We recently connected with Dina Kleiman and have shared our conversation below.

Dina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

Growing up, I knew how I was going to live my life, all the way to the end. I would finish school, go to a good college, get a corporate job that I didn’t hate too much, become some kind of manager, take advantage of the 401K and insurance, grow old, retire, and, well… die.

The knowing was a blessing and a curse.

The good part was that I had a plan. I knew that I had to excel in school in order to get into a good college and then do well in college so that a good company would want to hire me.

This kept me out of trouble, for the most part. I went to class, did my homework, hung out with friends. I did what I needed to do, and I did it well. There was no question in my mind that this is the way to go.
Alternate possibilities did not exist for me. Not going to college, not getting a corporate job was never a part of my future.

The fact that I could and would run my own businesses, especially in the healing arts industry, never entered my mind.

There were no entrepreneurs in my family back then. Everyone had a corporate job that allowed them to live a comfortable lifestyle.

I graduated college with honors and had received three job offers, each one at a large successful company.

I chose to go into Information Technology because the money was good, and I did not hate the profession. My first title was Systems Engineer. My first raise came within three months. I traveled the world, Latin America, Australia, all over the US, and met incredible people along the way. I stayed in IT for 18 years. I worked as a programmer, as an Oracle DBA, did some Unix sysadmin work, eventually ending up in technical support.

At the time the following story took place, I was 33 years old and had already been on a personal/spiritual journey for eight or nine years. I practiced yoga, read books, worked with my own energy but I did not fully embrace the spiritual part of me. I felt that once I do that, everything about my life would change – and that was a scary thought.

I was sitting on the proverbial fence – feeling who I am yet clinging on to what I know.

One September morning, I was brushing my teeth when I noticed a growing puddle of toothpaste on the floor. “Strange,” I thought, “I am fairly certain I know how to brush my teeth while keeping toothpaste in my mouth.” I could not blame the puddle on my dog; my boyfriend was still asleep. Logic told me that the puddle must be mine. Indeed it was because I also discovered myself drooling all over my bathrobe.

When I raised my eyes to the mirror, I saw that the right side of my face was completely paralyzed. That explained why I was drooling – I could not control my lips.

I had developed what’s called Bell’s Palsy – a medical condition that causes paralysis of the facial muscles on one side of the face.

This condition ended up being a great gift from the universe because it stopped me in my tracks and made me take a serious look at my life.

I realized that if I wanted to avoid another episode – and trust me, it’s not fun when you can’t close one eye or have to hold your lips together with your fingers to keep your food from falling out of your mouth, or not be able to pronounce the letter “b” and “p,” I would have to get off the proverbial fence and commit to living my life as my true self.

I remember one evening as I was walking my dog, I turned my face up to the sky and I told the universe: “Alright you win, I surrender, I have no idea what I need to do or how, but that’s not my problem, you want me to do it, so you figure it out and tell me.”

And that was when true miracle began. Many magical things happened but this particular one stands out.

I had received an emails with an invitation to a year-long program. I did not understand what the program was about or why I needed it, but I knew that I had to go there. I signed up, not really knowing what to expect.

It turned out I had signed up for a program that trained people to become professional psychics.

At that time, I was certain that psychics are loonies, as are people who go to them. Thinking back, that was quite a strange belief because I have been practicing energy work on myself for years and if one can manipulate energy, why can’t one talk to it too?

The first time I did a psychic reading, I cried because I was really scared to look inside the soul of another human being.

Psychic readings, at least how I was taught to do them, are all about helping a person improve their life. That means having to witness their pain and traumas and then help them move through the healing process. I was afraid of what I would see and then have to live with. I’ve had enough of my own pain to deal with, and I did not want more.

As I went through the program, I began to see that behind all the pain lies an incredible source of light and that light emits pure love. I understood that having the opportunity to help a person transcend their pain, heal their traumas, and find their inner light is a gift that the universe has bestowed upon me.

Many people are in the healing arts because they feel called to help people and want to contribute something good to the world. I feel that too, but that’s not the main reason I eventually chose to go into this field.

The reason I do this work is because when that light is revealed, I feel rapture. And since I see that light in every single client in every single session, doing my job brings me immense happiness and a profound sense of fulfillment.

