In this season of being kind to others, giving gifts and singing songs about peace and love it is worth taking a look at the energy or emotion of love and compassion, as it pertains to healing. Across the cultures the concept of love as a healing energy is ubiquitous. Usually it is stated in the form of self-appreciation or care rather than an emotion per se. In Chinese medicine it may broken into many facets rather than one single emotion.
Reiki in Japanese means Universal healing or Universal love or Universal energy not only uses palm healing or a modulating vibration that is felt as heat, but it has a spiritual side. It is not in any way a religion but maintains good precepts for living.
That side is found in the 5 Precepts that state:
Do not worry
Do not anger
Be humble
Be honest in your work
Be compassionate with yourself and others
Among Reiki practitioners you may have heard that love is the highest vibration and some even sign their names with Love and Light. There is debate of course about emotions being a vibration that can be measured but after studying many types of energy therapy I tend to believe that emotion does vibrate.
As a member of ACEP (Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology) I am fascinated that part of the healing mantra of Tapping (a method that taps gently on the ends of meridian points used in acupuncture and acupressure). It uses the following suggested method of tapping on a point while repeating a mantra such as “even though I am anxious about the interview, I deeply love myself”. What would love have to do with tapping on parts of the body in order to calm or balance? What kind of energy does it impart that would lower anxiety about an emotion? Hearing the sound of ones own voice say “and deeply love myself” creates a special energy that supports healing.
Regardless, loving oneself and others is profoundly healing. Peace and contentment kick in the endorphins and that is proven to last 8 hours and change in the chemical content of saliva. So, one is swallowing this positive liquid 8 hours. Conversely, after a bout with anger or self-loathing one is swallowing a negative liquid for 8 hours.
It has been found that in allelopathic medicine practitioners such as doctors and nurses have less burn out when their work comes from compassion. This of course takes more time with each patient in order to discern what the need is on an emotional and physical level. In indigenous medicine the patient is encouraged to talk as long as they need to without interruption. And actually, the patient talks less when they know they have plenty of time to do so and they are with a compassionate provider.
In the art of healing in Peru care of yourself both in body and mind are critical in the healing process. In Mexico and the Southwest US, the Curandera (or healer) in the healing art of Curanderismo always looks at the client’s emotions and self-love. They have understood for thousands of years that keeping the emotions cleaned up by processing them and then addressing the effects of the emotional output on the body is when healing can begin.
Not long ago I had a client whose self-image needed some serious healing. It was interesting when she told me that her neurologist asked her “do you believe you deserve to be well”? He understood that all the modalities in the world will not make a large impact until the patient wants to be well. Believes they deserve to be well. Begins to love themselves.
Regular energy therapy is a form of taking care of oneself as are acupuncture, massage, regular checkups etc. In the article last month, we talked about energy therapy as a form of preventative medicine for the mind and body including the emotions.
I once had a client with severe self-deprecation. She was at odds with her family and very closed off in communicating how she was feeling. Her throat was in a knot and not able to speak up for herself. By about the 8th session she was speaking up, interested in her old hobbies, excited about new ones. By the 10th she said goodbye as she knew healing had taken place! When she began to love herself, she began to heal.
So, “what’s does love got to do with it?”
It’s quite possibly the very core of all healing.
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Written by Christina Gregory, Energy Therapist