Energy Healing: The Path to Reclaiming Your Life Force

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” – Carl Sagan, Astronomer

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” – Nikola Tesla (attributed), Engineer and Inventor

At the most fundamental level, we are all composed of energy. Scientific developments have confirmed this, but ancient spiritual traditions such as those rooted in India, China, and Japan have known this for centuries.

Despite the fact that energy healing has been practiced by many cultures throughout the world, my Western “rational” upbringing led me to be highly skeptical of energy healing. Honestly, I thought it was a silly byproduct of new age spirituality and had no place in the noble art of inner work (the field I’m in). 

But that was until I experienced a 100+ year old Japanese energy healing practice called Reiki. 

How Reiki Energy Healing Transformed a Skeptic into a Believer

My first experience of Reiki happened on a trip to Bali in 2016. Walking through a wild, humid street in the town of Ubud – the spiritual heart of Bali – I spotted an old tattered sign offering Reiki healing.

I had heard about Reiki in the past, but didn’t know much about it other than the fact that it was a popular energy healing method. So with lots of time on my hands, I decided, “What the heck, let’s try it out.” Noticing my interest, three young women dressed in colorful sarongs smiled at me in the doorway and beckoned me in as an older man greeted me.

Once I was in the small healing room, the Reiki healer instructed me to lie down. I then closed my eyes while his hands hovered above my body. To be frank, I thought I was wasting money, but I was open to being proven wrong. So skeptically, I tried relaxing and eventually drifted off into a calm state while traditional Balinese music created an ethereal dreamlike atmosphere in the background.

The Surprise 

All was going well in the session. The hour was nearly complete, and I was feeling deeply peaceful. But then something suddenly happened. Out of nowhere, it felt as though my heart was breaking open. Deep grief started to seep through me. A visual came into my mind: a blood red rose blossoming. Tears and loud sobs began to erupt from me as I could no longer hold back the sadness soaking through me.

Now, I’m not one to cry in front of people I don’t know, generally. I was raised in a “stiff upper lip” household. So this was bizarre behavior and shocking to me. Why did I feel this grief? Gently, the Balinese Reiki healer suggested that I carried a lot of grief in my heart and the Reiki was helping to release it.

I thanked him and left in shock, not knowing what to think. My entire world had been flipped upside down, and in that moment I turned from a skeptic to a believer through direct experience.

A few years after that, I decided to train as a Reiki Master/Teacher, and have been practicing it every day since.

Energy Healing, Inner Work, and Soul Recovery  

“First we have to heal our spirit. Secondly we have to keep our body healthy. If our spirit is healthy and conformed to the truth, the body will get healthy naturally. If you can’t heal yourself how can you heal others?” —Reiki Ryôhô Hikkei, a manual handed out by the Usui Reiki Ryôhô Gakkai

What I love about energy healing is that it is the ‘yin’ to the ‘yang’ of self-exploration and excavation. 

While self-love, inner child work, and shadow work require a lot of active digging, illuminating, and integrating (all quite ‘yang’ and active), energy work is different. It asks you to rest, receive, and recover, which is why I see it as more yin or receptive. Both are needed, in my opinion, for the holistic practice of inner work.

What I love about energy healing is that it helps you to become more embodied, access new levels of vitality (life force: ki, chi, prana), and reconnect with your spiritual center, your Soul. 

It is also helpful when dealing with trauma. And while it’s not a replacement for medical intervention or psychological help, it can help to ‘discharge’ some of the frozen energy that gets trapped in our bodies after experiencing mental, emotional, or physical abuse. 

In the words of psychotherapist Peter A. Levine in his powerful book, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma,

“Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the ‘triggering’ event itself. They stem from the frozen residue of energy that has not been resolved and discharged; this residue remains trapped in the nerve system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and spirits.” 

Energy healing can help to discharge that frozen residue of energy, calm the nervous system, and restore balance to the body again.

Also, because many forms of energy healing are spiritual in nature, they also facilitate Soul Recovery: the reconnection with our wise, wild, warm, welcoming, and whole Self.

Three Energy Systems 

There are many modern and ancient ways of looking at energy. Below I’ll share with you the three most common ones:

