Learn how tragedy exposed the lies of New Age practices and led her straight into the arms of Jesus.

If you found your way here to this post, firstly, I want to say thank you to you the reader and to the ladies of The Well Practice. It means so much to me to share this story with you – a story of redemption and love. And if you’re feeling lost, or a little unsure in life, I hope this story steadies you. I hope it gives you hope, peace, and turns you towards Jesus. Because really, this is a story about His love, His power, and His strength – not mine.

Almost four years ago now, I was spiritually dead but didn’t know it yet. I was feeling lost and searching for something to fill that emptiness inside me. I started practicing yoga and eventually completed yoga teacher training in Nicaragua. That’s when I began opening up to other forms of spirituality – chakras, meditation, moon cycles, astrology, breathwork, manifestation, and everything tied to that world. I dove in headfirst, to the point where I became a spiritual life coach for almost two years.

I felt on top of the world, like I could do anything, like I had unlocked a higher realm of truth. I was receiving “information,” downloads, and answers that kept me coming back, always seeking, never finding peace. I didn’t think I was in a religion. In fact, I was triggered by the word religion, by Christianity, by Jesus. I thought I was above it.

I thought I was connecting to gods, goddesses, the universe, and my higher self – but I was actually opening doors I didn’t understand and interacting with things I didn’t realize were not of God. My belief system was made up of an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

I was picking and choosing which practices served me and I left the rest behind. But the reality is, truth is not a construct – if it were, it wouldn’t be the truth. 

I was using divination.
I was worshiping other gods and goddesses.
I was participating in demonic practices.
I was praying to the universe rather than the Creator of the universe.
I was manifesting my own reality.
I became my own god.

And although that might sound enticing, and although I was receiving everything I asked for, I was never satisfied. There was still an emptiness inside me that nothing I manifested could fill. I was so far away from God I forgot He even existed, all the while claiming His creation as my own. The truth is, I was seeking God in all the wrong places. 

Jesus said in John 4:13, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.” I was always thirsty. I became emotionally worn.

Then my world came crashing down on me.

My best friend took her own life, and suddenly all the practices I leaned on to keep me upright fell like dominoes around me. The house I had built was built on sand. I just didn’t know it yet. I was broken and devastated, crying out for answers that the universe could not provide.

And then one night, after reaching out to any spiritual entity who could magically take my pain away, Jesus came to me in a vision. He sat with me in silence, and His presence alone eased my pain and offered me a peace I had never experienced before.

I began asking God to show me the truth. I had always researched everything I was practicing – where it came from and what it was rooted in. I bought a Bible and started reading it. I wanted to understand every belief, every potential path, so I could know what was real. But eventually the truth became undeniable: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” // John 14:6. 

Friend – I want to pause here to reiterate something: I was not seeking Jesus. I was not looking to have my beliefs radically shifted. But, and this is important – if you SEEK the truth, if you really look for it, you will come up against Jesus every. Single. Time. 

In my moment of realization, I felt a wave of peace and the presence of Jesus wash over me. He ripped down my walls, swept away the sand, and over time He helped me lay a solid foundation of faith in Him – one that would not crumble under the weight of the world. He wiped the dirt from my eyes and helped me see the deception I was living in. I went from feeling praised like the goddess I thought I was to being humbled as the imperfect human I am. I shut down my business, burned my tarot cards, stopped teaching breathwork and yoga, threw astrology out the window, and asked Him, “What’s next?” 

From there, I could feel God refining me, offering grace, love, and peace I can’t put into words. My entire life changed. My livelihood, identity, and worldview had all been tied to a completely different belief system – and yet God supported me through the transition with an incredible home, a job I love, the amazing Well Practice community, a local church, and friendships that anchor me now.

Friend, I want to leave you with this: If you are struggling to hold on to hope – to hold on to something real – fall at the feet of Jesus. I know that so much of it doesn’t make sense, but it will. Jesus is for everyone. Jesus is for you. He loves you and He wants to know you. I know what it’s like being trapped in endless confusion – the emotional highs and crashing lows. You are not a slave to the moon if you don’t want to be. You are not defined by your astrology sign if you don’t want to be. Jesus can set you free.

He left the ninety-nine for me, just as He said He would in Matthew 18:12–14.
Even though I didn’t deserve it.
Even though I wasn’t perfect.
Far from it.

Yes, I will fall. Yes, I will mess up. Yes, there will be moments when I turn my back on Him because I am human and imperfect – but now I know that it’s okay. Because He will be there when I fall, when I mess up, and when I run back into His arms. I will spend the rest of my life in awe of God’s grace and beauty, in pursuit of His love, and trying my hardest to be the kind of friend to Jesus that Jesus is to me.

“For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves — it is the gift of God.” // Ephesians 2:8–9

Everything changed when Jesus became my foundation. And I pray this story points you toward Him, too.

Watch Stephanie share her testimony in the video below.