Story & Lesson Highlights with Stefanie Ruth of Westchester County

Stefanie Ruth shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Stefanie, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
I believe that people secretly struggle with feelings of unworthiness. Deep down, whether it is a conscious knowing or not, I think many people struggle with not feeling good enough- not feeling good enough for themselves, their family members, their superiors, their friends, their partners, and/or their children. These feelings could have roots in challenging childhood experiences, traumatic situations, or from the pressures of current societal standards. Many people do not feel comfortable admitting that they feel unworthy. It can be quite jarring to acknowledge and sit with those feelings, even when you are fully conscious of them. Sometimes, people are unaware that feelings of unworthiness are at the core of their issues or challenges. In this case, it might show up subtly as someone who frequently deflects a compliment, doesn’t ask for help, or always tries to please other people. Often, I find that people become aware of it slowly, over time, as they start their personal healing journey. Feelings of unworthiness are so energetically depleting that they do nothing but keep us stuck in struggle-mode. It’s the type of thing that makes you feel guilty, ashamed, or scared to take risks. It keeps you feeling small and completely undeserving of the goodness that is yours to receive. It will hinder your growth and stop you from achieving your wildest dreams — the dreams that are completely possible for you to achieve!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Stefanie Ruth, a #1 best-selling author, Usui and Karuna Reiki® Master Teacher, psychic medium, Akashic Records teacher, and psychic development mentor. My passion is helping others elevate their energy — because our energy drives everything! — and develop their intuitive psychic gifts so they can step fully into their power.

As the sole owner of my spiritual business, Live and Breathe Reiki LLC, and as an ordained Priestess in the Order of Melchizedek, I always infuse my spiritual presence within my business practices. I blend my psychic gifts and mediumship abilities with my experience as a Reiki Master to notice where my clients’ energy needs shifting, help them facilitate that shift (because they are their own best healer), and provide them with channeled guidance from Spirit, so they can experience greater peace, freedom, and ease.

After undergoing my own spiritual awakening and being attuned to Reiki in 2011, I experienced life-changing shifts that allowed me to heal my body physically, emotionally, and mentally. Since then, I’ve helped hundreds of people all over the world reconnect with their authentic self, their soul purpose, and their personal power. I am honored to be a part of their journey. It always takes my breath away when I witness the heartwarming moments when my clients finally reconnect with the parts of themselves they thought they lost, or when they re-establish communication with the people they love who are now on the Other Side. There is such beauty in those moments.

My spiritual podcast, When Spirit Talks, has been my latest creative outlet. With a combination of solo and guest episodes, the conversations on self-healing, spirituality, relationships, boundaries, energetic mastery, and esoteric wisdom, encourages listeners to expand their consciousness, improve their wellbeing, and realign with their higher self. I always get messages from people telling me how much they love the “Spirit Segment” at the end of each guest episode, which offers spiritual tips, stories about spiritual encounters, and a final psychic/tarot message for listeners.

For more in depth transformations, I offer various 1:1 sessions (Reiki, Akashic Records, psychic readings), group courses (psychic development, Reiki, Akashic Records, Sacred Intuitive Tarot), and a monthly membership so people can begin honoring themselves and their intuition. Something magical happens when you begin to take care of your energy, replace your subconscious limiting beliefs, and remember who you are. The moment you begin shifting your mindset and your energy, the future shifts along with you!

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I would say the need for safety and its link to needing the approval of others is something that has served its purpose. As a child – and I know there are so many other people who feel similarly – I was the good girl, the quiet girl, and the girl who always tried her best to be seen as perfect. I felt safe and comfortable when others were happy with me. Everything was all fine until my attempts at perfection fell short of perfection and the need to please others took over. While this served me as a child, since I was dependent on the care of adults and my peer groups in school, it did not serve me in adulthood. Releasing this need for safety and approval of others has led to significant shifts in the way I live my life and run my business now. Instead of leading with hesitancy and fear – of how others perceive me and the detrimental impact it has on my safety – I lead with an energy of self-trust. I dig deep within myself and identify what I need in the moment – regardless of what would make others happy. I focus on what I want, what I need, and what I love, and I take action based on those things. As the creator of my life and my happiness, I take control of my decisions, reactions, and responses. I no longer base my actions on the needs and wants of others. By releasing those childhood needs, I’ve received more joy, happiness, and spaciousness. Instead of being pulled in different directions, I stand tall and strong in my own presence. If you are reading this right now and resonate with the same childhood identity, I want you to know that everything changed when I began to let it go. If it is possible for me, it is also possible for you!

