It has been said that the concept of aging is in mind. Most certainly, it is a perspective as well as the way our body conceives of it. If your mantra about aging is “getting old is not for sissies,” aging will feel like a battleground. If your mantra is “grateful to be able to get older and share my wisdom,” even on an achy day, there will be an element of joy in the process.

Self-image, especially body image as we age, can feel threatened as things begin to sag and joints complain, and it can create a feeling of “I’m going downhill.” How our parents perceived aging and certainly how our culture perceives it feeds into our self-image and concept of what aging looks like. And no matter what is going on in our bodies, how we perceive our aging process is key to living fully in the midst of it.

How would energy therapy help in our perspective about aging and in the process itself?

Because energy is vibration and goes where it needs to go and does what it needs to do, a perspective often begins to change even on the first experience of energy therapy. It softens the weight of condemnation by self or culture. In time, over successive sessions, greater self-love comes into play. And self-love is the game changer whether you are healthy or ill.

Love is the highest energy, and that is what is used in energy therapy of all stripes. Love is part of universal energy. It eases pain either real or perceived; it heightens awareness of the beauty of life by changing the perception about the difficulties we may be going through. I once saw an angry, bitter patient with leukemia come out of his energy nap and say, “my whole perspective has changed about what is happening!” Cured? No. Healed? Most definitely.

All energy therapy helps let go as it is the excellent releaser That healing vibration goes to the source. Aging is not only a physical process but mental as well. If we are carrying the baggage of regrets or self-hatred, it will age us quite quickly. Even current habits of anxiety about aging can contribute to our perception. That can also take people down the rabbit hole of not feeling they deserve to be well.

Interestingly, indigenous healers understand very well the letting process as part of healing. They use rituals with stones, eggs, or lemons that sweep the accumulated energy effects off the outside of the body biofield while giving the mind space to release what no longer serves in our self-image and concepts of aging. That holding on to the past can make aging very difficult and create aches and pains and diseases that do not need to be there.

By all means, change lifestyle, eat clean, keep moving and connected to community but also consider energy therapy to support and heal at all levels making your journey one of joy rather than pain and aging gracefully indeed.

The post Age Defying Energy Medicine appeared first on Psychotherapy Partners.

By Christina Gregory

Hire a trainer. Walk 10,000 steps. Eat vegan. Eat keto. Practice yoga. When it comes to the health of our bodies many folks are on top of it using good food, exercise and regular checkups in our prevention and maintenance plans.

All of these are good action steps to prevent physical ailments but what would a plan for good mental health include? Mental health needs our daily attention just as our bodies need daily care. We have no problem thinking about daily routines such as brushing our teeth, staying hydrated, eating well, taking supplements and vitamins. We can create preventative routines and practices for our mental health as well, including:

1. Regaining energy derived from sleep. Sleep as a vibration unto itself called waves and those waves create a drain of fluid down our spine. Every night that needs to occur in order to remain in good health physically and mentally. The energetic vibrations from sleep are a powerful healer and should be protected as the most important factor in all disease prevention.
2. Detaching – the art of letting go. Keeping at a distance the energy that saps us and often creates a spin of worry. Reduce your stressors by detaching from people, events, worry and even cultural mandates such as body image, climbing the ladder of success, pushing ourselves beyond normal limits and comparison with others. These are heavy energies that weigh you down emotionally and create both physical and emotional diseases.
3. Being in the energy of love. It’s the highest of vibrations and the core vibration of all energy therapies. Love yourself and let that vibration fill you with healing energy.
4. Spending time with good energy of friends, family and community. Preventing isolation and loneliness are essential to good mental health.
5. Enjoying art, music and nature as they provide healing vibration for our minds. Colors vibrate, notes of music vibrate our chakras (spinning energy centers) and the energy of Mother Earth is deeply healing.  Walk barefoot, sing, and gaze at the colors of flowers – all are high vibrations.

Using energy therapy for mental health, as it is both preventative and therapeutic, ties the routine together. Thoughts are energy. Emotions are energy. Because energy therapy is a vibration it will go where it needs to go.  It’s a fact of physics that if a vibration is too low (depression) or too high (anxiety) a modulated vibration will create balance when added to the body by the practitioner’s hands. This is called entrainment.

If the thoughts and emotions are in a panic, introducing energy therapy will calm and support as it aids in bringing the emotions into balance. Breathing becomes easier. Sleep often returns.  If the emotions are heavy as in depression the vibration of energy therapy helps to gently nudge the emotions into balance creating space and even perspective.

We all know how perspective can change how we think about a situation. Over time energy therapy can help in the letting go process. That fight with Aunt Marge just doesn’t seem so important. The limiting belief that we are not enough can shift and confidence has the opportunity to emerge. The throat opens and we can find ourselves speaking up in situations that used to frighten us.

For instance, after a Reiki session in the hospital for a leukemia patient a new perspective opened up for him. The overwhelming heaviness of the disease shifted to a more manageable event in his life. His big ah-ha moment was the subtle shift into hope of living life well in spite of the circumstances. Even though the pain was still there his perspective about it was changed. Energy therapy helps lighten the load of the pain and the emotional toll of worry.

Consider energy therapy in your mental health care routine for prevention, healing and maintenance.

Christina Gregory is a Master Reiki Practitioner at the Bhakti Wellness Center in Edina. For more information, visit BhaktiClinic.com or call 612-839-5255.

The post Energy Routines for Mental Health appeared first on Psychotherapy Partners.