image on this page:
Lotus - digital painting
Unless otherwise stated, all text and images copyright © Marian Buchanan
First encountersOn these pages I share my experiences with and perspective on hands-on energywork. Although my intention in laying on of hands is healing and/or pain relief, I make no claims either to "be" a healer or not to be one. I'm more like an explorer of what humans are capable of when it comes to directing their bioenergy (chi, qi, life force, prana) - in this case, through their hands - and of what that energy is capable of when it comes to healing.
First encountersMy first direct experience with hands-on energywork happened when I was 19. I'd stayed at a friend's house and had a sore back from sleeping on the fold-out camping cot. He had me sit still while he put his hands on my back and breathed steadily. I don't recall feeling any particular sensation beyond the normal warmth of hands, but my pain disappeared quickly and completely. A skeptic would no doubt say it was due to either the heat or the passage of time, but this felt different from those two kinds of recovery.
It wasn't until 5 years later that I started exploring healing with my own hands. I took a course in massage, not expecting it to lead to anything but the know-how of therapeutic manipulations. I did, in fact, learn how to knead away muscular tension, and the feedback part of that is recognizing how tense or relaxed a muscle is by how rigid or fluid it feels to touch and hold. I also discovered, however, that, beyond the tactile observation of tightness in muscles, I was receiving other information from the bodies I was massaging. This was unexpected, as I wasn't attempting to do anything beyond physical manipulation, and hadn't yet read or heard anyone's description of the inner experiences that are possible during hands-on energywork or healing. I'm sure it's a little different for each person. I describe what it's like for me in an account of my personal experience.
Your own experienceAs you'll see in the section on my personal experience, imagery can play a big role in hands-on energywork (and other types of healing). If you'd like to help me in my research of image and perception, or if you'd just like to share your own experience with energywork and/or healing, please email an account of your personal experience.
If you'd like to begin an exploration of your own ability to channel energy, see the workshop section below.
WorkshopIf you've never explored energywork before, here are some experiments you can do to get started.
Rub your hands together briskly for a few minutes. This stimulates the nerves and blood circulation in your hands, and also creates some static electricity through friction. You're likely to feel this as a tingling.
Now hold your hands an inch apart, with palms facing each other. Breathe slowly, deeply and steadily, with a slight constriction in your throat muscles to regulate the volume of breath passing in and out. Do you feel a sensation as if your hands were connected by an invisible bond? If you don't sense it spontaneously, imagine it: as if the air between your hands were thicker and pulsing with current, like an electromagnetic field.
As you breathe in, allow your hands to move a little further away from each other. As you breathe out, allow them to move closer again. What happens to the bond? Does it feel stronger as you move in, as if it were being compressed? Does it pull on you when you move apart? On the in-breath, move apart only as far as you can while still feeling the bond, no further. Keep using the breath to build the strength of the bond. As it builds, you'll be able to move further apart on each inhalation.
Once it feels strong enough to maintain, play around with it:
image on this page:
Lotus - digital painting
Unless otherwise stated, all text and images copyright © Marian Buchanan