Meet Bree Aldana

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bree Aldana.

Hi Bree, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey truly started in 2016, when I started my personal development journey and decided there had to be more for me out there. I felt out of touch with myself and lost with what my life had and hadn’t become. This led me on the fast track in my career in corporate America. I had switched directions within my career in Banking, pursued leadership roles and flourished in them. In 2018, I continued to climb the corporate ladder in a year had attained three promotions in six months, making more money than I ever had, living comfortably, and feeling proud of my achievements, but something was missing. Leadership became increasingly hard to incorporate; my way of leadership and development of people had been built on the mentality that we empower others to perform better, but my environment was reflecting a culture of we pressure others to perform or get out. I looked closely at my life, having reached my career goals, and I didn’t recognize myself, nor my life. I worked over 70hrs a week, my mentors were all overworked and had little to no social or family life, and I had isolated myself from the rest of the world because there was always a disaster to handle at work that required priority. I had abandoned my sacred practices, thrown self-care out the window and couldn’t even make time to cook (which I LOVE to do) because of the amount of anxiety I carried with doing something that took me away from working. Needless to say, I had a mental breakdown. I was burnt out, and I started having panic attacks at work, started to shut down. This was my wake up call.

As a perfectionist and people pleaser, the idea of “quitting at anything” didn’t sit well with me. However, sometimes there comes the point where you realize I deserve better, I AM better, and I don’t want to kill myself over something that is only paying well but brings me no joy or value to my life. Little did I realize that I had actually been quietly planning for this moment for years as a joke. I called it my “F This Ish” fund. Every paycheck I would set aside a little money, I told myself that If I ever got fed up, this would be my cushion, my way of tossing the papers in the air, saying “F this ish I’m OUT!” and quitting for something better. Well, the day came. I had taken a month off of work, came back and asked the Universe to please show me if it was time for me to walk away. When I returned to work, my team was in disarray, my ideas had been implemented without credit for the hours I had put in to develop and create them, and my routines had been turned upside down. I quit that Thursday. That was it. Done. A 14 year career is going. To say that this was freeing to do is an understatement. I didn’t have a set back up plan. All I knew was that my experience pulled me to want to heal my imbalances, to balance my chakras and treat my mind, body, and spirit with honor and respect that I had stolen from it. This led me to become a Reiki Practitioner. The truth is my life had actually started to transform back in 2016. It had planted a seed within me that grew and grew until the time came where I realized that my priorities no longer aligned with what I wanted for myself. I was able to stop and observe the world around me that I had created and I no longer connected with it. Years of personal development and self-love habits had blossomed me into a woman I had never met. She no longer fit into this box I had created for myself. She demanded more of me. She deserved a fresh start. So I honored her and did just that.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
This road has been a doozy. I thought, “OMG! I am going to feel so free and my path will be so clear!” While I did feel free when I gave my notice to my 14 year career, this also brought along doubts “This is so irresponsible!” “You can’t survive like this for long.” “what if you are not enough.” “What if, What if, What if…” Then it was the sense of lost identity, 14 years in any career is a loooooong time! I went through a period where I felt like I left all of me back there like I had no right to tap into those skills I had learned because I let that go when I turned in my notice. I felt like I lost my worth. To add to it, I started studying traditional reiki in January 2020, right before our world got put on lockdown and being within 6 ft of another human was not allowed by our government. I remember thinking, how am I going to offer healing services to others when I can’t be in the same room as them? I don’t want to risk my nor anyone else’s health. This was frustrating me but led me to use this time to further explore healing modalities, crystal and energy work, connect with other gurus within my spiritual community but most importantly, connect with myself. I used these difficulties to work with what was around me and within my control to better myself and strengthen my mind and spiritual practice.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a reiki practitioner. The name of my business is P.U.F.F. Wellness. It stands for Put Urself F’ing First. I focus on helping other heal traumas that keep them feeling unworthy of what they truly want. I also work with mindset coaching, teaching others how to practice self-love in ways that will help them face triggers that keep them stuck, and healthy coping tools, especially during these historic times in our lifetime. I am most proud of working alongside those I help. The advice and practices I share with those around me I share because they have helped me.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
As I stated before, COVID hit right as I was training to become a Reiki Master Teacher. Being in the business of energy healing, which is all about connection both physical and spiritual is difficult during these times. However, it has taught me that there are other ways to connect with people, it has taught me patience and trust in divine timing, and how to be resourceful and expand my skills during this time.

Pricing:

• Distance Reiki $60

Contact Info:

• Email: puffwellness@gmail.com
• Instagram: PuffWellness
• Facebook: PUFF Wellness

Image Credits:
Matt Young Photography