It was her own anxiety that led Lauren Haimelin Carter to embark on a career healing others.
As a student at the State University of New York in New Paltz, being an overachiever had its limits.
When she came back from studying abroad in Spain in 2002, a doctor diagnosed the now-41-year-old with anxiety.
“I realized, ‘Oh, of course, how could I not have anxiety?,” she said. “I was putting so much pressure on myself to do so much anyway.”
The nurse she met with spent time with a shaman in Cold Spring, which intrigued Carter.
“The nurse actually recommended that I go to see the shaman, which was very unique and awesome,” she said. “I just felt a lot of relief, which was kind of shocking.”
Finding Your Light
Starting in 2004, Carter studied shamanic healing under renowned shaman Elle Rosenthal before opening her practice Saiwa Healing Arts. She derived the name from the Quechua — a Native American language — word for an energy that connects the Earth, the human body and the cosmos.
She offers healing services via phone sessions. Carter guides clients through their personal ailments to find healing within themselves.
“You go to see your shaman when you’ve gone to your doctor, you’ve gone to your therapists, you’ve gone to your priest, you’ve gone to your family,” she said. “You’ve gone basically to any support system you could find that just hasn’t gotten to the bottom of whatever the issue is that you’re suffering from.”
Carter helps to break down the difference between one’s physical body, emotional body and mental body in assessing pain. This helps to get to the heart of what someone may be struggling with, or the light body.
“It is the same part of us that can pick up the phone to call your loved one and they’re already picking up the phone calling you,” she said. “That is the body that the shaman works within.”
During her energy healing sessions, Carter uses different tools such as crystals and stones to find that light energy.
“I connect to directly and shift the energy that way through those natural elements,” she said.
Saiwa Healing Arts does not take any insurance and charges $150 per session. Carter has conducted phone sessions for either 30 minutes or an hour since the beginning of her practice, but hopes to start in-person sessions for those interested.
For more information on Saiwa Healing Arts, visit https://www.saiwahealingarts.com.
