ALIGN

Workshop Proposal

Nervous System Care + Energy Healing

For Stress Relief, Resilience, Creativity + Intuitive Guidance

During our 90-minute workshop, I will take the group through a foundational understanding of how to care for your nervous system with creative and tangible ways to easily practice this self care to feel more grounded, more present, and more at ease.

Then I will guide the group into about 20 minutes of receiving reiki so there is not only an understanding with the mind about how to ground, but a new experience in the body and nervous system as well.

Hi, I’m Kathryn

I’m a trauma-informed intuitive healer who is certified as both a reiki practitioner and life coach. I’ve guided dozens of creative souls from across the U.S. to reconnect to their inner wisdom as their compass for healing and living a vibrant, soul-led life.

Prior to stepping into my calling as a healer, I was a successful theater, film and tv producer on Broadway and in Los Angeles so I intimately understand the unique pressures of the creative process. I am no stranger to experiencing anxiety, depression, burnout and grief. After surviving the mass shooting in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Music Festival, I left entertainment and dove into my own trauma healing journey where I unearthed a large amount of family trauma.

My inner wisdom guided me every step of the way through healing and embodying my soul’s purpose. In this workshop, I will share key foundational wisdom I gained along the way to support others on their healing journeys.

“We can’t create relationships, can’t access wisdom and creativity unless we turn off

our evolutionary defense systems.”

-Dr. Stephen Porges, Creator of Polyvagal Theory

Nervous System 101

Your autonomic nervous system is your system’s command center. It determines automatic responses (like heartbeat, digestion, breathing, body temp, etc.) without your conscious effort. Its always working on your behalf to keep you protected and alive based on its perception of threat.

For simplicity, we will look at the autonomic nervous system in the binary: it determines whether your evolutionary defense systems are “turned on” in survival mode or “turned off” in safety mode.

Parasympathetic Nervous System (Safety Mode)

Rest, Digest, Heal, Create, Connect

Associated sensations: grounded, steady, connected, relaxed, calm, full of energy, relief, patience, compassion, open, soft, peaceful, at ease, presence, creativity, joy, wonder, inspiration, forgiveness, vulnerability, intimacy, love, hope.

Sympathetic Nervous System (Survival Mode)

Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, Collapse

Associated sensations: angry, irritated, frustrated, restless, anxious, edgy, stressed, overwhelmed, indecisive, depressed, exhausted, burned out, drained, constantly-in-motion, rapid heartbeat or breathing, tension.

You have the power to intentionally activate your Parasympathetic Nervous System.

Our vagus nerve connects every major organ in our body and “determines” what mode we are in based on information it receives from our whole system about perceived threat. Only 20% of that information comes from the mind… 80% of the information comes the body.

This is why we can't just "talk ourselves" into feeling grounded and safe . Our body needs to experience soothing safety so it can activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

Ways to Soothe Your Nervous System

  1. One of the basic ways to give your body the experience of safety is to REST! Literally get more sleep, take a break or a nap or put your feet up. This isn’t rocket science. Often we tell ourselves: we do not have time or productivity is more important.

  2. Give your FIVE SENSES anything that feels comforting, soothing, relaxing or inspiring or playful. What lights YOU up? What do you most want to see, hear, touch, taste and smell?

    Prioritize the time and space to GIVE these experiences to yourself. Make sure YOU are on your To Do list with self-care that you enjoy!

    (Hold space for engaging in discussion or questions.)

ALIGN is an acronym I use for putting these theories into practice:

Air**

Listen**

Intentionally Consume

Get Moving

Nature**

Breathing techniques. Scents. Fresh air.

Silence, music, nature sounds, meditation, podcast, audiobook.

Digital detox. Social media. Compare and despair.

Change location. Stretching, shaking, dancing, exercise.

Immerse yourself outside. Connect with earth, fire, air, water inside.

When listening to these options, what feels easy to try? Something you WANT to do that feels GOOD? What is your intuition curious about exploring?

(Hold space for engaging in discussion or questions.)

The key is to choose something small that you can give yourself easily. The practice can change depending on what you need in the moment.

These practices are something you can reach for when you feel activated OR you can explore committing to one of these self-care practices every day as a step towards decreasing the intensity and frequency of feeling activated in survival mode.

** These are elements you will experience during the reiki portion of our time together.

20-30 Minutes of Restorative Reiki

Give your body and nervous system the supported experience of resting and self-healing.

