We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Karina Menali. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Karina below.

Karina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I picked up a fridge magnet once that had written on it, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” That motto is not for everyone. For me, following the unexampled path means living fully, richly, and without regret, in spite of the fears. In my mid 20’s, I started to feel immense dissatisfaction. It wasn’t specific, just a vague feeling of discontent and restlessness. I went traveling, and decided I would listen, and allow life to guide me rather than trying to direct it. While meditating atop a sacred mountain, a series of images appeared that illuminated a path forward. I felt something burst open within me, a feeling of certainty and alignment I had never experienced before. I came home, quit my job, and moved to LA to study integrative medicine. The idea of going into a field I knew little about, and not knowing whether there was any job opportunity in the future didn’t matter. What mattered is that I was following the higher guidance of my heart. Years later, the same thing happened. An inner restlessness reappeared. It brought me to travel and listen to a voice that pointed the way to Santa Fe, NM. Knowing to trust it came easily this time. It was a big risk to move…I didn’t know if I would land, I didn’t know if I would make ends meet, but I knew to trust it. I felt utterly anxious and uprooted, at the same time powerfully held. Become self-employed doing what I love, while challenging, has been entirely rewarding. Landing in the land of Enchantment and opening up a second practice, that is now also thriving, fills me with immense gratitude. The courage required to takes such risks is immense. I’m grateful I was born with so much will power and capacity to embrace life’s flow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Kai Wellness is a holistic medical and healing practice that is a labor of love. I feel grateful to be expressing my innate gifts and talents, to be constantly upgrading and adapting and cultivating new skills to bring to a wellness center that focuses on healing beings using an integrative approach. Combining Functional and Chinese Medicine with various spiritual, emotional and energy healing modalities, my work is about helping people achieve healing at the deepest level. True healing requires working toward discovering what lies at the root. I pride myself on creating a safe container, meeting clients where they need to be met and expertly facilitating their self-discovery and profound transformation that leads to lasting relief and emergence of vitality that they have never known before. My motto is, “Come as you are, all of you is welcome here.”

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Relationships. Starting them, building them, cultivating, maintaining, nurturing them and ending them in a way that leaves all involved parties feeling truly seen, honored and grateful for the experience. The healing space is sacred, and a great relationship between practitioner and client is the biggest factor in creating safety and supporting deep healing. Relating to people is an artform. I am grateful for all my years studying and practicing psychology, traveling the world, learning methods like Emotionally Focused Therapy, Jungian analysis, Voice Dialogue, mindfulness practice, Motivational Interviewing, Shame Healing and other relational modalities. It is because of these experiences that I feel comfortable working a broad range of clients from virtually any background, and I largely credit this knowledge and ability to feeling fulfilled and nourished at the end of a long work day.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think of resilience as the ability to transition well, turn challenges into growth opportunities, and to be able to pendulate among states of being with relative flexibility and ease. Unlike an Oak tree, which is hard but rigid, a bamboo or palm is more resilient – because besides being strong, it can bend with the winds. Resilience can be cultivated. I’ve encountered many opportunities to build my resilience and what I’ve learned is that this is a continuous journey. One such experience was on a free climb in the Sierras…I got up nice and high and found myself in a spot where I was unable to figure out how to keep moving in any direction. I was stuck. I felt my chest tighten and my breath became rapid and shallow, the rush of cortisol sending tingles up my spine and starting to feel the panic of numbness in my hands and feet. A typical physiological fight-or-flight response. At this time in my life, I was at a big intersection. Big changes in primary relationship, living situation, and I was preparing to leave the office where I first started my practice and move into a bigger space where I would have much more responsibility on my shoulders and have to manage it alone. Everything required surrender and trust. And so I did. I started to consciously regulate my own breathing, I closed my eyes and told myself to just trust and ask for help. I placed my forehead on the rock, and what I heard was a voice that said “you are so much bigger than any of this”. I felt my heart start to beat normally, the feeling returning to my hands and feet. I opened my eyes, and as though someone took a highlighter, a pathway of holds was illuminated before me and climbed up and out of my stuckness. This experience provided the energy I needed to move through the life changes, and serves as a potent reminder of my relationship with something bigger than me, to this day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kaiwellness.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-karina-menali-l-ac-dacm-dom-dipl-om-ciayt-59769833/

Image Credits

Mark Maryanovich