*First published on Medium.com

Communing and having tangible contact with those in the spirit world is often seen as a lofty dream, an elusive unreachable concept for many people in the physical dimension/earthly realm — something that seems to only be accessible to certain people. There are those who speak of not being able to connect with loved ones after they pass on — feeling as if they are fully “gone”; or not feeling any connection to their ancestors or spirit guides generally (whether known or unknown, close or distant, relatives or non- relatives, human or nonhuman), and/or an overall disconnect and separation from the spiritual plane.

But what if one could connect directly with the invisible realm, and become their own channel of spirit contact? Though being able to see, hear, feel, and receive messages from their guides may come easy to some, this is entirely possible for everyone who desires it. However, it may be necessary to have some initial activation support, as well as help with clearing any blocks, fears or programming (outlined below) — and attached Westernized notions of spirit contact signifying that you’re “crazy” — that may be in the way of experiencing this connection.

Direct Contact with Guides Activating During Energy Healing Sessions

Over the years, many of my clients have experienced this type of direct contact with their ancestors or spirit guides as *one of* the things that occurs in Reiki energy healing/root work sessions.

This means that during sessions people will:

See their guides appear
Feel their presence or touch (some feel an extra set of hands on them in addition to mine/ feel them holding their hand)
Receive clear messages, answers or clarity from their guides
And/or hear their guides speak to them
Some receive direct support and guidance around healing lineage/other trauma we’re working to heal during sessions as well.
See their guides leading them to a buried subconscious memory or experience to be revealed and healed

For most, this contact is happening for the first time in their life.

And this not only happens during sessions -both in person & distance sessions - but also often opens up ongoing connection & support from their guides, in their life going forward.

Being One’s Own Channel

Spirit nudged me to share this for those that want to experience this (and don’t already) to know it’s POSSIBLE to have your own ongoing line of contact and communication with the spirit realm; that even people who aren’t mediums, intuitives, energy workers can connect with their spirit team with some initial activation & clearing support.

I love that instead of me simply telling people what I’m feeling, hearing, seeing from their guides, telling them messages from their guides, etc — a direct connection gets activated & people experience it themselves, turning elusive concepts into real manifestations and creating agency over ones spiritual domain.

Knowing Your Spirits Are Reachable

The concept of spirits being unreachable is also something I’ve seen often in movies and songs over the years; it’s usually coupled with a strong desire to feel the presence/confirmation from/support from spirit guides and ancestors, but not being able to.

A beautiful recent example of this is Andre 3000’s verse in a song, where he speaks about wanting to connect with his mother, who transitioned to the spirit realm:

“Hey, Miss Donda

You run into my mama, please tell her I said “Say something”

If there’s a Heaven, you would think they’d let ya speak to your son”

As his soul searches for some sort of contact or proof that she is here, there, and everywhere, still. The desire to hear her speak to him — directly to him — is another reason why I also felt called to write this piece. To let him, and anyone else who feels this way know — you CAN hear and feel and see them. It will just take a little work, some time and a lot of trust to do so.

Possible Blocks to Connecting With Spirit Guides & Ancestors (and Clearing Them!)

I always call in people’s ancestors and spirit guides who are in alignment with their highest good and healing to join healing treatments, and ask clients to do the same prior to beginning; and some people ask who their guides are to be revealed during the session as part of the intentions for the session(s). Some may know who their guides are but haven’t been able to connect with them and deeply desire to have them be with them on their journey.

For some people, a connection or reveal activates right away in the session (and beyond).

But some people have energetic, emotional and/or mental blocks or resistance or other setbacks that are revealed during sessions that need to be cleared in order for connection to take place first.

Some examples of blocks include:

A fear of connecting with spirits and the spirit realm
Religious trauma & subconscious programming that says communing with spirits is ‘evil’
Programming that says indigenous rooted spiritual belief systems are “wrong”
Feeling as if connecting with/talking to/hearing spirits means you’re “crazy”
Believing only people with special abilities can connect in this way; not trusting its possible for them
Ancestors in their lineage not ready or intended to be “guides” (for various reasons; this can actually shift during the sessions and guides can become ready while clearing lineage blocks or trauma, if that is what is meant)
Feeling attached to spirit guides being in a certain form (as some guides are not only in “human” form” or of “human descent” (i.e. some people have trees, animals, or spiritual deities that appear as guides, to name some examples), thinking spirit guides are only ancestors (family members/relatives) but they could be unrelated as well
Some people have to heal pain related to the ancestor directly first
Blocks in the crown chakra
The timing isn’t right (this is not a block but more a reason for delayed connection)

I pick up on & feel all of the above during sessions; sometimes clients may receive this info directly too, while the session is happening. During sessions (and, this can take time or several sessions) I work to clear, shift & release/extract and transmute the above & as a result, along with integration practices, people’s guides appear eventually — gradually and over time, coupled with intuitive counseling and processing — as things are revealed, experienced and released through the energy medicine. People are able to feel the shifting happening in them in various ways as it’s happening both in session and afterwards.

