We Are Upstate With Astrologer & Energy Healing Practitioner Rebecca Conran

Inside+Out is pleased to present our exclusive interview with Kingston NY astrologer and wellness coach, Rebecca Conran. Proudly known for her compassionate but no-nonsense and practical approach to mysticism, Rebecca offers frank advice from personal experience.

In our conversation with Rebecca, she candidly shares her past demons and how she climbed out of a “very deep and dark hole to navigate her internal anguish.” After years of personal exploration and dedicating herself to learning esoteric tools and practical spirituality studying with renowned holistic coaches, acupuncturists and intuitive’s for many years, Rebecca is a prime example of a life seemingly lost then built back into one of purpose, clarity and fulfillment. Today Rebecca is focused on helping others, she goes on to explain…

“The healer heals themselves first and foremost, and then can become a way-shower to others.”

Inside+Out is so fortunate to be able to collaborate with Rebecca on our monthly Energy Report. Many of our readers have told us how spot-on she is! Be sure to tune in each month on our blog or Instagram to read each one.

Let’s get to know Rebecca Conran, founder of “It’s Not You, It’s Me” based out of Kingston New York.

INSIDE+OUT: Where are you originally from and how did you wind up in the Hudson Valley?

Rebecca Conran: I was born in England to an Indian father and an English mother, and we moved to Michigan in 1991, in search of an easier experience for our mixed-ethnicity family. I was raised in an orthodox Christian religious home, and when I graduated high school at 16, I moved to Chicago as a stepping stone to being where I really felt called me, New York City, and to escape the religious views that I found oppressive.

Chicago in the late ’90s early ’00s was a wonderful DIY artist experience. Then, I moved to NYC in 2003. Although I’ve had the privilege to travel the country and the world, in 2017 the mountains came calling and I moved to the Hudson Valley. I very much count this as my home, and although I have had a varied upbringing I consider myself a New Yorker!

What inspired the concept for your business and what was your journey to get here?

My own drug addiction and nervous breakdown 15 years ago inspired me to eventually become a practitioner, although I didn’t know it at the time. It’s hard to imagine now, but I was in the dregs of meth addiction, among other toxic habits, abusive relationships and experiences and I was suicidal and chronically depressed in my 20s. As I climbed out of a very deep and dark hole, I began gathering tools that I thought could help me – certifications in certain holistic fields – anything I thought could support me in navigating my internal anguish. I worked with practitioners directly, for many years before I thought about becoming a practitioner myself.

After a breakup with a boyfriend who required a lot of care, I had the inspired notion that maybe I should be helping folks who want to be helped! I then went to school to learn how to ethically and morally become a good practitioner and began practicing in 2013.

What does wellness mean to you?

Wellness to me is a practice. It’s not a static or stationary place we arrive at, it’s not an event, it’s a love letter we are continually writing to ourselves. Wellness can be anything you do, that is in your best interests for creating compassion and peace within.

What led you to astrology? Tell us about your services and products.

In 2013, I was honored to be a practitioner with Maha Rose Center for Wellness in Brooklyn, NY and began holding bi-monthly Moon circles because, as a Sun & Mars in Cancer woman, I felt very connected to the transits of the moon. As I studied more and more in preparation for my circles and took classes with fantastic fellow astrologers at the center, I naturally just kept wanting to learn more and be a student of Astrology. This grew into a newsletter called the Energy Report, which then grew into a podcast.

My practice of Astrology may feel different to people than usual horoscopes, as I seek to connect us through Astrology, rather than classify us separately. Astrology is a tool that can be used to delve deeper into ourselves, it asks us the right questions and we provide the answers by living into them.

Currently, I am offering Soul Astrology, which is a 90min deep dive, along with Energy Clearing for working with the physical body and Integrative Wellness Coaching for creating a real structure of change in one’s patterns.

You also have a podcast. Tell us more!

It’s called “New Story with Rebecca Conran” and I pop it online a couple of times a month, currently to discuss the collective energy by season, but also as I have musings over certain world events or astrological transits. My podcast is like me, there are no bells and whistles to it, it’s just good frank information. It doesn’t have slick production value, and it’s not about building followers or fanbase, as long as I feel inspired to speak I’ll continue it as an offering.

What is one question you’re constantly asked or what’s the biggest misconception about your business or what you do?

I am asked a lot to do events as a Psychic Medium, which I typically decline or the hosts decline me because of the way I work. I believe that when you enter into intimate relationships with your clientele through this work, you should adhere to a strong sense of integrity, ethics and boundaries. Being a practitioner is not a party trick, if events don’t match the container of support I hold for my clients then I will decline them.

I think the biggest misconception in our day and age is that if you are popular, have lots of followers or get lots of social media likes you must be a good practitioner. Throughout my career I have been offered lots of events or opportunities for big companies and magazines, things that might have given me ‘clout’ but if it didn’t feel spiritually sound to me I didn’t do it. It’s more important to have a clear practice than be famous. There are so many talented and clear practitioners in every community, and we should always trust our inner feeling about someone over if they seem popular.

How do you grow your business and how do your clients find you? Do you leverage social media to get work and how is that working for you?

