Signs You’re Awakening: A Personal Journey of Energy Healing, Alignment, and Remembering Who You Are

Hello, my name is Octavia, Founder of Energize & Align. I want to share my awakening experience for anyone who may be questioning the internal shifts happening in their life. If you’ve ever wondered what is going on with me, this is for you.

The First Shift

In 2015, someone recommended that I try Bikram Yoga. I had no idea what to expect, but I went anyway. The class was challenging, intense, and uncomfortable at times. Yet once the full 90 minutes were over, I felt sore and absolutely amazing. More than that, I felt centered and grounded in a way I never had before.

Almost immediately, I noticed changes. I felt drawn to take better care of myself. Old habits no longer had the same pull. I wasn’t forcing discipline, it simply happened. At the time, I didn’t know what was occurring, but I knew it felt right.

I remember calling a family member and urging her to take the class. She did. She was an avid cigarette smoker, and what stood out most was that afterward she didn’t feel the need to smoke at all. Instead, she told me it was the most at peace she had ever felt. The shift was almost immediate.

At the time, neither of us understood what was happening. Looking back now, I recognize that my system was recalibrating. My chakras were realigning, my nervous system was regulating, and my body was beginning to remember balance. We weren’t just strengthening our physical bodies, we were strengthening our connection to ourselves on an energetic level.
(If you’re new to this concept, I explain it more deeply in my blog on what the chakras are and how they work in the body. )

I continued practicing Bikram Yoga even on days I felt exhausted or unmotivated. It became my relief, my sanity, my anchor.

An Inner Knowing

In 2016, while still working in property management, I was sitting at my desk when a sudden inner shift came over me. Without hesitation, I told myself, You are going to be a successful business owner.

At the time, I had a small side business called Charming Affair, where I etched custom wine glasses and beer mugs and hosted creative events. I wanted that business to succeed, but this moment felt different. It wasn’t hope or wishful thinking. It was certainty.

I remember becoming emotional in front of a coworker, telling her I knew I was meant for more. I wanted change badly. I wanted to feel better in my body and better about my life. The idea of working for someone else indefinitely no longer felt acceptable. A fire rose in me.

Years earlier, while working as a receptionist at an animal hospital around 2007 or 2008, a coworker mentioned The Secret. I remember watching it and telling myself that I would never go without, that life could change simply by changing my beliefs. At the time, the message lit a spark, but it wasn’t strong enough to sustain action. I didn’t yet have the awareness to live it.

Looking back now, I see that moment differently. The truth had reached me early, quietly, and patiently. I just wasn’t ready to embody it yet. That’s how awakening often works. The message arrives long before we’re prepared to fully receive it.

Letting Go of Old Conditioning

A few months later, a dear friend suggested I visit Unity Church. Around this time, I had stepped away from traditional Christianity. I realized that religion, as I had known it, no longer served me. The beliefs I was raised with didn’t reflect my lived experience or inner truth.

Even as a child, I noticed contradictions, but fear and conditioning kept pulling me back. I was afraid of doing something wrong or offending God. Looking back, I see how early programming disconnects us from ourselves.

When I visited Unity for the first time, it felt different. We meditated during service, and I felt at home. Over time, I listened to speakers discuss energy and consciousness. One pastor shared a powerful awakening experience he had in India, and it resonated deeply.

What stood out most was that Unity offered yoga, Reiki, and something called the Oneness Blessing. That blessing became a turning point in my awakening.

The Awakening Deepens

One Sunday, my friend invited me upstairs to receive the Oneness Blessing. She explained it simply, as an opening of the third eye. Curious and open, I agreed.

Three facilitators were present, and I felt drawn to one woman in particular. When it was my turn, she placed her hands gently on the top of my head. Before I could even sit fully, I felt energy surrounding the chair, almost like static. The session lasted only a few minutes, but afterward I felt cold and deeply at ease.

The following morning around 4:30 a.m., I woke with an urge to write. I ignored it, choosing comfort instead, and later regretted it. The next morning, the same urge returned. This time, I listened.

As I wrote, ideas and messages poured out. At one point I stopped and laughed, questioning my sanity. None of it felt logical or attainable, yet I kept writing with curiosity and excitement.

In the months that followed, I found myself waking early to work out at 5 a.m., followed by meditation in the park. This became my new ritual. A friend of mine still jokes about how I had her walking with me in the dark. Those quiet mornings grounded me. I would sit in gratitude, feeling deeply connected to the earth. One morning, a family of skunks ran past my feet, and instead of fear, I felt joy simply being present with life.

I felt called to go vegan, to reduce alcohol, and to step away from television. Creativity surged. I wrote poetry, established a meditation practice, and noticed my intuition becoming incredibly strong.

Meeting My Shadow

During this period, I gave away all my furniture. I wanted a clean slate, a physical reflection of the internal changes taking place.

I also began to see my relationship patterns clearly. I had never had healthy relationships and consistently attracted emotionally unavailable partners. Eventually, I realized it reflected my own self-worth.

For the first time, I stopped blaming circumstances and faced myself honestly. Anxiety, overthinking, unhealthy patterns, they were mine to acknowledge. This was my shadow.

Taking accountability was uncomfortable. Asking for forgiveness, including forgiving myself, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But once I moved through it, I felt lighter, empowered, and grounded.

It was during this time that I finally let go of the idea that I needed a relationship to feel whole. For the first time, I chose myself without waiting for anyone else to choose me. And it was only after that surrender, after genuinely living for myself, that what I once longed for began to unfold naturally. This is often how manifestation works. When we release attachment and live in alignment, life meets us there.