Reiki is an ancient Japanese healing tradition. “Rei” means divinely guided and “ki” means life force energy. It is not connected to religion and the way that I practice is trauma-informed and very focused on creating an environment that is soothing for your nervous system so you can self-heal.

I am trained to channel loving life force energy, for your highest good and deepest healing, into your energy system to guide you towards a balanced physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual being. Everyone has a personal energy field and if there are imbalances or blockages in your energy body - they will eventually manifest as dis-ease in your physical, mental and emotional bodies.

In practical terms: you relax and receive! You don’t need to “do” anything. It is the practice of less efforting, strategizing, learning or talking. I have been trained to practice distance reiki, which means I can share reiki through time and space with intention if we are gathering over zoom. (Just like you can feel loved from someone who is not in the same room as you.)

I do not gain access to your energy system without your permission, if anything about receiving does not feel right to you, you can choose to simply breathe and meditate with us. I will ask at the beginning for your permission. You can silently think the word yes or no to choose to receive or not. If we are in person, you can also put your palms face down in that moment if you choose not to receive.

Let’s get settled in. You choose: video on or off, sitting or lying down. You do not need to remain completely still to receive - listen to your body and give it what it most needs in order to relax.

(I will play music and guide the group through a breathing exercise into a meditative state and share reiki for 20-30 minutes.)

Closing the Workshop

I will complete the reiki healing and guide the group back into the present moment and ground into their physical space. I will keep the music going and allow a few moments of silence and journaling after encouraging participants to tune inwards for one takeaway from our time together.

If time allows, I will invite participants to crystalize their takeaway by sharing it. I can remain present for any questions and let them know how to reach me if questions come up after the workshop is over.

Support Materials For Your Consideration

Below are testimonials from my clients, reiki FAQs and a bit more about the “why” behind my work.

Please let me know if there is any further information I can provide to gain clarity on whether this workshop is a good fit for your community. It is an honor to be considered and I hope to share this with your community soon!

Thank you for your time and energy in reviewing this proposal.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Schwarz

Kathryn.Schwarz@gmail.com

  • Anxiety can suddenly vanish

    “I had the best sleep I've had in weeks after a reiki session with Kathryn. Exactly what I needed. And really helped me feel settled in my body. Kathryn exudes warmth - you’ll feel right away that you’ve known her for years.

    I’ve slowly learned to meet “negative” feelings with curiosity and stillness rather than looking to escape and have now experienced how anxiety that once felt so powerful can suddenly vanish. Now I really understand what it means when people say healing is nonlinear and I realize healing doesn’t need to look a certain way.”

    – Jess | Austin, TX

  • Best decision I made

    “Working with Kathryn was the best decision I made in 2020. She is an incredibly wise and gentle guide, and is helping me reconnect with myself after years of putting my own needs in last place. She has taught me (for the first time in my life) how to prioritize taking care of my own needs and work through the guilt and anxiety that inevitably follows. I've worked with her this past year and it's been life-changing. She is amazing!”

    – Anna | Nashville, TN

  • My self-compassion has deepened

    “I came to Kathryn for support with healing my grief, living more from my heart instead of my head and navigating big life changes within my job, my family and where I want to live. My inner trust is stronger now and my self-compassion has deepened.

    When we started working together, I remember that crying and feeling my emotions was hard - I was used to numbing out, “stuffing” or compartmentalizing. Now I am connecting to, naming and processing my emotions. I feel confident and at peace with all the changes that are ahead. … For the first time, I am holding my plans with an open hand, open mind, open heart – without needing to have all the answers! This work has helped me be present for my life – one day at a time – embracing the messy both/and of it all!”

    – Lauren | San Francisco, CA

  • Reiki was so powerful

    “I felt like I relaxed into my body for the first time in over a year. The reiki was so powerful and Kathryn’s presence was a gift.”

    – Pam | Los Angeles, CA

  • Transform how you live

    “Kathryn is a gifted, skilled, empathetic coach (and person in general). My life this past year has shifted dramatically for the better and is so much richer because of our working together. Kathryn is a guide who can help you heal and transform how you live in this complicated world.”

    – Anonymous | Los Angeles, CA

  • Life-changing

    “Kathryn is a blessing and amazing at this work!! Reiki has been what I didn’t know I needed for so long and the coaching paired with it is absolutely amazing. It always amazes me what animal guides she sees in our reiki sessions that directly apply and resonate with where I am and what I need in this moment to heal. This work she does is life-changing and has built my own inner strength.”