I don’t know why I am able to see that glowing light of love in each person and I don’t know the mechanism through which I can reflect this light back so that the person can see it too. Maybe that’s what a soul’s gift means – something good that we can do without understanding how we do it.

Bell’s Palsy, was my wakeup call. It was a message from the universe that told me it was time to make a choice and to trust the universe more than I trust my mind.

Religious texts call this an act of surrendering.

I used to think that surrender meant giving up your autonomy and living your life the way you were told.

Now I know that to surrender means to let go of the fear of stepping out of what you know and replace it with trust, hope, and love.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Medical doctors help your body be healthy. Therapists and coaches help your mind and emotions be healthy. My job is to help your energy be healthy.

Everything begins as energy. If the beginning is unhealthy, everything after it will be as well. This means that in order to have a healthy mind and a healthy body, your energy has to be healthy first. Otherwise, you will remain trapped in an endless cycle of getting sick, recovering, getting sick again, and recovering again, and so on.

Energy healing is the first and the most crucial step to a healthy and happy life.

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The mind cannot always heal itself. That’s because our life experiences are more than just memories within our minds, they are also energetic imprints within our bodies.

When we have a lot of negative imprints we become stuck in a constant state of worry, brain fog, and fatigue, we develop symptoms of anxiety and depression and eventually become sick with physical disease.

This is why people come to see me for a private session or take one of my classes: to help them let go of things that they know they should but are unable to. This helps their minds and nervous system become healthy and provides the physical body with the resources it needs to heal itself and stay healthy. The goal of my work is to assist people in becoming happier, healthier, and enjoying their life here on Earth.

My official job title is: Energy Healer, Intuitive/Psychic Reader, and Spiritual Teacher

My office is in Orange County, CA but my clients and students are located all over the world. I work remotely over Zoom and live in-person.

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How energy healing works – my perspective after 12 years in the business:

I became a professional energy healer and psychic reader in 2011 and began teaching classes the following year.

Back then, if you had asked me about how energy healing works, I would have given you a very logical and detailed answer using fancy words like chakra, aura, ancestral karma, Akashic records, soul fragmentation, pranayama… and other cool-sounding words.

I thought I was on the path to unlocking the mysteries of the universe and figuring out life. That was very exciting.

But before long, I got majorly humbled.

It wasn’t as if I woke up one morning and suddenly had the thought, ‘Wow, I’ve been humbled.’ Instead, it was a gradual realization that continues to hold true to this day.

Each morning, I’d get out of bed and think about the awesomeness of life and, of course, the awesomeness of me living this life.

Then I’d go work with clients or work on my own healing (you are not going to make it in this business past a year or two unless you make yourself your number one client).

The work itself was the part that was humbling. Humbling because the effect of energy work (including psychic readings) defied all my logical explanations.

Every time I thought I understood how and why something works, this construct would become shattered, simply because the universe (or whatever you call it) would show me something new.

Think about it: how can an hour or two shift the foundation of one’s life?

Yet, day after day, I saw things that made no sense. Simple movements of hands in the air had somehow caused ten people to be so overcome by the emotion of love that they cried., right there and then, all at the same time.

Strange clicking of the fingers that for some reason freed a 56-year-old woman of a terrible burden she carried for 40 years.

A woman in her 30s laughing hysterically after a healing because she had a sudden zest for being alive and really needed to eat some ice cream.

A woman in her 20s, finding the strength to say “thanks, but no thanks, I got this one” to her parents.

Myself, crying uncontrollably to a simple drumbeat for 10 minutes and then, feeling strangely alive, realizing that apparently earth-bound souls are a thing and somehow I know how to help them.

Why I would help them and whether they actually want my help is another matter, but the fact is, things that I grew up knowing to be nonsense – such as talking to my spirit guides AND they are answering me back – suddenly became real for me.

What I had been experiencing on a daily basis still had no explanation. No local reason for existing. Yet, there it was.

To avoid becoming the “bad kind of crazy,” I quickly gave up my need to have answers. I transmuted it into threads of experiences. I no longer ask the universe “why” and “how”.

I simply say: “Dear Guides, take me where you may, and when I screw up, as I know I will – because screwing up is a normal part of the human experience – please offer a graceful way out. If you could also include a little humor, even better. Humor, to me, is like a burst of color in a grayscale world, and you’ve seen my fluorescent yellow hair, so you know how I feel about color.”