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Until I opened my business, my pain was kept silent. While I had healed my body, mind, and Spirit by that point, I was not a person who openly discussed it with others. As a very private person, it was a struggle initially to share the painful parts of my story with others. The moment I included parts of my story in my number one best-selling book, Your Sacred Journey: The Ultimate Guidebook to Align Your Mind, Body, & Spirit, things started shifting. It was a deeply personal decision – and one I almost wanted to take back – to write my story and share it with the world. Once I committed to my decision, I learned a big lesson. Alchemizing my pain into power was big, but sharing my story with the world was even bigger.

I think that was the moment I officially stopped hiding my pain and I used it as power. By stepping out and sharing my story, I was able to come out of hiding myself. By sharing that vulnerability with others, I was able to connect with others in new ways. I was able to lead my clients through deeper self-healing journeys because I myself, also went through a deeper transformation. The power and success I gained from that experience was the starting point for where I am today.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
This is an interesting one. I think the belief I hold can be very polarizing because it touches on faith and spirituality. I think that there are some people who would completely agree with me and there are other people who completely refute what I’m saying. With that being said, I have also witnessed many “non-believers” becoming believers after experiencing a poignant moment of spiritual reconnection.

This is my belief: I believe that we have the ability to connect to energies that exist outside of the human form, including angels, spirit guides, and departed loved ones. I believe this because I know it to be true for me and for many others. The messages I receive from Spirit – and the synchronicities I’ve experienced since I’ve strengthened my connection to Spirit – cannot be easily dismissed or written off as a coincidence. While I cannot prove that it is possible to communicate with those in Spirit, it is a profound truth that impacts the way I move through life.

I believe that our loved ones are never fully gone when they pass away. I believe that while they no longer exist in human form, they remain around us in spiritual form. They remain in energy, in memories, and in frequency. They remain in our hearts. They remain in our existence because their energy can never be destroyed; it is simply transmuted.

The realization that Spirit is always around us, communicating with us, lending strength, offering miracles, sharing small moments, and gracing us with their love, is the biggest truth I cannot prove. Even more so, is my belief that every single person has the ability to connect to their loved ones in Spirit in some capacity. While psychic mediums do possess the gift of connecting to different energies in Spirit, everyone possesses their own intuitive gifts and they can tap into those gifts in order to communicate with their own angels and guides.

There is a sacred connection between you and your loved ones in Spirit, and you can cultivate that relationship at any time. The moments I’ve experienced when holding space for my clients to reconnect with their loved ones in Spirit – including departed loved ones, ancestors, spirit babies, angels, and guides – have been nothing short of extraordinary. They’ve shown me that some things do not have to be proven to be true. Some things just are.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
My work the last decade has taught me to understand that the most understated things are often the most powerful. I think there are people who believe a legacy is contingent upon visible success – that if others do not see you as a public figure, if you don’t have the popularity on social media, or if you aren’t seeing physical proof of your internal progress, it’s null and void.

I deeply understand that internal progress, whether it is immediately visible in your external environment or not, is progress. There is so much pressure in our world to make things happen, to resist the waiting, to downplay the transformation. I believe that the waiting and the personal transformation is always leading us on the path to success. Always.

There is no need to give up when you don’t see your efforts are being noticed – yet. There is no benefit to tearing yourself down when you aren’t meeting your goals – yet. There is no reason to stop dreaming and creating the life you want for yourself when you haven’t been able to live that life – yet. There is a deep power in the “yet.” Just because you haven’t experienced all the things you’re working towards – yet – doesn’t mean you won’t receive them. You will. Divine timing is everything.

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