It has been almost a month since I attended this year’s Healing Touch California Symposium. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to write this post. Needless to say, it has been a busy month.
These regional symposiums are such a wonderful opportunity to meet other Bay Area healers, take a few workshops, and hear lectures and new ideas specific to energy healing. I always come back to my healing practice invigorated.
This year there were nearly 100 Healing Touch practitioners, students, and instructors from Healing Beyond Borders, Healing Touch Program, Healing Touch for Animals and Healing Touch Spiritual Ministry. Michele Bernhardt, Vice President of Healing Touch California, described the gathering in a recent newsletter as, “…a community of sharing, learning, light and love.”
Click here to get an overview of the conference, keynote speakers and pre-symposium workshops. Check out the photos, too.
In this post I want to focus on Ann Seckinger’s presentation, Healing Touch: The Heart of Hospice. Ann Seckinger is a Chaplain at Gentiva Hospice in San Jose and has served on the Board of Directors of Healing Touch California for six years. Ann is passionate about providing heart-centered care for those facing the end of life.
Ann’s well organized, two-hour presentation covered how Healing Touch is used in hospice to help people with less than six months to live. She talked about how Healing Touch can help manage physical pain, balance emotional needs and create a deeper spiritual connection for people as they prepare to make their transition.
As Ann said, “Hospice adds life to days when days can no longer be added to life.”
She explained that Hospice care is composed of a multidisciplinary team that includes the patient’s physician, hospice doctor, registered nurse, certified health aides, medical social worker and chaplain.
She also presented research on how Healing Touch has been shown to help hospice clients by reducing leg pain, giving relief from constipation, and decreasing the amount of pain medications needed. To learn more, check out her slide presentation here.
Ann’s stories about her work were the best part of the presentation. I was impressed by her case load of 40 patients; seeing some patients one or two times a month. Ann has a strong work ethic, and is committed to being fully present for her patients. While I was inspired to learn about the benefits of Healing Touch in hospice, I was really moved by Ann herself.
Ann Seckinger is heart-centered. Yet, what I was really struck by was her strength, clarity and humility in which she brought that heart energy into the world. Ann is really making a difference for many people in a medical culture that is often less than accommodating.
I realized that being heart-centered is more than being sensitive to other peoples’ emotions and needs in the external world. Being heart-centered is also an internal source of strength that guides you and helps you create a great sense of peace and presence every day.
I came away with a renewed faith in the human spirit.
Thanks Ann.
Photo by Geoffrey Matsumoto
Jeri Lawson is available for Healing Touch, Reiki and Clarity Breathwork sessions Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm, in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California. 510-601-9632