WanderingyogiLee looks at energy healing and what matters most.
Giving the soul eyes and ears – that’s energy healing WanderingyogiLee
Not a surprising statement from a yogi, except this one is a bit of a science geek, so for the moment we can rest up on the AUM.
Energy healing practices activate the body’s subtle energy systems to remove blocks, increase energy or decrease inner tension. They can done to you, or with you. You have the capacity to activate your own energy healing. And keep it going.
We are emotional, physical, mental and spiritual beings. That’s a lot of layers for things to get mixed up. For many of us, in fact, most of us, we have ongoing energy ‘issues in the tissues’ as I like to term them. Some of them are really deep, others are short term nasty destructive habits we accidentally fall into. Either way, it pays to have some energy healing tools in your life wellness kit.
Energy healing has been around for thousands of years. It is both mystical and real, and surrounded by much confusion and misconception. Before I get onto different modalities, let’s take a look at what energy is.
We are light and dark energy. In the late 20th century, we can thank quantum physics for pushing western science squealing into understanding the learnings in many energy healing traditions. Most of us know we are made up of star dust millions of years old, which has come from another place far far away at some point in time way in the past. Most of us know we are also cellular systems which work through the constant exchange of energy between cells and molecules, tissues and joints, brain and heart, even after death.
We exchange energy with our surroundings. Ever walked into a room, and felt like you stepped into a large pile of horse poo? When you walk on the beach, are you always delighted how your troubles seem to melt away? Air and salt are natural energy cleansers, no matter what type of sentient being you might be.
Now for the really geeky bit. Did you know we are also made of dark matter or energy? It may in fact be greater than the star dust that is us.
The universe, with all the planets, stars, gas, dust, galaxies, doesn’t quite add up.
On the largest cosmic scale, we find the same story everywhere we look: there isn’t enough matter to account for the gravitational effects we observe. Matter clumps into a cosmic web; galaxy clusters grow to enormous sizes with fast-moving galaxies inside; individual galaxies rotate at large speeds that remain large all the way to their edges.
Without the presence of about five times as much matter as protons, neutrons, and electrons can account for, none of this would be possible. Our picture of the Universe requires dark matter for self-consistency. And to continue to expand, it would seem (which it is).
Roughly 68% of the universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 27%. The rest – everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our instruments, all normal matter – adds up to less than 5% of the universe. We have dark matter and energy inside us to about the same proportion as the Universe.
Between 40 and 90% of our viral sequences are from dark matter. It’s a big swing, because of the accelerating nature of dark energy. Human blood contains over three thousand different DNA sequences which cannot yet be identified. And more keep turning up. Another mind blowing moment. We keep evolving, and we can’t explain most of it biomechanically. Nor can we keep up with the ‘science’ of ‘hard data’ to explain, it would seem.
The ability for us to expand ourselves inside out, is truly phenomenal – let’s tap into it WanderingyogiLee
Let’s talk about you and me
Body energy systems have been around for a long long time. All yoga traditions have an energy map, whether it is the chakras (and nadis) of Vedic yoga and its subsequent traditions, or the meridians and lao points of the Wu-Xing (often used by me in yin yoga). With the rise of spiritualism post christianity, we experienced renewed interest in all forms of ‘energy healing’ from stones to sound. Chakra healing, reiki all fairly popular. All these modalities say it is the energy body that does most of the physical, emotional and mind healing.
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) energy work of acupressure is mainstream, and yoga therapy courses now take the deep dive into Ida, Pingala and Sushumna (the primary energy lines on the Vedic tradition). People talk about kundalini rising as a matter of course.
As you don’t need to understand the intricacies of the law of gravity before you can fall down, so you don’t need to completely grasp the concept of energy healing before you dive into some practice.
