Nourish Your Spirit This October

Let’s face it. This is a challenging month. There is no need to list all the reasons why, especially if you follow the news. It is time to do whatever grounds, nourishes, and centers you. Self-care is more important now than ever.

It might be time to experience a Healing Touch session. Healing Touch is a gentle, energy-based approach to restoring balance, elevating mood, and connecting with your inner Guidance. For many of my clients even one session can be a game changer.

Are you ready to experience the transformative power of Healing Touch, deepen your spiritual connection, and find more peace in your life?

This October, give yourself the gift of spiritual alignment and holistic well-being by emailing or calling me for a session.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

Pendulums and Healing

I know very well that many scientists consider dowsing as they do astrology, as a type of ancient superstition. According to my conviction this is, however, unjustified. The dowsing rod is a simple instrument that shows the reaction of the human nervous system to certain factors which are unknown to us at this time.

– Albert Einstein

Letter to Mr. Herman E. Peisach, 1946

Last July, I went to the 2024 West Coast Dowsers Conference in Santa Cruz.

As I have written before, I was taught to use a pendulum to assess the chakras before and after each healing in the Healing Touch Program. Besides one very informative course I took from Janna Moll in 2014, I had never investigated Dowsing or using the pendulum any further.

I was inspired by some YouTube videos on Dowsing, especially those of  Raymond Grace. He is the real deal.  I met several people in different classes with some first-hand Raymond Grace stories – all fantastic examples of healing. I would check him out if you have not heard of him

I could only attend the conference for two days, but it was worth it. Dowsing is limitless. I met people who dowsed for water, emotional balance, Star Beings, Nature Spirits, weather, and even what to eat for lunch. 

It’s been about two months, and I am still playing, integrating, and reading more about what I learned over those two days. I am sure this is not my last Dowsing Conference. 

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

The Healing Dog: Berkeley From Oakland

Over the last ten years, my dog Berkeley has attended almost every Healing and Breathwork session —unless he decides to visit his friends in the building. 

He loves going to work, and he loves coming home. He takes his job and routine as a healing dog very seriously. 

Someone once told me the secret to a good life is having a dog. I have to agree and add that having a dog and being able to take him to work is the secret to a great life.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

Breathwork Retreat: Four Breath Sessions in Three Days

Doing a Breathwork session every day for three consecutive days is profoundly healing. I just finished facilitating a three-day Breathwork retreat in North Fork, California. This is the first long retreat I have done, and it reminded me of how transformational daily breathwork sessions can be. Witnessing people release and resolve trauma, heal their physical bodies, and experience greater consciousness is such a joy.

The retreat was at Little Yosemite Lodge on Hoyau Creek, near North Fork, California, 25 miles from Yosemite National Park. The land is sacred. I felt so supported and experienced tangible nurturing from the earth. I felt this energy in my own body and during the group sessions. I named this retreat ACCESSING YOUR HIGHEST WISDOM, and being grounded in a beautiful place like this makes connecting with higher guidance so much easier.

Even if you can’t get away to a beautiful place like Little Yosemite Lodge for a series of Breathwork sessions, you can open the space and time in your schedule for a personal retreat. You can book your home retreat sessions with me or another breathworker, breathe online, or use a CD.

Self-care on this level is a radical political act. Our connection to our inner guidance will navigate us through these challenging times.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

Carol Kinney: A Legacy of Light

Carol and I During A Healing Touch Conference In 2015.

One of the many requirements for becoming a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner is a year-long mentorship with an experienced Practitioner. In 2000, that mentor also had to be a nurse. This mentoring process becomes a deep and uniquely special ongoing relationship. My Mentor was Carol Kinney, who made her transition from this world on June 8th, 2024.

Carol gave me so much time, encouragement, and healing in that first year. She was completely dedicated to the work and bringing healing to our medical culture and the world. Every time I give a healing, her teachings keep the session grounded and are a part of the sacred space I hold.

She took her first class with Healing Touch Founder Janet Mentgen in 1990 and was instrumental in the program’s early days and development. Carol was passionate about the work and taught hundreds of classes. She mentored many HT Practitioners in our community and around the world.

I could go on and on about Carol’s accomplishments and the other healing modalities she practiced and she taught, but for now, I will share with you her quote from The Magic Of Our Connections:

Those of us who have been in HT know we are here for the long haul. We are here to do this very important work we have come to love, we are here to keep our connections with colleagues and clients we have come to admire. We have come to rely on our HT communities that so beautifully support us, and on the members who are constantly co-creating more avenues for HT by spreading their creativity and integrating HT into the many facets of their lives. We have established incredible connections through this very heart-centered work. Healing Touch is the glue that bonds us together.

Carol Kinney RN, BSN, HNC, CHTP, HTCP/I

Carol’s obituary is here:

https://obituaries.neptune-society.com/obituaries/sacramento-ca/carolyn-kinney-11853871

Her Celebration of Life will be Saturday, September 14th, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the East Recreation Center, 7902 Oakmont Drive, Santa Rosa, CA, 95409. It is in the Oakmont retirement community.

