Managing Stress: Why I Believe In Energy Work—Have You Tried It?
This past Saturday I was reminded once more why I believe that an energetic reality that we can’t touch or see does in fact exist. Now I know some of you are rolling your eyes like: “Duh, Alexandra, tell me something I don’t know.” While others are one click away from a less flaky site, thinking: “Are you flipping kidding me right now? I read this blog for beauty advice, not some The-Secret-style shi*%#.”
I know. But for some reason, this site has become a place where we share all kinds of weird stuff about ourselves, and for me (OK, and maybe her, too), this kind of alternative healing work has become an important part of managing our sometimes stressful lives, and also checking in with our higher selves.
What is energy work? So hard to say, really. I’ve seen and felt it during reiki—anyone tried reiki?—but also during regular old massages, with acupuncture needles, and through no touch at all.
I’ve felt it more times than I can remember, and it has provided me with great relief at times—a kind of high feeling of lightness—while at others plunging me into a deep grief I didn’t even know was there.
But back to this weekend. I was having a party for the multiple people I know born in March, including yours truly. There was loud music and a solid amount of debauchery underway when my friend Mini grabbed me by the arm and said: “My friend Siobhan”—no joke, and I’ve never met another until Saturday—”wants to sage you.” That means she wants to use the smoke from sage to clear my energy. Me—happy, a little drunk, and always up for some unpredictable semi-spiritual encounter—lept into the living room for my birthday cleansing.
I sat down with a woman who looked like a supermodel and had a beautiful energy to match. Wordlessly she began puff-puffing the sage smoke around my body with graceful and adept hand motions. “Your elbows are really happy,” she said finally, and then moving down she kind of paused uncomfortably, “but your hips…” She trailed off. Not so much. “Yeah,” I said. “I know.”
So here’s the thing: Before I lose you entirely, nearly every energy worker slash healer slash whatever you call these people who are more attuned to such things, has told me this. My hips, it seems, hold some kind of blocked energy. In the earlier part of my yoga practice, and before I had any kind of awareness of my body, pigeon pose (a pose so many seem to find totally relaxing) could instantly send me into tears. Even as a kid, as my sister would throw herself into the splits, my hips were locked. They’ve gotten a whole lot better—at least in terms of flexibility—but not enough to stop evoking this reaction.
Now, it’s not like this was the craziest energy experience I’ve had, it’s just on my brain. Recently, on vacation, I also got a massage and the second the woman touched me an intense burst of energy rushed through my body. Oh my, I thought, major energy worker in the house. When she turned me over, I asked her: “You do energy work right?” It was really funny, her eyes bulged and she looked at me like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. In broken English-Spanish, she replied almost in her defense: “Un poquito, solemente, un poquito! I just start.”
Why are we talking about energy work? Because stress and health (and beauty, of course) are all deeply intertwined. Whether you believe that we hold tension in the body—is that even up for debate?—or in things far more out there, like trauma from birth or past lives, energy work may be something worth exploring.
Have you ever tried it? Felt it? Had an interesting energetic experience? Would you?
Great post. I think it is great to go off on a few tangents once in a while. Energy totally relates to health and beauty anyway. I have just started reading Erich Schiffmann’s Yoga The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness. It is all about finding stillness and your inner energy. I am just beginning to really tap into my energy. I agree that so many people think this is the likes of the secret but it really is so much more. This is who we are and how we harness our energy is how we experience and enjoy life.
Yes! And it makes a huge difference in the way your skin looks.
I’m going to do a little shout-out to my favorite energy worker, Nicole Glassman at mindfulhealth.biz in NY – my absolute fave!! I have tried A LOT of accupuncturist, massage therapists, zero-balancing (don’t ask me what that is, but I’ve tried it) and this just WORKS. I have been seeing her for 3+ years and have never felt better.
Nicole does this thing called Electro-Dermal Screening, which basically tests each accu-point in your body, using your fingers and toes, and it can tell you which organs are doing well, which aren’t, and why!
I have tried to trick Nicole on several occasions by telling her I feel great, and then she’ll ask me something like…I’m seeing something off in your joints…does your left big toe hurt? And lo and behold, it does. Even though I didn’t even notice it before! She even knew when I took a vacation and stayed in a hotel next to a pesticide ridden golf course – SO COOL!
She then gives you herbal remedies to correct the issue you’re having.
I’ve gone to her before simply because I was in a bad mood, and voila, within 1 day of seeing her and taking her herbs, I’m out of it.
She also has this cool machine that (I hope I’m explaining this correctly) can test the wavelength of, say, your sandwich, and can tell you if it matches your body’s current wavelength, so that it will be of benefit to you.