Energy healing and balancing is INTEGRAL TO your life wellness plan – have fun exploring it WanderingyogiLee
Here are some of the most common ‘physical’ energy healing modalities:
Reflexology – Using TCM acupressure points on the feet, hands and ears, this modality is great for freeing up blocked energy, particularly in the stomach, and head (great for hangovers)
Acupuncture/Acupressure – Using TCM Meridian systems, you apply sharp needles, or physical pressure (hands or cups) to key points in a particular meridian to stimulate, slow down or remove energy blocks.
Massage – light or strong, all massage moves energy in the body, primarily through the stimulation of the lymph system, muscles and bodily fluids.
Yoga – As an activity, yoga leads the field in improving and maintain your energy systems. Whether it is meditation, its focus on our spirit energy, prana (breathwork), or the physical asana, it represents the total package for anyone wanting to create their own energy healing practice.
There are other energy healing modalities which are much less physical. Maybe you have injuries, maybe you are sensitive to personal touch. Here are some:
Reiki – I have been blessed to know some excellent reiki workers, and just as blessed to have met some fakes. A weekend course and a tingling in your fingers does not make you an effective reiki worker. The real deal will have sefus (masters or experts to guide them) and commitment to a spiritual tradition, usually Eastern science origin. As the receiver, you will respond to Reiki better if you are already aware there is something else going on inside you.
Chakra work – I hesitate to call anyone who does this healers. Mostly, they seem to ‘read’ you and then give you advice. One has to only study chakras to conclude the only one who can make healing effect here is YOU and your connection to the universe. I suspect this energy work has a lot of people with fairly superficial knowledge. Which is not surprising if you have ever had to wade through some of the texts central to the vedic energy system from which this comes.
Sound healing – without a doubt, we respond to music or sound. But recent research suggests what is one person’s soothing sound may be another person’s buzzsaw. I have singing bowls, chimes, tank drum, naga. I use them to create sounds I like, and I hope others do too. The Veddic tradition says that our different chakras respond to different sounds. And also a sanskrit mantra. Somewhere along the line this has been translated into sounds at certain frequencies. It’s a fascinating field, have fun exploring it.
The list can go on and on – breath work, regressive therapy such as rebirthing. Tantric breath work. I have left out crystals and the burning of sage as legitimate areas of healing. Crystals do have frequencies, all matter does, if you read the intro here. All our frequencies work off and with each other, including crystals. I don’t think they heal.
First Nations tribes in the greater Americas use sage to clear the air for spiritual ceremonies. As do the Wu-Xing shamans. Sage smudging’s spiritual tradition is long and broad, and it is used to bring in positive energy, not remove negative. You might be better off drinking sage tea, if you would like the benefits of a good nights sleep, less stress, and enhanced cognitive functions to deal with the negative aspects of your life. Again, I don’t think it can heal us.
If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down – modified Buddha saying
There is one thing all these energy systems treat as secondary in their healing. That thing called the mind. If you use these energy systems, the mind/soul will automatically balance is the assumption. This is where modern psychology has made its magnificent contribution to the space of energy healing. Because sometimes the mind does not heal even if the spirit has. We now also have epigenetics, and the biology of belief. The idea that what we think can affect our genes and DNA.
Energy healing and balancing with WanderingyogiLee
Even the best yogi can get stuck. The practice of life means we hit road bumps. Some of them so large we are not even sure we will recover from them. Or less traumatic, something is not quite right, but we have not been able to shift it. Rationally, we know what we need to do, yet somehow we can’t stick to it. Maybe we rationalise it away. It is just the way it is. Still, we know something is off. This is where the energy balancing and healing work I do helps.
My energy healing tools combine my experience and learning from the Wu-Xing, yoga, a contemporary mind/soul balancing tool known as Psych K, and the way of the Huna. Given my previous 20 or so years corporate background as executive coach, leadership facilitator, and with all the tools I learnt over the years, the wisdom I have gathered from others puts me in a great position to know what is likely to work best and why. Then there is my own journey to the soul with the universe, my never ending story of love and light.
With all energy healing and balancing modalities AROUND, the golden rule is YOU HAVE THE KEY INSIDE YOU FOR THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO BE – GO AND FIND IT WYOGILEE
