Today we’d like to introduce you to Dannielle Bryan.
Hi Dannielle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
This is such an interesting question to me because I have been doing what I am currently doing for the last 25 years in one fashion or another – but the way my business looks now is a fairly new version of it.
I am a master practitioner of shamanic energy healing, a teacher of the Andean shamanic path, a trainer of practitioners, and most recently the owner and founder of the shamanic twist institute, wellness center & studio.
I have always been intuitive and inclined toward alternative and natural healing. Really since I was a little kid. I started dabbling in the healing arts at age 15 when I began studying essential oils and their healing benefits.
Then at the age of 19, I was initiated into reiki levels 1 & 2. That was what set my journey afoot. It blew open all my intuitive and psychic channels. Stuff was happening to me that I didn’t even know could happen. Some of it was fun and interesting, and some were terrifying. So, it forced me to find a mentor and begin understanding the world of energy and the other realms.
I pursued massage therapy through a school in Missoula, Montana that had a very strong track in alternative healing modalities and I became very interested in the energy body and how to work with it and heal ourselves.
Once I graduated, I moved to Utah in December of 2000 and began practicing massage privately on my own. I worked in a spa for 6 years, but always maintained a private practice where I could weave more of the energy healing in. I was always intuitive and would often get information regarding a client’s emotional state or pick up things that were held in their field that were unresolved in one way or another.
I knew enough to know it was not helpful to just mention these kinds of things without knowing how to help them truly bring healing and resolution to traumas and wounds – so I would just keep it to myself. I was looking for something but didn’t know what. Then one day due to divinely orchestrated events I landed in a shamanic practitioner training class with the Four Winds society (not even knowing what it was all about) and boom – that was it. All the dots were connected for me, and it was the modality I was looking for that I didn’t even know existed.
So, in 2005 as I found myself unexpectedly sitting in a practitioner training class, that was the beginning of the rest of my life. I trained for 2 years, worked with the Four Winds organization for 8 years, and have been working with clients ever since in this healing modality. We are now going on 19 years in the field of shamanic energy healing.
The training taught me how to work with what I was picking up on in sessions with my clients. The skill set is amazing – but this path is far more than a skill set in which to work with clients. It truly is a life path, a spiritual path that gets to be integrated into all aspects of one’s life. Picking up the skill set to work with others is a choice if you are compelled to develop in this way – but the shamanic path is a way of navigating life not just working with clients – I would say client work is secondary.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well of course not – lol. After I left the Four Winds in 2013– I tried to start another business called inspired network. The premise was to create a platform that highlighted various teachers, thought leaders, and practitioners from all over the world. It was designed to help the seeker find a path that called to them. I had some big names willing to work with me who are well-known worldwide in the spiritual community.
I had an amazing web guy, a marketing woman who had been in the field working with “A” list presenters for decades, and myself where I had connections after traveling around in these circles for 8 years. During that time, I worked with the four winds. We had an amazing team— AND it never got off the ground. After a year and a half of trying to bring this business to life, I realized it just wasn’t going to work. I had a huge come to Jesus with myself one night, lots of tears and heartbreak, and decided that instead of doing a postmortem on the business I had to accept what was and realized this wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing. I made a very conscious decision to turn it all over to spirit and promised that I would listen to the guidance, but please spirit make it clear. Please don’t make me have to decode the messages.
Once I let go and listened – I was directed to go back to doing massage for “right now”. Which is a whole miracle story in and of itself how that just moved along in mysterious and perfect ways – but anyway, I needed a job, and I got one. I continued with my private shamanic healing practice as well as working out of my home. After a respite from starting and failing at creating my own business and all that entails, I then got a very clear message that it was time for me to start teaching. So as intimidating as it was, I held my first solo (I assisted in many classes during my tenor at the four winds) medicine wheel class. And as they say – the rest is history. My business has truly flourished in the last 7 years. I have teaching staff and office staff, and we have increased the number of classes we can offer in one year.
I feel blessed and grateful that this is what I get to do in my life. It took being willing to let go of my grand ideas, listen to my spirit, and truly listen to my heart.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I began teaching a course called the medicine wheel – A shamanic path of transformation here in Utah in 2017. It is a 10-month course where we meet quarterly for an intensive 4-day weekend. This is a very experiential program where we dive into the principles, wisdom teachings, and ceremonies of the Andean path.
