Tina Karagulian shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Tina, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I have organically been singing with a small group of people since January, and it is delightful! We each bring a song to share, whether it is a rock-n-roll song, or a song to honor the elements or Mother Earth, or a mantra or spiritual song that reverberates frequencies of healing–it stiches together a huge tapestry, and as we sing together, it is as if we open a portal of love that we anchor for ourselves and also for the world. It is just pure joy for me.
I always loved singing all throughout my life, and when I was part of a church choir years ago, I remember once there were just four of us singing one day, yet the sound that came from us sounded like a choir of twenty singers. I remember thinking that the angels were singing with us then, and even someone in the congregation remarked at how full our sound was.
When I sing now, in our organically spontaneous group, the same thing is happening again. Singing with others amplifies the sound and the love exponentially.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I support your Creativity, Transformation, and Empowerment. I welcome art lovers, creatives, empaths, contemplatives, lightworkers, and those called to live more authentically from the heart! During moments of spiritual awakenings or life transitions, we are led to break out of a pattern or role and become more fully who we are led to be in this life. I offer you the opportunity to witness and release parts of your mind and life stories that no longer resonate, and access and embody your critical thinking, intuition, and your authentic truth. For over 30 years, clients report experiencing inner peace, increased health and vitality, connection to their inner truth, and awakened creativity in a safe and inviting space.
I am here to hold space to awaken you to your amazing creativity and wisdom, in any of the following ways that resonate with your soul:
Individual Sessions:
I offer a wide range of sessions to help you clear past patterns, through traditional counseling (inner child exploration, shadow exploration through dreams or integrating hidden parts of you), embodiment practices (emotional freedom technique or tapping, learning your own body clues, breath, and yoga), ancestral healing and past-life regression (to understand your soul contracts with relationships in this life), and quantum field energy healing sessions (clear your aura, nervous system, and past trauma in ways that uplift your subtle energy bodies and connect you to your inner Self and Spirit team.)
Art:
I create art that hold codes of color and form that are moving, living, and breathing pieces, speaking to you as you interact with the art in your space. I co-create with you custom pieces of nature where I channel a location’s deeply healing earthly presence through the sunset, water, bird, or mountain. It sparks something in you.
Courses:
Collage–Each Fall and Winter I offer a collage series to awaken your creativity. The course often heals past emotional moments, awakens your creativity valve to create in ways that speak to you, and visually displays what your higher Self messages during a season of your life.
Gut and Goosebumps–Each Fall, I offer a comprehensive course to understand improve your critical thinking, understand your body clues, learn and practice boundaries, and refine your yesses and nos with more clarity.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
As young as I can remember, I have always had a connection to the Spirit world. I would ask questions, and my Spirit team would give answers to me. It helped me to clarify when my instinct would say to myself, “That doesn’t sound true.” about something I heard that my body would respond with a knowing. My team consisted of angels and Jesus initially, and I felt deeply cared for in a way that became the foundation of who I am. I realize now that I didn’t have many humans who I could ask those questions of, and I think I had planned it that way in this lifetime. I had to rely on my inner world a lot, this relationship with a Higher Power and this world that most do not see, so I could learn about self-love and trust my inner foundation. If I had all the comforts from people, I would not have nurtured that inner world or grown in the way I needed to do in this life.
So I am deeply grateful for my Spirit team for affirming my knowing, my gifts, and supporting every step of my life, so I could pass on to others what was given me so lovingly: to hold space for others, to compassionately listen to your moments of growth, and to witness your empowerment unfold in ways that strengthen your life, your family, and your community.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
At the end of my marriage, during moments when my mind repeatedly said, “This is not what I wanted!” and more often, “I failed at this!” I discovered that I was on a journey to see it from a different perspective. I had to grow in my self-compassion, and to learn where I had blind spots. I learned that our minds really want to control an outcome, out of desperation or protection, and when I could really truly love my mind and redirect it from judging myself, I began to see all the many layers of judgment that my mind would suggest. I learned that judgment held me back from allowing, surrendering, and being more compassionate. My spirit team would often say, “So many people’s relationships end. Are they chopped liver?” And I realized that each choice we make is to learn and grow. There is no judgement. and “failing” is a judgment of the mind. This new perspective has helped me to guide others to see outside the lines of their minds, too. I felt more peace and freedom beyond the limited part of my mind.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I admired Mr. Rogers for his unlimited compassion for others, his amazing love for our neighbor, and his willingness to use a medium such as television to uplift children (like myself), and give them a foundation of self-love. In this world we are in now, with a lot of fake news and focus on popularity, his message to “look for the helpers,” to look to those who are making positive difference in our world is a beacon of light.