If you are coiming, please RSVP to me, jerilawson@mac.com, so I can compile a list of attendees from of HT community for Carol’s partner of 49 years, Gail Turk.

I will be there to honor Carol, her huge legacy of light and celebrate all that she has given this world.

Thanks to Carol Kinney, Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

A Healing Question

A client once asked me, “What do you experience during a healing session?”

That short question inspired a very long answer. An answer which is very fluid and is constantly evolving with every session.

Before I begin, it might be helpful to first describe what I do as a healer and how the energy is showing up for my clients. 

My job as a healer is to hold the energetic space my client needs to self-heal. All healing is self-healing.

In my sessions at this time, I find myself doing long, slow Chakra Connections as taught in the Healing Touch Program. A Chakra Connection is a full-body technique that starts at the feet and ends above the head. It facilitates connecting, opening, and balancing all energy systems with a series of hand placements over the major energy centers of the body. I usually start at the feet and end at the top of the head.

I am primarily kinesthetic in my perception of energy. I feel color, energy moving, and blocks in the human aura with my hands. Sometimes I also see light, as well as feel and hear vibrations, tones, and other sounds. At times I may feel things in my own body that give me information about what is happening in my client’s body—like my throat will feel scratchy for about thirty seconds, or I will be aware of my ankle throbbing for a minute.

Every session is different; no two sessions have ever been alike. Clients I see every week have a different experience each time. I still find this remarkable, even after twenty-five years of having a healing practice. 

When I first started healing work, I often perceived energies moving through me and through the room. Like a stream of grounding honey/yellow energy for one client, or a wave of cooling, clear blue for another. Every so often I still perceive energy like that, but for the last eight years there has usually been a specific frequency or space that fills the whole room for each client. In this space, everything that my client needs in that moment unfolds for them. This healing space can be deeply still, yet, is never stagnant. It morphs and evolves throughout the session.

I am generally mentally clear and noting what I am experiencing during the treatment, as well as tracking how my client is doing. Yet, there are healing states that are so encompassing that I can’t find where “I” end and “they” begin. 

There are times when it feels like the whole room is underwater and my arms can only move slowly and heavily from one hand position to another. In this state, the energy feels like waves flowing through both me and the client in this weighted, fluid space. It’s like we are deep under the ocean where everything is water, and everything is connected. Even my thoughts are slow, and it feels like they take a long time to form and then dissolve.

Some sessions are so ethereal that I feel like I am healing a cloud, not another human body. I can feel the bright translucent light and once in a while see it in the room. I do not have, or have not yet opened up to the ability to communicate directly with guides and angels, yet I almost always sense other distinct healing presences in the room. These presences have always been extremely helpful. Many of my clients tell me after the healing who or what they saw, or how many sets of hands they felt.

Some healings create a very sparkly light in the room. In others, I am kinesthetically aware of a very low tone or vibration permeating everything. Occasionally I may suddenly feel intensely sleepy. That is an energetic frequency that may last most of the session, or only a few minutes. When that happens, I have to focus on my breath, sit even more upright, and stay balanced until it passes. The sleepy energy has proven to be greatly beneficial for my clients, especially when I stopped resisting it.

Sometimes the healing is mostly about balancing my client’s physical body, and I am experiencing the healing energy with my hands. I might sense the energy gently unwinding in circular patterns under my palms at each hand position. Sometimes I am very aware of my client’s cranial pulse, and that is the prominent guiding sensation for me during the session.

Once in a while the energy feels electric—like a pulse between my palms. Sometimes there is a magnetic pull throughout the session in one direction, as if through the session I am pushing my client to the right or left. Often there is a sense of expansion—like the area between my hands is filling up as if bread is rising. I have felt my hands merge with the client’s body, like there are no hands and no body, just this space where my hands should be.

I have become aware of my client’s energy field as a collection of frequencies that are subtly harmonizing. Like all the individual musicians in an orchestra tuning up before a concert. Every time I change my hand position, I sense a different tone. It’s like I am feeling sound. My clients are tuning themselves in the sacred space.

Almost all sessions move through several different energetic states in the same treatment. 

Time is usually not linear in a healing. I have to periodically check the clock, which is right by the healing table, so I know how much time I have left in the session. My subjective experience of time is not reliable at all. I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at the clock after what feels like only ten minutes and find thirty minutes have gone by.

Time can also “jump.” I will just realize one moment that I wasn’t there. That maybe both the client and I skipped out for a split second or a few minutes. I can’t be sure, since I was not there to experience it. I am still uncomfortable with suddenly not being in my healing session, even if only for a moment, but after a few years of this occurring I decided to just go with it. It appears when this kind of energy shift happens it is very, very healing for my client. 

A few times, I have sensed my client entraining with my energy field—the synchronization of their body rhythm to mine. This has only happened a handful of times and it is more of a physical connection, rather than an energetic one.

