Choosing a Healer Is an Important Decision

In the world of alternative therapy there are so many options to choose from when it comes to energy workers. There is a vast array of energy medicine practitioners ranging from intuitive life coaches, psychics, mediums, Reiki or BodyTalk practitioners, astrologists and more. How does one go about choosing the right practitioner(s) to help?

The Most Common Misconception About Energy Healers

Many people seem to have the misconception that intuition is the key ingredient that makes for a gifted healer. Although intuition can be extremely helpful, it’s not a pre-requisite for a great healing session. What most people don’t realize is that allowing someone into your energy field, whether you’re receiving Reiki, getting an intuitive reading or even having a massage, leaves you very vulnerable to the person you’re allowing to work with you.

Intentions Count

Intentions are energy, so when choosing a healer or energy worker, choose someone who you trust has your highest good at heart. This is where your intuition or gut instinct comes in, and it doesn’t mean that you need to find some kind of saintly martyr to work on you, but it does mean that their ego and personal intentions do not take precedence over what’s best for you.

Sometimes energy workers have good intentions but they are their own intentions which is very different than healing intentions for someone’s highest good. For instance, if an energy worker is injecting their own intentions of what your healing should look like rather honouring what is actually best for your spirit, this has the potential to do more harm than good.

Anything But Healing

Years ago, I did an exchange with an energy worker who I knew couldn’t afford to pay for a session. She was very gifted intuitively, but when I got off the Reiki table I had this irrational desire to check my wallet. I kept thinking to myself, “This is ridiculous! I know this person wouldn’t steel from me and nor did she have the opportunity to as my wallet was in my view the whole time.” None the less, I checked my wallet when I got to the car only to find everything as it should be. What I wasn’t prepared for was that my own business slowed almost to a stop for the next three months.

It took me years to understand that her envy of my thriving business had been injected into my energy field and I was going to suffer with it until it wore off. More often than not, these ill intentions are directed without the sender realizing what they’ve done or the impact it will have. I could have taken steps to release that energy but my lack of awareness, coupled with my desire to see only the good in others, left me connected to someone else’s energy in an unhealthy way.

In another instance, I went to a show of a well-known psychic-medium. A woman stood up and asked a question about the prognosis of her son who had cancer. To paraphrase the message, the psychic-medium unapologetically said something to the effect of, “He would suffer horribly but manage to survive it.” There wasn’t a shred of compassion and a whole lot of ego in the delivery of that message. I was mortified. There was nothing healing about this message in the least. It crushed hope, seeded fear and was completely disempowering. It could have been a message of healing and empowerment had it been delivered with love and compassion, but the intuitive guidance was harmful and filled with ego, rather than full of love and healing.

Creating the Best Healing Experience

I’m a huge advocate of using mentors and healers to help me become the best I can be but over the years I’ve become very selective in who I choose to guide me. There are a few things you should know in order to create the best healing experience.

First and foremost, use your inner guidance and find someone who feels right to you. As much as our society likes to hold others accountable for our health, we are the only ones who are ultimately responsible for the choices we make and the people we accept guidance from. No matter how gifted a practitioner is, no one has all the answers so be aware right from the get go that you are your best guide and choose wisely who you allow to be your healer, sage, or cheer leader as you embark on your journey of wellness.

That said, the number one thing I look for is a healer with heart. It matters less to me how intelligent or intuitive they are, but instead I look for how open and connected their heart is. I want to feel their genuineness and I want to feel safe and cared for in their company. After all, my spirit is the real guide, they are simply providing energetic support with a side of objectivity to help me along my path.

A true healer’s ultimate goal is to empower you rather than to keep you dependent on them for more readings, pain relief, etc. They want to help you find the areas of your life that are causing you to lose your joy and vitality so you can make the changes necessary to improve the quality of your life. They don’t hold the answers to the universe but they may be able to help you access that wisdom your spirit is longing for. They can offer guidance and support but ultimately you are in the driver’s seat and to listen to someone else’s advice when it doesn’t feel right is like handing over the keys to your car. Also know that it's OK to speak up and let the practitioner know what you need from them. Personally I love when my client's empower themselves in this way.

Signs that May Indicate Something Isn’t Quite Right

Energy work sometimes requires working on a very deep level. It can leave a person feeling very tired, light headed and at times can stir up old emotions that can’t all be cleared in one session. It’s even normal to feel a little unsettled or overwhelmed if there has been a significant shift in your energy. Some side effects are completely normal while others are not. If you’ve had an energy session and don’t feel quite right after the fact, it’s worth inquiring about. Here are a few side effects that might indicate something isn’t quite right:

Feeling mistrusting or like something is really off when the treatment is done

Not feeling like yourself

Feeling an intense pain that you’ve never had before upon leaving the treatment (Sometimes pain will shift from one area to another in a session but a brand-new pain may not be part of the healing process.)

Feeling inexplicably drawn to the practitioner even though you aren’t getting a good feeling about them

Feeling like something is attached to you

Throwing up after an appointment

If you have any questions or concerns, or want to learn more about energetic boundaries, please contact Dawn at EmbracingMyLight@gmail.com