Talking wellness: an interview with Jess Atkinson of Soul Radiance Healing

A while ago now, I attended a class at my favourite local yoga studio, Yoga Ground with teacher Jess Atkinson. As well as being deeply relaxing, it included a healing element which really piqued my interest. I left feeling like I was walking on air but also like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and a new full-body lightness had taken its place. A little woo woo for sure, but I was immediately drawn to attend more of Jess’s classes and experienced much of the same.
Along with being a Yoga Teacher, Jess is also a qualified Multidimensional Energy Healer, Meditation Teacher, Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach, and a Massage Therapist. When fellow teacher and good friend Nikki Ralston told me she had experienced a one-on-one healing session with Jess that was “incredibly profound” I was determined to try one myself, and now having had several, I can’t recommend them enough to anyone open to the experience who just may feel some real change take place. “The body keeps the score, all of our thoughts, words, emotions, experiences are recorded, even things we don't think are that important,” says the wonderfully warm Jess. “Clearing anything that can affect your health and happiness and secretly hold you back, is really powerful!”

With all of the above in mind, I delved a little deeper into Jess’s background – read on and enjoy!

Have you always worked in the healing/therapeutic realm, or did you once have a very different life to the one you inhabit now?
I’ve always been spiritual, even though it took a long time to unfold in terms of my career. In my younger years, I struggled with anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, life was not much fun! But I was determined to be happy, so I tried absolutely every kind of holistic therapy or spiritual practice that I could, and my life transformed when I found energy healing. My intuition told me that I was meant to do this for others but I didn’t know how, for many years I was completely lost. It took a long time to do my own healing, before my heart was open enough to be clear about anything! When your heart is closed you can’t see clearly, you just operate from the mind, from fear and lack. So I had to do a lot of other jobs that I didn’t love (i.e. working on super yachts), before I was able to fully awaken my gifts and make my healing work a full time thing.

When did you first realise you had a call towards healing?
I’ve always been into exploring consciousness, raising my vibration by any means possible. I always knew that some kind of information or energy was meant to flow through me, and I was meant to help people. On my self-healing journey, I did years of meditation and spiritual practice that opened up a powerful energy flow within me. I trained in a few healing modalities, searching for a framework for using this healing energy in the best, most effective way. What I learned was helpful and I did practice those methods for a while, but in the end all the learning fell away and the infinite intelligence of consciousness was left. What comes through me now is pure love, from my heart through my hands, it flows naturally and it is far more potent than anything else I’ve practiced.

You also teach yoga, are the two complementary?
Yes, I have taught plenty of yin/restorative yoga with energy healing. The restful spaciousness of a floor-based yoga practice allows me time to work with the group energy field. I set up the space energetically before people arrive, so as soon as they step into the room their energy begins to shift and uplift. Group practice is also powerful because it is intentional, we all have our own reasons why we are there. When I place my hands on each person, I activate clearing for whatever they are carrying with them that needs to shift. By working with one person’s energy, it helps things to clear for everyone else too, we more interconnected than we know. The comments I get after class are pretty amazing! People saying all their aches and pains disappeared, things like that. I love it when it’s clear that things are shifting, it’s not just spiritual fluff.

You have an event coming up with the very special Nikki Ralston in March, how did you two meet?
Yeah, we’re planning a few exciting events this year! I think I actually first met Nikki at Wanderlust (a once-popular yoga festival currently on hiatus) back in 2014, I also went to her yoga studio Urban Ashram a few times. Yoga teachers just all seem to know each other in Auckland. We didn’t become friends until the past couple of years when we both taught at Yoga Ground - I went to her classes and she came to me for healing sessions.

And what can those who are attending expect, can you share a little about the day?
Called Restore & Return, it is a beautiful deeply nourishing 2.5 hour experience, for absolutely anyone that needs inner healing, balance, and rest.
This is a collaboration between two women who have devoted their lives to helping others remember their strength, their light, and their innate capacity to self-heal. Where I bring deep soul work, energetic guidance, and multidimensional energy healing, Nikki brings grounded embodiment, strength, clarity, and mindful movement. Together, we create a space that is equal parts strength and softness, grounding and expansion, science and soul.
This is an invitation to rebalance your body, uplift your spirit, and reconnect with your inner wisdom in a space held with warmth, expertise, and genuine care. We would love to see you there!

You can read more about Jess and her healing offering here x