Certified Reiki Master And Organic Esthetician Blends Energy Work, Facials, And Intuitive Coaching For Whole-Person Wellness

Searching for care that treats more than symptoms? We sit down with Kerry Walker-Collins, the certified Reiki Master and organic esthetician  and Intuitive Coach behind Mystic Reiki and Wellness in Laguna Beach, to unpack how energy work, mindful touch, and clean skincare create lasting change. Kerry shares the near-death experience that reset her life in 2007, the early days working in a physician’s office, and the surprising moment patients sensed Reiki before she even trained in it. From there, the story moves into integrative medicine, where surgeons observed calmer patients and smoother pre and post-op experiences when Reiki entered the care plan.

We explore why pairing Reiki with organic facials can reduce inflammation, soften stress responses, and improve sleep—benefits that show up on the face and in daily life. Kerry breaks down intuitive coaching as the third pillar, explaining how separate phone or Zoom sessions help clients process patterns, make clear choices, and carry transformation past the treatment room. Along the way, we tackle the biggest myth about Reiki—that it’s “new age” or tied to a belief system—by clarifying its non-dogmatic nature and growing acceptance in hospitals and integrative clinics.

If you’re navigating burnout, sensitive skin, surgery recovery, or just craving a calmer baseline, this conversation offers practical insight and reassurance. You’ll hear how environment matters—a slow, welcoming studio where clients aren’t rushed—and why word of mouth fuels sustainable growth better than hype. Ready to rethink what whole-person wellness can look like? Follow Kerry on Instagram at @mysticreiki, explore services and events at https://www.mysticreiki.com/, and share this episode with someone who could use a gentler path to healing. If this resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what you’re most curious to try next.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Rachel Five.

SPEAKER_01 (00:12):
Well, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Now, are you looking for acertified Reiki master master or
an organic esthetician or evenan intuitive coach?
Well, that person and individualis closer than you think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Carrie Walker Collins, withMystic Reiki and Wellness.

(00:34):
Now, Carrie, how is it going?

SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
Great.
How are you?

SPEAKER_01 (00:38):
I'm good.
I'm good.
Now I'd love to hear about yourbusiness.
So tell us about Reiki MysticMystic Reiki and Wellness.

SPEAKER_02 (00:46):
Well, Mystic Reiki and Wellness is in downtown
Laguna Beach.
Been there for many years.
And actually, it's it's alwaysbeen in Laguna Beach.
I started doing this in 2007 inSouth Laguna at the hospital.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00):
Okay.
And can you uh kind of expand alittle bit about the services
and stuff you offer?

SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
Sure.
Um I let's see, I started in ummedical skincare.
So that's where the organicfacials and the organic
aesthetician comes from.
I quickly then learned Reikionce I got hands-on and um
realized that a little bit morewas going on in my sessions than
I had anticipated when I becamean aesthetician.

(01:27):
And uh Reiki is a beautifulhealing uh modality that is um
can't is is great foreverything.
I can't even list out all thethings that we've worked on over
the years with Reiki, but it isuh immensely important,
especially in this day and age,with the amount of stress and um
outside influence that we haveto really do the inside healing

(01:51):
portion of it.
So when I combine the twomodalities and do skincare and
Reiki together, it really setsthe um service apart as far as
um being able to work with theskin and the energy that's going
on inside of your body.
So people really enjoy that.
Um, and then the intuitivecoaching piece that that

(02:12):
occurred uh because my Reikisession started needing to be
longer and longer because I wasfinding that people wanted to
come in and um really talk aboutwhat was going on in their
lives, and there's a lot ofintuitive influence and kind of
messaging that I am able toreceive uh through that.
And so I realized that umseparating out those sessions

(02:32):
and having them over phone orZoom, kind of like what we're
doing right now, is reallybeneficial.
Um, so that's where the threemain services um were kind of
born.

SPEAKER_01 (02:43):
All right.
Now I maybe expand like how didyou get into this kind of
business and brought you ontothis path?

SPEAKER_02 (02:50):
Um, well, originally, originally,
originally, how far back shouldI go?
Look at our watches.
Um originally I had a careerchange essentially that was not
planned either in that 2007because I had an entire um life
change.
I had a near-death experience,and um that pivoted my entire

(03:13):
world.
So I, in order to kind of shifteverything that was going on, I
went back to school and becamean aesthetician.
It wasn't supposed to be mystop.
That wasn't where I was ending,it was just what I was doing for
the time being.
Um, became an aesthetician andgot my first job uh working for
a physician.
And um, it was there thatsomebody was asking me if I was

(03:36):
doing Reiki on them before Iwas.
So I had a pretty heavymeditation practice.
I was doing a lot of uh yoga andspiritual work at that time, and
I was starting to realize thatthe patients I was working on of
his were not necessarilyprotocol.
So I was already having to kindof separate out and using a lot
of intuition on what was goingto be best for them.
Um, so it was a really shortamount of time.

