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A Healing Shift

Cynthia Hutchinson

In the May Healing Touch Program Community Newsletter there is a brilliant letter by Cynthia Hutchison DNSc, RN, MSN, HTCP/I, that synchronistically describes my own recent insights. When I first read it I checked to make sure it had not been addressed directly to me. It’s another example of how my Healing Touch community supports my practice.

Cynthia Hutchison is the Program Director for the Healing Touch Program™ and has been studying holistic healing and energy therapies since the early 80’s. One of her many credentials includes a doctoral degree in nursing science. She has maintained a private Healing Touch practice for over 20 years and teaches all levels of the Healing Touch curriculum.

In her letter Cynthia describes how after 30 years of doing energy work she rarely feels kinesthetic sensations and gathers most of her session feedback through common sense, intuition and listening to her clients. Near the end of her letter she has a brilliant quote by Omraam MIkhael Aivanhov:

“…True initiates do not seek to develop mediumistic faculties. They work only to purify themselves, to grow in wisdom, love and self-mastery, so that they can project themselves as high as possible inwardly. Once they reach this peak, the substance of their being is so refined it is imbued with the very quintessence of the universal Soul. This quintessence, in which everything is recorded, enables them to see and feel whatever they wish to know. And so their work allows them to acquire not only power but clairvoyance as well.” – Omraam MIkhael Aivanhov

If I had read this quote a year ago, would I have comprehended the deep significance it has for me? Would Cynthia’s letter have had such a deep impact?

Last year I really thought that the more of my clients aura I could see the better healer I would be. About a month ago in a previous post I describe the realization that this was not true, that seeing auras was not the path to becoming a better healer. Then, before I went on vacation I realized that the one thing I had been basing the validity of my healing practice on – my own tangible common sense experience of doing a healing – was not as tangible and certainly not objective as I thought.

I often feel energy as heat when I give a healing. During a session I had my hands on a client’s knee and I became distinctly aware that I could not tell if my hands were hot or if his knee was just really cold. It was not so much the actual sensation that shocked me, but the distinct shift and instantaneous certainly in my awareness that there was no objective reality in my perception.

This was a huge and profound insight for me. It was also not pleasant. I felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath me. It was so disorienting that I felt lost. Right after this realization I went to England for my Mother-in-law’s funeral and then took my vacation. I was out of my routine and distracted by the details of travel. I didn’t have to process the ramifications of this new awareness right away. Funny how things work out.

I understand now that my healing journey is not a process of becoming a better healer by developing extrasensory perception. Cynthia stated it so well in her letter. It’s about just being, about letting go and staying clear.

What does this mean?

I’m not really sure, but I have about five half-written posts that I am never going to publish because they are now irrelevant. So many questions feel answered. I have also felt a shift in my sessions. Healings feel even more effortless for me, and still very effective for my clients. There is an absence of striving. I also feel so relaxed. I mean a new kind of relaxed that I would describe as a deeper peace.

So I will just continue with my healing practice and stay open to what happens next. It all feels really, really good.

Jeri Lawson is a Healing Touch Practitioner and Clarity Breathworker in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California.

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Self Care: Vacations

I have had more time off work these last few weeks than I have had since I started my healing practice. Not only have I had time off, but that time off has been away from home and away from my regular routines and responsibilities. First I was in England and Wales for my mother-in-law’s funeral. Shortly after that I left on a week’s vacation that was scheduled months in advance.

During both trips I did not have cell phone reception or a computer. I had known I needed a vacation, but I had no idea how transformative stepping out of my routine — mentally and physically — would be.

I love my work. I realize, though, the best thing I have ever done for my healing business was to get away from it. I still feel relaxed, energized and excited to be back at work.

Vacations will definitely become a regular and essential part of my self-care routine.

Treasures From My Vacation

Jeri Lawson is a Healing Touch Practitioner and Clarity Breathworker in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California.

510-601-9632

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Video of a Healing Presented by Gregg Braden

Should I post this video? Should I not post this video? After emailing a respected Healing Touch colleague for her opinion and thinking it over carefully, I decided to post this 14 minute excerpt of a talk given by Gregg Braden in 2007.

Even though I don’t feel I fully understand all of the implications of this video, I can’t stop thinking about it. What do you think?

This video was sent to me by Debra Wright. Thanks Deb!

