Emerging understanding of the collective unconscious suggests we are not separate and distinct beings at all, but instead are wholly linked. This opens a Pandora’s box of questions and also creates new opportunities help each other feel better. Remote or distant healing—a healing practice where the client and practitioner are not physically near each other—is not a new phenomenon, but it is achieving a new level of attention and acceptance as paradigms shift. 

Distant healing includes a broad range of healing practices, many based in ancient spiritual traditions. Major religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, encourage the use of distant healing among their followers, based on prescribed rituals such as prayer. Some practices focus on treating a specific disease state while others emphasize creating a compassionate environment to have a healing effect on whatever part of the individual might need support. All distant healing practices are concerned with alleviating suffering and increasing the well-being of others; there are no known negative effects. 

How Does it Work?

Explanations for how remote healing occurs are based largely on the belief system of the person being asked. Some believe a deity can intervene to alter physical reality, so it is the deity’s action that brings about healing. Other practitioners believe it is the power of consciousness itself that brings healing through the transfer of energy or information.

Mary Oquendo, Reiki Master and Advanced Crystal Master, explains it this way, “The energetic and magnetic fields surrounding our planet act as its communication lines. Think Verizon for the world. As an energetic practitioner, I can tap into our planet’s 'phone line' and then send energy anywhere in the world.”

The benefits of this are many, she says. Since Reiki and other forms of energy healing can be so relaxing that clients want to fall asleep, one practical benefit is that the client can go directly to sleep afterwards rather than having to get in their car and drive home. The benefit to the practitioner is that their work is not limited by locale; Oquendo has clients all over the world.

Researchers have observed that the skill all distant healing practitioners have in common is “an ability to hold a compassionate intention for another at a distance.” Different modalities offer a variety of training; some traditions may require a practitioner to pass initiation rites and learn complex healing rituals.

Debby Stein is an energy practitioner and certified Reiki master who has also trained in healing touch and integrative energy therapy (IET) techniques. In addition to her current work on the medical oncology unit of Greenwich Hospital, she has volunteered for the past 11 years at the hospital, offering energy sessions to patients, families, nurses, technicians and doctors. 

Stein explains distant healing this way, “Because space and time are not absolute, energy can travel through space and time. Objects, all living beings, our thoughts, radio waves, microwaves, X-rays and a beam of light are forms of energy. When we speak, voicing words releases sound waves of energy, causing ripples in the air around us. These concepts helped me to understand why and how I am able to pick up 'feelings' and information about people and animals without hearing a word, and sometimes from a significant distance away.”

Stein’s distant linking approach is an energetic methodology where she “links” her higher self with that of the client. This enables her to remotely receive information about the individual’s physical, mental and emotional bodies in order to identify issues and energetic congestion that can cause discomfort and/or stress. 

“I begin to sense and sometimes see where too much energy has accumulated in one place,” she explains. “I vision myself using my training in various energy modalities to move, balance, infuse and clear to bring about an even flow throughout the body. I then document everything I heard, saw in my mind’s eye and felt in my hands during my visions. A final detailed report is provided via email to the client to use for ongoing healing.”

While remote healing can be done when the recipient is unaware (for example, prayer), Gregg Kirk of the Lyme Recovery Clinic in Darien schedules his remote energetic healing sessions as if they are in person. There is a specific date and time when both the client and the healer are dedicated to the appointment. The session is real-time and interactive, with the client on the phone and ongoing communication between the two during the period. Kirk begins each session with relaxation, protection and opening rituals that serve to fully hold him and his client in the healing work.

“I find that remote sessions can be extremely powerful, for me and the client, because neither of us is distracted by the physical body,” he says. “That was a little unexpected for me, but the feedback has been consistent. People are loving the remote sessions.”

He says for many people there is a mental leap required to believe that a practitioner can actually be of help to them when the two are in different physical locations. “Most people expect that when you seek energy healing, you’ll be in the same room as the practitioner,” he says. “It’s another leap to understand that the same type of work can happen when the client and the healer are not physically near each other. It challenges our preconceived ideas about what healing is.”

Group Healing

Eilis Philpott, principal of Soul Healing Journey, LLC and the Academy for Soul Healing, has been training practitioners in an energy healing modality known as 13^th Octave LaHoChi for the past two years. As part of the training, all practitioners are given instruction and practice in how to conduct remote sessions using a proxy (i.e. a stuffed animal). Philpott suggested the idea of remote group healing sessions to the more than 50 practitioners she has taught. 

“My thought process was that offering remote healing sessions would support them as well as the individuals who received them,” she explains. “For the more experienced practitioner, it would be a means of being of service to their community. For the less experienced, it would afford them the opportunity to practice, hone their skills and give them more familiarity with this powerful energy.”

The volunteer remote healing group began in mid-October. One practitioner/coordinator receives the requests and assigns them to teams of three practitioners who then have one week to complete the healing session. Requests are currently for friends and family of the practitioners as well as the practitioners themselves. 

“To date, we have completed 30 sessions,” Philpott says. “These are free, all remote and given with love. We have received requests for family members and/or friends in hospital, for injuries and flu-related symptoms as well as individuals grieving a loss. It is such a joy for me to witness the growth and expansion of these practitioners.”

When choosing a practitioner, the best advice is always to select with someone who inspires trust and confidence in you. Stein encourages everyone to put all available information through their own personal filters. Each individual must ultimately decide what techniques are relevant to them and how best to apply them.

Nicole Miale is Publisher of Natural Awakenings Fairfield County/Housatonic Valley, CT.

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LOCAL RESOURCES

Gregg Kirk • Lyme Recovery Clinic • 203-858-9725 • LymeKnowledge.com

Mary Oquendo • PawsitiveEd.com

Eilis Philpott • Soul Healing Journey, LLC • 203-767-5954 • [email protected] • SoulHealingJourney.com • AcademyForSoulHealing.com

Debby Stein • Debby's Energy • 203-353-1725 • [email protected] • DebbysEnergy.com