(03:58):
It was about six months before Iended up taking Reiki classes
myself, never having had asession.
Um, now I've had thousands, ofcourse, but I didn't know what
it was at all when I wasstarting off.
I just, it really, reallyresonated with me and I was led
to that.
Um, and then that ended up kindof taking over the medical
practice.
So I was doing a lot of Reiki onall the doctors.

(04:22):
He was actually a surgeon thattrained physicians from all over
the world.
So we were showing himeverything we were doing.
So he ended up becoming veryintegrative as far as we were
doing Reiki pre or post op onhis um patients, and and it just
took over.
And it's I mean, it's great forso many things, which I'm sure
I'll be able to talk about todaywhen these questions.

(04:42):
But um, so that's that'sessentially what happened.
And um, I think it was aboutfive years later that I ended up
having my son and um went outbranched after that went
branched out on my own, andthat's when mystic reiki and
wellness happened.

SPEAKER_01 (04:57):
Wonderful.
Well, what do you think are somemyths or misconceptions in your
industry?

SPEAKER_02 (05:02):
Um, I think mostly that it's new age um or kind of
lumped in with a new agedevelopment.
I think that can hold somepeople back from from doing it.
Um, I think people justautomatically assume that it has
some type of spiritual practiceattached to it, and it doesn't.
Um, Reiki has no dogma attachedto it, meaning that it's just um

(05:24):
completely neutral in thataspect.
So we should be working withanyone of any religion.
Um, it shouldn't be brief doingany of that for them.
And I feel like that's thebiggest misconception is that it
kind of gets lumped into thatother section.
Um, but it's it's really not,it's it's more independent than
that.
In fact, it's it's widelyrecognized now in the medical

(05:45):
field.
So um it's becoming more andmore mainstream, which I'm very
happy about.
But it's uh I think that's thebiggest part.

SPEAKER_01 (05:53):
Wow.
Well, now we know marketing isis you know at the heart of
every business.
So how are you finding yourpatients?

SPEAKER_02 (05:59):
Yeah, I so I have never really marketed a whole
lot in the 20 years.
Um grateful for Google.
That's definitely I seem to comeup pretty quickly when you're
Googling Reiki in Orange Countyand definitely Reiki and Laguna
Beach.
Um, and other than that, it'sreally word of mouth.
So I depend on those umtestimonials and people talking

(06:20):
about what they what their umoutcomes have been in the
sessions and their experiences.
And that's what seems to haveworked the best for me.

SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
Wonderful.
Now, have you ever thought aboutdoing your own podcast?

SPEAKER_02 (06:32):
I have not.
I have not.
Um, I've been on a lot ofpodcasts over the years, but I
have not thought about doing myown.

SPEAKER_01 (06:40):
Okay, now outside of work, what do you like to do for
fun?

SPEAKER_02 (06:44):
Well, I have a 13-year-old, almost 14-year-old
eighth grader that I amhomeschooling.
He's in a hybrid homeschoolsituation, so that's not a lot,
but it does take up a lot oftime these days.
And that started about fiveyears ago.
But other than that, we live inum San Juan Capistrano, which is
beautiful, and we walk thetrails and we're out in nature
and walking my two beautifulGerman shepherds is pretty much

(07:08):
what we've been doing a lot oflately.

SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
I love it.
Well, Carrie, please tell ourlisteners one thing they should
remember about Mystic Reiki andwellness.

SPEAKER_02 (07:20):
I think to remember about Mystic Reiki and wellness
is that it's not just um theaverage wellness center, that's
for sure.
When you come in, my clientswant to stay.
There's a beautiful waiting roomthat's a couch, and it just sort
of you just want to live inthere in that space, and you're
welcome to.
We don't rush our clients in andout.

(07:40):
We take our time with umeverything that's going on.
We're really working with thewhole person um inside and out.
And we really truly, I really wereally care.
All of the girls that work withme and myself, um, we really,
really pride on uh how we can beof the best service to each
individual client that's comingin.

SPEAKER_01 (08:02):
That's wonderful.
Well, how can our listenerslearn more about Mystic Reiki
and wellness?

SPEAKER_02 (08:08):
You can follow me on Instagram and it's at Mystic
Reiki, or you can go tomysticre.com and all of our
events, we have a couple greatevents coming up before the end
of the year, and services areall listed out.
Um, all of our amazing skincareproducts, everything that we
use, we we have up thereavailable for all of our clients

(08:30):
to also see and purchase.

SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Wonderful.
Well, Carrie, I reallyappreciate you being on the
show, and I we wish you and yourbusiness the really very very
best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 (08:41):
Thank you so much, Rachel.
Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 (08:45):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnpoorgecounty.com.
That's gnporangecounty.com orcall 714 941 862.