Photo: Pink Sherbet Photography

In the alternative health field, there are never-ending possibilities of methods to try. The other day, I walked by a health center and was perusing the list of available treatments taped to the door. I knew the first one – Energy Healing – and had no idea what any of the (I’m not kidding) other 30 options were. And I have a Masters in Holistic Health Education, jeez.

So I could hardly name all of the different types of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, or energetic approaches to healing available out there. But I just want to give a quick overview of some approaches for those who are interested in taking their health to the next level–or feel as if what they have tried thus far isn’t working.

And in some ways I consider myself an expert on trying new approaches. Here is a condensed list of what I have tried over the last several years:

Acupuncture, Acupressure, Thai Massage, Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Hypnotherapy, Rolfing, Cranial-Sacral Therapy, Nutrition Counseling, Ayurvedic Consultation, NAET Allergy Elimination, Chiropractic Adjustment, Energy Healing, Psychic Healing, Holistic Life Coaching, Dance Therapy, Reiki, Homeopathy, Herbal medicine, Detoxification, Trigger-point Therapy, Astrology, Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Body Wraps, Naturopathy, Talk Therapy, Colonics, Enemas, Ionic Foot Bath, Foot detox pads, Liver flushing, Bach Flower Essences, Parasite Cleanse, Reflexology

Yes, that is indeed a condensed list. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of more choices.

After trying all of these approaches, I, of course, have opinions on each of them. Some seemed to work, others not so much. But just as with anything, every approach will work for some people and not for others. Or it will work at one point in a person’s life and not another.

Confused?

What I recommend is to choose one approach per ‘category’ (i.e. physical body vs. emotions) at a time, and have it coincide with what you feel is most pertinent at the moment. Is your body really in a lot of pain and your doctor is giving you shots of cortisone so that you can lift your arm? Maybe you should consider finding a low-cost deep tissue massage place and set up six appointments in three weeks time, while paying attention to how your body feels after eating – are there certain foods that seem to make your body feel inflamed?

In this sense, you are physically taking a proven path to reducing inflammation (massage) AND a mental/emotional approach to tackling the cause (often food allergies and consuming inflammatory foods, such as sugar, are at least partially rooted in emotions).

But I wouldn’t recommend trying to get massages and chiropractic adjustments at the same time. They could either conflict with each other, or if you end up feeling better, you won’t know which one worked. So in the future, if you have the same type of pain, you’ll be stuck (no pun intended).

Here are some possible approaches:

Talk therapy

Photo: dospaz

Great place to start. I think everyone needs to do participate in talk therapy for at least a couple of years. Is it good to do for 15 years, though? Umm, not in my personal opinion. People seem to get caught, going around and around in a circular fashion and not really getting anywhere after a while.

We all need to understand what happened in our childhood, rehash all the AWFUL things that our parents did to us (and that we, unknowingly, will do/are doing to our children), how the school bully scarred us for life, and how high school is really just hell in a handbag, but then, we need to be able to move on. And continuing to talk about how what is happening in your life right now is connected to what happened to you as a kid doesn’t really let you move on.

What’s up next? Maybe cognitive behavioral therapy, where the therapist works with a client to change thought patterns, or neuro-linguistic programming, where “re-learning” how we view things can permanently shift fear and other reactions.

Somatic therapy

Somatic therapists believe that we hold emotions in our muscles and tissues. It makes sense; pay attention to how your body reacts the next time you get angry – does your stomach tighten? Do you throw your shoulders back?

Through movement, bodywork and some talking, these emotions can be released in a way that simply talking about them does not facilitate. Maybe when you’ve gotten to that place of having heard yourself regurgitate the same old story for the 55th time, it might be a sign to move on to the non-verbal arena.

Some somatic therapies include CranioSacral Therapy, where a practitioner uses their hands on the back of the skull with a weight of about a nickel to stimulate the body’s own healing abilities; Hellerwork, which combines bodywork, movement education and talk therapy; and Rebirthing-Breathwork, which involves re-living the birthing process in order to heal birth trauma and other childhood issues.

Energy therapy/healing

Ok, I realize this area is a big jump for a lot of people. We can be down with getting acupuncture ’cause it’s relaxing, and can handle a massage therapist holding their hands above our head for a few moments at the end of a massage since we are dead to the world anyway.

But going in specifically to get healed by someone who doesn’t necessarily seem to be doing a whole lotta anything–weeell, that’s a bit of a stretch.

Give yourself the room to disbelieve. And then try it anyway.

Most of us believe in some form of a soul, and I think this is a great place to start in terms of understanding what energy is all about. You can’t see it, you can’t touch it, you can sometimes feel it, if you try really, really hard and kinda, sorta pretend. But trust me, if you give it a few tries, you WILL feel the effects. Calmness comes to mind. Less irritation. Less fire. Less “I want to punch the idiot in the car next to me who is driving the same speed as me.”

There are many forms of energy healing from which to choose: Qigong, Reiki, Visualization, Meditation, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). You can have a practitioner do it; often you can do it yourself (or both). It will make all the other work you are doing physically, mentally, and emotionally more effective. You’ll sleep better. Your kids will be less insane. You’ll end up having the perfect body.

Ok, not the last one. But, not only will you feel better, you’re more likely to think your body is perfect just the way it is.

Share and Enjoy