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Life, Death and the Beauty of Wales

My mother-in-law, Catherine Annie Lena Gibbons, passed away on April 15th, 2012 after a long illness. My husband and I spent a week in England and Wales to attend her funeral.

I didn’t think about my blog when I was traveling, so I do not have anything to post. I thought about life, death and how beautiful Wales is. I thought about Catherine, her life and how lucky I was to have known her.

Catherine Annie Lena Gibbons
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Judith Schutz’s Blog: More on the Bengston Energy Healing Method®

After I published my post A Workshop on the Bengston Energy Healing Method, I received a comment from Judith Schutz that started a dialogue I found very helpful and informative. She has had years of experience working with William Bengston and organized many of  his workshops in 2007 and 2008.

Her blog is called Treating cancer with Energy Healing (including the Bengston Method and the Domancic Method). Check out her post, Some Questions About Publicizing the Bengston Method, if you want to know more about how the Bengston Healing Method has been used by workshop participants to heal, or not heal, cancer. Her post also made me realize how careful I as a healer have to be when promoting my energetic practice.

The post was inspired by a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) pdf she saw on the internet about Dr. William Bengston, his method and how people are using his techniques. Quite thought-provoking. There is an exceptional 10 minute YouTube video by William Bengston in the post exploring the possibility of teaching other people to heal and the complications encountered in researching that question. He gave the talk at the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE).

I have emailed Dr. Bengston from his website asking two questions about the FAQ Judith found. One question concerns recommended treatment frequency and the other question is about who he has endorsed to treat clients with his method. I know he said at the workshop he wants everyone to go out and use his techniques and many people are. I believe the Energetic Practitioners who wrote the FAQ are coming from the best of intentions. If there is a suggested timetable of any kind for Dr. Bengston’s method, I certainly want to know about it.

I am still working with his cycling technique and it is too early to say how it has affected my healing work. I can say at this point that it has made a positive difference in my life outside the healing room. I personally feel Dr. William Bengston’s Healing Method is worth the work it takes to master it. His research is literally “unraveling the mystery of hands-on healing”. His work is so far ahead of the current social paradigm that it is important for me as a healer to stay grounded and centered as I incorporate his techniques and ideas in my healing practice.

Close to the end of this post on Bengston, Judith describes her intentions as a blogger: “I try to walk a fine line in this blog between being enthusiastic and supportive of energy healing but also being level-headed about it.”

I think she is doing an excellent job accomplishing that intention.

Thank you Judith!
Thank you, Judith!
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Insights and Auras

I had a sudden surge in my aura perceiving abilities.

It happened early one morning at my favorite neighborhood cafe. I was waiting for my chilaquiles to arrive. It was raining outside and the soft light was obviously perfect for seeing energy fields.

I could see clear but thick wavy spaces around the bodies of the three other costumers in the restaurant, as well as the cook and the two waitresses. When someone passed between me and a blank wall I could easily see, or sense, a color. Sometimes I saw two colors. I didn’t have to squint or relax my eyes, it was right there, plain as day. It was beautiful, and the whole room had a misty, dreamy glow.

When I first started writing this blog about a year ago, seeing auras was a major goal of mine and I was always consciously trying to perceiving them. I thought that if I could see my client’s energy fields I would be a better healer. On this morning I really understood that seeing auras is a byproduct of something else, and it is this  “something else” that has made me a better healer. The problem is I’m not quite sure what that something is. This insight was the most profound part of my pre-breakfast experience.

That morning, before the auras distracted me, I was thinking about a massage client who had made her transition the week before. I had met her in the hospital a few days after she had a major stroke. After that first massage I saw her on the first Monday of every month and worked with her for many years. She was a very special human being and I really looked forward to our sessions.

Her family had taken wonderful care of her, she had lived a long life and it was all good. I was feeling sad that I was not going to see her again, but I was also feeling intensely grateful, too. Grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know someone so remarkable on such a deep level. Grateful that I could help her feel better when she was bedridden. Grateful that my life handed me this rich and meaningful experience on a silver platter.

The feeling of being grateful kept growing until it spiraled out of control and that’s when I noticed all the auras. It was a kind of opening, I think. Since that morning I feel like I can visually see more activity in my clients energy fields. It still depends on the day, my energy and the person’s field I am looking at.

I don’t think there was just one thing that triggered that morning’s experience. It must have been everything: my emotional state, the weather, my client’s transition, and even the anticipation of a great breakfast. I think everything just happened to sync up at the right moment.