Well, not in those words exactly. What I actually say is: “Thank you, my Guides, for your help and support, and may everything that happens today be for the highest good of all, and may it happen with ease and grace.”

And then I focus on my heart chakra and think about what a gift it is to be alive and have access to modern plumbing.

-II-

An energy healer’s journey is strange. I weave in and out of people’s most intimate moments. One day I am seeing things that others are too scared to see by themselves, so they ask me to hold their hand. The next day I see such love and beauty that I wonder how I will live when the light dims, for we cannot live in ecstasy all of the time.

A human body cannot contain the emotion of ecstasy permanently; it will burn right through it… or can it? A mystic can answer that question; I can only follow the song.

That’s how I experience the energy world, as songs, as poems, as dances, as waves, as colors. As my breath, that gives me clues to the fact that I am indeed alive, but fails to answer “where”. Where am I alive? And why am I alive?

Luckily, I can still explain some things—things I have read about in books but have not yet experienced myself. I treasure those explanations because once I experience those things, all of my logical explanations will no longer be logical.

It’s a gift not to know much – it gives us reasons to think we can understand a lot.

-III-

Over the years I have mastered this thing called “a shrug.”

Every time someone asks me:
– how energy healing works,
-how I’m able to see people’s energy and know things about people that they have told no one,
– how I can help a person find the gifts their soul came to earth with, how I can locate and help them release the nasty energetic contracts that have been keeping them stuck,
– how I can find unfinished business in a past life that, after resolving, helps a person feel better today,
-how I can clear houses of spirits and clear bloodlines of traumas spanning generations and
-how I can talk to spirits AND have them answer me back…,

I shrug and say “I really don’t know, I’ve just seen it work over and over on many people, myself included.”

NOTE ABOUT IMAGES: In the attached photos, the photos of me with one other person illustrate what a healing looks like.

The photo of me outside on a bench illustrates what a psychic reading could like, although I do not generally use cards, I look at the person’s energy directly and receive information inside my head. The person can be in front of me or remotely.

The photo of me with singing bowls shows what a group healing could look like, although I don’t always use bowls.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have been a part of the Burning Man community for a long time. Most of my friends are Burners, and I really embrace the lifestyle that encourages acceptance of people exactly as they are, giving without expecting anything in return, being your true self, enjoying the moment, taking responsibility for yourself, and being a part of a community.

A true Burner is one who is that way all the time, regardless of whether they are at the Burn or at home.

Still, the Playa – which is what we call the location where the event takes place – is a harsh and unforgiving place, yet magical at the same time. It changes people simply because they come.

The story I am about to tell happened in 2021, on the Playa. That year, the official event was closed, but my friends and I felt the Playa calling, as did 20,000+ other people gathered for the unofficial “Rogue Burn.”

The Covid days were kind to me; I had already been working from home for a while, I was in a relationship with a wonderful man, and had a strong support system of family and friends. But just like many people, the shock and the strangeness of the Covid situation made me want to re-evaluate my life.

I wondered whether the choice that I made to leave corporate to be in an untraditional profession was the right one. Whether what I did really mattered, whether the unseen world of energy really existed, or was it a figment of my imagination. I wondered whether I was deluding myself by thinking that love is what heals and that it is possible to live a life that is not about what you do but about how people feel when they are around you and you around them.

At least that’s what I was telling myself I was doing. Looking back, I see that the whole Covid situation impacted me at a much deeper level than I gave it credit for at the time. I did not realize that I had developed anxiety and depression, that I was getting lost within my own mind, and that I needed something or someone to snap me out of it.

Although I did not understand what was happening to me, the universe did, and it sent me help in the most magical way.

-II-

I knew something was up the moment I saw a group of two women and two men come into our camp.

They all looked to be in their mid-twenties; one of the men walked slightly in front, and the other three followed. I figured the three were here either because of him or for him.

The man leading the group said he was looking for someone that he could talk to about energy healing. Our camp’s name was Desert Healers, we offered Energy Healing, Reiki, Sound Healing, Breathwork and other healing modalities. He figured he would find a healer here.

My campmates advised him to go speak with me because I am a professional healer.

After the usual introductions, the man sat on a pillow facing me. He looked noticeably nervous; he was clasping his hands and shaking his foot.

