A Mini Moment With: Energy Healer Bre Jenkins

Maybe you remember the infamous GoopLabs episode featuring KAP, or Kundalini Activation Process. If you haven’t seen it, basically, this is what happens: GP lays on her back and begins to writhe and convulse as a practitioner performs energy work on her body—without touching her at all. It’s an intense situation but also so intriguing; you can’t help but want to try it as you also wonder: how does this work? Certified Health Coach Bre Jenkins knows. After ten years working in “mainstream wellness,” the New York-based healer turned to this advanced energy work in search of deeper healing. Now she offers KAP through private sessions, retreats, and immersion workshops at her practice INWRD, where she and her team also offer personal expansion via non-ordinary states, ancient techniques, channeling, and psychedelic integration. “Basically, I’m working with a combination of energy and consciousness,” she explains. 

Here, Bre tells us a little more about the practice and "non-ordinary states." Plus, she explains how psychedelic integration techniques can be applied to the consumption of cannabis, too.

What can someone expect to feel or experience when working with you during a KAP session? 
When we think of energy transmissions we think of modalities like Reiki, where the energy is being transmitted through the palms of the hands. With KAP we are not only transmitting energy but also consciousness. While we are transmitting kundalini energy, which lies dormant at the base of the spine, we are also transmitting a form of consciousness called “non-duality.” Non-duality in its most basic terms is oneness or absence of separation. Because of the synergistic nature of the transmission, the energy has an innate intelligence that can do whatever the body needs in that very moment. It’s really allowing the body to heal itself in its most natural state. These concepts are revered throughout many ancient philosophies and seen in traditions like Shaivism where they are referred to as “Shakti” energy and “Shiva” consciousness. 

Once activated, many have described feeling a tingling sensation or the “energy” throughout their body, having visions and going on astral journeys, experiencing an emotional release such as crying, screaming, laughing, and kinesthetic movements such as yoga and mudras have also been experienced. The transmission is still working within the body after the session and can increase awareness, mental clarity, bring feeling wholeness or oneness, lower anxiety or depression, and relieve body aches and pains. Many people have also reported significant life changes such as moving through past traumas with newfound awareness, serendipitous alignments, and manifestations at a rapid rate.  

On the deepest level, most of my clients are hoping to achieve authentic realization or in other words are looking to love, accept, and nurture their truest selves. In doing so, it's very natural and common to release ego-stories, gain understanding and new perspectives, release past traumas and blockages, and overall learn to let go of what’s been holding them back. Though, sometimes more surface-level needs can open the door to KAP therapy– whether its problems with a partner or roommate, looking to heal from a past situation, or simply the frustration of not being able to break down their own blocks and walls. However, what I see more often than not with my clients is a more profound achievement of genuine self-expression and unconditional love. They end up getting to the root of their most hidden and self-imposed obstacles. 

"Non-ordinary states are just mental states that don’t occur in your normal day-to-day existence."

How do you define “non-ordinary” states? What are some of the most effective ways to achieve them and what are the benefits?
Non-ordinary states are just mental states that don’t occur in your normal day-to-day existence. Simply just getting into a trance through deep meditation can be a non-ordinary state. What will be most effective for some might not work for others as it's a very personalized experience. Psychedelics are typically the most effective way to slip into an altered state of consciousness. Other forms to enter non-ordinary states are through breathwork (particularly holotropic breathwork), meditation, kundalini yoga, lucid dreaming, energy work, shamanic journeying, and trance dance. The benefit lies in the ability to get in touch with your subconscious mind while not being fully asleep. This allows you to receive insights, guidance, peace of mind, increase awareness and so much more. 

Why do you think we as a society have become so detached from the metaphysical? Do you see us shifting?
Well, there’s a lot of different ways this can be discussed. I could talk about colonialism and capitalism which are the physical reasons why we see this detachment but everything starts energetically before it is manifested in the physical. From an energetic perspective, it has to do with the ego and the concept of duality. What makes us humans is our ego. It’s what allows us to perceive duality or separateness. Otherwise we’d be walking around not knowing where we begin or end. It’s exactly why no one on this planet can prove without reasonable doubt who created us—the ego separates us from our creator. What duality looks like on an energetic level is the separation of energy (Shakti) and consciousness (Shiva). When using modalities like KAP therapy where you are combining energy and consciousness (its natural state) what’s really happening on an energetic level is the temporary dissolution of ego and perception of separateness. 