It is hard to describe moments like this one. It’s important for me to take the time to give these experiences more space in my life and become more conscious of them. Maybe the more space I create, the more moments I will experience opening up for me.

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The Last Client Of The Day: A Healing Touch Session

From the Osho Zen Tarot

A new client came to me for a Healing Touch session with a physical issue to focus on. Before the session I set an intention to balance his energy so his body could heal itself, just like I always do.

With my hands I felt “tingly/static energy” all through his energy field and throughout most of the healing. It was not a soothing sensation, but not unpleasant, either. I noticed he did not relax until the second half of the session, and by the end of the healing he was in a very deep place.

After I was finished with the actual hands-on-healing, had checked his chakras and documented what I found, I sat beside the massage table and waited for him to return, wake up, or regain consciousness. I schedule my clients two hours apart, so there is always time for a gentle reentry after a healing. Sometimes, as in this session, this is when the most profound healing seems to take place.

As I sat beside him, I felt my heart open. The room felt so sacred. I felt so present, so joyful, so complete. I really felt like anything could be healed in this space, this vibration, this consciousness. There was nothing else to do, nothing else was needed. Just describing it makes me happy. I held this space for him, and myself, as long as I could. Luckily he was my last client of the day.

Afterwards he looked transformed and kept repeating how peaceful he felt, how he hasn’t relaxed that deeply in a long time and how grateful he was for the healing. His physical issue was an intermittent one, so at this time I don’t know if his physical condition was affected or not.

It was the perfect way to end a wonderful work day.

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Rhythm and Breath: The Science of Trance — A TaKeTiNa and Clarity Breathwork Weekend

I’m excited to announce that on May 12th and 13th I will be co-facilitating a TaKeTiNa and Clarity Breathwork with Mary Gaetjens, Natalie Word, and James Word.

This will be a weekend that will take all of us to higher states of consciousness and help us energetically integrate that consciousness into our daily lives. This is a wonderful opportunity to be in community with people who are focused on growth, balance and alignment in these evolutionary times. This weekend will create healing on many levels.

James Word is the first TaKeTiNa teacher in the U.S. to be trained at a senior level. Mary Gaetjens is an experienced and gifted Clarity Breathwork Practitioner and Natalie Word is currently training in TaKeTiNa and will be playing the surdo (a large bass drum) during the TaKeTiNa journeys.

Natalie and James have been coming regularly to the Breathwork Circles Mary and I have been holding each month. Last summer we organized a TaKeTiNa journey right before a breathing session and we were blown away at what a powerful experience it was. That’s when we came up with the idea of a longer workshop.

Clarity Breathwork is a practice of circular, connected breathing that raises the vibration of the body and energy field, thus releasing stress, physical tension, trauma and mental blocks. Breathing is a safe and effective method of creating deep healing in your life.

TaKeTiNa was founded by Reinhard Flatischler in 1970 and is group process for discovering your natural rhythm. TaKeTiNa has many emotional and physical benefits, including integrating both side of the brain. For more on TaKeTiNa check out this short video:

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The Workshop will be held in Berkeley, close to Solano Avenue. Each day we plan to do two Clarity Breathwork Sessions and two TaKeTiNa Journeys. No previous experience required. Call 510-601-9632 for more information and directions.

Jeri Lawson is a Healing Touch Practitioner and Clarity Breathworker in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California.

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A Workshop on the Bengston Energy Healing Method®

William Bengston and Margaret Nies
William Bengston and Margaret Nies

I attended William Bengston’s workshop in Louisville, Colorado last weekend. I came back home incredibly inspired and completely overwhelmed. It was fantastic.

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William Bengston has been curing aggressive cancer with hands-on-healing for over 30 years. He declared throughout the workshop he does not find the actual act of healing as enjoyable as being in the laboratory researching. He is always asking questions about the nature of healing and then creating and conducting the experiments that ultimately generate even more interesting questions. I found out about him and his research last October and he has already learned more about several of the hypothesis he had back then.

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A few of Bengston’s ideas conflict with my healing style. I, of course, at first found this stressful because I consider him a genius. Growth can be challenging.

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He thinks having a lively conversation with a client during the healing is a fine idea. I have spent years focusing on being present in my sessions which is really just about the opposite of Bengston’s approach. Bengston thinks it is necessary to distract the attention of the healer and the client in order to keep them from interfering in the events on the unconscious level, where he believes the real healing takes place.