I’ve been meaning to bring her all of my beauty products, so we can test each one. I’m sure she would love that….
PS. A, you should try yin yoga. You sit in an easy stretch while watching TV (or typing a blog post) and it makes you really flexy in no time!
I broke my leg ( Tibia and Fibula ) slipping on ice while walking in the woods with my dogs four years ago. The surgeon took care of the breaks with pins and a plate but then I was on my own because in my opinion, allopathic medicine didn’t have anything else to offer me. I am fortunate to live in a community with many complementary practitioners and I turned to them. I started with my acupuncturist who gave me treatments once a week to bring energy back to the area. I had reiki as well during this six week period of not being able to put any pressure on the leg.
After I was able to walk, I went to a Feldenkreis practitioner for help in walking properly because after six weeks, my leg had atrophied. I also had reflexology for another three months which brought the swelling down and today, there is no pain and no limp.
Energy medicine works. There are a multitude of practices that can help with healing and most insurance companies do not recognize this so we pay out of pocket. Thanks so much for writing about this!
I love energy work of all kinds! But I’m also pretty careful about it, mainly because I believe in it, and so I believe it should be handled with care…. Gotta find someone you trust a lot.
I agree with Siobhan – I love it and I have had some very positive experiences but am very careful about how to select anyone to work with, I really go by recommendations. I’d love to get a good reiki practioner so any suggestions for NYC are very welcome!!!
I have mixed feelings because of some not so great experiences with practitioners I felt were full of crap. But done by someone who knows what’s up, energy work can be amazing. I should certainly be looking into getting some stuff done to straighten myself out soon. Years ago I had a wonderful series of acupuncture treatments by an MD trained in Chinese medicine. It was a great blend of ways of looking at the body/mind/spirit. I have been working with aromatherapy and flower essences on my own lately and liking it so far. The scientist in me questions everything but I also have an openness to the possibilities out there.
I absolutely Love alternative medicine. I’ve tried a lot of different things: massage, reiki, polarity therapy, cranial sacral, myo-facial, acupuncture, accupressure, lymph massage, and on and on…. The absolute coolest thing I’ve ever experienced has been an alternative therapy called Bodytalk. Everytime I’ve ever gone I am totally blown away by what the practitioner picks up on and how I feel like a new person afterwards. Bodytalk is absolutely holistic. It deals with your body’s malfunctions as they relate to your body, mind, spirit connections. It can help your emotional dramas as well as physical ailments. It can help you break negative psychological patterns/dramas that are carried in your family. Everyone’s body has the innate ability to heal itself, sometimes for whatever reason your body forgets what it needs to do or it clings to an issue for whatever reason. Bodytalk helps your cells to communicate with your brain and heart to let go of their dysfunction and bring health in. It uses kinesiology (muscle testing) and then a series of gentle tapping to communicate to your heart and head. You remain fully clothed through all this.
Through Bodytalk I’ve received relief overnight from a shoulder that had been chronically frozen for like 15 years and had been through all of the above therapies before with little lasting relief (this was my first BT experience and I was blown away how within 24 hours I felt my shoulder ‘letting go” and my range of motion increasing in ways I had not been able to move it since I was 12.) I had a friend who hadn’t had her period in two years, after receiving Bodytalk and having her hormone chemistry balanced she got her period the very next day and has been regular since! Bodytalk has helped me with my social anxiety and shyness. It’s given me confidence and has helped me be more accepting of myself and my personal evolution into being the happiest, healthiest most enlightened person I can be.
If you are suffering from any chronic pain (physical or mental) that has not responded to other modalities, be open and give Bodytalk a try. Here’s link to more info. on Bodytalk and how to find a practioner in your area http://www.bodytalksystem.com/learn/bodytalk/
This post is so exciting!! I believe we are all interconnected through our subtle engergies. I will be a Reiki Master come this summer, I practice on my Mom, Boyfriend, and “Senior Citizen” Dog. If you think about it, we all take part in these therapies….When you bump your head and rub it, you’re healing your self with energy, when you kiss your child’s boo-boo you’re adding healing energies, the thoughts and prayers your have towards others~energy! Awesome post, Be Well! ~Alyssa
After reading about how your website is a great beauty blog, I decided to take a look at your posts. This is the first post I read, and I must say WOW. This is the first long post in a long time that I have actually taken the time to read through fully and even read the comments. Everyone’s comments are so insightful, as is this article.
