My hands are in two pots: the metaphysical and the land of words.
As a Reiki and shamanic practitioner and medicine-maker, I’m deeply passionate about healing. Beyond this, I’m a sharp-minded communications strategist and writer-editor who loves to create copy that is clear, concise, on point and engaging.
Whatever your needs, let’s connect and create magic together.
Best,
Anastasia
healing arts
I'm a Reiki master teacher trained in the Usui technique by Myorei Zeraffa, and a shamanic practitioner under the guidance of The Medicine Circle with Daniel Léonard and Elaine Hyde. In 2022, I completed their one-year shamanic program and now offer shamanic ceremony. I also forage wild plants, herbs and mushrooms and make medicinal extracts, tinctures, elixirs and salves in small batches that you can purchase through this website. Not to mention, I read tarot and teach shamanic journeying for beginners and advanced practitioners. For more info, see my Reiki, Ceremonies, Medicine-Making, Tarot and Shamanic Journeying pages.
writing + editing
A casual, engaging and effective unearthing of word gems! We'll work collaboratively to assess what you want to say and the best ways to capture your story for your audience. I offer writing, rewriting, copy and substantive editing, research and brand development services for web and print copy, style guides, pitch decks, technical reports and strategic plans. A collaborative process worth exploring when language and messaging count. Past clients include: Government of Canada, credit unions, publishing houses, non-profits, housing organizations, health professionals, entrepreneurs and artists.
strategy
Delving into the creative process and giving shape to an idea is one of my favourite pastimes. Together, we'll have organic and conversational brainstorming sessions that will get you clear on what you want to do and outline the ways in which you'll realize it. This also includes best practices and frameworks in visual and brand development, writing-editing, marketing strategies and event/project management (scoping). A collaborative and rewarding process that pays tenfold, paves your next steps and gives you wings. Past clients include: non-profits, entrepreneurs, artists and healers.
“I have gotten Reiki before but I find Anastasia’s sessions very powerful. She performed a ceremony to open one of my chakras. I felt less overwhelmed and I could think things through with an open mind. It was marvellous. I continue to go to Anastasia as I suffer from chronic joint pain. Keep spreading the healing and love!”
“Anastasia and I worked together for two plus years both informally, launching a community organization called the BC Tiny House Collective, as well as formally, at a non-profit called Small Housing BC. And I must say—our ambitious efforts were successful first and foremost thanks to Anastasia’s skills and vision. Anastasia is a strategic thinker and a highly competent organizer. She is an expert in the field of writing-editing, which was critical to our work advocating to municipalities, creating and sharing our messages to the public, fundraising and more. She is detail-oriented and produces impressive work. Anastasia developed an internal organizing system for our organization, led strategic outreach to key stakeholders, navigated media and public policy, created beautiful products including a 60-page technical lookbook, organized a public event that brought 10,000 attendees, and so much more. I have immense respect for Anastasia’s work ethic, competency and vision. I would absolutely start another provincial advocacy campaign with her! And I highly recommend hiring Anastasia for any of your strategic planning, organizing, and writing-editing needs.”
“During my business strategy session with Anastasia, I was impressed by how quickly she was able to arrive at the heart of the issue, utterly ‘get it’ then proceed to come up with a host of innovative and relevant ideas and approaches. Her capacity for fast and creative thinking along with a deep wisdom and kindness make her the perfect fit for what she does. Her supportive and non-judgmental nature provided a safe and welcoming environment that was conducive to exploration. I left our meeting with a bundle of workable concepts, a new sense of direction and a feeling of renewal. I highly recommend Anastasia as a choice business mentor and strategist.”
“Anastasia brought expertise, passion and innovative thinking to the creation of our new website. Donating her time, she helped us envision a more attractive and effective website structure while also doing the hard work of producing the content. Her proactiveness, precise questions and recommendations have made this process a lot more interesting, efficient and exciting.”
“Anastasia did an excellent job helping our organization write a community investment report (CIR) to accompany our annual report. The CIR focused on our organization’s work and impact in our local communities and Anastasia absolutely nailed the tone and feel of the report, from the first draft. She professionally captured all of the information and resources I sent her and spun them into a compelling report that 100% represents our organization. We were so happy with her work on last year’s CIR that we hired her again to help out with the 2017 report and, again, she did a great job and sent us back a draft, on time and on budget, that needed very little editing on our end.”
