Today we’d like to introduce you to Rhonda Kuykendall-Jabari.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rhonda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a Reiki Practitioner, Chakra Therapist, Tarot reader and natural-born empath. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I think my first awareness that I was somewhat different came about in a conversation with friends. I was about 10 or 11 (1971/1972). We were talking about dreams and feelings and I said something like, “you know how when you dream stuff and then you wake up and it happens? Or when you dream you’ve been at the beach and wake up with sand in the bed?” My friends shook their heads like, “uhhhh, no!” I remember that I stopped talking and we changed the subject, but that conversation raised a question that never left my mind.
Time passed and I began to feel the angst, pain and happiness that I saw in others, even if I didn’t know why they were feeling that way. It happened with strangers, friends, family, it didn’t matter. I had no control over the feelings and lacked the sophistication and wisdom to interpret what was happening to me.
I cannot recall where I first saw a commercial pendulum, but I know I was about 12 or 13 years old. I use the word “commercial” because my grandfather used a handmade pendulum — a piece of ginger root tied to the end of a rope. He called her Queenie. He would ask us a question and hold it over our heads to see if we were telling the truth. “Who let the chickens out of the coop?” “Who broke the plate?” Things like that. Queenie was the biggest tattler and she always told him the truth. I was very young and I eventually buried that memory, until I walked into a shop someplace and saw beautiful pendulums made of wood, crystals, colored glass and metal, I felt an instant connection but didn’t know why. I started a collection with no awareness that this would shape my life in many ways. When the Internet came, I spent hours and hours reading about pendulums, subtle energy, and healing. I was in my 30’s and still didn’t know why this was important to me.
Fast-forward to the early 2000’s. My young Sun was talking to my mother and asked if she wanted to see what he was learning about energy. He pulled a pendulum from his pocket and shared what I had been teaching him that summer about tapping into subtle energy to access universal wisdom. Mom listened intently and said, “My father used to do that.” She told him about Queenie and something in me burst wide open. There was the connection! I remembered my grandfather teaching me about unseen energy. He used different words than we do today, but the information was the same.
Before becoming a healer, I was a recruiter. I loved helping people and I was good at my job because I could ‘read’ candidates and hiring managers and made great hires that lasted. The last full-time, brick and mortar recruitment position I held was with a company with over 20 offices. I was a corporate recruiter and felt close to many of the people. The business was very dog-eat-dog. I’d receive open requisitions and knew who was going to be let go. I’m a people person so I knew what was happening in the lives of the employees. Some were the sole wage earners in the home, others had special needs children requiring expensive care. Some were tied up in divorce proceedings or had recently lost a parent. I knew they would be losing their job soon and it tore me up inside. I’d go out to my car at lunchtime and cry because I felt so deeply for them. That’s when I knew it was time to make a change.
In 2002 I discovered Reiki through an Internet search, recognized it as a match for my natural gifts, and the rest is history. That year, I opened Wellness Uprising in the Historic Leimert Park Village. My practice was inside Lucy Florence, a community gathering space filled with high energy, warmth and love. I was there for about 8-10 years and then moved to the Westchester/LAX neighborhood about eight years ago. At Wellness Uprising we use workshops, classes, Reiki, chakra balancing and essential oils promote revolutionary self-care where you give to, nurture and support yourself before you attempt to nurture, support or care for others.”
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has anything but smooth. I was a late life mother so Wellness Uprising came about when my Sun was very young. For a while I held down a full-time job, worked toward my Bachelor’s degree in spiritual healing, and took care of my toddler, all while building my business. At the same time, I had to reprogram and reframe my own thinking about what success and happiness looked like for me. When I left corporate America, I was terrified and felt really selfish, but didn’t know how to quiet the voices beckoning me toward life as a healer. I’m certain this decision contributed to the break-up of my relationship with my Sun’s father (who is a very linear thinker). None of this made sense to him. I expected financial struggles, but the emotional tax was much higher than expected. Learning to shift unwanted energy away from others while not carrying it home with me forced me to create a habit of self-care that was far and above anything I’d previously done for myself. The amount of work required for me to stay well and strong so I can do this work can feel oppressive at times. But picking up and carrying negative energy can quickly lead to a shut down where I am unable to work and earn a living.
Another struggle was waiting for others in the community to embrace energy healing beyond a curiosity. I recall people walking into my practice, asking questions and saying, “I don’t know. I may be back.” I would see them and ask, “hey, when will I see you on my table”? They’d say things like, “I talked to my pastor and he told me not to do it. It’s not of God and it’s evil.” Years later, I began to get phone calls from some of the same people to schedule appointments. I asked what changed and they said that whatever they were doing was not working and they were ready to try something new. The were ready to get well.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Wellness Uprising – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Wellness Uprising is a healing studio located in the Westchester/LAX neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. We offer Reiki, chakra balancing, and essential oil treatments that release stress, relieve anxiety and activate the innate ability to self-heal. We also host a series of workshops called the Spirit Salon. These are gatherings where we laugh, learn and share with our community, clients and Practitioners in a safe and welcoming space, I am a Practitioner as well as Reiki Master Teacher, so we offer Reiki certification classes near every equinox and solstice. The next class is at the spring equinox on March 21-22, 2020.
Wellness uprising is very proud to have established a service for women of color who are receiving treatment for cancer. Our Practitioners wanted to do something in honor of the friends and family we’ve lost to cancers, as well as support survivors. Our cancer sessions are free of charge save a love donation of $20 or more, or an in-kind offering of crystals, candles, incense, charcoal tablets, essential oils, holy water, etc.
Lastly, Wellness Uprising has a Facebook Group called Powerful Rituals for Self-care and Insightful Living. Each year we highlight an aspect of healing and wellness. It started in 2018 when we shared 13 full moon essential oil recipes for self-care and healing. In 2019, we posted 52 rituals in 52 weeks (more have been added since). In 2020, our goal is to share all we know about chakras.
We are most proud of our clients who constantly seek more and better ways to practice self-care. Without them, we would not be. They are most certainly a special breed.
What sets us our practice apart is our Practitioners. We are not fly-by-night healers trying this on for size. We are mature women who have invested a great deal of time and money in the development of specialized skills. We are committed to doing this work for a long as possible. People can feel the love and reverence as soon as they walk through our doors. We spend hours each month just filling the space with positive energy.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
With seasoned Practitioners on-board, I can share clients with my specially trained Practitioners and focus on scaling and growing the business. I love rituals and expect to do much more work in the area of space clearing and self-care rituals. I look forward to sharing much more through live and Online workshops.
Pricing:
- Physio Spiritual Aroma-healing – $210/3 sessions
- Reiki – $195/3 sessions
- Chakra Balancing – $135/3 sessions
- Distance Reiki – $58.50/1 session
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wellnessuprising.com
- Phone: (323) 454-1124
- Email: info@wellnessuprising.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/reikibyrhonda
- Facebook: facebook.com/wellness.uprising
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