In 2021, I opened the shamanic twist wellness center in Kamas, Utah. We have several different kinds of practitioners who run their practice out of the center. We are a co-op of healers bringing our gifts to the world. It is a very dynamic group, and I am grateful to spend my days with like-minded practitioners who are all dedicated to elevating and assisting others in their healing journey.
In 2022, I expanded the wellness center, rented the space across the hall, and opened the shamanic twist studio. This is where I teach my medicine wheel classes and facilitate the practitioner training program, but in addition to that, we also offer yoga classes, sound baths, special events monthly or quarterly, and host amazing and inspiring events with others in this area that we collaborate with. This has been such a great space to have for our community and it brings a taste of the shamanic path into practices that have long been adopted, such as yoga, sound, meditation, etc.
In the summer of 2023, we launched our youth program, Atlas. I am so proud of this program, and it is near and dear to my heart. We offer group classes for ages 11-13 and 14-17 to help kids begin to understand their energetic selves how to listen, maintain, and awaken their intuition, and how to be grounded in who they are. We work with kids in private groups and one-on-one, and we offer mentorship packages designed to help the kids come into a more realized state of who they are.
I founded the Zach Bryan youth education foundation in 2023 to help families and kids looking for alternative methods that will continue to support their mental health and wellness initiatives. Our mission is to help kids remember who they have always been and have the courage to live into their truth.
This mission is not just for kids of course – this is truly the core of everything we do here at shamanic twist. Our tag line is “live the life your soul is craving” – and this is what we help people do.
I know in my heart of hearts that we all can be tuned in and develop our intuition – that is not reserved for only some. This is innately who we are. The work I facilitate is all about moving the chaos and debris out of the way so we can get busy living our desires and dreams. We can be active co-creators in our lives and live from a place of integrity and accountability that creates harmony with self, others, and spirit.
True healing is possible – we just have to be willing to let it happen. This is no small feat – healing is an act of courage. It can be painful to confront things in our lives, but what I have seen time and time again in thousands of sessions is that we are so supported and loved by our guides, angels, ancestors, luminous ones – you name it, I have seen it. It is truly amazing. I have been doing this a long time now and I still have days where I can’t believe what I am witnessing. Miracles and magic.
We make what can feel intangible and “out there” – very practical and teach you how to weave spiritual practices and principles into your everyday life. There is a saying in the Q’ero community in the sacred valley of Peru “whatever it is we learn we have to be able to grow corn with it”. Meaning we must be able to take what we learned and make it tangible allowing it to give us sustenance. This is what all my teachings are about – taking the much larger concept and making it an embodied lived experience.
I lead retreats to Peru every year and this is one of my favorite things I offer. The land is so magical and filled with such wisdom. It is a place where people still know how to talk with the rivers, trees, meadows, and all of the nature spirits. It is a soulful travel experience, where we have downtime, laugh, and have fun, while also connecting with the wisdom of the land through meditation and ceremony.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I would have to say came when my business-inspired network “failed”. I had worked so hard on this business for a little over a year and a half, 2014-2015. I used up all my money trying to get it off the ground. I was a single mom, had bills, etc., We all know the story. I had my moment of realizing this wasn’t working and knew I had to let it go. It was a rough day and night when I confronted failure and all that that word holds.
And then……….. I woke up the next morning and got my son ready for school and put him on the bus. I had a roof over my head, my car was still in my driveway, food in my fridge, and my health was, and I realized – “wow my life didn’t cease to exist. Things didn’t disappear, I didn’t die! And then failure wasn’t so scary anymore. It stopped having the hold over me and controlling all my actions – the fear of failure. I realized that life would ask us to risk failure, to GO FOR IT, to go all in.
And sometimes it doesn’t work out, and sure that stings, but it isn’t working out because there is something else for us to be pursuing and dreaming. And this has been my guiding principle ever since. If it isn’t working out it is not because I am a failure, it is because I need to pivot and realign. I am so grateful and happy that the inspired network didn’t make it. I am truly living my soul’s purpose and feel so grateful for the work I do in the world.
Pricing:
- Client Session with Dannielle – $225
- Client Session with Senior Staff – $150
- Medicine Wheel Path – $2900 (10 month course)
- Weekly Studio Classes – $15
- Specialty Events – $25-$55 varies based on the event.
Contact Info:
- Website: shamanictwist.com
- Instagram: @shamanic_twist and @shamanic_institute
- Facebook: Shamanic Twist Institute
- Youtube: Life With a Shamanic Twist – Dannielle Bryan
Image Credits
Camera Shy – Becky Adams
