I was introduced to the concept of energy healing and the energy behind crystals when I was about 6 years old and had my first taste of Reiki when I was a teenager. But I didn’t quite understand the vast amount of healing benefits from it until I had my first major heartbreak. It took an unexpected breakup with my first real boyfriend for me to experience major emotional pain firsthand, like many other people. The feeling that your heart was ripped to shreds – mornings felt empty, nights were worse and felt far too long in the moment…the inability to eat because you have zero appetite, the anger, shame, the many thoughts running in your head including: “If only I could have, would have, should have done things differently, we’d still probably be together.”
I remember feeling similarly when I experienced the death of my maternal grandfather, then my grandmothers on both sides. That grief comes out of nowhere when you think you’re mostly okay.
Experiencing heartbreak was a wake-up call to turn to energy healing again. I didn’t know how powerful it was until I was old enough to understand what it was like to go through pain and grief.
I remember feeling incredibly lighter after I received some energy healing from my godmother who had been teaching energy healing for decades. I remember how desperate I was to feel any bit better before the session started, while I was processing the end of my first real breakup. It was euphoric. I couldn’t believe how different I felt after an hour’s Reiki session and how it was completely natural, through healing from the hands. I had been well-acquainted with energy healing for years but it didn’t really hit me how much it could do until I felt the major shift from a heartwrenching state to feeling relaxed, a state of peace with how things are, and much more connected with myself. I started going down the “rabbit hole” of wellness practices (keep in mind I was living in Los Angeles at the time before wellness trended globally so I had a lot of great access at the time) including energy healing, yoga, meditation, and learning a variety of healing practices as my godmother took me under her wing.
It’s been nearly 15 years since that moment and oftentimes I still can’t believe how much energy healing, self-reflection, and mindfulness practices have done for me. Though I’m a Reiki Master Teacher and specialized Emotional Energy Healer now, I can’t tell you how much it makes me smile when I see a light bulb switch go off in my clients’ and students’ minds after they’ve had their first real taste of healing and how incredible it is to be reconnected with yourself and more aligned with your mind, body, emotions, energy, and spirit. And the thing is, it can get addictive. I’ve been there. Practicing self-awareness is super important so you can be at a healthy pace on your healing journey.
You begin wanting to do as much healing as possible. You want to show up at every meditation, every drum circle, sign up for every e-course that claims to enhance your natural abilities or train you in some way to level up with those who are naturally gifted, spend money on destination yoga retreats, basically it creates this extra keenness to explore every modality and wanting to absorb every bit of it, STAT.
But here’s the thing. You can rush to learn, but can your body actually absorb all of it? Can you mentally and energetically handle it? I believe it is possible to do “too much too soon” even in healing and wellness.
Getting here faster doesn’t mean your body can absorb all the goodness. It doesn’t mean your mind can process all the inspiration to have breakthroughs. In fact, when you’re rushing into healing, you’ll have fewer breakthroughs because you’re most likely to be searching for the next thing that you could easily miss a few important life lessons along the way.
And keep in mind, true healing isn’t meant to be pretty too. It may come with a whole lot of emotions, sometimes even a healing crisis before you arrive at a beautiful place. Don’t confuse a feel-good experience with real healing.
It’s easy to put spiritual teachers and new spiritual friends on a pedal stool who seem to be living profoundly as they should be on their path. I promise you they aren’t, I’m not and there’s literally zero point in racing through. We’re all here learning life lessons in our own ways and the grass may seem greener on the other side. But what’s challenging for me may be super easy for you and vice versa. If someone gave me all the answers to my challenges it probably wouldn’t serve me well. Either I can’t process the answers because I am probably viewing life with a different perspective and different experience. So hopefully it’ll help whoever needs to come across this message again, there’s literally no point in comparing how far along one person is to another on their journeys. It’s all a battle within our own ego and a huge waste of time and energy. Your journey started when it started because that was when the Universe (or your preferred higher being) felt like it was the perfect time to connect with you. It’s meant to be a different time for everyone, even twins.
So take a look at what you’re doing in terms of spiritual self-care, healing, and mindfulness. It may be an ironic question, but ask yourself, are you being mindful of your process? Are you mindful of how much healing is happening? Does running from one meditation to a yoga class make sense or is it exhausting you? Are you actually able to be present during the class and really take in what you’re experiencing at moment or is your mind thinking about how you wish you could come back sooner and you’re already planning your next visits in your head?
For example, you could go to 8 spiritual-related classes a week, but take in about 30% of the learnings, or 4 classes a month and take in 70% of the teachings. What makes more sense to you? What serves you? And what serves your heart, not your ego?
In the end, healing works best in alignment with you as a whole, so see if what you’re doing currently works, and if not, don’t be afraid to do less, or more if that’s what supports your self-development journey.
