Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Rae Kerwin.
Hi Kelly, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Maryland, outside of Washington DC, and moved to New York City in 1996 when I was 18. I played in bands and bartended for 17 years. In 2011, I was pregnant with my one and only son and that changed the course of my life. I had a very hard pregnancy, labor, and postpartum and it inspired me to become a doula. I realized pretty quickly that I wanted to become a midwife, so I told my partner at the time that I wanted to leave New York to do this and so we came out to the midwest to make that happen. He was from Fargo and we lived there for 2 years. I went to college for the first time in my life at 35
I quickly realized that nursing school was not my path and found a holistic midwifery school that aligned with the type of care that I wanted to offer. We moved to Minneapolis in 2015 for an apprenticeship with home birth midwives and have lived here ever since.
There isn’t a time in my life when I wasn’t able to talk to spirits. It was a big part of my childhood that I never talked about for fear of being called crazy, I really didn’t even know what was happening. There were lots of animal spirits and elemental spirits and it was pretty frightening. When I moved to New York, I had many scary incidents, I lived in a real haunted house in Brooklyn that burnt down. At that point, I had a conversation with my guides, I didn’t even really believe in them yet, I needed them to stop. I didn’t like the visions and communication. I was drinking heavily and lots of drugs to make it all go away.
So for a decade or more, things quieted down and didn’t completely go away, but supernatural phenomena slowed down for me. With the traumatic birth of my son, my psychic abilities started coming back online and then with the death of my father in 2015, they were back to 100%. The grief set it all in motion. The family drama and pain were so much and I was dying from a broken heart. My anxiety was off the charts. I was throwing up every day, fainting, and I couldn’t eat anything. At the same time, my intuitive abilities were blossoming and it was an awful crazy time. Meanwhile, I was trying to live a normal life as a birth worker and mom. And I was still drinking heavily. My heart was so broken over my father and his betrayal.
So I did what I thought I was supposed to do. I went on medication. I went to talk therapy. And I began to get a bit of a grip and then I found an energy worker and psychic who really did save my life. Energy work was the missing link for me. It was what my soul was needing.
It got to a point where I could no longer attend births because I was laboring and feeling all the contractions that my clients were feeling. And with my anxiety so high, I had to figure out a way to handle it because Xanax wasn’t working anymore and I was having to fight for it and I was on a really high dose of Prozac.
I decided to do Reiki training with my energy worker to be able to begin working on myself and having real tools to cope. I had no intention of starting a healing business, I was becoming a midwife, and I was so set on that. And then I did my Reiki 2 and Reiki Master training and Twin Cities Reiki was born.
I started offering Reiki sessions at a very low cost and became more interested in spirituality than midwifery. Things were shifting. I knew I was getting closer to leaving the birth business, so I also trained in craniosacral therapy, thinking that would be my transition out.
I was so thirsty for Earth medicine teachings, sitting and learning from Shamans here in Minnesota, Peru, and Chile and that was what sealed the deal for me. It grounded the other things I had learned and I was on my way to becoming who I am today. How I practice and how to interpret energy. At this point in my career, I mostly teach and practice from my 2 lineages, Mexican and Celtic magic.
The pandemic was actually really good for my business. I set up a tent in my backyard and I was seeing so many people for energy work, abdominal massage, cranio-sacral, herbs, and tinctures. I was the neighborhood backyard, the good witch. I was seeing around 50 people a week which is really unheard of for a new practitioner.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. My greatest lessons have been the times when I got hurt. One of my greatest lessons was during a demonic attack where I was almost killed while doing a routine house blessing at the beginning of 2021. I had another last year. So I am always having to stay on top of my learning and integration.
Going through those experiences, being physically and psychically attacked gave me an inside look at those realms and energies. So for that, I am thankful for making me a better and stronger healer. And if I can pass on what I have learned the hard way, I will.
This is the type of job where I have to be walking my talk or I get hurt. Especially as an intuitive and highly sensitive person.
We’ve been impressed with Twin Cities Reiki, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a Reiki Master Teacher, clairvoyant, shamanic practitioner, past life regression therapist, animal healer, communicator, ceremonialist, and send healer. I have a gift for working with those who are in very dark places. I’m an expert on the journey through grief, trauma, unexplained happenings, the odd and the peculiar.
I use metaphysical anatomy in my practice which really helps me understand what people are dealing with at the soul level. The root cause, whether it’s a mental, emotional, or physical issue they are coming to see me for. What sets me apart is my ability to meet people where they are and my experience. I am most known for being able to handle darker energies. That is my specialty. Nothing is weird to me.
Nothing is off-limits. For a lot of people, I am their last hope of healing or being understood. No one wants to be considered “Crazy.” And people will hide just about everything to keep from being called that. In 2023, I am beginning to teach more classes and programs. Womb healing, abundance, and manifestation, and my 3-month program called “777” which ties together shamanic teachings and new age spirituality. Except it really isn’t new age, it’s quite ancient the teachings that I am bringing forward.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
As an entrepreneur, everything I do could be considered a risk. I had a couple of really good months financially at the end of 2022 and I took that money and put it right back into my business. I am betting on myself, believing in myself to grow my business to a place where I can have more group programs and so I can travel more.
I am definitely a risk taker, I have daily rituals and have to be on top of my mindset all the time. This can be a really lonely and isolating business. I don’t have a partner, it’s all on me.
Pricing:
- 1:1 Shamanic Reiki Sessions $166
- Abdominal Massage $160
- “777” Kelly’s signature 3-month program $3333
Contact Info:
- Website: twincitiesreiki.com
- Instagram: @kelly.rae.kerwin.healer
- Facebook: @kraekerwin
- Youtube: @KellyRaeKerwin
Image Credits
Nik Linde and Ashley Rick
