Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Watkins.
Hi Michelle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Throughout my life, I’ve been in touch with the numinous—the unseen, the mystical. As a child, though, that connection often felt frightening and confusing because I didn’t have a container to hold or understand those experiences. My family moved often, and while some moves were exciting, I always carried a sense of being an outsider. Over time, the disconnection from myself grew stronger, and by the time I was a teenager, it had deepened into anxiety and depression.
In my early twenties, I started listening to the quiet call within. With degrees in theater and psychology, I still felt aimless—until one day I stumbled across the field of Transpersonal Psychology. I’ll never forget the deep knowing that ran through me; it felt like a clear “yes.” I enrolled at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, and for the first time, I felt like I was coming home. That education gave me the beginnings of a container to hold the experiences I’d always carried but never understood.
From there, the path kept unfolding. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a teen had already shown me the power of the mind, and later, hypnotherapy opened me to how deep patterns could shift. Reiki came next, and I began exploring energy as the force behind thought, emotion, and healing itself. At the same time, I met my husband, built our family, and poured myself into raising our boys. That too was part of my path—learning devotion, presence, and love in action.
Eventually, Spirit whispered again: “It’s time.” Through meditation, retreats, and studies around the world—from the sacred temples of Egypt to the Andes of Peru, from India to Japan—I deepened my understanding of what it means to be human and why we’re here. Every journey expanded me, and every tradition added to the container I now carry.
Joseph Campbell said, “Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.” Urban Sanctuary is the embodiment of that. My aim is to provide a safe, nurturing container where others can come home to themselves—just as I have, again and again—through energy medicine, sound, and sacred community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’m reminded of a quote by Robert Frost: “I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
My road has definitely not been smooth, but it has been meaningful. Growing up, I often felt like an outsider and struggled with anxiety, depression, and physcial health issues, which made the journey into healing both personal and necessary. Over time, through psychology, transpersonal studies, hypnotherapy, and energy work, I began to build the tools to hold and understand the experiences that once felt overwhelming.
The harder parts—self-doubt, the logistics of running a business, and balancing family life with stepping into the vulnerable role of practitioner—have all been teachers. Those challenges gave me compassion, resilience, and a deep trust in Spirit’s timing, even when the way forward wasn’t clear.
So while the path hasn’t been easy, like Frost’s reminder, it’s the less-traveled road that has made all the difference—and continues to shape the practitioner I am today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At the heart of my work is a simple but profound belief: there exists, within each of us, a place of unbounded joy, infinite love, deep compassion, and complete connection. Life’s challenges and experiences often obscure that truth, but it never goes away. At Urban Sanctuary®, everything I offer—whether it’s energy medicine, sound baths, moon circles, or the Quantum Resonance Crystal Bed—is designed to help people find their way back to that place, back to their-Self, back to their Source.
I specialize in guiding clients through the process of remembering that they are already whole. Healing isn’t about fixing something that’s broken—it’s about releasing the patterns and programming, on every level—mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual—that get in the way of that remembering. In sessions, I weave together Reiki, shamanic energy medicine, crystals, sound, light, and intuitive guidance, tailoring each experience to the person in front of me.
What I’m most proud of is the way Urban Sanctuary has become more than just a healing studio—it’s a true container for transformation and community. People come in feeling heavy, unclear, or disconnected, and leave with a sense of lightness, peace, and empowerment. What sets me apart isn’t just the variety of modalities, but the way I hold space: as a practitioner, my role is to guide, nurture, and remind each person that the power to heal has always been within them.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are a few beautiful ways to connect with me and with Urban Sanctuary. Locally, people can attend our sound baths, moon circles, and workshops, or book private sessions ranging from energy medicine to the Quantum Resonance Crystal Bed. For those who aren’t in Los Angeles, I also offer intuitive readings and energy sessions virtually, so distance is never a barrier.
Collaboration is something I’m passionate about—I love partnering with other healers, wellness practitioners, and even medical professionals to create integrative experiences. Whether it’s co-hosting events, building referral networks, or weaving modalities together, collaboration always enriches the community we’re serving.
And the simplest way to support is by spreading the word—sharing an event, bringing a friend, or even just telling someone that there’s a safe, nurturing space for healing in West LA. Every connection ripples outward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.urbansanctuaryllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbansanctuaryla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbansancturary
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-watkins-b160a9290/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@urbansanctuary
Image Credits
Stephanie Waisler Rubin, Lian Jue, Anju De Anda
