In this inspiring interview for Mystic Mag, healer and teacher Colleen Langan shares the profound spiritual journey that began with receiving her sacred name at the Maya Devi Temple in India. From that powerful initiation to her transformative work with Ignite Your Spirit therapy, Colleen opens up about the tools, teachings, and inner awakenings that shaped her path—and how she now helps others find healing, clarity, and peace.
How did receiving your spiritual name at the Maya Devi temple shape your path as a healer and teacher?
It felt like a mystical moment as I walked into the Maya Devi Temple in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India with my teacher Shakti Durga and all the other devotees on retreat with her in Rishikesh. As I stepped through the gateway, I experienced an energetic zap on my ajna chakra. It was like a zinging blessing I had often received from my Qigong teacher Master Zhao. I glanced at my fellow students to see their reaction to this blessing, but it seemed I was the only one who had received this, which was confirmed later. It felt like it opened my third eye more and my awareness was heightened.
I was deeply immersed in a spiritual ceremony involving sacred geometry which was the purpose of the group’s visit. Shakti Durga who was in a high state at the conclusion of this ceremony called me to sit in front of her. She placed her hand on my head and blessed me with the spiritual name, Maya Bhadni, meaning manifester of heaven on earth.
In our school, Shanti Mission (Peace Mission) our spiritual names show us what we are growing into, providing direction and enabling realisation of who we are. It takes the rest of our lifetime or more to grow into our name. At the time of receiving my name, I still had many difficulties in my life, even though I had been on the spiritual path since I was sixteen years old, meditating and practising yoga with a traditional yoga school, The Yoga Education Centre. The concept of manifesting heaven on earth for myself seemed, at that time, such a far-fetched idea.
However, as I meditated on my name, I realised that as I grew spiritually, I could help others create more heaven in their lives. Helping others, I came to understand, is the purpose of a spiritual life. Initially I was trying to heal the painful parts of myself and my life. I came to realise that my spiritual name Maya Bhadni is my pathway to self-realisation through healing and teaching others. I undertook deep training in the energy healing modality Ignite Your Spirit, followed by teacher training. In 2012 I commenced practising as an energy healer and by 2013 I started teaching the Path of Ease and Grace seminars for Shanti Mission.
Can you describe the role Ignite Your Spirit Therapy played in transforming your emotional and spiritual life?
Ignite Your Spirit therapy (IYS) was the means to spiritually transform me. This modality works on all levels of our being. Previously I had worked with teachers and teachings that went a long way, but didn’t release the pain from my being or energy field. I was particularly suffering emotionally. I started having Ignite Your Spirit therapy. The energy healing cleared out energetically the debris of my past healing work and the process brought about lightness and peace. At first, I thought this was almost magical because I had tried in many ways to release this from my being. I came to understand that this is how the therapy works and only feels magical. It works at the core of our issues, and we can completely heal.
I continued having regular Ignite Your Spirit healing sessions and worked through all my challenges. Interestingly as we heal ourselves, we are shown the next things to be processed and transformed. One day I knew I had healed all the major issues of my life. I felt peace, lightness, happiness and joy.
IYS works with our energy body, that is our chakras, meridians and aura. My IYS therapist tuned into my chakras and understood where my issues were sitting and causing blockages in the flow of my energy. These blockages were limiting my growth.
It is hard to talk about healing my emotional and spiritual life without including my mind and physical body as well. It is an integrated healing modality. We are integrated beings, as we heal at one level we heal in all dimensions of our being. Therefore, my spiritual and emotional life grew alongside changes in my thoughts, beliefs and attitudes.
One of the major issues of my life was my relationship with my mother. I was very sad about this relationship. IYS helped me to untangle the web of thoughts and emotions of not being loved, of not being good enough and of not being loveable and the shame I felt around this. As I worked through this I realised more of my authentic self. I realised that I am innately loveable which was shrouded in layers of mother’s criticisms as well as religious judgements rather than love. These were very deep core issues for me and needed time and guidance through the teachings of Shakti Durga as well.
My relationship with my husband also improved and I found I was able to let go of resentments that I was holding onto. Layers of forgiveness completely released me from suffering. Now both these relationships are healed and my relationship with my husband has grown into deeper love and appreciation of who he is.
