by Eileen Nauman, DHM (UK)

Copyright 2006 Eileen Nauman
All Rights Reserved

Email: docbones@gotsky.com
Web site: http://www.medicinegarden.com

Coming from a metaphysical family, my father Eastern Cherokee metis, I grew up in a framework well outside the normal bounds of what people expect as 'reality.' I was lucky enough to be introduced to energy and the invisible growing up

My mother, Ruth, laid hands on us as babies and young children and into adulthood when we became sick. We were too poor, back in the 1950's, to afford the services of a medical doctor if one of us got ill. Instead, my mother would lay her hand on us and within an hour, we always felt better, the symptoms disappeared, it ran its course faster and we got over it sooner.

It goes without saying that hands on healing does NOT take the place of the person going to call their doctor, going to an emergency room or contacting their health professional. NEVER put hands on healing for a client seeing their doctor for help and a diagnosis. Hands on healing is an adjunct or secondary action. The client seeing their doctor is primary--always.

Further, you never promise that the person will get cured or feel better. The 'why' of this is below. You make no claims. You promise nothing. You come in a nonjudgmental, compassionate manner to that individual and that is all. The client always makes the
decision as to whether or not they want you laying hands on them or not. Never "push" this on anyone. It is always THEIR choice. Not yours.

I've learned a lot about the laying on of hands over the course of my life and I'd like to share with you my observations and experience:

1. HEALER or CATALYST? I don't like to say that we 'heal' anything. It's a pretty arrogant and inaccurate statement. Rather, what we really are, if we follow a protocols that I'll reveal in this article, we are empty pipe through which the divine Cosmic energy of pure love can flow. I always refer to myself as a catalyst, not a healer. I'm an 'empty tube' or conduit through which cosmic energy flows to the individual who is asking for help in alleviation of their suffering and symptoms. It also keeps you humble and makes you aware that you're simply part of a greater process that is a miracle in the making.

2. ANYONE CAN DO THIS. Anyone can lay hands on someone, and become a conduit for the energy that surrounds us, in order to help alleviate symptoms. There are no 'special' people who can do this. Everyone can do it, without question. The only difference between
you and me is that I grew up in a home where hands on healing was normal and expected--and you were not. As a child, I thought every mother laid her hands on her kids to help alleviate suffering. I was wrong about this as I left the nest of the home and got into grade
school. The point is, however, that all humans and all beings on this earth, can become a transit point for cosmic energy to come THROUGH them to you.

3. ANIMALS, PLANTS, AND... Anyone can lay hands on a human, animal, place or thing and bring the healing energy through to help him/her/it.

4. THE ENERGY OF LOVE. 'Cosmic energy' can be defined by you. For example, I was raised in a Native American/metaphysical home, so for me, Great Spirit is where this loving energy comes from. If you are Muslim, then you may say it comes from another source. Or, Buddhist, or Christian... you get the picture here. In other words, you don't need to give up your belief in a creator to do hands on healing. Whatever and whomever you believe in will be just fine. The energy that surrounds us is pure love. We can access it at any time for
ourselves or others. It is available 24/7/365.

5. GETTING OUT OF THE WAY. In order to work with this energy from the Cosmos, you must get out of the way. What does this mean? Well, it means putting all your judgments and expectations of outcome aside. I have a favorite saying: Expect nothing, receive
everything. I grew up with this maxim. As a child, I really didn't understand the meaning of this saying, but as an adult, I certainly do. Let me give you an example of these wise words in action. Let's say your friend's mother just died. You see their suffering, tears and grief and want to help alleviate your friend's anguish and pain. So, you offer to do a hand's on healing to help them. Your expectation going into this is: Grief is bad; therefore I must
remove it so my friend will feel better. That is a judgment, too.

What you may not realize is that this person will grow and become a better human being on a spiritual, mental, or emotional level because of the suffering they go through in this experience. Grief is a natural emotion that needs to be felt and expressed through ourselves. It should not be arbitrarily removed. Why? Because down here on the third dimensional plane call life on Earth, we learn much through our pain. It would be lovely if we humans could learn to grow and educate ourselves through joyous, happy things, but that's not how it is down here. We learn through our suffering. It is what it is and we need to respect this action. Steel only gets stronger through the fire. And pain is our fire that
continues to strengthen our soul.

In our need to 'help' the grieving friend who has lost their mother, we have judged and condemned GRIEF as 'bad'; therefore, we see ourselves as the remover of this vital emotion. Loss and grief can do as much good for us as it can wound and scar us. How we work through our grief, our maturity, our belief system and so many other factors too numerous to list here, will determine the outcome of the blessings or curse of grief that we must experience and work through until we get on the other side of it and finally, a year or more later, heal from.