“Working with Anastasia on various projects over the years has actually improved my process and workflow. She has the ability to clearly plan a project management schedule, give and receive constructive feedback and facilitate the necessary steps towards well-executed deliverables. Anastasia challenges you to complete your goals, for that, I am forever grateful for her!”
“If you need an organized, detail-oriented, creative thinker to get your project done in a beautiful, eloquent way, Anastasia is all that and more. When we first met, I was in grad school and she was beginning to organize Think Big Live Little (which turned into the BC Tiny House Collective). I am immensely grateful to have had someone treat me as a peer and provide opportunities to collaborate on interesting, purposeful projects. I have nothing but admiration for her ability to manifest her passions into action. A multifaceted badass, Anastasia is a joy to work with!”
“I had a really great experience before, during and after my session with Anastasia. She created a welcoming, safe container which allowed whatever needed to come through and work its way to the surface. I found her work profoundly healing, I’d recommend her highly.”
“Always a pleasure to work with, Anastasia not only has a sharp eye for detail but also a clear understanding of text’s intended target audience and a great sense of the aesthetic requirements of different media forms.”
“From the initial discussion on developing new content for our online training program for newcomers, Anastasia raised inquisitive questions that reflected her ability to synthesize, understand and articulate our project goals. Her organized and independent work processes (ask, clarify, present draft, gather feedback, final edits) fit seamlessly with our workflows and supported our project deadlines and budget, resulting in new program content that adds real value for our clients.”
“Working with Anastasia was fantastic. She made a welcoming spot for ceremony, and ensured I felt at ease in the process. Prior to the ceremony she ensured proper intent was set, which yielded great results. I have come to feel lighter, and more driven to pursue my goals, unfettered by internal judgements.”
“Anastasia generously shares, she strongly cares and holds a love for others’ life experiences. Her passion for exploration matched with her strong and sensitive heart allows you to feel seen and cared for. She has the ability to go into the unknown to find the clarity you are searching for—finding the right words to describe the human experience and helping others do the same. She is willing to do her best for you and be there every step of the way; providing the leadership and courage it takes to guide others into their unknown.”
“Anastasia Koutalianos has been a great help to me as a creative thinker, writer and editor. She inspired me to undertake new challenges that I was not able to see myself, challenges that moved my art in exciting directions. She has also been able to put my visual thoughts into verbal form. Anastasia is my business advisor and a voice of reason in many professional explorations.”
“Anastasia has an eagle eye for detail which makes her a weapon of mass destruction against typos and weird wording. I highly recommend her for anyone seeking high-quality editing work.”
“Working with Anastasia keeps me on my toes—from the extra spaces I forget to remove to paragraph spacing that are slightly off, she catches them all. Her insight and clear comments on each design draft help me refine and drive me creatively.”
“After the extraction, I feel more conscious of how fear has been such a big theme in my life, and the ways I’ve learned to navigate and accept it.”
“Anastasia is someone whose energy radiates through her. When you meet her it feels as though she already knows you and can read your mind. She anticipates and understands what you need. When you share information about what is going on physically and mentally, she has a natural ability to help you see what you need to work on and process things in your mind and body. She understands things before you understand them yourself, about your own life and can guide you through the process. Her healing Reiki skills are something that has helped me many times in my life. I can’t thank her enough for her healing and generous nature.”
“I first met Anastasia in a meditation centre. We served a course together and from there began a good friendship. I can confidently say that she has an ability in managing any task or situation and has inner power in quickly accessing an issue in the body through the metaphysical healing techniques she has studied. She helped me by doing an extraction on me and lifted off some of the inherited emotions which have bothered me, bringing ease to my life. I strongly recommend her to anyone who needs emotional help. Also her knowledge on natural medicines helped my mother to ease her chronic pain using the devil’s club ointment she made for her.”
“My somatic treatment was very interesting to me. Only because I don’t believe I was expecting too much. I set my intention as requested, did all the things I was asked to do. The day of I slept for about seven hours after the treatment. I was quite tired. Woke up tired. Thoughts when I got to work; I wish this day was over…it finished quickly at which point I came home and went right back to bed. I found myself talking about the things I was attempting to heal with much greater ease. I also found that I wasn’t having a breakdown every time I spoke about what was troubling me. I could speak about it and then move on. Much gentler on myself. That experience was very different for me. Even though it was a week ago I’m still sitting with it.”