Purpose Revealed

An old childhood friend reached out, and we reconnected. Our conversations felt divinely timed. He, too, was on a spiritual path rooted in healing and lineage. Life felt aligned.

Soon after, a coworker offered to give me energy healing when I wasn’t feeling well. The sensation was intense and immediate. When I asked what she did, she said, “Reiki.”

That word unlocked a memory from 2005, when I was studying massage therapy in California. My instructor taught not only physical techniques, but also energy awareness. At the time, I didn’t understand its significance. I even remembered experimenting with energy once, feeling a surge through my hands that scared me enough to stop.

Yet my curiosity always returned to energy, nature, crystals, and intuitive tools. I would explore, retreat, and repeat. My authentic self was always there, patiently waiting.

In 2017, after experiencing Reiki firsthand and feeling its impact deeply in my own body, curiosity turned into a knowing. I didn’t just want to receive it, I wanted to understand it, embody it, and use it to heal myself.

Learning Reiki felt less like choosing a new skill and more like remembering something familiar. I began practicing on myself first, then on plants, pets, and eventually others. The results were undeniable, and what started as personal healing naturally evolved into something I felt called to share.

At the time, I was still working in property management to support myself while continuing this inner work. When I was unfairly terminated, fear surfaced, but so did clarity. I knew an injustice had occurred, and for the first time, I chose not to shrink.

I didn’t have extra money for an attorney, but I trusted myself and moved forward anyway. The situation resolved through a settlement, but more importantly, it shifted how I saw myself. I learned that I could advocate for myself, trust my inner guidance, and stand firmly in my truth.

Looking back, I often wonder if I would have remained stuck in the same cycle had that termination not happened. As unjust as it was, it disrupted a pattern I had been tolerating for far too long. What felt like loss at the time became movement. I don’t see it as something that happened to me, but something that shifted through me. Everything that followed grew from that moment.

Not long after, we moved into a new place and discovered a Black-owned, woman-owned wellness center just minutes from our home. My partner went first and came back energized, excited for us to meet the owner. When I visited, something clicked. Being in that space, surrounded by other healers, mirrored back a version of myself I was still stepping into.

Although that chapter was short-lived, the environment sparked something lasting. Being around practitioners who were living their purpose made my own path undeniable. It was that exposure, that proximity to aligned work, that pushed me to enroll back in school and earn my massage therapy license in Texas. What once felt intimidating now felt necessary, and it allowed me to formally integrate energy healing alongside massage therapy in my work.

Despite old fears about age and finances, I continued forward. Once again, support appeared. I rebranded my business as Energize & Align, creating a space where I could offer energy healing alongside massage therapy in a way that felt fully aligned with who I am.

As I allowed myself to trust my own rhythm, my work began to take on a unique style. As my understanding of energy deepened, I also found myself opening to wisdom across other spiritual traditions, not as something to adopt or label, but as something to learn from and honor. I’ve been drawn to traditions such as Ifá and Haitian Vodou for their reverence for ancestors, nature, and lineage-based healing.

What became clear to me is that there isn’t a single spiritual path everyone must follow. Awakening doesn’t ask us to abandon who we are or where we come from. It invites us to listen, discern, and connect with what resonates truthfully for us in each season of life.

At the same time, I felt drawn to explore energy more deeply, not just as a practice, but as an art. This opened the door to understanding the biofield, sound healing, and other methods that support regulation, release, and restoration on a deeper level. What I learned along the way is that when you follow what feels true, your gifts reveal themselves naturally. They don’t need to be forced. They unfold when you’re ready to receive them.A

Message for You

It is my belief that awakening is not a single event, but something we move through continuously throughout our lives. Every time we desire change and take action toward it, that is an awakening moment.

There are many ways to experience an awakening. Through conversations I’ve had with others, I’ve noticed that while we often share similarities, the path itself is never identical. Your awakening is unique to you and to what you need in that present moment. It meets you where you are, not where you think you should be.

When we choose foods that nourish our bodies, calm our minds, and support our spirit, that is a shift. When we stretch, practice mindful breathing, or pause long enough to be present, that is awakening. We often don’t recognize these moments for what they are, but they matter.

Anytime you choose to honor your higher self, you strengthen your connection to that higher self. Awakening doesn’t always arrive dramatically. More often, it shows up quietly through everyday choices that bring us back into alignment.

Awakening also shows up in how you respond to conflict. If you find yourself questioning your thoughts or motives when tension arises, pay attention. Choosing to put the fire out gently, admitting when you are wrong, or offering an apology without letting your ego win is not weakness. It is discipline. It is how you steadily rise into your next level of awareness.

Your environment matters. I found myself no longer wanting to spend time with the same people, not because they were bad, but because our time together had naturally come to an end. I cherish the memories, but the shift was moving me forward.

The conversations you have matter. Your words matter. It is incredibly difficult to stay grounded in healing if your environment or the people around you contradict the very things you are working through.

I also noticed a change in how I relate to social spaces. I’ve always been social and comfortable in crowds. Now, I find myself more introverted, more at home, and far more protective of my energy and what surrounds it. This isn’t withdrawal. It’s discernment.

All of this is part of the cycles of awakening, living in that truth, and choosing not to stray from it. Awakening is remembering who you are.

With love,
Octavia Callahan, LMT | Reiki Master
Founder, Energize & Align