A hand's on healer can interrupt this healing sine wave that is taking place within us. Everyone should work through their loss and grief or it can be suppressed/repressed and in the end, that is unhealthy. We can short out the grief process, stop the rhythm and
flow of it, and this isn't healthy. So, we need to be able to put ourselves in a space where we are not putting a 'spin' on the cosmic energy funneling through us to the other person. We don't want to TAINT or INFUSE the energy with our own expectation, outcome or
judgment. Because if we do, all of those intentions, like throwing toxic chemicals into pure water, muddy the whole process and INFECT the receiver at the other end beneath our hand. So, give serious thought as to WHY you want to perform a hand's on healing and to
remove yourself from the process so that you are, indeed, merely an empty tube through which cosmic energy flows. HOW this energy is utilized by the healee, the one on the receiving end, then, is up to them--not you. Remove yourself from the process. Be a neutral observer who stands in an aura of love and non-judgmental as you place your hand upon them.

6. THE DYNAMICS OF PERMISSION. This brings up the other organic consideration in the healing process: the person receiving the cosmic energy that is 'out there' and is funneling through you because you've given it permission to do so. The healee, the person
receiving this from you and the Cosmos, is not a lump on a log while this is all going on. Indeed not. Did you know that a person (or animal, place or thing) can STOP this energy that is funneling through you to them? They can DENY it. They have a RIGHT to stop it
either consciously or unconsciously. This means that when you ask if you can lay hands on them, you must get their permission to do so. You never ASSUME someone wants you to lay hands on them. Ask first.

I have seen times when a person would consciously say yes, they'd love to receive a healing and yet, on an unconscious level, deflect it and not absorb it. Why? Because on some level they are not ready to get well. They are learning important things by being ill. And it is their choice as to when they get well--not ours. And we must respect that. If you had the expectation the person should improve after you've laid on hands and they don't, then you are not in the correct space as a nonjudgmental catalyst. We should not take it personally one way or another. From your perspective, there are many things you do not know about the person, their path in life, their reasons or the greater cosmic plan they have for themselves. All or any of these play into whether cosmic energy is absorbed into
them or not.

If a person is unconscious or does not speak English (or any language we understand in the case of animals, places or things), then mentally ask for permission to lay your hand on them. You will get an answer. How? You will FEEL it. Those who are sensitive will definitely get a vibe that says 'yes' or 'no.' A sensation of lightness, happiness or joy may be a 'yes.' A no may be a feeling as if in a vacuum, or you receive no emotional or sensing indicator that feels like permission. Those who aren't as sensitive may think they get nothing at all--but the deal is you are just not attuned to the more refined energies to receive the answer. A good rule of thumb is: if you don't feel the answer, do not do it. And by the way, not
all things WANT healing. And if you FORCE yourself on someone and something without respect to their wishes and answer, then you're no longer a healer, you're a sorcerer. And that's not a good place to be coming from because sorcery is the practice of using your intent and energy on someone or something else without their permission. In other words, you are controlling the situation--which is the exact opposite of what should be happening here. In the best of circumstances, you have permission, you remove your expectations and judgment so that the energy can be untainted and whole as it is received by the healee.

7. GROUNDING YOURSELF. One of the biggest mistakes a 'new' person makes in laying on of hands is not grounding themselves first before they begin. Rather, what they end up going if ungrounded, is giving their OWN energy from their own auric fields to another person. This is an energy transfusion for sure but in the end, the healer/catalyst feels like a wet rag/weak/shaky or tired afterward. If you get any of these symptoms, then you are not doing it correctly.

To ground yourself, find a quiet place to sit down and do it. Close your eyes and get relaxed. Take a deep breath into your body, through your chest and all the way down into your abdomen. Then, slowly release it through your mouth. Do this three times. Then,
visualize the best you can (some people are better at this than others--but it still happens, so don't worry about it) silver tree roots winding gently (but not tightly) around your ankles two or three times. Then, see the tip of the root going down through the center of each foot and diving deeply into the earth at least one-hundred or so feet. These 'roots' ground you. Just as when you deal with electrical equipment, you have a grounding wire on it--you are creating the 'grounding wire' from your body with Mother Earth. This creates an anchoring and also insures that the cosmic energy will come through you and not FROM you.

When you are done visualizing the roots, then open your eyes and you're ready to stand up or go sit with the person who has requested your help.

8. WHAT HAND TO USE WHEN PERFORMING A HEALING. Use your RIGHT hand
to send energy OUT to another person. Your left hand pulls energy into you. If you were to use your left hand to try and 'heal' with, you are sucking energy OUT of the person you're trying to help--and they will feel weaker, more tired, their symptoms will intensify and over all, they'll be worse off than before. Worse, you are going to infuse yourself with their sick energy. And you won't feel good for a day, perhaps longer until this is purged out of your auric fields.

