Awakening the Spirit with Karen Wilkins, LMT and Reiki Master of "Inner Awakenings"

Katarina Todorovic  Writer

Published On September 16, 2024

Karen Wilkins, LMT, Owner of “Inner Awakenings,” Licensed and Nationally Board Certified Massage Therapist, and Reiki Master, has spent her life deeply connected to the metaphysical and alternative healing realms. Drawing inspiration from the Native American way of life, Karen’s spiritual journey has guided her toward healing practices that bring balance to the body, mind, and spirit. With over 15 years of experience, her passion for energy work, massage, and holistic healing is not only a personal calling but a shared mission to help others find peace, harmony, and health. Karen’s path to becoming a healer was sparked by her introduction to Reiki while living in Southern California. The profound effects of Reiki laid the foundation for her unique healing approach, which now integrates techniques such as Lomi Lomi massage, Polarity Balancing, Reflexology, Crystal Healing, Sound Therapy, and more. Each modality Karen has mastered serves as a gateway to inner peace and holistic healing, helping her clients awaken to their true essence. In this Mystic Mag‘s interview, Karen Wilkins shares her journey from California to South Carolina, her deep connection to energy healing, and her commitment to helping others awaken to their divine power.

Your journey into metaphysical and alternative healing began early. Can you share a pivotal moment that sparked your deeper connection to the Native American way of life and healing practices?

From a younger age I was always attracted to the metaphysical and always interested in other ways to see life and how it can serve us in non-traditional ways. Always curious and wanting to know more.

I have had experiences that have shown me my connection to the Native American, especially the Navajo people. One of these experiences was in 2002 when Utah hosted the Olympic games there. As I was watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, they had five native tribes welcoming each Olympian in their native language. When the Navajo spoke, I immediately broke down and deeply sobbed for 10 minutes uncontrollably. It then confirmed to me that my attraction to the Native Americans was much more than I realized. It has come from a strong heart-based connection that I have felt and was strongly impacted from other lifetimes. It comes to me as a strong knowing and a deep feeling of longing for ‘my people’. The healing modalities that I work with bring forth this ancient wisdom as it flows deeply from my heart. Many lifetimes as a traditional healer, I worked with herbs and channeling the wisdom of the Great Spirit and was looked up to for guidance and revered by my tribe. I bring through the wisdom of the Elders, the Ancient Ones.

With your extensive training modalities like Lomi Lomi massage, Polarity Balancing, and Tuning Fork Sound Therapy, how do you determine which techniques to use for each client’s healing process?

When the client comes and we engage in what they are experiencing and looking for in the session, that is what communicates to me the best technique that will support them. At times, it can be more than one technique. I stay open and allow myself to listen to my guidance as the session unfolds. It is particularly important for me to stay neutral and not focus on what I believe should be the outcome. I allow Spirit and the persons guides and Angels to guide the session for the client’s highest outcome. I may bring through sound, energy healing, and other tools that I have been trained in over the years. It is different for everyone.

What type of services do you offer?

I personally offer Neuromuscular, Relaxation and Lomi Lomi Massage and Reflexology. I work with many energy healing techniques to include Holy Fire Reiki sessions as well as Teach all levels of Reiki, Polarity Balancing, Rising Star and Prema Birthing. As an adjunct to sessions, it can include sound with tuning forks, chakra balancing, crystals, crystal sword activations.

The center here at Inner Awakenings also offers other modalities by other facilitators to include the ReUnion Process, Meditations, Pranic Healing, Sound Healing, Drum Circles, Journey Together Series, Book Studies and much more. Our calendar of Events changes monthly for other offerings.

You describe Reiki as the foundation for all your healing work. How has this practice evolved for you over the years, and what continues to inspire your passion for it?

Reiki has opened so many doors for me that I never realized when I first learned of this energy. It placed me on my path to become a massage therapist and continue my work learning energy healing with other modalities. Reiki continues to assist me in my spiritual evolution and creates a space for me to awaken to who I truly am as a Divine Being of God.  It inspires me every time I am facilitating a session and being a witness to others’ transformation. When I am part of this process and see how it can change others’ lives, I want to continue to be of service even more. I bring through Reiki as I work with other modalities so that they receive all that is possible for them at that time.

As we evolve, Reiki has continued to evolve and brings in an even higher vibrational frequency.

Holy Fire® Reiki came through in 2014 and I now work with this level of energy which is constantly upgrading our energy field and bringing tremendous growth opportunities and continues to heal those unhealed parts of ourselves.

With your background in various healing modalities, what are some of the most profound shifts you have seen in your clients after a session, particularly on an emotional or spiritual level?

I have witnessed that most clients after receiving Reiki are in a state of pure peace and calm and that they state they have not experienced it before. Some have experiences of seeing higher beings of Light and ancestors that show them that there is more than what they perceive in our reality. People have had spiritual gifts activated and opened for themselves and given them a purpose to follow. I have seen outwardly a change in them after a session and a new excitement in them to look deeper within themselves and empower them to expand their beliefs.

In your 15 years of experience, how have you seen the world of alternative healing evolve, and what changes do you think are still needed in this field?

Regarding Reiki for example, 15 years ago, it was taboo to even speak about it. It was not recognized as anything of value and regarded by some as negative or even evil. Now Reiki is being offered in hospitals, in Hospice and some in the medical field sees value in it. Natural medicine is seeing a rise in people wanting to find the source of the imbalance and not just covering up the symptoms with traditional pharmaceuticals. In my practice people are seeking alternative options to help them due to being disappointed with traditional practices not finding a solution. Even now Sound Healing is a huge part of healing and has made its way out into the forefront. I am very hopeful that more technologies and methods will be brought forward for us to utilize and be effective. I feel traditional medicine needs to work together with alternative medicine to bring a completer and more comprehensive look at the entire scope of melding Mind, Body and Spirit to heal in the most effective way possible.