We recently connected with Leah Welborn and have shared our conversation below.

Leah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

Last year I was contacted by a frantic woman. Her husband was in crisis and a mutual friend (and Reiki client of mine) suggested he try an emergency session with me. And here’s how I know Reiki is a real thing: I knew Reiki could help him. It wasn’t a “me” thing, I was simply a conduit. I was the right healer at the right time. He and I had a virtual session and it was the impetus he needed to turn his energy around. I’m grateful to have been the channel for that. 

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?

I’m Leah Welborn (aka the Mystic Autistic) and all my endeavors (including a Reiki studio, a podcast, and a book) are collectively called Empower Your Magical Self. 

As a late diagnosed autistic woman, my path hasn’t been straight-forward. I have masters Degrees in writing and art history, but for decades I bounced from one thing to another, unable to find my groove. I was a deeply spiritual person, but I was also deeply unhappy.

Everything shifted for me in 2020, as it did for so many others. I determined then to find a way to be truly happy no matter my external circumstances – as Joseph Campbell said, “to joyfully participate in the sorrows of the world.” I had no idea what that would look like, as I’d never done it before. 

I had to learn to be quiet and follow the inner guidance I’d always neglected before. It told me to get my habits in order. That was the first step to what I now call “empowering my magical self,” and that’s what everything I do now – my Reiki business, my podcast, and my writing – is designed to do. The joy of my life is helping others empower their own magic. 

So how do I do that? 

As a Reiki healer, I perform “energetic interventions” with clients either in person or virtually. It sounds dramatic and woo woo but it’s actually very simple, and it’s an ancient healing modality. I use my training to bring Reiki (universal healing energy) into the energy field of the client, providing an energetic power wash of sorts. 

As a podcaster, I have conversations with magical people (many of whom are also neurodivergent) who have helped me empower myself. I ask them questions with the aim of helping people who want to be happier, more evolved versions of themselves but don’t know how to start. 

Finally, my writings – like my book Empower Your Magical Self With One Month Habit Break: A Handbook for Reclaiming Sovereignty in 30 Days – offer practical, actionable advice developed from my years of study and experience.

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

So much of becoming a person who’s happy in my skin has come down to unlearning what I thought I knew, so it’s difficult to pinpoint one lesson. However, I think it’s important that the notion of “one-size-fits-all” be abandoned. Each of us is one-in-several-billion! There’s nothing that could possibly fit all of us. So much pain and turmoil arises from trying to force ourselves and others into boxes that weren’t meant for them. 

Maybe the only real job we each come here with is this: solve the puzzle of what makes you truly joyful in your soul, and help other people do the same (or at least don’t get in the way of them doing that). 

That’s what Empower Your Magical Self is all about – living in your highest, most joyful timeline. 

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Becoming a Reiki healer was one of the most transformational and magical things I’ve ever done, but Reiki school wasn’t easy for me. 

A Reiki session involves, among other things, the practitioner performing (with their hands) a series of movements over the client’s body that are designed to help the energy flow freely. 

Being not only autistic but also very left-handed has always made any sort of choreography nearly impossible for me to learn, and the Reiki sequence was no different. It was disheartening to watch my classmates easily pick it up after having watched the teacher walk through it once or twice. It was mortifying to have to ask for help over and over again, as I simply could not get the rhythm down. 

There was a time when I would’ve given up, but I’ve come a long way since then. I made what I affectionately called a “Reiki fakey,” which was a sort of human size rag doll made of my towel-stuffed clothes with a round throw pillow for the head. I practiced the sequence on that thing until I could do it backwards and forwards without any hesitancy. 

I knew that letting my personal challenges stop me from spreading magic would be a big mistake – and I hope that’s something that will help someone reading this. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leahwelborn.net
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVFraj0dEh4gqRBRhyqCpg
• Other: https://linktr.ee/leahwelborn