1. The Meridians – in traditional Chinese medicine, the meridians are seen as a network within the body that carries qi or life force energy. There are 12 major meridians, and each connects to a certain organ. These ‘energy highways’ through the body are used within acupuncture and acupressure.
2. The Chakras – found within the ancient Vedas and Upanishads of India, the chakras are seen as the spinning wheels of energy within our bodies. Most commonly, there are believed to be seven main chakras, each corresponding to a certain part of the body, as well as a certain color, sound, and mantra. I’ve written about them here if you’re interested in learning more:
   1. Root Chakra
   2. Sacral Chakra
   3. Solar Plexus Chakra
   4. Heart Chakra
   5. Throat Chakra
   6. Third Eye Chakra
   7. Crown Chakra
   8. I also explore how to harmonize each in my chakra balancing post.
3. The Aura – a more modern idea (rooted in older ideas), the aura is seen as the subtle energy field surrounding every living being. Auras are believed to emanate certain colors which reflect the emotional state of the person or being. For example, a blue aura is seen as reflecting calmness and honesty, whereas a black aura is seen as reflecting exhaustion or depression. In the early 1900’s, the aura was first written about by former priest and Theosophical Society member Charles Webster Leadbeater. Former NASA physicist turned energy healer, Barbara Brennan, popularized the idea that there are seven layers of the aura in her book Hands of Light: 
   • Etheric Body – this is the layer closest to the skin (about 2-5cms out). It’s said to be related to physical sensation and vitality.
   • Emotional Body – after the etheric layer, the emotional body (about 5-7.5cms out from the body) reflects your everyday emotions and is said to change colors/shape depending on your mood.
   • Mental Body – this layer carries your thoughts, beliefs, and cognitive patterns. It’s said to be about 7.5-20cms out from your body. 
   • Astral Body – this layer of the aura (20-30cms away) is believed to be the bridge between the “lower” and “higher” layers of the aura. It’s connected to the heart chakra and linked to love, relationships, and our connection to others. 
   • Etheric Template – said to be a higher-frequency blueprint of the physical body on the spiritual plane. It’s linked to creativity, sound, and communication (45-60cms away).  
   • Celestial Body – this layer of the aura is linked to spiritual connection and unconditional love. It is the layer of intuition (60-90cms away).
   • Ketheric Template (also called the Causal Body) – finally, this is the outermost and highest frequency layer of the aura. It can extend a meter or more out from the body. It’s believed to be the layer of divine connection, enlightenment, universal consciousness, and oneness. 

Let me know which of these systems you’re drawn to the most and why in the comments!

Negative Energy and “Low Vibrations”

In the interest of avoiding the toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing tendencies that can sometimes arise within the field of energy healing, let me make something clear:

It’s okay to be “low vibe” and carry negative energy. We’re all human. This isn’t about shaming ourselves or each other, which unfortunately happens in this field.

However, energy healing can help us thankfully get out of these dark spaces if we’re open to it.

While yes, exploring the darkness (as in the practice of shadow work) is crucial, we don’t have to stay in the darkness. There’s a difference between consciously exploring the darker side of ourselves for the purpose of healing and wallowing in it.

Shame, hatred, jealousy, anxiety, insecurity, and bitterness are all examples of negative energy states that energy healing can help us to exit, bringing in more peace, balance, and compassion. 

I’ve written a couple of guides on low or high-vibration signs and dealing with negative energy if you’d like to explore how to shift your energy state.

How to Get Started With Energy Healing

“I believe the energy in our bodies is in contact and interacts with the energy around us in the world and in the universe. We are not an isolated phenomenon.” — Alexander Lowen, M.D., Bioenergetics

Energy healing is a huge field and one that spans centuries and many cultures. Where to start? I recommend pulling on whatever threads call to you. For me, that is Reiki because not only is it a form of energy healing, but it’s also a deeply spiritual path of development itself. For you, that could be something different.

Here are some of the most common forms of energy healing out there today:

Hands-On / Bodywork-Based

• Reiki
• Therapeutic Touch 
• Polarity Therapy
• Pranic Healing 

Movement-Based

• Qigong 
• Tai Chi 
• Yoga (especially Kundalini Yoga)

Needle/Pressure-Based

• Acupuncture 
• Acupressure 
• Reflexology

Sound & Vibration-Based

• Sound Healing / Sound Baths 
• Mantra/Chanting 

Others

• Crystal Healing
• EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)
• Chakra Healing

Just something to keep in mind: many of these forms of energy healing lack solid backing or clinical proof behind them. So I recommend doing your own research if scientific proof is important to you. With that said, there is a limit to science, and not everything can be explained by logic. So approach with a healthy dose of skepticism and openness.

One simple book I picked up from a second-hand book sale that you might enjoy if you’re looking for a place to get started is The Little Book of Energy Medicine by Donna Eden and Dondi Dahlin.

You can also take my test on finding which of your chakras is out of balance.

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Energy healing allows us to rest, receive, and recover our souls in a world full of chaos. 

It is a yin (or receptive) form of inner work that asks us to let go of pain and tune into the source of all vitality: Spirit or Divine Consciousness.

This is a field that requires both critical thinking and curiosity. Like me, you might be skeptical of such a thing as “healing energy,” but may have a shocking or unexpected experience that proves such things do in fact exist.

Tell me, what is your experience with energy healing? I’d love to hear any of your stories below.