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I’ll have to think about this. Is my focus on being present interfering with the healings?  Is my intense desire to create an effective healing for my clients actually inhibiting the session in some way? I have to admit I have had this question come up before and it’s time to look at it again.

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One of the many reasons I wanted to meet Bengston in person was to see what his energy was like. What kind of energy field would a man who can cure cancer have? I did get a sense of his energetic signature. I know this will be valuable later, but I’m not quite sure how.

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Bengston had all the workshop participants charge sterile rolled cotton to use for healing. I had read years ago that cotton, silk and water can be charged with energy and given clients for healing. While everyone was walking around the room charging the cotton I asked to feel his piece of cotton and he generously handed it to me. I may have held it for 45 seconds. Five minutes after I handed it back to him I realized the very significant headache that I had had all weekend from the Colorado altitude was now completely gone. That was really interesting. Really interesting.

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I don’t think I have been “healed” like that before. I didn’t notice the actual moment it happened, but just realized the absence of the pain.

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William Bengston has a lot of energy. The more he talked the more energized he seem to get and the coordinators, Sue Walker and Margaret Nies, had to really watch the clock or Bengston would have talked right through the breaks and probably through lunch too. On the breaks he was always enthusiastically answering questions.  I noticed him at almost every meal eating with someone from the workshop having an animated exchange. On Sunday morning I was lucky enough to have breakfast with him and with two other participants who were scientists. I wish I could have recorded the conversation. I did make notes on my iPhone that included a years worth of books and reading material.

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I now have quite a bit of work to do and ideas to process. I am practicing Bengston’s Image Cycling Technique, which I have already found greatly rewarding on a personal level. This is another perfect time in my healing practice in which I have to rethink everything from a new perspective. Ironically one of the things I really have to rethink is if I’m thinking too much. It’s important to me that I do not get too habitual or complacent in my healings.

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Besides having the most interesting data on healing available, Bengston is a passionate speaker, and very, very funny.  He doesn’t teach very often so I would HIGHLY recommend that you get to his next class in Chicago April 13-15th, if you are interested in hands-on-healing.

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Jeri Lawson is a Healing Touch Practitioner and Clarity Breathworker in the Temescal Area of Oakland, California.

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Healing Heros

One of my original intentions when I started this blog was to write about Felix Kersten. As you can see it has taken me over a year to finally publish this post. Felix Kersten’s story is extraordinary, almost unbelievable and I am very excited to share it. He was a real hero in the Second World War, yet surprisingly not many people know of him.

He was the massage therapist to the Nazi Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler because he was the only person who could relieve Himmler’s debilitating stomach pain. Kersten’s “magic hands” gave him considerable influence over Himmler. He soon realized he could bargain for the lives of Jewish prisoners as payment for each healing.

John H. Waller recounts in his book The Devil’s Doctor how by the end of the war Kersten had saved the lives of more than 60,000 Jews in concentration camps by persuading Himmler to defy Hitler’s direct order to kill them all. Kersten also convinced Himmler to resist Hitler’s plan to enslave 8 million Dutch and Flemish citizens, thus saving many lives.

Kersten writes in The Memoirs of Doctor Felix Kersten:

“Himmler, particularly, learned to depend on me and to confide in me. I used these revelations to further my own ends, which happened to be that of checkmating the Nazis, cheating them of their many victims so sparing humanity much suffering. My advice, even, was occasionally asked by this man who rarely took advice from anyone. Eventually Himmler depended so much upon my treatments and valued them so highly that he though he could not survive without me and was willing to do almost anything to keep me by his side. I used my power over him to save the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people and to ward of disaster, persecution and imprisonment from as many others.”

Before the war, Felix Kersten was an accomplished healer with a lucrative practice in The Hague. His clientele consisted of nobles and the Dutch royal family, including Prince Henry of the Netherlands. Most of his memoirs are about the war and not his healing methods, but I did find this description of his work:

“My treatment is a form of massage which affects the vital nerve centers. By pressure applied in the right place I can cause nerves that have ceased to function to resume their normal functioning.”

I am in awe of Felix Kersten: his healing abilities, emotional clarity, intelligence and bravery.  Check out the video (about 45 minutes) and I think you will also be inspired by his story.