A little background on my experience with energy healing-
I am 17 years old. After being in therapy for years I have become discouraged at the practice of “therapy”. However, after starting with a new psychologist I became intrigued when she mentioned she also did reiki and other energy work. I don’t like talking to “strangers” like I considered my therapist to be, so she recommended this as a way to spend our one hour sessions. I reluctantly agreed. I figured- “Hey! Might as well get an hour long nap!” The first time, I did in fact fall asleep, but she did comment afterwords on how much I twitched. The second time I did it, I was hooked. My back has always had a terrible arch in it. Even after years of dancing and training, my back has still has had this terrible arch. She began doing several kinds of energy work, and mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of energy blockage in my middle section. I then told her about my back problems, and she quickly began to work on the energy that was blocked in that section. Before this session you could fit a fist under my back (that is how drastic the arch was), after that session you could barely fit a hand. I felt energy flowing through me for the first time and a long time, and my back pain has lessened. I will continue to see this therapist, and I am also looking into other body work/healers in my area.
I loved this article.
And now I believe I am hooked on this site.
I am so glad that I found this gem of a website! I check this site everyday like I check my work and personal emails. Post like this is the reason why I absolutely LOVE this site!!
I just started to do acupunture and I have fallen in love with it. I started doing acupunture because my skin was breaking out severly, I had really terrible gastric issues, and everything I ate seemed to give me an allergic reaction. I feel and look better than I have in almost two years!! She did a full body scan on me an discovered that I have a thryroid issue and told me all of my food sensitivites. Every body asked me how do you feel or how do you know its working and I honestly can’t explain it other than I have this renewed energy and I feel so relaxed and so stress free…It’s amazing!! This post had explained a lot for me that I didn’t really understand about acupunture and energy work. Thanks for a great post!!
Anyone have any recommendations in Austin, Texas?
Yes! I love energy work. The woman I go to is amazing. The second she starts “working” I feel warmth on my forehead. She doesn’t touch me, just holds her hands over my forehead. After a few visits my sisters kept commenting on how good I looked. One even said that the dark circles under my eyes were gone for the first time in years. I am a believer but it is good to make sure you feel good about the person because energy can be manipulated in a lot of different ways.
Thanks to everyone for your comments. I felt a little weird/vulnerable about posting this, so I’m so happy to hear your experiences. And welcome to first-time readers like Sabrina, and thanks to you regular supporters! :)
Recommendations please:) Miami ,Fl
Any input will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
I have had great results with EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), commonly known as “tapping”.
It has helped me both with emotional issues (you can heal really deep-rooted issues and beliefs from childhood), as well as physical ailments. It has INSTANT results, and I am not exaggerating here. It is also great because you can learn to do it on yourself. It only takes a couple of minutes for each tapping session, but you can actually feel the pain/negative feeling disappear when you are done. I have tried a lot of “alternative” therapies (reiki, accupuncture, reflexology, NLP, hypnosis, cranial-sacral therapy, psychotherapy) which are all great, but none has the instant and dramatic positive effects that EFT has.
I use it all the time for ANYTHING: a migraine, pain in the back, stress at work, insecurity, restlessness, anxiety, period pains, when something upsetting happens with a loved one, ANYTHING!!!!
If you want some more info, check out ww.eftuniverse.com, but you can also find “tapping” instruction videos on youtube. Don’t get too complicated, you just need to learn to repeat a few key phrases while tapping. It might be helpful if you have a couple of sessions first with a therapist and then ask them to teach you how to do it yourself.
I’ve never done anything besides acupuncture (you can definitely feel the flow of energy there, yes.)
BUT I did have an experience when I was gifted some private yoga sessions. The teacher & I were both very aware of my neck-shoulder problem. Once, she corrected my position & just barely had her hand over my most troublesome spot on my shoulder. We both felt a vibration at the same time. It was crazy, as I hadn’t felt anything like that before. She was still completing her teacher training, but did say she is very sensitive to energy. I think she would be an excellent energy worker.
I have been fortunate enough to be getting acupuncture for the last couple of months. I found an acupuncturist for my husband’s horrible back problems and after a month or so, he told me, “you’ve got to go see this guy.”
After a few sessions I was amazed at how little effort it took to get through my day. There was a peace in my spirit and a sense of well-being that wasn’t there before.
It is a bummer that insurance companies don’t recognize the validity of alternative medicine. Our guy is good enough to work on a sliding scale because my husband and I don’t plan to stop going any time soon!
Hi.. used to get Reiki Treatments from My friend, for all sorts of ailments. I was a bit sceptical at first but I did get relief from pain and I felt the energy coming from his hands. SO I took the plunge and enrolled fro the Reiki master course and I have not looked back since. It does work…..
Peace and Harmony to the world. Reiki helps us get there. http://www.reiki-emporium.com
Loved reading this! I used to practice Reiki for about a year or so and kind of fell out of touch with it but am looking to get back into it. I loved doing/receiving it, I always felt so refreshed and calm after.
http://www.yournaturalbeautyguide.com