My name is Christina Therese Rodriguez, but mostly everyone calls me Tina. My parents—who are devout Catholics—named me Christina after Christ, as he is a miracle-worker. Through the complications we suffered during pregnancy and being the tenth child, my mother felt I was a miracle in many ways. Over the years I’ve come to realize that I’m here to do similar miraculous work: all through my hands, through this vessel.

I have always been interested in health and the body. I remember at a young age of 6 being very conscious of my body. I liked to exercise and had interest in the human body, its muscles, the way it worked. I also grew up with health difficulties (suffering from chronic headaches and tension, mainly in my back) that my father would alleviate with massage.
He learned traditional techniques from his father who was a healer in Rio Grande City. My first experience with energy work was through my aunt who took a headache away with just a touch of her hand. I remember thinking, “Wow! I want to learn how to do that!” Not always having my family around to help me, I started to practice pain relief on myself by laying my hands and realized exactly what I was capable of. Naturally, I would also try to help my friends and loved ones. At 15, I went to a high school for people who wanted to go into the medical field. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be a doctor, but I knew that I wanted to help people heal in some way, and knew this would be a good foundation; a great way to start learning about the body.
In college, I began to experience both psychological and digestive issues that I couldn’t find relief through conventional methods. I knew my body was too sensitive for taking medicine and needed to find relief. I did a lot of research on nutrition, alternative healing methods and began my journey of self-healing. It’s my belief that when one wants to know something, the proper teacher will appear. It was at this point in my life (2005/6) that I found my Reiki Master, Tobey Clayton who led me through a session. In this session I experienced tremendous emotional release. I could feel in my body where energy was blocked, and found movement. It started in my throat and my stomach. The throat chakra—the center for communication and expression—was blocked. An artistic and creative person, the nature of this block became clearer to me. My breathing became labored, but then I was amazed to feel the energy move up and away. It made me become more aware of what I allow to get in the way of expressing myself. My stomach, or solar plexus chakra—the center for willpower—was also tense. I remember it trying to hold onto the energy and as it released, I began to laugh and then I cried as it released. After the session I felt like new.

I realized then that I was capable already of moving energy in such a way, for the highest good of others and myself. It was then that I was attuned, first and later second level. I found that a lot of my issues with my body were connected to my emotions and to old traumas from my life that I was holding onto that were manifesting themselves physically.

As I connected the dots, other teachers came into my life. One very important teacher is Elena Avila who is a registered nurse but also a practicing curandera (healer–traditional Aztec medicine). I found her book (Woman Who Glows in the Dark) that seemed to fall off the shelf and hit me in the head. It was in this book that I connected back to my roots (the healing that I experienced as a child), to my spiritual self, and being taken under her wing I learned how important it is to not only treat the physical body, but also the emotional body and the soul as they are one. There’s a quote by C.S. Lewis that I have found to be profoundly true:
“We don’t have a soul. We are a soul; we have a body.”

This concept has proven true as more and more treatments to solely the physical body have often failed or only partially healed. It is important to also treat the emotional and spiritual bodies as well, the soul. Our body is our only indicator that anything is wrong. Whatever we have experienced in our lives will most likely manifest physically.
Experiencing the tremendous benefits of these alternative forms of healing, I decided to finally go to massage school and get my license. I would massage my loved ones and myself because growing up I knew how, and knew naturally how to relieve pain. It behooved me to learn properly so I could further help people, and also have the license to practice my energy work. I have been a practicing, licensed therapist for almost four years.

After college I moved to San Antonio and began to work in a bead store, Nomadic Notions where I learned how to make jewelry, about stones and their healing properties. As I practiced Reiki and learned more about the energetic body, I began to use crystals more in my work, and also felt that making jewelry with the intent for healing was quite beneficial.

Throughout my practice, I’ve learned more about myself and my intuitive abilities. In 2007 during a Reiki session, I was called to use my voice. At first I didn’t quite understand what I was supposed to do, but I trusted that I would be guided to do what was necessary for the client’s healing and highest good. I said to myself, “whatever sound comes out is the sound that needs to be heard,” as I didn’t know the proper tone corresponding to a certain chakra, etc. When the sound escaped my lips, I was blown away at what I heard. The vibration was so powerful and effective that I knew in that moment that I was a conduit for divine healing energy by way of sound. I continue to use my voice in session if it is called for, and the more in tune I become with myself the greater the healing force.

Currently, I still consider myself an apprentice of Elena even though she passed in March 2011. In dreams she gave me a red bandana saying that I am now a curandera and no longer an apprentice, but I honor that I am still learning. I am about to receive my Reiki mastery from Tobey, and have found many teachers along the way that have taught me different healing modalities that I incorporate in my practice—namely EFT (emotional freedom techniques) which is a series of tapping on points on the meridians of the body (as in acupuncture) along with affirmations to release pain from the body. I am certified in Holographic Sound by Dr. Paul Hubbert as a teacher that has grounded me in the sound work that I have always done—aligning the chakras and clearing energy, bringing in loving and healing energy through sound vibration. Also I am a certified Akashic Records Consultant, which has allowed me to delve even deeper into the inner workings of the soul and bring even more healing on more profound levels.
I know that I will always be a student, because there will always be some method that works for one person better than another. I’m fascinated by the wealth of knowledge that is available to me, and I am blessed to be a facilitator of this knowledge and be able to share my gifts with you.

In loving service,
Tina