Try something different!

 We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.  Max Depree

Are you ready to change how you feel?  A holistic wellness session is a great first step!

 

Make your energy balancing appointment here.

 

 

Phew! I did it.

 

I did it!

The April A-Z challenge was an awesome opportunity to connect with other bloggers, find great new blogs to follow and hone up on my posting skills.    I have to admit though, I'm glad it's over.  Thirty posts in thirty days is tough for me to sustain.  In non-April months I'm not usually online on a daily basis, so I'm happy to revert back to my pre-challenge posting schedule of once per week (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on life).

The main focus of my future posts will continue to be the healing energy arts, though I plan to cast my idea-net a little wider.  Later this month I will be attending the 14th World Congress on Qigong and hope to learn some great stuff I can share with you.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about Reiki, Tai Chi, Qigong, Shamballa or Sound Therapy, please leave a comment on this post.  I'll do my best to answer it for you.

 

To Tell the Truth

Scientist and shaman use a different language to tell the same story.  Both are truth spoken from a different perspective.

Current popular ideas in theoretical physics are attempting to explain the energy in the universe.  String theory tells us that unimaginably tiny vibrating strings of energy (in nine different dimensions!) are the building blocks for every particle of matter.  Another theory tells us we live not in a uni-verse but a multi-verse, an unimaginably giant place that has an infinite and ever growing number of universes contained within it.  The scientists tell us the mathematics behind these two theories support each other.  Trouble is, they don't currently have a way to test and prove these theories.  Until they do, their ideas can't be considered hard science.  But that doesn't stop those scientists from continuing their research.  They toil away, hoping that in a hundred years or so we'll have a method to prove their theories right.

We need the same kind of determined patience in the field of the healing energy arts.  While a limited amount of science has been applied to measure healing outcomes (e.g. reduced blood pressure) we have no objective way of proving the theory behind the healing.   To tell the truth, I really don't know why Reiki and Shamballa work.  What I have received as explanation are the centuries-old stories passed from master to student.  But from experience I do know it works, and I will keep using it to heal people while I wait for the scientists to figure things out.  In the meantime, I have the language of the Shaman.

Healing or cure: Which to prefer?

What's the difference between  HEALING and CURING? 

According to Michael Lerner, Ph.D. and head of Commonweal Cancer Help Program  "Healing and curing are not synonymous.  Cure refers to complete biological resolution of a disease state, while healing refers to a revitalizing and regenerative process that can occur on emotional, spiritual, or physical levels - and sometimes on all three levels in concert."

So based on this definition, the energy arts of Reiki, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Sound Therapy and Shamballa are all healing systems.  

We usually hear about healing systems in the context of what is called the "holistic approach".   According to the merriam-webster online dictionary holistic means "relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body> <holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system>".   

So again, based on this definition Touch for Health, Reiki, Tai Chi and Qi Gong are all holistic healing systems.

When thinking about healing vs curing it's important to note that, while healing can include curing, neither necessarily encompasses the other:  You can be healed and not cured.  You can be cured and not healed.    In an example of the first scenario (healed, not cured) imagine a person with a terminal disease who lives beyond what is statistically expected, and finds joy, peace and satisfaction in their final months of life.  In the second scenario (cured, not healed) imagine a person who recovers from a life threatening disease and continues to live with depression, anxiety and pain.   As Mitchell Raynor, M.D. puts it in his book Sounds of Healing: "Our concept of healing should never be limited to physical cure."  

It's rather obvious that anyone's preference would be to have both healing and a cure.  So how do you improve your chances of attaining this goal?  First by seeking professional medical attention and following any treatment advice you're given.  Then find a complementary holistic healing modality that appeals to you - Touch for Health, Reiki, Tai Chi and Qi Gong are just a few of the many available.

The really great thing about the complementary healing systems is that you can use them any time.  You don't have to be in need of a cure to benefit from healing.  Do you know anyone who wouldn't want to be more relaxed, have increased energy and feelings of well being, or have less aches and pains?  Neither do I!

Energy Healing or the Placebo Effect?

The placebo effect.  Is it just "all in your head"?  Not according to an experiment reported at http://www.physorg.com/news105029324.html.  The experiment, led by Tor Wager, Columbia professor of psychology, found when scientists applied a placebo cream to volunteers’ forearms,  opioid release occurred in brain areas associated with pain relief.    Wager explains: “These results extend our knowledge of how beliefs and expectations affect the brain's neurochemistry and show that one's mental response to a challenge can affect the brain and body in ways that are relevant to health.”

Even the folks at http://www.skepdic.com/placebo.html admit there is something more to the placebo effect than pure psychology.  They report that according to Dr. Walter A. Brown, a psychiatrist at Brown University:    " ...there is certainly data that suggest that just being in the healing situation accomplishes something."  Dr. Brown and others believe that the placebo effect is mainly or purely physical and due to physical changes that promote healing or feeling better. 

Physical changes..... caused by our beliefs....... that result in healing?  How do we tap into this unbelievable power?   Many of us already are!   Practitioners of Reiki, Sound Therapy, Shamballa and other healing energy arts draw on this power during every treatment.  The therapeutic effects are real: opioid release reduces pain; endorphins, cortisol and adrenaline changes result in reduced stress.  Stress reduction prevents or slows further harmful physical changes.   Does this explain everything that happens during an energy treatment?  Absolutely not.  But understanding there is a direct link between our psychology and our physiology is one more tiny step along the path of understanding.

Some days a skeptic

In his book "The Healing Promise of Qi" Roger Jahnke tells us "From simply becoming aware of the existence of Qi in the world and within yourself, you may eventually be able to learn directly from the Qi itself.  While you already know this as a theory, one of the rewards of Qi cultivation is that, over time, you can go beyond mental concepts.  You may evolve or mature to a deep knowing or experiential grasp that Qi is the essence of everything.  It will become clear that you are Qi.  You are primarily energy and consciousness, and your body is a vehicle for your multidimensional self.  This is challenging.  The invisible part of your multidimensional self becomes more dominant than the visible part of yourself.  The physical and physiological selves become secondary to the energetic self, the mental/emotional self and the transcendental or spiritual self."

Check out the book "The Healing Promise of Qi"

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I am a skeptic at heart, and when I started Tai Chi thought all the energy talk was nothing but mumbo-jumbo.   As I practiced, I eventually started to experience signs of Qi within - for me, tingling hands and feeling spacey.  Still I remained skeptical.  As my Qi experience grew, I became interested in other energy-related arts.  First was Reiki.  I didn't have a clue how it worked, and to be honest, am still not sure we really do understand it.  Still a skeptic. Then came Sound Therapy.  Now at least that sounded like science -  sound waves, vibrations and the like.    But my clients' experiences were not science-like at all.   I couldn't explain any of it, so I stayed in my comfortable skeptic zone.  After Sound Therapy I learned Shamballa .  To say this challenged my internal skeptic is an understatement!  There was not a whiff of science, just channelled messages from long dead saints.  Oh my, how did I end up here?  How does this stuff work?  None of it makes any logical sense.  My mind can't understand, yet I see it work every time with my own eyes.    I think this is what Roger means when he says "you can go beyond mental concepts".    Some days I go beyond mental concepts.  Some days I'm still a skeptic.

The Long and Winding Road

I never intended to be here.  By "here" I mean being an energy healer.   I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to learn Tai Chi eight years ago.  Well, as they say, one thing leads to another, and "here" I am.

Eight years and I've only scratched the surface!  The journey continues...

"Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now."  Maya Angelou