My clients find me through referrals mostly. Otherwise, I am on Google Maps, Yelp and now I have a Premium Page the wonderful local INSIDE+OUT Upstate NY Directory. I sort of just put things out there and clients book intuitively when they are ready, which really creates the best working relationships.

I have been on Instagram for probably ten years, and have always used it as a tool to share up until 2020 when I spent a year just working on my own life and process away from my podcast and online presence. I am not very active on social media anymore, but I still find it’s an avenue to share as long as you don’t get tied into the minutia of it, counting likes, worrying about if you’re being seen in the algorithm, etc. My practice with social media is, to share with the intention that the right eyes get on it, and then surrender the rest of it. Oh and stay away from comment sections, period.

How do your services stand apart from others, spas for example?

I believe everyone is intuitively guided to who and what is spiritually best for them. I’m the best at being a practitioner to the folks that feel called to me, because there is something there for us to create together. I try not to push gift cards and things like that because I want someone to choose to work with me because it feels right for them or choose not to work with me because it doesn’t feel right for them. I have been working for myself for over 20 years, and that kind of freedom that a person can have, without inherited wealth or status, is rare and powerful, so I am best for folks looking to extend outside their comfort zones to live their purpose in this lifetime. I hope that what stands out to my clients is that I have done, and continue to “do the work” myself, evolving, growing and, that the way I work is frank and transparent.

Tell us about the most unique experience you’ve had in your line of work.

I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences, from feeling baby beings coming in and supporting women in releasing trauma and creating a pregnancy, to knowing when a clients family member had died before they even found out, to cutting cords with exes energetically in sessions just to have them text or call the client while it’s happening.

I am always surprised by the wonder of being an instrument of mystic information in this world. However, I don’t want to get into it further because those aren’t my stories to tell. It is unique to work with people on the level of intimacy that being a practitioner requires. It’s an honor to practice loving other human beings.

What is the most rewarding and most challenging part of what you do?

Similar to anyone in this human experience, the rewards and challenges are both the same. You have to be really satiated by your own company and your own inner validation to live well, and have very good boundaries. Boundaries aren’t inherently challenging, but how others interpret them can be.

Are they any new developments or upcoming events you’d like to share?

Along with my one-on-one sessions which I conduct both in-person in Kingston and remotely via Zoom, I will be performing a sound bath at the Summer Solstice Event on June 23rd at Opus 40, and I have two Nurture by Nature Retreats coming up at  in Shokan, NY June 26-29 + Sept 11-14.

What is it about the Hudson Valley that makes it unique to live + work here?

I’m still figuring that out, I feel connected to the land and the energy of the nature. It feels laid back in Kingston where I live and work and I enjoy having a walking life.

What impact does your business strive to have on your community?

As a biracial person, who has studied under a lot of other cultures, and has non-white mentors, I personally strive to bring spiritual practice to those of European ancestry and to be an elder and bridge in that community. In my own spirituality, although I was born in England, my Indian ancestry comes through much more naturally, especially in my music. My white/English ancestry has been much more of a challenge spiritually.

Malidoma Somé, a healer, philosopher and shaman, inspired me to rise to the occasion of elder in my white community when he spoke of entering the Western World and feeling sad for Westerners because even though in Africa he had nothing materially, he had a spiritual home and connection to nature with his elders who would love, counsel and protect him. Our European ancestors murdered all of our spiritual elders, and subsequently, their religious legacy has created a toxic and oppressive spirituality based in guilt in the Western World. This has created a serious malady in the collective consciousness. I am here to serve by working where I can on reversing that spiritual bankruptcy.

What local businesses do you rely on to be successful?

My success is connected to my personal needs being cared for. So, I rely on the eggs and rice breakfast at Village Grocery & Refillery, facials from Leigh Kelley Studio and Thursday morning yoga with Morgan Deegan at The Yoga House.

What is missing in the area that you wish we had?

More dancing and more places that are invested in non-alcoholic cocktail programs. People seem to think if you don’t drink alcohol you aren’t a customer and you aren’t out to be shown a good time, this is a terrible underestimation.

Who or what inspires you personally?

There are so many: Malidoma Somé, Pema Chodron, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Abdi Assadi, Alejandro Jodorowski, Pamela Coleman Smith, James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Agnes Pelton, Georgie O’Keeffe, Alice Coltrane, Astrologer Steven Forrest, Carl Jung and even anti-hero’s like American science fiction writer Philip K Dick…just to name a few.

Recently I was incredibly inspired by the four siblings under 13 who survived the jungle after the traumatic experience of being in a plane crash and losing their mother. It’s a good example for us that we can probably all stop complaining about little inconveniences in our exceedingly convenient lives and be more wholeheartedly grateful for the ease with which we are able to live.

Tell us something about yourself that people might be surprised to know.

What would be your dream local Staycation?

I feel very lucky to be able to visit many beautiful places in the Hudson Valley, like the gorgeous and delicious Wm. Farmer & Sons Boarding and Barroom which my friends own, but in terms of that dream stay, from the looks of it Wildflower Farms!

What is your current state of mind?

Right now I’m pursuing Peace.

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Photos and artwork Courtesy of Rebecca Conran

REBECCA CONRAN CHHC is an Astrologer & Energy Healing Practitioner located in Kingston, NY.

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