I used to fluctuate on what I felt about energetic, artistic, hands-on, or channeled healing - who does it, how it happens, and so on. I also used to feel unsure if I could call myself a healer, or energy worker, or facilitator. One of my teachers (who specialized in energetic healing and channeling) said that we can't legally call ourselves healers, so not to use that term. It could be misleading. What about denying who we are and what we do? Well, after a lot of consideration, I have come to accept myself as being all these things, and by discussing what healing is, I will show you how I can honestly call myself a healer and don't think I have to hide that or fear it.

My healing background:

Although I know that I was born with the ability to send energy I felt that wasn't enough. I needed to know what I was doing, and why. I have taken many courses on healing, lasting many years, and was an apprentice and finally a full-on public healer. I have several certifications in different areas of energy work, including Ch'i Gong, and transpersonal hypnotherapy. My energy work courses included anatomy, physiology, psychology, all areas of psychic/intuitive work, channeling, and specifically channeling spirit doctors. I learned about the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional causes and remedies for all sorts of conditions, diseases, and injuries. I also learned how to heal spirits. The goal was to be a holistic healer - treating the whole person. There were years of required courses and exams, actual practical work, and then a final exam to pass the certification. In my case, my ability to heal water is one of my specialties. As a healer, my intention is to respect free will, and to be in my integrity, to create a safe environment, balance the person, and to do whatever needs to be done for the highest good for all concerned.

Healing:

Let's examine some definitions of the word 'healing': 1. Restoring to health; promoting the closure of wounds and ulcers. 2. The process of a return to health. 3. Closing of a wound. See: union. [DictionaryBarn]

I am thrilled that someone included the reference to 'union'.

Noun - healing - the natural process by which the body repairs itself, an organic Process that takes place in the body; gradual healing after sickness or injury; healing process involving the growing together of the edges of a wound or the growing together of broken bones.

Adjective - healing - tending to cure or restore to health; "curative powers of herbal remedies"' "her gentle healing hand"; "remedial surgery", "a sanative environment of mountains and fresh air"; "a therapeutic agent"; "therapeutic diets". [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/healing] So we already have a wide spectrum of definitions, and all indicate that there is a healing that takes place from any number of causes. What creates a healing from an energy worker or healer? I think it depends on several factors that involve more than one person:

1. Who is facilitating the healing. Is the person a professional, trained healer? Is it someone with a loving touch? In actuality, it can be any of these that can create a positive healing effect. However, I feel that when someone is actively pursuing a healing it is preferable to be worked on by a person who was trained in anatomy, physiology, the whole body and it's systems (what a healthy organ looks like and how it functions, for instance), and who understands the interactions between the body, mind and spirit.

2. How much the person wanting healing is in tune with their own body, and how willing they are to receive.

Healing can occur even without a person being conscious of it, such as in long-distance healing; healing that is done while they're asleep; healing done by a simple touch from a healer (such as in a hug or handshake). When a person is open to receiving healing, allows the healing, the healing energy has more of an open path and often can have more of an impact.

When I first began taking classes in healing I had to be worked on, and often, by my teacher, other classmates, and the spiritual doctors we work with (they are from the Temple of Healing in another dimension and they are channeled through us). At first, I was very reluctant and skeptical about receiving their healing. I blocked it and it was tough. It just wasn't happening as well as it should have. The minute I relinquished my fear and allowed it, the change was instantaneous. I was healed from an injury I received in a car crash - an injury none of my doctors could heal. The spirit doctors were successful in one night, and the problem has never returned. Since then I have been worked on numerous times, even having interdimensional long needles inserted into my body (couldn't see them, but sure as hell felt them) to open blocked areas. I know that for me receiving healing has been phenomenal.

When I worked on people who were unsure of what was going on and didn't feel so open to it, I could feel or see the blocks and knew that the energy being sent to them wasn't getting through. It was like sending a river through a clogged drainpipe, trickling in but having little effect.

One of my first successful healings was to my Sparklett's delivery man. He had an injury to his elbow and arm. His doctors had done therapy on it but it wasn't helping and they were talking about surgery. I offered to see if I could help and he was open to it. I did my energy work around the area and through his entire body. Within several minutes the pain in his arm went away and he felt better. The injury and pain never returned again. He was thrilled and became a firm believer in alternative healing. Was that healing a fluke? Does it matter? It worked.

3. If the person having the healing done on them actively and consciously continues their own healing.

Healing doesn't always last forever. Sometimes it lasts only a couple of days and then the old patterns return. It depends on the person and the extent of their condition/disease. There are times when a person has an injury or disease that needs repeated healing sessions, and sometimes that means they may need to change a belief they hold about themselves and their condition. An example of this might be a person suffering from constant back pain. I would tell them that the area they are holding energy in their back refers to their beliefs and emotions about financial support, and usually the lack of it. So we can talk about ways to change that. Sometimes just knowing the cause of the back pain is enough to get rid of it.

