{"id":17524,"date":"2018-07-01T01:10:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T06:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=18513"},"modified":"2018-07-03T10:47:47","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T15:47:47","slug":"interview-with-the-author-of-we-are-magical-beings-paola-collazos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/07\/01\/interview-with-the-author-of-we-are-magical-beings-paola-collazos\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with the Author of We Are Magical Beings, Paola Collazos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interview with Paola Collazos<\/span><\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Paola Collazos<\/strong> is a Reiki master, energy medicine practitioner and a licensed massage therapist. She is also the author of \u201cWe Are Magical Beings\u201d. I had the chance to not only review the book, but also talk with Paola recently.<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Deanna-In your book, We Are Magical Beings, you share the hardships that came with your childhood. You seem to have blossomed from that childhood once you found energy work. What would you say to your younger self?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Paola<\/strong>-To my younger self I would say I promise to nurture you and keep life light- hearted and fun.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-Do you believe you would be where you are now, if you had experienced a different childhood?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-I would for sure be somewhere else had my childhood been different. Our early experiences shape our personalities and decisions profoundly. But I wouldn\u2019t trade my childhood, it was filled with lessons and I love myself the way I am today.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-In today\u2019s world, we are seeing a lot of high profile celebrities who have depression that are committing suicide.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What would you recommend to someone that is dealing with depression?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-The thing about depression is that you have to catch yourself before you fall, and for that to happen one has to choose to be aware of the triggers way before you catch yourself falling.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

BUT before wrapping your mind around that last statement, one must accept, and absolutely know within themselves that they are not alone, 44,965 Americans die by Suicide each year. The numbers show it, you are not alone. Even, I, with all the tools, experience lows sometimes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Eliminate self-judgment and get to know your triggers, avoid them at all costs by keeping busy, work hard, volunteer, exercise, take walks, see friends, perhaps get a pet and breathe. I believe that breath is the closest thing to unconditional love. Oxygen is always there for you. Love yourself by taking deep breaths. Allowing the exhale to be longer than the inhale calms the nervous system by activating the vagus nerve which sends a signal to the brain telling it to hike up the parasympathetic nervous system and turn down the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic NS controls our rest and digest. It lowers our blood pressure and heart (this is an amazing natural effect of the human body. )<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

If you need to take medication then do so without judgments but do the self-work. Watch your self-talk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Eliminate self-judgment and get to know your triggers, avoid them at all costs by keeping busy, work hard, volunteer, exercise, take walks, see friends, perhaps get a pet and breathe. Repeat, every day, and in every moment, that you can remember.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-During your first Reiki session, you describe an emotional session that seemed to be a turning point for you. Do you feel that you would have reacted the same if the woman had not started crying?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-I do. I feel that if the woman had not started to cry I may have been more open to energy the first time around. I have learned that with energy work people tend to be skeptical or perceive it as mumbo-jumbo therefore it is vital for the practitioner to be clear, professional and as informative as possible.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-This book is packed with information on tuning into the energy that we are. For someone who might get overwhelmed easily, where would you recommend getting started?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-They should find a comfortable quiet space, lay down, close their eyes and notice their breath, then they should notice their heart beating. Tune in to the simple things in life. Revel in the mastery of the human anatomy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-During this journey you went through a natural detoxing where your body\u2019s chemistry started changing. You had a difficult time finding a deodorant that worked and you stopped enjoying the taste of meat. In your experience, is this natural detoxing a normal part of the journey for everyone when doing energy work?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-This varies by person. It is different for everyone. One can even experience this natural detoxing by merely starting a yoga practice. So yes, it is a normal part of the journey.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-After getting your Level One Reiki Certification, you waited a year before getting your Level Two. Would you recommend this same wait time for someone who is interested in obtaining Reiki Certifications?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P-Yes, I believe that one should take the time after level one to heal themselves before they start trying to help others however some people get both attunements and even the third all in one weekend. I\u2019ve also heard of Masters not passing on the second attunement until years after the first.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For me, it depends on the student but I would encourage some time to explore their own chakras after the first level. There is a lot to explore within oneself and things start to shift. So, you want to be respectful and allow yourself the time to process.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-Also, after waiting a year, were you able to obtain the Level Two Reiki Certification with the same Reiki Master that certified you as a Level One Reiki?