more about how energy healing can better aid my own life. I'm truly thankful that our paths connected in such a serendipitous way and that I can introduce her as my next guest of the 21st edition of Pillow Talk, here in my Santa Barbara home.  

When you were in school, what was your favorite subject and what did you want to “grow up” to be?

I loved art class. Basically anything that allowed me to create something and not have to talk to anyone, I was happy. My ego did a really good job and keeping me safe. I probably wanted to be a teacher. As a highly sensitive child, they were my safe place. 

What do you think contributed to you becoming the woman that you are today?

My mom. She was superhuman. She led a successful career, was always there for our family, the most generous, and was the queen of self-care. She passed away when I was 30, which sent me on a wild, life-changing journey. That’s what grief does. I ended up studying energy healing, became fascinated with what happens when you die and now here I am. Started my own business as a Reiki Practitioner, helping people in their grief, and an advocate for self-care. 

There’s a lot of other contributing factors, but my mom always wins (still). 

Tell us a little about your career trajectory.

I worked in advertising for about 5 years. My body said NO THANK YOU but I didn’t listen. So it shut down and I had to be hospitalized. Nothing like a wake up call, some alternative medicine and the power of food to get back on my feet. My mom being the intuitive that she is, sent me her camera and so naturally I started taking photos of my food. Eventually, blogging lead to freelance projects, which then lead to a career at Starbucks. I spent five years in corporate doing really cool shit, but then left and went into the world of energy healing. 

 And somehow it all makes perfect sense.

What has been your favorite part about creating a business in the wellness field?
   

What does wellness mean to you?

     

What do you think is the single most important ingredient to success?
             
How has being a mother of three little ones changed you?
         

How do you manage the fear and doubt that inevitably creeps in when you’re paving a less trodden path?

Whenever fear or doubt creep in, I see it as an opportunity to heal an old wound. I also started doing Byron Katie's The Work. It’s all about questioning your thoughts. I think this is something we should all learn to do. Her book, A Mind at Home with Itself was fascinating. 

What have you been most afraid of trying in your career, but you did it anyway?

Sharing my mediumship abilities. It felt “weird” and worried I wasn’t doing it right.  During my master attunement, I saw myself sitting in this beautiful chair & out in the distance was a gated fence. My mom was in front of the fence, almost like my gatekeeper. Behind her, hundreds or maybe thousands of souls lined up, as if they were ready to for me to share their messages. In sessions some come through very clearly with a message. But often times, they are there supporting the sessions & it’s so beautiful. I always want people to feel that, even when they aren’t with me. 

Was there any opportunity that you had in your life that you didn’t take?

Not really. When I was in college, my family invited me on a few once-in-a-lifetime trips. I turned them down because I didn’t want to miss an exam. Again, my ego. If I were to rewind, I’d go.

  SPACE. Space for rest, space to move my body, space to meditate or space to create. This is a daily practice for me. 
  What’s your favorite indulgence?
       

What’s the last thing you do before bed?

Turn my phone off. 

Any sleep rituals that you use to help quiet the mind after a long day?

• Put your phone away. 
• Make a cup of tea. Chamomile is my favorite for sleep. 
• Showering before bed, visualizing the water washing away “stuff” from the day.
• Burning Sage or Palo Santo, helps move energy. I like to wave it around my head & body.
• Lay in bed and use your breath as a guide or a focus. With each exhale, breathe out heavy tension and stress.
• As you close your eyes, repeat “what if I easily let go”
• Or you can meditate. Insight Timer has great meditations and they’re free!

"What if I truly let go?" That's so beautiful, Lisa. I'm going to start using that! Every time I'm with you, I feel like my horizons widen a bit more. You have so many insights and so much to share. It's such an honor to get to work with you and to now call you a friend. I can't wait for my next session with you next Sunday at your Pop Up! 

For those of you interested in Reiki, Lisa has two spots left at her 1:1 Reiki / BioMat Healing Pop-Up next Sunday, February 9th in Santa Barbara. To learn more about that and Lisa's work, check out her website www.lisathiele.com.

Happy Sunday, friends,