So a holistic healer works on the entire person as well as the specified area. A healer can help the person understand the spiritual meaning of their condition, sometimes when and how the condition began, and can change their thoughts and energy about themselves that will assist in their own healing. The healer can also suggest other things that could be helpful; nutrition, exercise, and meditation exercises or other therapies or medical assistance. There has been success with some people who have learned to meditate and do energetic work regularly on themselves after receiving a healing so that their healing will be continuous until no longer desired or required.

4. If the subject is not human:

Animals can be healers and be healed just as people can. For those who can telepathically communicate with animals the job might be easier, but not a requirement. I used to hold public channelings at my home. As we would get ready for the channel to go into trance, the people sitting around the room would be greeted by my dog, Grace (who has since passed over). She would go to each person and each person would pet her and smile. As the channeling got underway and the entity was coming through the channel, Grace would spin around three times, then sit down right in front of the channel, and place one paw up on the channel's lap to meet the entity. After the entity was fully present, Grace would lay down in the center of us all. During the session, Grace would sense who needed healing and she'd get up and go to that person. Each person would comment about Grace and her love for them and how they felt better from her being there.

About fifteen years ago I received a puppy as a gift. The dog was so fragile and small and he was in my car and jumped from the passenger seat to the carpeted floor and broke his leg! That's how fragile he was. I took him to the vet and his leg was x-rayed.

We discovered he had been malnourished and his bones were weak. The vet was sure his leg was so badly broken that it might have to be amputated. He put a cast on it at my insistence and said he'd see if it would heal. He gave it a month's time. I told him that I would heal the leg and he would not have to have it cut off. The vet sent the x-rays to a vet specialist in another city for a second opinion. Both felt the dog's leg couldn't be saved because there was no blood flow in the bone, to the bone, and so on.

I worked on my dog every day for a few weeks, using my hands and sending certain energies to his leg and surrounding areas, and I used one of my most powerful crystals on his leg. One day I felt the energy had changed and his leg was healed. I took the dog back to the vet and told him the leg was healed. He didn't believe it. I dared him to x-ray it. He did and his jaw dropped. The leg had healed perfectly. He couldn't explain it and asked me what I had done. I told him the basics and he was still hesitant but figured what the heck, it worked. He couldn't make scientific sense of it at all. I laughed and walked out.

5. The healing itself - what is used in the healing and the method (is it channeled, are there implements, hands-on, energy, etc.)

There are so many forms of healing techniques and a healer can intuit what might be the best avenue for sending energy and discuss with the patient what will take place and have their permission to move forward with it. Belief often plays a crucial role in healing. For example: If a person is religious they may need a religious affiliation with the healing. They may need to hear it in terms familiar to them, something that is acceptable in their religion. There are some religions that don't allow people to receive healing from anyone else - that can cause a conflict for the person if they have come to a healer on their own. Some methods may not be comfortable for all people, so all these things must be discussed.

I utilize whatever I know with whatever the person feels comfortable with. I use my hands, crystals, water, cotton balls, music, sometimes I channel doctors and their instruments, sometimes I also channel art for healing. I use smudging, transpersonal hypnotherapy, past life regression, helping a person connect with their higher self or spirit guides. My spiritual art has had a wonderful healing effect upon people as in the portraits they get messages from loved ones, their guides, from their own spirit.

One very interesting thing occurs during a healing session - the energy is shared, healing works both ways. The healer and the healed are treated.

6. The ability of the body to respond to the healing work so that it accepts the energy and restores itself to its optimum condition.

Healing means the body (and hopefully the whole person) has been restored to its best place for it take care of itself. That needs to be maintained for the best health. Healing can never be guaranteed. Sometimes it just doesn't work. (Just like in conventional medicine.) If a person has a serious disease they may need more work and more frequent sessions for it to take hold. Sometimes the body is too far gone and that requires the recognition of that fact, and acceptance on the part of the healer and the patient. Then the work might take a new route to prepare for what is coming next. Then, there are people who just don't want to be healed (even if they tell you otherwise). A healer does not judge a person for any choice they make for their own lives. We know that the higher self of all people know what they're doing.

There is a lot of talk about what heals - does a person heal themselves or does a healer do it for them. I think it's usually both; not only that a person heals themselves, but sometimes it takes outside help, sometimes a catalyst for healing. I've been on all sides of this and I have experienced it myself. I know that I have actually healed people on my own and at other times with the help of the doctors, and again at other times as a co-creative project with the person wanting healing. The results speak for themselves. The definitions of healing apply to what I do. So, in all honesty, I can (and do now) call myself a healer without apologies, or arrogance, or fear. Why not say it like it is?

© 2005, Estelle Nora Harwit Amrani. All rights reserved.

(Image was from a free graphics site.)