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-The First Reiki Master did my second level. The level three was done by someone else years later.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-For someone who is serious about learning all there is to know about energy work, would it be more beneficial to study one area of energy work (Reiki) before moving on to something else? Or can different areas of energy work be studied and used at the same time?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-Yes, they can be studied at the same time but it also depends on the person and their learning style. It also depends on what they are planning to do with the information. Are they curious for their own healing or if they would like to teach\/work on others?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The energy systems are the same all across the board what changes are the ways in which the individual chooses to tap into the energies to keep them settled. One can get started with learning about chakras without having to get Reiki attunements however it does not hurt. It will certainly give you a boost.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When I got my first attunement the master provided me with a lot of information that I wouldn\u2019t have known by merely researching chakras. Like that KAVA tea has spirit unifying properties and that it would help me with lucid dreaming. Once you get started with energy work things will unfold and one thing will lead to the other.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Meridians or (energy channels) and five element theories are a little more complicated to understand and to apply and I only delved into that in massage therapy school however I do not think it is impossible to grasp. I tried my best to simplify these concepts in my book because I do believe it is necessary to understand. Think of the chakras as the Macro and the Meridians as the micro. Chakras governs the muscles, organs, veins, and ligaments within the chakra\u2019s vicinity. They are super busy hubs of energy that receive and give out information. They also contain information about your life\u2019s journey while the meridians are energy pathways that pertain to one specific organ.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And yes they can be used at the same time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-\u2018We Are Magical Beings\u2019 contains many different areas of energy work. Out of Reiki, Meridians, Chakras, Auras, Yin and Yang, Elements, Centering, Inner Child and Visualizations; do you have a favorite energy work?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-Picking one is hard because they are so intertwined. I do love visualizations and I think that visualizing and or tapping into the imagination is crucial for all of this work. So, visualizations are my favorite.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

D-One of the quotes from the book is \u201cThere is perfection in imperfection!\u201d This is very powerful. In today\u2019s world it seems that we are constantly chasing perfection. This quote feels as if it is giving us permission to be who we are without worrying about perfection. Did you find it freeing once you rid the notion of being perfect?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

P<\/strong>-Yes, allow yourself to be imperfect. Try your best but be clear about your process. Be mindful that you are not using this idea of perfection to procrastinate and not proceed with what you want. Remember the mind would much rather be safe in its routines so it will always convince you that you are not there yet.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It was freeing for me because I allow myself to have fun and try new things. I\u2019ve heard so many people say they won\u2019t try new things because they are not \u201cgood\u201d at it. Allowing yourself to be imperfect is very freeing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you so much Paola Collazos for taking the time to talk with us at PaganPagesOrg!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you would like more information on Paola Collazos visit her site<\/a> at: http:\/\/www.paolacollazos.com\/<\/a> or you can find out more about her book We Are Magical Beings<\/a> by clicking the links or the book cover below. Enjoy!! <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We Are Magical Beings: A Healing Guide for Earthlings<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interview with Paola Collazos Paola Collazos is a Reiki master, energy medicine practitioner and a licensed massage therapist. She is also the author of \u201cWe Are Magical Beings\u201d. I had the chance to not only review the book, but also talk with Paola recently. Deanna-In your book, We Are Magical Beings, you share the hardships that came with your childhood. You seem to have blossomed from that childhood once you found energy work. What would you say to your younger self? Paola-To my younger self I would say I promise to nurture you and keep life light- hearted and fun. D-Do you believe you would be where you are now, if you had experienced a different childhood? P-I would for sure be somewhere else had my childhood been different. Our early experiences shape our personalities and decisions profoundly. But I wouldn\u2019t trade my childhood, it was filled with lessons and I love myself the way I am today. D-In today\u2019s world, we are seeing a lot of high profile celebrities who have depression that are committing suicide. What would you recommend to someone that is dealing with depression? P-The thing about depression is that you have to catch yourself before you fall, and for that to happen one has to choose to be aware of the triggers way before you catch yourself falling. BUT before wrapping your mind around that last statement, one must accept, and absolutely know within themselves that they are not alone, 44,965 Americans die by Suicide each year. The numbers show it, you are not alone. Even, I, with all the tools, experience lows sometimes. Eliminate self-judgment and get to know your triggers, avoid them at all costs by keeping busy, work hard, volunteer, exercise, take walks, see friends, perhaps get a pet and breathe. I believe that breath is the closest thing to unconditional love. Oxygen is always there for you. Love yourself by taking deep breaths. Allowing the exhale to be longer than the inhale calms the nervous system by activating the vagus nerve which sends a signal to the brain telling it to hike up the parasympathetic nervous system