Energy healing is a very popular topic nowadays, and for good reason! We have finally come to a point in our societal consciousness that people have at least heard of energy healing, whether or not they believe in its efficacy. More and more people are moving towards a state of unease, disease or general imbalance due to the problems we face as individuals in a modernized society. Currently, the Western medical approach is not up to the task of dealing with it. Western medicine is absolutely amazing at certain things, like putting you back together if you get in a horrific accident. Surgical procedures are becoming increasingly high-tech and less invasive. If you are facing a heart attack or other serious emergency you’ll be very thankful for what a doctor can do, but when it comes to preventative approaches or holistic treatment, the Western medicine approach to healthcare is not complete. It comes down to one factor only: a doctor is trained to treat the physical body. They are not taught (yet) that health and overall wellbeing come from a mindbody- spirit balance. This is where energy healing is starting to bridge the gap between modern medicine and spirituality.
Diverse spiritual systems from around the world speak of health and wellbeing in terms of a common thread that includes a mind, body and spirit component; when any one of these becomes out of balance, the others will as well. If the mind is not healthy, neither the spirit nor body can thrive. If the emotions and spiritual connections are not healthy, the mind and body cannot thrive. Healing modalities that focus on the energetic or spiritual component of health fall into a general category known as energy healing. There are many types of energy healing. Some are more well-known than others, but that does not make any particular system better than another. Reiki is popular because it has been in the public spotlight since the 1930s and is a powerful entry-point into learning to work with subtle energy. Now that we live in a globally connected world with access to teachings from just about anywhere, there is a lot more choice. This makes it very good for a committed learner to be able to find a system that is enjoyable and conducive to one’s talents.
Some people claim to be naturally gifted with “extraordinary” abilities, but in reality, there is nothing extraordinary about them. Even gifted people have to use their gifts and work with them consistently in order to refine them and become effective in their application. There in is a wonderful truth. You can learn to do anything you apply your consciousness towards. Everyone has a natural gift that is waiting to be developed. You merely need to discover what that is. Even if you don’t think you have a gift in an area you want to pursue, I would dare say you are wrong; anytime we feel a deep inward pull towards something, the ability to cultivate that skill does lie within the depth of one’s being, or you would never have been attracted to it in the first place. If you have never delved into energy healing and are interested in it, or maybe you have and want to further explore, here are some things to contemplate on for deciding a good direction to move in. Our innate talents reside within the body.
Our bodies, our Prakriti structure, which includes both the physical body and subtle energy body, have several components. Let’s take a look at the subtle body. The subtle body consists of numerous energy channels; the major energy centers known as the chakras are culmination points where many energy channels intersect. These energy channels are known as nadis or meridians and allow our life force known as prana or chi to flow through the body. People most often describe chakras as looking like lotus flowers with petals. While the lotus itself is the chakra, the petals of the lotus, representing sub-points on the chakra, are meridians intersecting that culminate in specific powers of the mind, also known as perfections or siddhis. There are seven main chakras in the body, each affecting a different part of a person’s consciousness. The first six chakras contain 50 main intersecting points, with the crown chakra containing these same 50 energy currents repeated 20 times each, totaling the 1000-petaled lotus of the crown chakra. The first five chakras also contain the elements and their corresponding sensory perceptions, which are the building blocks of all creation. The elements are earth, water, fire, air and ether along with their corresponding sense perceptions of smell, taste, sight, touch and sound, respectively. The most subtle of these building blocks is ether element, which corresponds to the sensory perception of sound and hearing. The rest of the elements are said to be composed from ether. In practical terms, this means that the rest of the elemental structures in existence contain the subtle element of ether and are affected by vibratory current. As such, vibrational healing modalities have the ability to impact the subtle energy structures that comprise of everything in existence. Not surprisingly, there are many kinds of vibrational healing modalities to explore.
The vibrational healing concept
Not at all coincidentally, each petal of each chakra has a corresponding vibration that goes with it; all of the combined energies are what make us whole and complete. When something gets out of balance in the mind-bodyspirit connection, it will first become apparent in a person’s subtle energy as a place of constriction or blockage which does not allow energy to flow freely through the whole subtle body structure. When left untreated, this energy blockage becomes denser with time; since we are intelligently designed as whole and complete beings, when our wholeness is not able to express itself, this constriction will manifest itself as psychological, emotional, or physical disease.
In vibrational healing modalities, the focus is on moving energy before it becomes a tangible problem and also in using vibration as a way to crack through dense energy that has started to become tangible in nature. Use of mantra in healing is very powerful since the chakra energy centers have a corresponding vibration; a trained person can tell where in the subtle body the problem is and use a mantra that will help remove the stagnation. Forms of mantra therapy are well and alive in Ayurveda and also tantric healing modalities. Since mantra represents a specific vibratory current, other modalities accomplish this in other ways, such as through the use of instruments: a didgeridoo, drum or singing bowl being good examples. They tune to a specific frequency that has the capacity to pierce through dense energy and facilitate movement. What I find to be beautiful in vibrational therapy is that to understand it deeply, you have to understand the intrinsic interconnection of everything and how it all works together. This contemplation is effective in not only healing, but also in eliminating egoism that prevents both spiritual development and life growth. Egoism believes there is a better approach that is superior to another; proper application of vibrational healing (or any healing modality) shows otherwise.
As disease manifests in the body, it becomes important to look at other more tangible forms of healing. Vibration is subtle and in order for it to be powerfully effective, a person must have an inward pull towards sound. This is where contemplation and discernment come in to finding a modality that will work well for you – both to use in your own healing and as an approach for working with others. I cannot emphasize enough, there are no better, worse, right or wrong ways to approach healing; there is only what works best for you based on your own innate constitution.
How to find what is right for you
One way to discern what sorts of modalities will work for you is to take a look at your response to the elements and their corresponding sensory perceptions. Out of smell, taste, sight, touch and sound, which appeals to you most? What do you find yourself pulled towards? Are you deeply inclined towards music? Then think about a modality that incorporates sound, vibration, or mantra. Are you inclined towards smell? Perhaps working with aromatherapy would be good for you. Do you enjoy solid, tangible things?
Explore the healing power of stones, plants, or herbs. Many modalities incorporate more than one sense perception and it’s almost assured that once you delve into one area, your subtle perceptions in other areas will blossom as well. It’s a simple yet profound truth to life; when you find what you enjoy and you cultivate that which you enjoy, all aspects of life will expand.
Once you’ve honed in on a particular discipline you’d like to try, dive in and give it a fair chance. Allow yourself time to grow with it and to experience it for at least a few weeks. In other words, thoroughly immerse yourself in what you choose; don’t just get your toes wet. This will enable you to know for certain, without doubt, that a system is worth or not worth pursuing. When you give something your full attention and energy, it’s a certainty that if it is not the right thing for you at that time, the right thing will come along: this is one of the esoteric secrets to action. If it feels right, stick with it! Gaining a level of mastery takes a long time, in any skill, even when you have an innate gift in it. Be bold, be fearless and try something new. You may end up finding a lifelong passion!