"I think the biggest reason we have become detached from this natural state of being is because our society thrives on feeding the ego, creating more disconnection, separateness, and duality within the self." 

So, to break it down, I think the biggest reason we have become detached from this natural state of being is because our society thrives on feeding the ego, creating more disconnection, separateness, and duality within the self. This is rooted in colonialism and capitalism which is rooted in greed which is rooted in ego. It’s like this inevitable ego cycle. Our ways of living and operating within our existence are very individualistic and this frame of mind is fueled and instilled at a very young age making it nearly impossible for us to become aware of the ways in which we deny ourselves energetic liberation. The silver lining is I don’t see this as a negative thing by any means because there is a shift happening. It’s just like when people finally turn their lives around after hitting rock bottom. Duality is actually a gift because it allows us to see the opposition that is nonduality. Without duality, we wouldn’t ever realize how important the metaphysical is and how it is just as valid and real as the physical. 

The biggest takeaway from this shift is in realizing that just like our emotions, energy is constantly shifting and moving. It’s like when we feel really angry and then once we take some time we begin to tap into understanding or feelings of calm. Just as we experience emotion in our physical body, energy flows up and down. Nothing will stay up for too long and nothing will stay down for too long. So yes, there is a shift happening but there will always be ups and downs. That’s just the natural arc of experience. 

"Cannabis can be such a subjective experience; it impacts one individual one way and another differently."

You also teach psychedelic integration. Can that knowledge be applied to cannabis consumption and if so, how?  
Oh, definitely! Integration can be used in any mind-expanding experience. It’s simply for those looking to safely support their inner-journeying. Cannabis can be such a subjective experience; it impacts one individual one way and another differently. Some people have experiences on cannabis (whether they be positive or troublesome) that they’d like to have a better understanding of. Integration can help them gain meaning from the experience. The same methods can apply to cannabis as for any non-ordinary experience, whether it be peer-support sessions, using healing modalities like meditation, navigating prep and harm-reduction, etc.

"As you exhale, blow the smoke around the object or space you’d like to clear."

Tell us about grounding and clearing with cannabis? Should we be doing this regularly?
For those who like to roll spliffs, clearing with cannabis is a great tool. Tobacco is naturally grounding and clearing, and has been used for thousands of years in sacred ceremonies for clearing space and/or the self. It’s also been used in divination. This is something that can be done daily to help clear undesired energies and can also be used in ritual for calling in guides and spirits. It’s a rather simple technique: Once your spliff is packed with 60% cannabis and 40% tobacco, inhale the smoke and set an intention. Then as you exhale, blow the smoke around the object/space you’d like to clear. Pro tip: Use a tobacco leaf to roll your spliff for extra clearing properties. 

What plant medicines or healing substances are you most inspired or intrigued by lately?

Well, my love of 5-MeO-DMT from the toad is widely known haha. It is a substance that I feel I will always be drawn to. 5-MeO-DMT (also known as “The Spirit Molecule”) is a psychedelic compound found in Bufo Alvarius otherwise known as the Colorado River Toad. There are both synthetic and natural versions of this medicine though the synthetic is most ideal to protect the species as it has gained quite a bit of popularity through the years. The main perplexing quality that I find with 5-MeO-DMT other than the fact that it comes from a toad, is its rapid ability to raise frequency and produce non-dual states. I’m also intrigued by its potential to produce reactivations. Reactivations are when the initial psychedelic experience is completed but spontaneous psychedelic experiences re-occur days, weeks, or months after the original journey. 

What’s a book you’ve read that shifted your perspective forever?
This is such a hard one. I feel almost every book I read shifts my perspective in some way, but I suppose the most impactful was The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, MD. I was actually given this book during a trip to a hospital to visit my grandma. It was the first time I really started learning in-depth about reparenting and trauma and it absolutely blew my mind. 

If you had a billboard, what would you want it to say?
Maybe something cheesy like, “Why look up here when you can look within.” Ha, I’m a sucker for cliche “call-to-action” signs. 

"Do whatever they are doing right now but with presence." 

What’s one easy thing anyone can do to instantly shift their energy, vibration, and mood?
Do whatever they are doing right now but with presence. 

Random or not-so-random thing you’ve been thinking about a lot lately:
I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between acceptance and forgiveness and how they are both rooted in unconditional love.