and turn down the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic NS controls our rest and digest. It lowers our blood pressure and heart (this is an amazing natural effect of the human body. ) If you need to take medication then do so without judgments but do the self-work. Watch your self-talk. Eliminate self-judgment and get to know your triggers, avoid them at all costs by keeping busy, work hard, volunteer, exercise, take walks, see friends, perhaps get a pet and breathe. Repeat, every day, and in every moment, that you can remember. D-During your first Reiki session, you describe an emotional session that seemed to be a turning point for you. Do you feel that you would have reacted the same if the woman had not started crying? P-I do. I feel that if the woman had not started to cry I may have been more open to energy the first time around. I have learned that with energy work people tend to be skeptical or perceive it as mumbo-jumbo therefore it is vital for the practitioner to be clear, professional and as informative as possible. D-This book is packed with information on tuning into the energy that we are. For someone who might get overwhelmed easily, where would you recommend getting started? P-They should find a comfortable quiet space, lay down, close their eyes and notice their breath, then they should notice their heart beating. Tune in to the simple things in life. Revel in the mastery of the human anatomy. D-During this journey you went through a natural detoxing where your body\u2019s chemistry started changing. You had a difficult time finding a deodorant that worked and you stopped enjoying the taste of meat. In your experience, is this natural detoxing a normal part of the journey for everyone when doing energy work? P-This varies by person. It is different for everyone. One can even experience this natural detoxing by merely starting a yoga practice. So yes, it is a normal part of the journey. D-After getting your Level One Reiki Certification, you waited a year before getting your Level Two. Would you recommend this same wait time for someone who is interested in obtaining Reiki Certifications? P-Yes, I believe that one should take the time after level one to heal themselves before they start trying to help others however some people get both attunements and even the third all in one weekend. I\u2019ve also heard of Masters not passing on the second attunement until years after the first. For me, it depends on the student but I would encourage some time to explore their own chakras after the first level. There is a lot to explore within oneself and things start to shift. So, you want to be respectful and allow yourself the time to process. D-Also, after waiting a year, were you able to obtain the Level Two Reiki Certification with the same Reiki Master that certified you as a Level One Reiki? P-The First Reiki Master did my second level. The level three was done by someone else years later. D-For someone who is serious about learning all there is to know about energy work, would it be more beneficial to study one area of energy work (Reiki) before moving on to something else? Or can different areas of energy work be studied and used at the same time? P-Yes, they can be studied at the same time but it also depends on the person and their learning style. It also depends on what they are planning to do with the information. Are they curious for their own healing or if they would like to teach\/work on others? The energy systems are the same all across the board what changes are the ways in which the individual chooses to tap into the energies to keep them settled. One can get started with learning about chakras without having to get Reiki attunements however it does not hurt. It will certainly give you a boost. When I got my first attunement the master provided me with a lot of information that I wouldn\u2019t have known by merely researching chakras. Like that KAVA tea has spirit unifying properties and that it would help me with lucid dreaming. Once you get started with energy work things will unfold and one thing will lead to the other. The Meridians or (energy channels) and five element theories are a little more complicated to understand and to apply and I only delved into that in massage therapy school however I do not think it is impossible to grasp. I tried my best to simplify these concepts in my book because I do believe it is necessary to understand. Think of the chakras as the Macro and the Meridians as the micro. Chakras governs the muscles, organs, veins, and ligaments within the chakra\u2019s vicinity. They are super busy hubs of energy that receive and give out information. They also contain information about your life\u2019s journey while the meridians are energy pathways that pertain to one specific organ. And yes they can be used at the same time. D-\u2018We Are Magical Beings\u2019 contains many different areas of energy work. Out of Reiki, Meridians, Chakras, Auras, Yin and Yang, Elements, Centering, Inner Child and Visualizations; do you have a favorite energy work? P-Picking one is hard because they are so intertwined. I do love visualizations and I think that visualizing and or tapping into the imagination is crucial for all of this work. So, visualizations are my favorite. D-One of the quotes from the book is \u201cThere is perfection in imperfection!\u201d This is very powerful. In today\u2019s world it seems that we are constantly chasing perfection. This quote feels as if it is giving us permission to be who we are without worrying about perfection. Did you find it freeing once you rid the notion of being perfect? P-Yes, allow yourself to be imperfect. Try your best but be clear about your process. Be mindful that you are not using this idea of perfection to procrastinate and not proceed with what you want. Remember the mind would much rather be safe in its routines so it will always convince you that you are not there yet. It was freeing for me because I allow myself to have fun and try new things. I\u2019ve heard so many people say they won\u2019t try new things because they are not \u201cgood\u201d at it. Allowing yourself to be imperfect is very freeing. Thank you so much Paola Collazos for taking the time to talk with us at PaganPagesOrg! If you would like more information on Paola Collazos visit her site at: http:\/\/www.paolacollazos.com\/ or you can find out more about her book We Are Magical Beings by clicking the links or the book cover below. Enjoy!! We Are Magical Beings: A Healing Guide for Earthlings  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/232"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}