We are polarized to pick sides, instead of cultivating healing and love for all in our communities. Choosing to see others as the enemy is a trap and a distraction that keeps us from the future unity that is path. Mr. Rogers would show restraint, compassion, even for those lost along the way. Power over someone is now power. Power with is when we can be vulnerable, transparent, and model leadership that includes our hearts, too.
Here is one of my favorite songs written by Mr. Rogers:
“It’s You I Like
It’s you I like,
It’s not the things you wear,
It’s not the way you do your hair,
But it’s you I like.
The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you.
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys,
They’re just beside you.
But it’s you I like.
Every part of you.
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.
I hope that you’ll remember,
Even when you’re feeling blue.
That it’s you I like,
It’s you yourself
It’s you.
It’s you I like.”
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
Given I have always been given a gift of hearing spiritual guidance in my individual sessions with others, I have had many wonderful moments again and again that have felt like such an honor. I will share just a few:
In my grief counseling work with others, I have had the ability to feel and at times hear and see someone’s loved one come to us in session, to relay a message and to bring their love in the room. I often feel I am on the sidelines and I get to witness something so beautiful unfold before my eyes. One time, I saw a woman come over and kiss the forehead of my client, and as I relayed what I said to them, they informed me what I didn’t know, that their mom often kissed them on the forehead. It was a sign that it really was her, saying she was fine and wanted to offer one more kiss that day.
Another time, I had a client whose parents both passed away, and for three separate sessions, whenever we talked about either her mom or her dad, a red cardinal not only flew by, but it actually pecked at the window of my office. Her parents came the same way, always through this amazing bird, and pecked away, interrupting us so we had to notice. We both smiled. You cannot make up these wonders when they fall in your lap!
One other time, I remember a friend asking me to do an energy session on her, because she had difficulty getting pregnant. She had an indigenous lineage, and I immediately saw all these amazing shamans and native healers of her tribe come into the room. Their spirit presence humbled me. I felt such awe at their spiritual height and mastery, and I asked to support them in any way they wanted. Through my hands, I felt healing come through. I just followed their lead. Sure enough, after that session, my friend said she was pregnant.
One time, during a group collage session, a woman came to my first session of my 8 week collage series, and she didn’t show up for the second session. I just “happened” to run into her at the local grocery store, and I asked where she had been. She said she thought it was only for one session. I got to invite her to return. In that next session, she shared trauma after having lived through the tornado that had passed through her street that spring. After the collage session, she shared with the entire group, “I just healed some of that tornado!” I just held space, listened, and healing happened.
I always say, “I get the front seat to watch the amazing healing unfold.” I can say that the level of excitement I feel whenever these happenings come to life never get old for me. Truly!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.tinakaragulian.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackroseartsandpress/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackRoseArtsandPress/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV1KnNQqMDlSAJhq86OFEhg
- Other:
Individual Sessions:
https://www.tinakaragulian.com/black-rose-arts-store-individual-sessionslinktr.ee/tinakaragulian
Gut and Goosebumps Self-Paced Course
https://mailchi.mp/958df495ab77/01hzlfninq
Image Credits
Photograph of Tina Karagulian by Nick Berard www.nickberard.com
Paintings by Tina Karagulian:
Sunrise at Port Aransas, TX
Texas Sunset near the Gulf
Dragonfly
Renewal
https://www.tinakaragulian.com/black-rose-arts-store-art-books
www.tinakaragulian.com.
Photo of collage participants creating collages by Tina Karagulian. Permission granted by participants.
Group photo of women by Divine Photography www.vaschelleandre.com. Permission granted by photographer. Maui Women’s Empowerment Retreat, February 2024
Blue Water Collage created by Tina Karagulian, incorporates artwork of the following artists who granted permission:
Faeth #3 by Cori Caputo
© Cori Caputo, 2005
https://cori-caputo.pixels.com/
and
Cover art: Grandmother Water
© Leah Marie Dorion, 2011
https://www.leahdorion.ca/
