Who Are You Trying to Heal?

Recently, a question was asked in a forum I frequent. I have copied some of that question here, with identifying details removed, because it got me to thinking and I wanted to expand on those thoughts a bit.

What advice would you give to somebody that refuses to work on the following…

• poor diet
• sedentary lifestyle
• negative thought processes
• toxic relationships
• poor stress management

I have a friend seeking healing but they’re unwilling to do the necessary work. I believe they’d benefit from soul retrieval but I’m reluctant to suggest it because they’ve ignored everything else I’ve recommended.

My short answer to this question was that I would give no advice.

Here’s why.

Money isn’t a dirty word

Today I saw yet another conversation on social media covering question of charging money for one’s services as a healer. Money, for whatever reason, is seen as being something unclean by a few groups. And the healer who would dare to charge people money is somehow deemed to be less of a healer for it.

In the most recent of these conversations about shamans, someone stated:

Traditional shamans don’t charge for their service.

To which I responded:

They may not ask you for money or reward, but you sure do see gifts being left on their doorsteps or given over before and after a healing session. A share of the day’s hunt, a share of foods harvested from the gardens. A pelt. A new gun. Gifts that are not asked for, but if not given cause great insult to the shaman. Maybe the traditional shaman doesn’t charge money, but it is a misnomer to think s/he receives nothing in exchange. The other members of the tribal group know that the shaman provides a service for the community, and so will not necessarily be able to go out to hunt or harvest crops, or get into the nearest city to buy a new shirt or a new gun. So they provide these things in exchange.

I don’t live in a mostly self-sufficient, small tribal group. I live in the midst of a metropolitan area of over 7 million people. I

can’t walk into the local Tesco and offer to exchange a healing for a pound of grapes. They want money. So does the phone company, the gas company, the landlord, and the petrol station when I go in to fill up the tank in my car.

Money is the method of exchange for services in the modern world where I live, so in order for me to survive I have to charge my clients money. They’re not likely to come round with a brace of chickens or a bushel of carrots to pay for their session.

In this midst of all of this, I am in no way saying that people should be overcharged, or that allowances should not be made with regards to a person’s ability to pay. I have in the past given healing at severely discounted rates to those who could not afford to pay. I provide Reiki healing for free for one client, and have done for several years because my own Reiki guides and her guardian spirit both informed me I was not allowed to charge her. (I’m also not allowed to do any sort of “healing” in her energy healing sessions.) I have done healing exchanges with other healers.I have made agreements for teaching – I teach you this, you teach me something in exchange.

These discounts and free healing sessions are not and cannot make up the majority of the healing work that I do. Not unless the phone company decides to start accepting Reiki in exchange for a phone line and internet access.

Money is not a dirty word. It’s time we stopped treating as such.

The Importance of Grounding

Any decent teaching in doing energy work will include discussion on the importance of grounding. This is our way of connecting to Earth energies and draining out any excess energy. Much like the grounding wire in your house keeps your electrics from being overwhelmed by all the power moving through, personal grounding helps to make sure we don’t become overwhelmed by Healing or Spiritual Energy.

I have been discovering through my own work though that there is another purpose to grounding. This vital act does more than drain away excess energies. Grounding also serves to replenish our personal energy stores.

When teaching a beginner about grounding, as an aid I suggest to then that they sit beside or even in a tree. They can send their awareness into the tree to trace its roots down into the Earth. From here, it becomes easier to send their own personal tap root into the Earth, using it to drain off excess energies. This is absolutely important, especially for people who are sensitive to Energy overloading.

Equally important when working with Tree Energy is to become aware of the nutrients, water, and energy moving from the Earth into the tree. In the same way, we need to allow Earth energy to flow upwards into our bodies. This helps to refill depleting energy stores and helps to maintain the natural flow of energy through the body.

I do a lot of work with people who have problems with fatigue, depression, or just feeling emotionally or spiritually drained. The common denominator in all of them I have found is that they were not well grounded. Working with them to re-establish that connection with Earth so that they had a steady exchange of Earth-based energies flowing in and depleted energies moving out served to help decrease the fatigue and feelings of being emotionally drained.

With one client I found that she didn’t have a grounded connection to Earth when I was doing Reiki with her. My attempt to establish a connection did work, but while we were working a train went by. The movement of the train by her window acted like a knife, cutting that grounding cord and caused it to snap. With a bit more effort I was able to create that grounding connection again and begin a flow of energy upwards into her Energy Field. Upon finishing her treatment, I told her what had happened so that she would be aware and gave her some simple exercises she could do to reconnect and ground herself. At subsequent visits, trains moving by no longer completely severed her grounding cord and she was able to re-establish the flow with minimal assistance from me. More importantly, she reported that she had more energy for taking care of herself and her responsibilities (Root chakra issues).

Many times, when we do energy work we focus on channelling in energy from the ‘Universe’ but ignore or block the concurrent flow of energy upwards from the Earth. It stems from a tendency as well, I think, of believing that only energies that channel through the Higher Chakras (above the Heart) are useful in healing. Certainly my original Reiki teachers taught that Reiki only comes from Universe, they didn’t mention at all that Healing also comes from the Earth.

Channelling energy exclusively from the Universe into the upper chakras creates an imbalance between the upper and

lower chakras. As an Energy Healer I want to help people to find healing and balance throughout. So, when I do Energy healing work for someone reporting feelings of fatigue, depression, and just a generalised lack of motivation one of the firs things I check is how well grounded they are. I can then help them learn to ground and sense the flow of energies in and out from Earth to body and back again.

When I shield and ground myself these days, I create a channel that allows an exchange of energies from and to the Earth which I let ‘run’ in the background as I go about my day. My experience is that through this simple act I am feeling more rooted and connected in my physical self. My energy levels are improved and I no longer feel as ‘flighty’ in my thinking or emotional responses to situations.

Why not try this for yourself and let me know what you think.