    – Kavita | Columbus, OH

  • Trust my true inner self

    “Wow… just wow… a truly powerful reiki session. Flow is the word that comes to mind. If it’s right… if I listen to myself… it just flows. My emotions make an intangible shift to more love. I am excited to explore the unknown as I learn to trust my true inner self and gain confidence in trusting my gut again. This work doesn’t actually feel like work… just feels like good self care. I am so grateful to not feel overwhelmed by the challenges and changes that lie ahead.”

    – Anonymous | Covington, KY

  • A powerful shift in yourself

    “Kathryn listens with compassion, validates your feelings, and gives that gentle nudge to take small, steady steps that will eventually lead to a powerful shift in yourself that’s uniquely yours. She creates a safe space to tap into your roots, hold space for old stories and ongoing habits, and explore little pockets of time to reset your foundation so you can show up for yourself, your family, and your community. Give it some time, and you’ll be surprised by how beautifully you branch out beyond where you started.“

    – Lauren | Madison, WI

  • Truly a beautiful experience

    “If your spirit and nervous system need some love, if your energy feels in disarray, if you need some time for yourself, please consider Kathryn’s offering of reiki. Truly a beautiful experience and she is so kind, gentle, intentional and caring. She is someone who is doing “the work” and offering guidance and holding space for you to do yours.”

    – Kristin | Nashville, TN

  • Nourishment to my soul

    “I was blown away by Kathryn's gifts and deeply impacted by what I received in our sessions. She is both deeply compassionate and wise. Time with Kathryn is nourishment to my soul.”

    – Chris | Port Townsend, WA

  • Reiki (pronounced RAY-key) is an ancient Japanese energy healing modality. “Rei” means divinely guided and “ki” means life force energy. Imbalances or blocks in your personal energy body are experienced as dis-ease in your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical bodies. I channel loving life force energy to go wherever is divinely guided for your highest good and deepest healing to restore balance to your physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual being. Your system also switches from “fight, flight, freeze, fawn” into “rest, digest, heal, create” so it can self-heal.

  • Read all about what energy healing with me looks like at the bottom of this blog post.

  • Yes! I was a skeptic myself when I first began this journey! Both methods are powerful and can meet present-moment needs in different ways.

    Benefits of Distance (Virtual) Reiki:

    Participants can receive in the comfort of their own sacred space at home without giving time to a commute. They can allow as much time immediately after the workshop as they’d like to integrate before jumping back into daily life or a car. And, obviously, participants can receive from anywhere in the world that has internet!

  • Participants are welcome to show up just as they are with zero preparation!

    It would be ideal if I could include invitations for preparing their space in the confirmation email they receive when signing up.

    These suggestions can deepen the experience, if they feel inspired to explore them, but are not necessary.

  • While some people choose to train for one weekend before they begin professionally practicing reiki with others, my process was 9 months of training.

    Kelsey Patel was my teacher for reiki I and reiki II attunements. Reiki I required 30 consecutive days of daily self-reiki and experiences working with clients in-person. Time and space to continue practice before moving onto Reiki II, which was a deeper journey of healing myself in the past, which I took four months to complete along with more experiences with clients (both in-person and over zoom) and a final assessment with Kelsey.

    My reiki practice has included zoom and in-person reiki sessions since May of 2021.

Reiki FAQs

 The Why Behind My Work

For many years, I was a burned out, over-achieving workaholic. As an NYU graduate who devoted 20+ years to a successful entertainment career in NYC/LA, I know how it feels to be sacrificing yourself for a life that "should make you feel happy" ...only to be swimming in inner turmoil and feeling disconnected from yourself and your purpose instead.

After trying ALL the things to feel better, I followed a gut feeling to leave everything behind and move to Nashville. Weeks later, I was in the audience during the mass shooting at the Route 91 music festival in Las Vegas.

A severe panic attack, alone in my Nashville apartment weeks after the shooting, was my deciding moment: healing finally became my top priority. 

Everything I knew about my life burned to the ground during a dark night of the soul that uncovered decades of family trauma. Even though I was working with an AMAZING trauma therapist, I felt so confused, lost, alone and terrified by how to heal. Reiki was what brought me the most inner peace and most supported my journey of coming back home to my body, my spirituality, my true nature and soul’s purpose.

My inner wisdom guided me every step of the way through healing and rebuilding my life centered around my soul’s calling to be a healer so others would feel less confused, lost, alone and terrified by how to heal and come home to themselves.

My mission is to heal the world with more safety and love in our communities by empowering one intuitive soul at a time to heal themselves and fully live their one, wild and true life.