NATURAL THERAPIES FOR INSOMNIA: SPIRITUAL HEALING
Spiritual healing, with its calming and uplifting effects on mind and body, can be extremely helpful with insomnia. It is also compatible with any other treatment you may be having, whether physical or psychological. Healing is numerically by far the largest of the natural therapies, with around 8,000 healer members in the Confederation of Healing Organizations, and probably as many outside it.
Some people are wary of healing because it is not fully explicable, and because of its supernatural associations. However, it is probably a perfectly natural human ability, which is beginning to come into its own. Today many doctors, as well as alternative practitioners, recognize that human beings consist of more than the visible, tangible physical body. Healing works primarily on the energy system, thus simultaneously treating mental, emotional and physical problems.
The Confederation of Healing Organizations, founded in the early 1980s, has done much to change the image of healers and make it more acceptable to the medical profession. The CHO is an umbrella organization for a number of different healing groups; although they have somewhat different philosophies and explanations for healing, its members are bound by a common code of conduct. The CHO aims to work in cooperation with the medical profession, and is conducting trials into the results of healing, supervised by medical experts. It has also encouraged the setting up of proper healer training courses.
Healers hold a variety of beliefs, and belong to all kinds of religious denominations, or none. There should be nothing weird about a healing session, provided you don’t fall into the hands of a charlatan — unfortunately there are a few around. While many healers are spiritualists and regard their gifts as being assisted by spirit helpers, this is by no means always the case. These days, the power of healing is often explained in terms of the body’s energy system, rather than in terms of spirits.
What is common to almost every healer is the belief in a cosmic or divine energy which is totally benign and loving. Healers see themselves as channels for this energy, which is transferred to patients through their hands (or by thought, in the case of distant healing). Imbalances caused by emotional trauma, and physical and nutritional stress, appear first within the energy field, before becoming consolidated in bodily symptoms. So it is in the energy field that healing starts. The transference of healing energy restores harmony to mind, body and spirit — hence the term ‘spiritual healing’.
A healing session can last from 20 minutes to an hour. The healer will usually chat with you first, and then ask you to sit or lie down; you don’t have to remove any clothing. Many of them work almost purely in the energy field around the body, in which they can sense areas where there are problems. Others will lay their hands directly on painful areas, often relieving pain very rapidly. Many combine the two techniques.
Results are rarely instant or miraculous. The time it will take to bring about a cure or improvement depends very much on the condition of the individual patients and how long they have had their problem. Although faith is not necessary, patients can aid the healing process by being receptive and open minded. Some people feel the energy flowing from the healer as a hot or cold current, or a pleasant tingling. It is not necessary to feel anything, however, for healing to take effect.
Healing is usually a very relaxing experience; some people go to sleep during a session, and many sleep extra well afterwards. Patients often leave a session feeling emotionally and spiritually uplifted. Healers can also provide regular support for people going through difficult times, and help them to build up their own inner resources. Sometimes during a healing session patients find themselves crying, releasing pent-up stress or grief.
Many healers have clairvoyant or strongly intuitive gifts, which can help them to pinpoint the causes of people’s problems. Many, too, are excellent intuitive counsellors, and healer training courses increasingly emphasize the development of counselling skills. It is important, they say, to heal not only the physical but the emotional/spiritual causes of illness. A number of them encourage patients to take part in the release of past stresses, through visualization, meditation, and forgiveness.
Some use aids like colour therapy (either projecting colour mentally, or using coloured lamps), gems and crystals, sound and even movement. Some call themselves ‘etheric healers’ or ‘subtle energy healers’. And an increasing number of practitioners in other natural therapies also have healing gifts which can add a whole extra dimension to their treatment, whether or not they announce this fact. A number of these belong to the Association of Therapeutic Healers, listed below.
One woman began seeing a healer specifically for her insomnia, which had been extremely severe for several years; she was only sleeping for two or three hours a night. She had a number of emotional problems and, having decided to sort herself out, was also seeing a psychotherapist. Initially she found herself sleeping much better for two or three nights following each weekly healing session; as time went on, these two or three nights extended into seven nights a week.
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Anti-Depressants/Sleeping Aid
