Healing, Education & the Earth - How Gabriel Pickus is Reimagining Community Healing
What if healing wasn’t just personal… but something that could transform entire communities?
In this episode of The Energy Healing Podcast, host Leila Briggs sits down with Gabriel Pickus - healing-centered educator, community leader, and Healing Touch Certified Practitioner - to explore how energy medicine, education, and environmental connection can come together to create real, lasting change.
From discovering Healing Touch through a chance encounter at band practice to building a nature-based educational movement in Baltimore, Gabe shares how his daily energy practice shapes not only his personal life—but his work with children, communities, and the future of holistic education.
Together, Leila and Gabe explore what it means to live, teach, and lead from a place of alignment, connection, and deep responsibility to the world around us.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode
- How Gabe discovered Healing Touch through synchronicity
- Why daily energy practices can transform your life over time
- The connection between healing, education, and community impact
- What it means to be a “healing presence” in difficult environments
- The difference between intention and impact in healing work
- How disconnection from nature affects human health and society
- A new vision for education rooted in wholeness and interconnection
- How belief systems shape healing—and how to shift them
- Practical tools for subconscious reprogramming and self-healing
⏱ Episode Chapters & Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Meet Gabriel Pickus
01:00 – Discovering Healing Touch through synchronicity
02:30 – First healing session & why he committed to the path
03:30 – Daily energy practices & lifelong discipline
05:00 – Integrating Healing Touch with martial arts, music & life
06:30 – Working within systems vs outside them
07:00 – Becoming a healing presence in challenging environments
08:30 – Holistic education & the Unifying Experiences Framework
09:30 – Founding InDiGO & getting children back into nature
10:30 – Challenges within the current education system
11:30 – Building an ecosystem of support for children & communities
12:00 – Healing systems vs treating parts: education & healthcare parallels
13:30 – Impact vs intention in healing work
15:00 – Listening to energy, nature & the body
16:30 – Humanity’s disconnection from nature & remembering our place
17:00 – “Facts are facets” – expanding perspective & understanding
18:00 – Vision for the future of education & community healing
20:00 – Healing Touch in daily life, family & community
22:00 – Spiritual lineage & connection to something greater
23:00 – Advice for skeptics & self-belief
24:00 – Rewriting beliefs & subconscious reprogramming
25:00 – Closing reflections
About Our Guest: Gabriel Pickus
Gabriel Pickus is the Founder of InDiGO: Inward Discovery Grows Outdoors and Executive Director of the Baltimore Forest School Cooperative. Since 2009, he has worked toward social and educational justice in collaboration with over one hundred organizations, serving thousands of young people across Baltimore City.
A Healing Touch Certified Practitioner since 2015, Gabriel integrates energy healing into his work as a healing-centered educator and community leader. His work bridges education, environment, and well-being—bringing together schools, families, and communities to support holistic development and intergenerational stewardship.
He is also a certified Systema instructor, Capoeira Angola practitioner, and percussionist, with a background in Religion and Liberation Theology from Goucher College.
About Your Host: Leila Briggs
Leila Briggs is the host of The Energy Healing Podcast: Exploring Stories, Practices & Science, presented by the Healing Touch Program. A Healing Touch Certified Practitioner since 2015, Leila brings a lifetime of intuitive experience into grounded, heart-centered conversations about energy healing, healing spaces, and lived spiritual practice.
Her work focuses on creating safe, ethical, and supportive spaces for individuals and families—especially those raising intuitive children. She co-owns TriLia LLC and continues to teach, mentor, and offer intuitive sessions.
About the Podcast
The Energy Healing Podcast is where science meets the heart—sharing real stories, expert insights, and practical tools to explore Healing Touch and energy medicine in everyday life.
Whether you’re a practitioner, a seeker, or simply curious, this podcast invites you into deeper awareness, connection, and healing.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this video is provided only as general information and for educational purposes only. It does not offer medical advice and is not intended to be a substitute or replacement for qualified medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please take responsibility for your own health.
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