It is important to highlight further, however, that not all ancestors are meant to be guides for people — though within the work we are able to sometimes clear whatever unresolved issues exist in a spirits journey as well as the spirits relationship with their human descendant — and so a spirit can *become* a guide throughout the course of the work together, particularly when there is lineage healing and cycle/pattern clearing. But there are some instances where it is revealed that an ancestor is not, in fact, meant to be a guide to the person in their life, and their appearance in sessions is only to clear and heal the relationship between the ancestor and the descendant.

How Spirit Connections Continue to Support in Life

As a practitioner, I try in various ways to empower clients with their own tools & practices they can access in between & long after our time together.

And that is why it’s beautiful to see these spirit guide and/or ancestral connections continue in various ways after and in between sessions for my clients, as life continues.

This continued support in life can look like:

Guides showing up and helping people during crisis moments, during dark and difficult times
Helping people feel spiritually connected
Helping people feel less alone & afraid
Helping them feel protected & grounded
Providing people with clarity & answers
Visiting people during dreams
Giving people downloads & messages
Continuing to help support family healing and dynamics
People feeling their guides presence, feeling their energy, their touch
Guides helping to orchestrate things, fix problems
Connecting with family members who transitioned to spirit and easing pain of loss, feeling they aren’t “gone” but simply expanded
Receiving signs and omens from guides continuously
Receiving directives on what to do/what not to do
Offering people insights into family wisdom, insights, traditions, remedies

It’s pure magic to see this type of support begin to happen to people to help them not only through difficult moments in life, through dark times, but to help them always feel support from the invisible realm. It can be deeply comforting on many levels.

**Being Open to How Your Guides May Connect With You**

Once one has experienced this activation and contact — it will be important to be open to how your guides want to connect with you going forward.

It could be visual, energetic, orchestration of things in your life, through dreams, offering messages and clarity and answers, feeling their touch or presence, during meditation, while in nature, while at your altar, while listening to music, in the form of a tree or animal (or other entity), etc. It could be either of the above or all of the above. You will know…and the more surrendered, open, trusting and flexible, the better. There is no one way to connect with those in the invisible realm.

Continuing to believe, and know, that you — yes you (in divine timing) — can have this type of connection, helps to sustain and continue to experience this connection on deeper levels.

Other Ways to Activate Connection Outside of Reiki Energy Sessions

Though I have written about activating this connection through Reiki energy medicine sessions in this piece specifically, there are other ways to open up to and grow this direct connection with guides in the spirit realm — and this will vary for everyone.

Other methods can include:

Guided meditations focused on ancestral contact
Plant medicine ceremonies with an authentic shaman
Hypnotherapy sessions

…to name a few. It is important to find the way that works for and resonates for you, and it may be a combination of all spoken of in this article.

As more people reach for their invisible team and we continue deprogramming from the conditioning that doing so is a bad or evil or unreachable thing — spirit communication is becoming less “spooky” or deemed as “crazy” and more of an empowering and beautiful thing.

While it can be a bit shocking for some at first, people express feeling empowered and also gratitude, excitement and honor to have this relationship now present in their life; it also helps people see themselves as more spiritual beings, and resolve the disconnect they once felt to their own spirituality and the spirit realm, and their guides who exist there.

The veils are thinning and concepts of separation are weakening.

Things are shifting, can you feel it?

[Note: Because some people have asked me this in the past, I want to make it clear- if spirit contact/communication activation within Reiki sessions is desired- check with the practitioner you’re working with to see if it’s something they facilitate/channel as part of their sessions (as it’s not across the board). Also, for those unfamiliar with Reiki, I want to clarify that varying physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, subconscious, and energetic related healing, shifts, clearings, releases, downloads and transformations happen during and as a result of Reiki; this ancestral contact/healing is just one component of what is possible].