Marie Castro Hamilton, Founder of Enchanted Beginnings
By Jules Lavallee
Marie Castro Hamilton is the founder of Enchanted Beginnings, a holistic wellness practice founded on her belief that every person deserves the opportunity to pursue optimal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
For more than 23 years, Marie has helped individuals and families achieve affordable homeownership as a licensed professional, reflecting her lifelong passion for guiding people through meaningful new beginnings.
Seeking a deeper understanding of health, wellness, and the connection between body, mind, and spirit, Marie began studying metaphysical and holistic wellness practices years before her cancer diagnoses. What began as a personal journey of learning for herself and her family gradually evolved into a calling to educate, encourage, and support others.
Long before Enchanted Beginnings had a name, it had a purpose.
Through life’s deepest challenges—including personal trauma, profound grief following the loss of both parents, and surviving two separate cancer diagnoses with multiple life-saving surgeries—that purpose became unmistakably clear. During her recovery, Marie realized she wasn’t simply rebuilding her life; she was embracing a new beginning. From that realization, Enchanted Beginnings was born.
Today, Marie is a metaphysical practitioner, speaker, two-time international best-selling author, and an approved facilitator with Life Changing Energy, where she teaches CMA-accredited certification courses in Reiki, crystal wellness, Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, and other sound and energy wellness modalities. She continues to expand her knowledge through ongoing study, believing that learning is a lifelong journey.
In 2025, Marie was recognized by the Global Sound Practitioner Alliance as one of its Sound & Energy Healer of the Year honorees. Through her writing, speaking, teaching, and wellness experiences, she encourages others to discover hope, resilience, and renewed purpose.
Share your journey of healing.
My journey of healing began long before I was ever diagnosed with cancer. After my mother passed away, I found myself drawn to crystals because she had always loved them. Learning about them became a way of feeling close to her while I was grieving. What began as a search for connection slowly became a journey of healing.
While my father was hospitalized, I brought crystals to his bedside. His doctors had already told us there was little more they could do. I noticed subtle changes—not a miracle, but enough to make me wonder if there were gentle ways to bring comfort during life’s most difficult moments. That experience changed me.
I later shared that experience in my first international best-selling anthology, The Call Within, where I wrote about losing both of my parents and how grief became the beginning of my healing journey.
That experience ignited a passion for learning. I became a Reiki Master and immersed myself in studying sound therapy, Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, crystals, frequencies, meditation, and other complementary wellness practices. At the time, I believed I was preparing to help others. Looking back, I realize I was also unknowingly preparing for myself.
I had been living with cancer for years without realizing it. What I assumed were simply the effects of aging, stress, and carrying extra weight were actually symptoms of two separate cancers silently growing within my body.
Then, life changed overnight.
I was diagnosed with not one, but two separate cancers. In an instant, life became a whirlwind of doctor’s appointments, surgeries, uncertainty, and fear. Time seemed to stand still. My mind struggled to process what was happening while my body fought for survival. I experienced exhaustion unlike anything I had ever known, along with anxiety, sadness, and moments of wondering if my life would ever be the same.
My diagnosis forced me to ask myself a difficult question: If I believed so deeply in helping others heal, why wasn’t I giving myself that same care?
That realization became a turning point.
Alongside my medical treatment, I intentionally leaned into the same wellness modalities I had been practicing and sharing with others. I did affirmations with renewed purpose, gave myself Reiki, embraced meditation and sound therapy, accepted healing sessions from trusted friends, spent time in nature, and learned the importance of slowing down.
These practices did not replace medical care. My doctors, surgeries, and medical team were essential to my recovery. However, these wellness practices became powerful tools that supported my emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being throughout one of the most difficult seasons of my life.
Today, my healing journey continues. I don’t believe healing has a finish line. I believe it is something we continually nurture—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Every experience teaches us something if we are willing to learn from it.
Cancer didn’t begin my healing journey—it revealed everything life had been preparing me for all along.