I would say energy is like water. During a session it may be hard, like ice, or misty like a fog. Sometimes it’s heavy like a milkshake, and other times it’s clear and clean like water from a spring. The energy of the session can be totally encompassing, like when the healing space suddenly feels like I am at the bottom of the ocean. Sometimes it’s moving like a large river, or even a waterfall. Then sometimes it can feel totally still. 

I could go on and on, but I think this gives you an idea of what I may be experiencing when holding a healing space for my client. Everything I have described always feels perfect during the treatment and makes so much sense in the moment—like I knew it all beforehand, or I am just remembering it as it arises. I almost always feel peaceful and grateful after each session.

Chapter One from the book “A Business Of Healing; The Direct Experience of An Energetic Practitioner.”

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

Healing: Intro To The Hara Workshop

Our world is experiencing major shifts in consciousness and energy. My current focus is staying grounded so I can hold space for my clients to access this flow. This focus includes diet, getting good sleep, meditation, yoga, and sustaining my energy level throughout the day.

When I consider energy and healing workshops, the ones that stand out to me are those that strengthen my ability to stay present and grounded.

I recently took a workshop with Amelia Vogler, MS, SEM, who describes herself as a grounding and Energy Medicine Specialist. Right up my alley. The workshop was called Introduction To The Hara. Here are a few paragraphs describing it from Amelia’s website:

I have been working with the Hara in my morning meditations for over a year now, and I have found using the Hara to be extremely helpful.

I made a good choice. Amelia has a lot of information about the Hara from a much different perspective than I have studied before. For one thing, she heals trauma by working with the Hara. She defines trauma as anything that makes us feel separate – separate from ourselves, separate from each other, and separate from God/GoddessSource /Spirit. By working with the Hara, we can release anything keeping us from integrating with all that is.

This is ‘only’ a two-and-a-half-hour class, yet I will be digesting this information for many months. This short format is perfect for me. Integrating new ideas into my healing practice takes me a long time. I don’t force the integration; I simply notice new possibilities emerging during my clients’ sessions. I can already see the openings due to this workshop.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

Healing: The Pendulum

Before each healing session, I check my clients’ seven major chakras with a pendulum. At the end of the session, I recheck the energy centers again to see the effects of the healing.

I am not asking the pendulum, “How are my client’s chakras today?”

I ask, “What do I need to know to hold the best space for my client?”

I learned to use a pendulum in my first Healing Touch class. I admit that when I first saw the teacher use a pendulum before her healing demonstration, I rolled my eyes.

Thank God I learned to use a pendulum. It is such a useful tool. It focuses me on the most important part of my client’s healing. I have often been surprised by what the pendulum indicates, only to have that information confirmed at the end of the session.

When a chakra is compromised, there are many reasons why. I don’t have to know the why – and most of the time I have no idea – it is just helpful to know what part of the body the current block is.

Let’s look at the throat chakra. If this chakra is out of balance, it could be for a physical reason. My client could have a sore throat or may be grinding their teeth at night. Maybe they have undiagnosed acid reflux. The imbalance could be because of an emotional or mental issue. The throat chakra has a lot to do with communication. My client could be in the middle of writing a book and experiencing writer’s block, or they may have a limiting belief they have nothing of value to share with the world. Maybe they are processing self-confidence issues. They could also have fear about speaking their truth in a relationship.

I could go on and on about why the throat chakra is blocked, yet I don’t have to know why. My job is to hold space for them to relax, rebalance, and self-heal.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

The Best Thing About Being A Healing Touch Practitioner

The best thing about learning Healing Touch is that you can really help your family and friends.

My mom had intermittent knee pain, enough to make it difficult for her to go on her daily walks. I talked her into some short hands-on healings. I had to be a little insistent because she didn’t want me to have to ‘work’ when I visited her. So these were super informal 20-minute Netflix-watching sessions done while we were sitting together on the couch.

Afterward, her knee almost always felt better. Sometimes, the pain returned the next day, but it has now been gone for a month.

The best thing about being a Healing Touch Practitioner is that I can help my Mom feel better. That’s what it is all about.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com

Science And The False Reality Of Loneliness

In this thought-provoking video, Lisa Miller, Ph. D., discusses the epidemic levels of loneliness in our world today.

She is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, Teachers College. She is also the Founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program in spirituality and psychology.

Professor Miller believes we are all interconnected. She states that by embracing spirituality and practicing it with intention, we can realize we are not alone. She describes in this video her experience in a Lakota healing ceremony and the transformative power of collective spiritual practices.

As a Clarity Breathworker, I have witnessed many people experience that interconnectedness—the tangible, felt sense of oneness—in their sessions. It is profoundly healing: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Breathwork is my personal path and practice of connecting with this state of consciousness. This is why I am so inspired to hold space for others to breathe.

Thank you, Lisa Miller!

Note: As a healing nerd, I was surprised to learn that Alpha frequencies were the same as Schumann’s Resonance.

Jeri Lawson has a full-time healing practice in Oakland, California. She is available Monday through Friday for Healing Touch, Reiki, and Clarity Breathwork. 

510-601-9632   jerilawson@mac.com