Imagine a line drawn right down the center of you, from head to toes. The left side of you is your feminine side. This is the side that draws energy, constantly, in your aura from the cosmos, and 'feeds' you and keeps you alive on all levels. The right side of you is your masculine side and it is your 'sending out' side; much like a radio transmitter sending out a signal to another person/place/thing. This is why we always use the RIGHT hand, palm down, gently lying on the person or near the area that is injured. We want to remain open,
get out of the way, make our request for help through the being we believe in for this person. You will begin to feel tingling, heat or coolness starting to flow through your arm and/or fingers. Your client/friend will also feel it coming into them--usually as warmth,
but sometimes as coolness. Or, they may feel tingling or perhaps nothing at all. Any of these sensations are okay. If they feel nothing, they will see a reduction in their symptom(s) in about ten to thirty minutes after the healing process is completed.

For some people, they like to place both hands on a person. This is perfectly okay, especially if you're standing behind them and they are sitting. So long as the RIGHT hand is always contacting the person physically, you can opt to use the left as well. It is only
when you use the left alone, that trouble can begin. So, rule of thumb is use RIGHT hand only on person OR use BOTH hands, palms down, gently resting against the person physically.

9. HAND PLACEMENT. First, wash your hands in soap and water before you begin work. You do not have to place your hand right over the area that is ailing. Never place your hands over a open wound due to infection or transmitted disease possibility. Many times, it is not possible to do this because even light pressure is highly painful or uncomfortable to the person. Instead, just putting your hand on their right or left shoulder works just as well. Do NOT put your hand over the top of their head--ever. The Crown Chakra is there and by putting your hand physically over it, you are closing it down and shutting off energy the person needs. If possible, I will put my right hand on the person's left hand. In other words I'm sending energy OUT of my right hand into the person's normal, receptive LEFT
hand. And there have been times when I will simply lay my hand on a person's ankle or lower leg that is blanketed (and not injured).

Never lay your hand over any part of a person's body that they consider taboo; such as a woman's breasts, as an example, or anywhere near the genital region on either gender. It is best to inform the person that you'd like to put your hand on (name the part of the body) and ask PERMISSION of that person to do so. "Is it all right if I lay my hand on your right shoulder?" If the person looks uncomfortable, then you find a different area to lay your hand.

10. STANDING . If you are standing while you are allowing the cosmic energy to funnel through you to the person, be sure to UNLOCK your KNEES. Keep your knees 'soft' instead. What this means is that locked knees actually stop the grounding process. It also stops the coming/going flow of energy for you and that's not what you want while working.

11. SITTING. If you are sitting in a chair next to the person, be sure and do NOT cross your ankles or legs when working. Both your feet should be flat on the ground for the entire course of treatment. If you cross, you are blocking the running of natural energies
through your aura for yourself. This can cause turbulence and you may end up feeling tired or worn out afterward.

12. TALKING. Sometimes, the person likes to talk with you as you have your hand on them running the energy. This is fine. It's not a problem or does it cause a problem. After all, you don't have to 'concentrate' on getting this energy to come through the top of your
head (your crown chakra); it will just happen naturally after you've grounded yourself, fixed your intent to 'run energy' for this person and you've laid your right hand on them. Often, a person may feel heat or other sensations and you should encourage them to let you
know what they are feeling during the session. Some people don't want to talk and you should respect that too. Others are too sick to talk. Or, they are in a coma or unconscious. Take the client's lead: if they want to talk, you can talk with them. If they don't, then just quietly do your part in this process.

13. AFTERWARD. Wash your hands in soap and water. Sit with your client afterward and take notes on what they felt, if anything. A client does NOT have to feel anything for the energy to be absorbed. About fifty percent of the time, people feel nothing. Just note that
on your notebook information. If the client does feel something, write it down. Also, if you saw, felt or heard anything (seeing colors, animals, faces, symbols, etc.) be sure to share them with your client and ask if what you saw means anything to them. It may or may not. Over time, these will become enlightening or significant in some way to the client.

I always ask the person to call me in 48 hours after the healing took place. Again, take notes. There should be changes in their condition or symptoms for the better by this time. In a small percentage of time, there are people who don't really feel different upwards of 72 hours after a healing. Again, this is normal and nothing to be concerned about. Everyone absorbs cosmic energy at a different rate and speed because we are all unique.

And, it's always nice to hear from the person a week or two after a hands on healing. Keep notes; because you'll learn from them and clients will educate you. There's always something to learn here and it's ever evolving and unending.

One of the many benefits of being a 'conduit' is that you receive healing as well when you lay hands on another. That loving cosmic energy flowing through you is a gift and a blessing for you, too.