His friends arranged themselves behind him, occasionally giving him a supporting touch or a silent look of encouragement.

“It started out as a regular flu that traveled up my spine,” he began his story.

“The virus attacked my brain, putting me into a coma for six and a half days. I was out of my body. I was in another world. I was not planning on coming back into my body; I was fine where I was. But I love my mom, and I knew she would be devastated if I had stayed.

When my mom put her hands on my heart, I felt a jolt of energy, and that was what brought me back into my body.

I opened my eyes and saw my mom looking so sad. I did not want her to worry, so I told a joke… and then the pain came, so much pain I cannot even describe. But despite that pain and the long recovery that took years, I am certain that I had made the right choice.”

“What was it like up there?” I asked.

He let out a breath, his shoulders dropped, his foot stopped twitching, his whole being seemed to exhale, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Imagine having everything you would ever want or need, except you don’t have any needs or wants.”

“Like apathy,” I asked.

“No,” he said as his eyes moved up and to the right, his smile widening, and a dreamy look appearing on his face.

“Not apathy. Harmony.”

He told me about what he saw up there: corridors, elevators, tables, people, beings…

He gave me a glimpse into that beautiful space, one that he willingly traded for the pain and harshness of this world only because his mom loved him so much, and he loved her and did not want her to be sad.

“You know, when you are young, you think that you have your whole life in front of you. You can do things that make you unhappy today, knowing that tomorrow you will be happy.

I now know that there may never be tomorrow. Life may literally end at any moment, it had for me.

I no longer have the option to wait for happiness,” he said.

“I have to do things that make me happy right now. This means I have to be happy at my job and in my relationships.

I also understand that relationships are two-ways, you have to give and receive equally.

And you have to give up the pressure of having to be perfect and of expecting others to be perfect.

You should try to do good, but you don’t have to be perfect. You should not put so much pressure onto yourself. It’s okay to fail. You will fail from time to time. Don’t be afraid of that.”

We spoke for a bit more, and then I asked him why he is looking for someone to talk about energy with and how can I help him.

“My mom placed her hand on my heart, her love went into me, that’s why I came back,” he replied.

“I figured, perhaps I can do that for other people too. I have been testing my theory. I would put my hand on my friends’ heart and send them love. It seems to make a difference every time.”

He wanted to know more about energy healing, how to know he is doing it right, whether there are any precautions he must take or things he should keep in mind.

I tried to answer his questions the best I could.

But it was not my advice that he came actually for.

What he was truly seeking was to be seen. He needed to share his story with someone who would not only listen and not only hear but also be present in his journey. He needed a witness so that he could re-ignite that feeling of love he felt when he was up there. A typical person, caught up in daily concerns and focused on survival, does not have the capacity to truly understand the depth and beauty of his experience. Only someone who is connected to the spirit world on a daily basis can truly understand those feelings and experiences. I gave him what he needed.

But he was not there just for himself. The universe had sent him to help me. I needed to get out of my head, stop doubting myself, stop questioning my life, and be reminded that love is indeed what heals. I needed to stop obsessing about my nonexistent problems and do what I do best – connect with another human and become a witness to their soul’s journey. I also needed to feel love. Not romantic love, but the love of the universe – the love that he experienced when he was out of his body and the love that I felt when he shared his story. He gave me what I needed.

Many people think that the life of an energy healer and psychic is about ghosts, angels, chakras, aura, and other things that can only be seen inside one’s head. That’s just how it looks on the outside.

In reality, my work is all about the people. Being a healer is about creating a heart-to-heart connection with another human being and allowing love to flow between them.

Sometimes, though, no matter how hard we try, we cannot be there for another. There are times when we cannot even be there for ourselves. But that’s OK, we do not have to be perfect all the time. It’s OK to make mistakes. Relationships are two-way experiences and the universe will send someone to help us even if we do not realize how badly we need help.

This story and others like it are the real magic of Burning Man. It is why people keep coming back year after year to this harsh and unforgiving land.

NOTE ABOUT IMAGES: The photo of me in a tent with people lying around was taken at Burning Man when I was facilitating a group healing.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

“I am opening an art academy, and I want you to teach the first workshop there. I want you to teach people how to paint mandalas,” my friend Petia told me.