That journey inspired me to create Enchanted Beginnings, a place where others can discover hope, support, education, and encouragement. My mission is to help people discover that healing is possible—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—and that even life’s greatest challenges can become the beginning of something beautiful.
Tell us about Enchanted Beginnings.
Enchanted Beginnings is much more than a business to me—it is the reflection of my own journey and everything I have learned along the way.
When I think of Enchanted Beginnings, I picture a peaceful place in your mind’s eye—a place of hope, restoration, compassion, and renewal. A place where you feel seen, heard, safe, accepted, and reminded that you are worthy of pursuing wellness and caring for yourself and embracing your own journey. A place where you can slow down, breathe deeply, reconnect with yourself, and simply begin again.
My own experiences with grief, cancer, and healing taught me that healing is not only physical. It also touches our minds, emotions, and spirits. While medical care was essential to my recovery, I discovered that holistic wellness practices such as Reiki, sound therapy, meditation, nature, crystals, and mindfulness became important tools that supported me through one of the most challenging seasons of my life.
As I continued learning, I realized these practices had become part of my own healing as well. What began as a personal journey naturally expanded into supporting my family, friends, and eventually my community.
That is how Enchanted Beginnings was born.
I believe every person deserves the opportunity to pursue optimal wellness physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in a safe, compassionate, and supportive environment. That belief is the foundation of Enchanted Beginnings and the heart behind everything I do.
Through sound therapy, Reiki, Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, crystals, meditation, education, and other complementary wellness practices, my hope is to help people reconnect with themselves, discover moments of peace, and realize that healing is an ongoing journey, not a destination.
The name Enchanted Beginnings reflects what I believe with all my heart—that no matter what life has brought you, there is always the possibility of a new beginning.
Whether you come seeking peace, relaxation, education, comfort, or simply a quiet place to breathe, my hope is that you leave feeling encouraged, supported, and reminded that you are never alone.
Share the areas that you teach clients.
One of the greatest lessons I hope to share with my clients is that caring for yourself is not selfish—it is essential.
So many of us spend our lives caring for everyone else. We become so focused on our families, careers, homes, responsibilities, and the many roles we carry that we slowly begin to lose ourselves. As women especially, those roles often become intertwined, like necklaces that have become tangled together, making it difficult to know where one responsibility ends and another begins.
One of my favorite reminders comes from the safety instructions we hear before every airplane flight: put your own oxygen mask on first. It isn’t selfish—it allows you to breathe so you can continue caring for the people you love.
That same principle applies to everyday life.
Many people who come to me are carrying more than a busy schedule. They may be navigating chronic stress, grief, illness, physical discomfort, caregiving responsibilities, or simply the weight of everyday life. Over time, those experiences can become intertwined, leaving them feeling exhausted, disconnected, and overwhelmed.
Together, we explore simple ways to make self-care part of everyday life. Sometimes that means preparing a nourishing meal, taking a walk, exercising, spending time in nature, journaling, practicing mindfulness, receiving Reiki, experiencing a sound bath, taking a deep breath, or simply allowing yourself a few quiet moments to rest and reflect.
Many people carry guilt when they take time for themselves, believing they always need to be doing more. I gently remind them that caring for themselves isn’t selfish—it allows them to show up more fully for the people they love.
I also enjoy teaching the “why” behind the practices I offer. I believe knowledge empowers people. By helping clients understand the neuroscience of stress, the body’s natural relaxation response, and how holistic wellness practices such as Reiki, sound therapy, meditation, crystals, and tuning forks can support overall well-being, they become active participants in their own wellness journey rather than simply reacting to life’s demands.
Most importantly, I want every person who walks through my doors to remember this:
You matter, and it’s okay to matter.
When we begin caring for ourselves with the same compassion we freely give to others, something beautiful happens. We stand a little taller. We think more clearly. We approach life’s challenges with greater confidence and resilience. We become more present for the people we love because we are no longer running on empty.