How do you integrate practices like Yoga, Qigong, and Shanti Mission Meditation into your healing work?
Yoga gave me the knowledge of unity. We are integrated beings with nature and the universe. I tune into the uniqueness of each client at a spiritual level as well as physical, emotional and mental level. I am trying to understand who they are and how their life and experiences have shaped them, what their motivations are, where their difficulty or trauma is emerging from and what their aspirations are.
We have been trained in Shanti Mission to work intuitively. I take my clients into a semi-meditative state. I look deeply into each client’s energy body that shows me the nature of their life experiences, their suffering and the blockages these are causing, reading the consciousness of each chakra, and the story told from this point of view. As the healer I can then assist the client to release these blockages from their energy field and transform their thoughts. Talking modalities are of great benefit, but until obstacles are removed from our energy field, we are not fully rid of them, and they will flare up again as soon as that wound is triggered.
Some clients come for spiritual growth. They have already processed much of the challenges of this life and are seeking expansion into more of their authentic self and unity with the universe. With these clients the energy is used to help the client expand into higher consciousness.
From Qigong I understand the movement of energy and how we can harness the flow of energy. The energy moves, grows, strengthens dissipates. It is never lost or destroyed but takes on different forms for different purposes. I’ve learnt to increase and store energy within my body for self-healing, and for living optimally. As a therapist, I am not using my own energy but that which is flowing through me. I am a channel for the healing energy.
What insights from your background in education influence the way you guide others on their spiritual journeys?
Each session starts with a short counselling session giving me the opportunity to listen to the client. I believe this is an important stage. For some people being heard is a large part of their healing. I offer advice or life/spiritual coaching. My teaching background enables me to quickly identify the issues in the person’s story and determine a pathway through for them. At the end of the session, we discuss a plan for following up the session and offer suggestions for the best techniques to practice. In this way I am making an ongoing improvement plan with my clients with specific action to take if they wish. While a client might deal with a wide range of issues during the period of consultation with me, there is a focus on working towards a better experience of their life.
My teaching background enables me to gain insights into how people learn and therefore how to work best with their unique way of understanding the world. Some clients need detailed information and will ask a lot of questions; for others they need to tell me stories about their life and how things came about; others are quiet and wait for the process to unfold. Whatever a client’s particular temperament and personality I try to find the best way to communicate and therefore offer them a unique way forward.
My clients come from all stages of life and various backgrounds. My background in education helps me to understand the varying needs at different stages, as well as the fundamental and essential needs we all have. Insights into how families’ function and the sorts of issues they are encountering, plus the implications that a client may find when making change in their lives, are discussed. I meet them where they are at. Every person’s growth is so individual. I support clients to understand that the challenges that they face are opportunities for growth.
We only need to take the next step. And after that another step. Goals of healing are made up of many small steps. Making these steps manageable, understandable, and within the person’s imagination is a respectful and powerful way of working. Clients can see where they are going, and it gives them hope. I try to be thorough in each healing session leaving the client energised, peaceful with clarity and some skills to help their own empowerment.
In your experience, what is the key to creating a safe and nurturing space for deep healing and transformation?
Developing trust with my clients would be number one for me. I feel so very grateful that my clients trust me to open themselves and their energy body to me. They trust me to deal with very sensitive information about them. Without trust a client may remain closed off and little progress will be made.
I honour this trust with consistency, availability and confidentiality. Being there for my clients and students all the time. Despite what is going on for me or when attendance numbers at meditation may have dropped off, I show up each week. For people to invest in their own healing they need to know that their healer and teacher is there for them.
Clients may feel very vulnerable. I understand this and am listening. I am totally with them. I respect what the client tells me and presents with, nothing is too big, too small or too weird. They will be cared for in a loving and sensitive way. All the sessions are absolutely confidential.
A forest of green trees, shrubs and flowers surround my healing room. My healing room is cleansed physically and energetically. It smells beautiful. Light pours in through the windows. The space is comfortably warm (or cool in Summer) and the client’s chair is supportive. We sit not too close and yet not too far apart. There are no distractions while the healing session takes place. Quiet music plays in the background. Sufficient time is given. Nothing is rushed. My clients love this nurturing space.
To learn more about Colleen and her work, please visit https://www.healingmayalight.com/.
Email address: [email protected]