Well, this was exciting; there was just one problem. I could not paint or draw, and in fact, I had childhood trauma when it came to drawing anything.

As far as traumas go, it was not a big one, but it did haunt me into my 40s. When I was a child growing up in the Soviet Union, I got a C in art because I could not create a still-life drawing of a vase, while other kids could. I was about nine years old at the time, and I remember feeling really inadequate and stupid. I ended up labeling myself as someone who could not draw. Even thinking about picking up a colored pencil made me feel inadequate and gave me anxiety.

The feeling of inadequacy was uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t prevent me from teaching. There are many things I feel inadequate about. If I let all of them get to my head, I’d never leave the house. However, I saw no way that I could teach people how to draw when I didn’t know how to do it myself.

I shared this with Petia.

“Don’t worry, baby,” she said. She calls everyone “baby.” Coming from her, it’s very sweet and endearing, and I like when she calls me that.

“When you paint a mandala, you do not paint an object; you paint what is in your soul. I am not asking you to teach art, baby; I am asking you to take the students on a journey deep into their souls, which is where they will be painting from. I will introduce you to an amazing artist who will teach along with you. You do the energy part, and she will teach them how to draw. I don’t want this class to be about drawing a pretty picture. I want this to be a healing experience for people, and you two are perfect teachers to do this.”

She introduced me to a woman named Elora, who ended up becoming a good friend.

An effective healer does not work alone. Helping people heal and grow is a community effort. One person can help another to a degree. But when a community of people from many different professions comes together with the intention to help each other, everyone grows and benefits exponentially.

When the local artist community heard about a new art academy opening with a mandala workshop, Paul Heussenstamm, a world-famous mandala artist, an author of many books about mandalas, and a teacher of “Art as a Spiritual Path” workshops, got in touch with Petia.

He has been teaching people to paint mandalas for decades and was loving the idea of more people having this healing experience. He offered to come to the academy and give a lecture about mandalas and the spiritual experience that people go through when they paint mandalas.

He also invited us to come to his studio to paint mandalas together. He did not ask for anything in return; it was his gift to us from his heart; he loved what we were doing and wanted us to succeed.

The opening night at the academy was a great success. Many people from the local community came to show their support.

Our workshop was a series of four sessions. I helped the students connect with their soul; my partner Elora helped them show their soul on paper. It was a powerful journey for us and the students, and each one of us came out of this workshop a better person. And, it was really, really fun!

None of this would be possible without Petia dedicating her time, effort, and money to create a place for people to come, heal, and learn. Her generosity gave Elora and me an opportunity to contribute. Paul provided his inspiration, and the local community came to support us.

This experience taught us that when we come together and support each other, amazing things can happen, reminding us that healing and growth are all about our connections with others.

There’s one more part to this story; this one is about me and how I was cured of my fear of drawing.

Shortly before hosting our first session, I attended another event where I shared the story of how I was traumatized for the rest of my life because I couldn’t draw a proper vase when I was nine.

At the end of the evening, a little girl came up to me. She looked to be around nine or ten years old. “I drew something for you,” she said, looking up at me with her beautiful brown eyes while handing me a small piece of notebook paper folded in half.

Inside was an outline of a vase drawn with a blue pen.

I’m not sure if she actually said this, or if I just heard it in my head. Basically, the message was that she drew a vase for me because she knew I wanted one, and now I don’t have to be sad because I have a picture of a vase. She also showed me that drawing does not have to be complicated, does not have to be done in any specific way, and is not at all scary.

I felt something dark and heavy leave my body and fly up into the stars. All anxiety, all inadequacy, and all fears related to drawing left my body, and I saw art for what it is: an expression of the soul, a journey of creativity, a source of inspiration that does not have to be done in any particular way. This magical child showed me that art is fun, that anyone can do it, and that I should not care what anyone thinks about my drawings.

It took that child 30 seconds to release 30 years’ worth of emotions.

My dad told me many times that the most important thing in life is the people you surround yourself with. He is right.

NOTE ABOUT IMAGES: The image of me with 3 other people is from that day. From left to right. Elora Fina. Paul Heussenstamm, me. Petia Matschke

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dinakleiman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dina_kleiman/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dina.kleiman
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dina-kleiman-energy-reader-shamanic-healer-spiritual-guide-8b71a8137
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DinaKleiman
• Other: email: [email protected]