To me, that is what holistic wellness is all about—not perfection, but learning to care for yourself in a way that allows you to live with greater peace, balance, purpose, and joy.
What can we find in the international best-selling anthology, Whispers of the Soul?
My chapter in Whispers of the Soul is one of the most personal things I have ever written.
For many years, I believed this was a story I would take to my grave. It shares one of the most painful experiences of my life. Writing it required me to revisit emotions I had carried silently for many years, and that was both incredibly difficult and profoundly healing.
During the writing process, I was also in the middle of my own battle with two separate cancers. There were moments when I seriously questioned whether I would be able to finish the chapter at all. Between surgeries, doctor appointments, treatments, and the emotional weight of reliving such a deeply personal story, I truly considered walking away from it. Yet something deep inside me kept telling me that this story mattered and that someone, somewhere, might need to know they were not alone.
My chapter is not simply about surviving trauma. It is about finding the courage to reclaim your voice, discovering that healing is possible, and realizing that the experiences we carry in silence do not have to define the rest of our lives.
If there is one thing I hope readers take away from my story, it is this: our past may become part of our story, but it does not have to become the author of it.
Healing doesn’t erase what happened, nor does it ask us to forget. Instead, it gently releases us from the weight those experiences have carried in our lives. Little by little, the fear, the pain, and the heaviness begin to lose their grip. They no longer occupy the center of our hearts or remain in the driver’s seat of our lives. We begin to breathe a little easier, think a little clearer, and make room once again for peace, hope, joy, and the freedom to truly live. Healing touches every part of us—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—allowing us to move forward with greater peace, clarity, strength, and hope.
There may even come a day when we can look back, not to relive the pain, but to recognize how far we’ve come. What once felt like our deepest wound can become a source of compassion, understanding, and hope for someone else. In that moment, our story no longer controls us—it becomes a gift we can choose to share, helping others believe that healing is possible too.
It is my hope that anyone who reads my chapter—whether they have experienced trauma, grief, illness, loss, or another deeply personal struggle—will know this:
You are not alone. Healing is possible. There is hope. And there can be life beyond the pain.
Times Square Billboard
What is next?
I feel like I am stepping into an exciting new chapter, both personally and professionally.
I consider 2026 my healing year—a time to intentionally heal, reflect, and rebuild after my battle with cancer and two major surgeries. I have learned to give myself grace, move at a healthier pace, and trust that meaningful things are built one step at a time. Like any garden, beautiful things need time to take root before they bloom. I believe 2026 is my year for planting those roots, and I look forward to watching many of those dreams bloom in 2027.
One exciting milestone is the release of the international best-selling anthology, The Moment We Rise: Stories of Healing, Purpose and the Courage to Choose a New Beginning, this September, which features my chapter, The Sound of Life. In my chapter, I share my personal journey through cancer and the deeper healing that followed. My hope is that readers will find comfort, encouragement, and the reminder that even when life changes in an instant, healing is possible, hope is real, and there can still be a beautiful new beginning.
At the same time, I continue building Enchanted Beginnings into the vision I have carried in my heart for many years—a welcoming place where people can pause, breathe, reconnect with themselves, and discover hope, healing, education, and encouragement. My dream is for it to continue growing through workshops, books, Enchanted Reflections, healthy recipes, meaningful conversations, gardens, sound and energy wellness, and other resources that inspire people to care for themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
I also believe that learning never ends. I continue to study because every new experience allows me to serve others with greater understanding and compassion. I am currently working toward becoming an end-of-life doula, a role that feels especially meaningful after my own experiences with grief, loss, and cancer. It is another way of walking alongside people and their families during one of life’s most sacred transitions.
Enchanted Beginnings is more than the name of my business. It is a reflection of my own journey and the place where my deepest values come together—hope, compassion, healing, learning, and the belief that every person deserves the opportunity to pursue optimal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I truly feel like I am living my own Enchanted Beginning, and it is my hope that others will one day feel they are living theirs as well.
