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The Role of a Healer

by Christine Upchurch, M.S.


A healer isn't one who heals but rather one who facilitates healing utilizing energy or frequencies that are outside the body.

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When a person is out of balance (physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually) there are many approaches he/she can take when seeking wellness. These can include using the tools of conventional medicine; altering one's diet, exercise routine, and thought patterns; incorporating alternative medicine such as acupuncture, chiropractic, and naturopathy; eliminating subconscious obstacles to healing through psychotherapy and hypnotherapy; and connecting more closely to Source through meditation and other spiritual practices.
   
Many years ago as a young, physically fit vegetarian, I faced cancer. Without medical treatment I healed myself, a process which required much effort and focus over the course of two years.  This personal journey illuminated for me a great deal about the nature or healing, and eventually led me onto a new path--working as a healer and a teacher of healing.     

On their paths to wellness, some people will choose to visit a person who is commonly referred to as a "healer."  Who goes to see a healer, and what role should a healer play in a person's life? First, let's define the word "healer."  Many years ago I received inner guidance that I was a healer, but initially I rejected the message because I mistakenly perceived it to be a fabrication of ego. I had been under the impression that healing power came from the practitioner, and in order to be a good healer a person would have to have had transcended the typical struggles of being human. In reality this isn't the case because the healing power doesn't come from the practitioner but rather from the divine. So a healer isn't one who heals but rather one who facilitates healing utilizing energy or frequencies that are outside of the body.   

On the whole, those who come to a healer seem to differ from those who choose conventional medicine alone. For instance, instead of seeking to merely eliminate their unpleasant symptoms, often these clients hope to identify and heal the underlying cause of their health challenge. Instead of having a sense of separation from their health issue and blaming it on causes beyond their control (such as on a virus or a genetic predisposition), they often embrace their illness as a teacher. Instead of perceiving their situation as random, these clients sometimes believe that their health crisis is connected to their mental, emotional, and spiritual states. Some who come for healing sessions refuse to accept a fear-based perspective on their prognosis or treatment options, recognizing that the fear may in fact impede their healing. It is also quite common for those who visit healers to desire a type of healing that goes well beyond the elimination of symptoms--one that includes personal evolution and empowerment. However not all clients hold this holistic view of healing. There are those who are quite mainstream in their beliefs who find their way to a healer as a result of a loved one's encouragement or through some unusual set of circumstances.   

Healing can be physical, emotional, mental, and/or spiritual.  It can mean eliminating an illness, becoming more energetic, letting go of emotional problems, releasing addictions, healing relationships, becoming more connected to one's higher purpose, easing one's passing, or feeling more in touch with the divine.  The ways that healing can manifest are quite varied, but there is one common thread: an improvement in quality of life.    

As both a practitioner and an instructor of Reconnective Healing, I have had the opportunity to witness many amazing healings. The ones that I find most fascinating are the ones where no belief is involved, such as  the man with advanced hepatitis C who was dragged in by his wife for sessions, and despite his skepticism experienced complete pain relief and a reduction of swelling. Or there was the man who had given up all hope of ever completely healing from a car accident injury, who gave up his cane and his pain medications over the course of one seminar weekend. Or the middle-aged woman with life-long scoliosis, whose tattoo of a snake going across her back suddenly became crooked when her spine unexpectedly straightened during a ten-minute exercise at a training seminar. In all these situations, the healer wasn't attached to outcome, and the individuals themselves didn't believe that it had been possible.
   
Then how did these healings occur? In its highest form, I believe a healing session initiates a dialogue between the client's higher self and universal wisdom, often with the client neither consciously observing the discourse nor controlling the direction of the healing. Through this dialogue, the person's higher self and the divine together choose the appropriate healing for the person at that time, and the person's vibration shifts to attract that healing. From a more scientific perspective, renowned quantum physicist Dr. William Tiller has researched Reconnective Healing. Based on data collected at multiple seminars, his model suggests that through this process we are tapping into a part of the universe that resides outside of space and time (what he calls the reciprocal universe), and somehow through this connection an aspect of that broader reality can enter into this more restricted reality, creating a shift.    

With "energy healing," the healing generally is directed in a particular way to obtain a certain outcome.  With Reconnective Healing, there is no directing of the frequencies and the practitioner ideally has no attachment to the outcome. As a healer, I think it is unwise to decide what the appropriate healing should be for another, because no matter how intuitive, the healer cannot understand all of the aspects of that person's health challenge and life path.   

I have found in my own practice that the less I try to control, the better the healings are. Although there has been no formal research done to support the benefits of having the practitioner let go of attachment, there is analogous research done on prayer which I believe supports this approach. Spindrift is an organization that has scientifically evaluated the effect of prayer on the health of organisms such as plants. In several randomized experiments, scientists compared the health of plants divided into three groups: (1) a group that received no prayer, (2) a group that received prayer specifying the intent that the plants be taller with more leaves, and (3) a group that received prayer that was nondirected, asking that the Universe choose what was best for the plants. Repeatedly, the statistical evidence demonstrated that prayer was indeed effective at creating taller, bushier plants, but by far the healthiest group of plants was that group in which no intention was specified. In other words, when someone offered prayerful focus without intent, the plants tended to be healthier than when someone held a specific intent.    

As with prayer, I believe the same is true when facilitating healing--the most effective form is when the healer lets go of intention, and comes from a place of accepting whatever divine plan the Universe may choose for the client. Internationally acclaimed healer Dr. Eric Pearl, author of The Reconnection: Heal Others, Heal Yourself says it well: "If you're lucky, your healing will come in the form you anticipate. If you're really lucky, your healing will come in a form you've not even dreamed of--one which the Universe specifically has in mind for you."

Christine Upchurch is a Reconnective Healing Instructor who travels the world helping to empower others to come into their mastery as healers. Christine is also an author and the director of the Northwest Reconnective Healing Center in the Seattle area. To learn more visit www.TheReconnection.com and www.CUHealing.com   



Related Info:
Caroline Myss, Ph.D. on energy medicine
Healing in the Age of Energy
Ron Roth on energy medicine
Healing Reiki
What is Intuitive Healing
Lynne McTaggart on the power of intention
Larry Dossey, M.D. on holistic medicine and prayer
Wayne Dyer, Ph.D. on meditation and spirituality
Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D. on non-ordinary states of consciousness
Bernie Siegel, M.D. on mind-body medicine


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