If you’re thinking about trying energy healing, read on to explore different types of energy healing, what to expect, and the Healing Lab approach.

What is Energy Healing?

At its simplest, energy healing is the art and science of manipulating energy to bring relief and return the body to a state of holistic and full-scale wellness.

While relatively new to contemporary western medicine in the United States, energy medicine has roots in almost every country around the world. Written texts contain records of energy work used to balance the body dating back thousands of years ago to early Chinese healers. And while research is still growing, our understanding and practices of energy healing have come a long way since then. According to one recent study, it provides evidence that energy healing “may be effective for pain and anxiety,” though more research is needed.

You can learn more about the research on energy healing here.

Different types of energy healing

There are hundreds of different types of energy healing, each with its own set of philosophies, practices, and areas of potential impact. Additionally, each practitioner develops their own approach and techniques. Some types of energy healing incorporate the laying of hands. Others may include chakras, crystals, movement, meditation, or balancing a person’s energy field.

The Healing Lab Approach to Energy Healing

When founding Healing Lab, I wanted to bring together the rigor and consistency of modern science with the powerful potential of centuries-old energy medicine. I found my way to energy in childhood, curious even as a young boy to the energy I felt as I laid my hand against trees or as I felt ocean waves crash upon the shore. 

It was only after helping many friends find relief from their ailments (hives, pain from injuries, arthritis, and more), that I realized how passionate I was for helping people reclaim their lives from suffering. I wanted to use energy healing to provide relief where people thought there was no hope. And so, Healing Lab was born.

I took class after class, trying to supplement my own understanding of energy healing with what I learned. I enjoyed exploring the different systems, but ultimately didn’t find they had the answers to my questions about placebo. So, I built on what resonated with me and dropped what didn’t, developing my own checks and balances to test for placebo along the way.

If three patients – all with unique symptoms and conditions – walked into a doctor’s office, would the doctor prescribe the same medication for each of them? No. The doctor would explore each of their symptoms and build a treatment strategy tailored to each unique individual.

At Healing Lab, we mirror this approach. Rather than drawing from a single “universal” energy, I’ve spent years identifying the unique signatures associated with arthritis so I could apply the appropriate energy.

What about placebo?

Many people exploring the potential of energy healing wonder just how “real” it is. 

Is it all placebo? Will I have to believe in it for it to work?

Placebo was a very real concern of mine as Healing Lab was in its early stages. I wanted to make sure I was really helping people, not just making them think themselves better. So I developed a training program based on blind testing. This way, my expectations couldn’t influence results, ensuring I was actually engaging with specific energies rather than just mental projections.

What to Expect in Your Energy Healing Session

When preparing for your energy healing session, there’s no reason to stress. But, if you feel unsure, let us know! Ask us all your questions – we want your session to be as relaxing, peaceful, and stress-free as possible.

When you first enter our office in Oakland, CA, I’ll come out to welcome you and guide you to our client session room, designed to provide a tranquil and soothing experience.

Intake

The first thing we’ll start with during your session is intake information. Our intake will generally include:

• What is your experience with osteoarthritis?

• Where and in which joints does OA impact you?

• How is your pain on most days from a scale of 1-10 

• Is the pain deep or more superficial (closer to the surface)?

• Is your pain steady and consistent, or does it come and go?

• Has it been changing?

• What are your current activity levels?

• What activities would you like to return to and enjoy again?

We’ll also go over all of your questions and concerns during intake so you feel comfortable and confident going into the healing portion of your session.

Initial Energy Reading

After intake, I’ll spend 10-15 minutes reading the energy surrounding and within the affected joint and tissues. I’ll typically lay two fingers on the affected area to help read the energy signatures. If you’re uncomfortable with touch, just let me know – I’ll hover my hand over the affected area instead. 

Discuss Findings and Strategy

Once I feel confident in examining the energy of the bones, cartilage, synovial fluid, bursa, and surrounding tissues, I’ll discuss my findings and suggested approach with you. Talking about my findings helps me align my reading and later healing with your experience of osteoarthritis. 

For example, if I detected energy I associate with rough cartilage and increased bursa inflammation, hearing about how you experience arthritis in that area can help me further specify which energy signatures need to be fine-tuned and by how much.

Energy Adjustments and Healing

The actual energy healing and adjustment typically takes about 10-15 minutes. During this time you can read, answer emails, catch up on social media, or even take a nap if you like. Depending on your preference, I’ll lay or hover two fingers over the affected area to direct the healing energy.

Wrap-Up and Follow-Ups

Once I finish adjusting the energy signatures, I want to hear about your experience. How do you feel? What’s your mobility and current level of pain? After your session, you’ll also receive a weekly email from us checking in on you and monitoring your progress. If pain begins to increase or you feel stiffness setting in – we want to know. We’ll work to adjust the energy at a distance to help you between sessions.

Your feedback helps refine our treatment plan, so you can get the most out of your healing sessions.

Read more about client experiences here.

How to Prepare for Distance Energy Healing Sessions

Many doubt energy healing’s potential, and that’s before adding distance to the equation. How can energy healing work when you’re not next to the person, let alone within 100 miles?

But the reality is, distance sessions work almost identically to in-office sessions. When you sign up for a session, we’ll send you a healing card to use during our sessions. Think of this card like a homing beacon. Before sending your healing card, I’ll make an energetic connection with it. During our session, I’ll ask you to place the card over the affected area, both during your reading and healing, to help me connect to your energy body and direct the healing energy.

Otherwise, everything else stays the same! We’ll begin with intake before reading your energy, discussing my findings, providing energy healing, wrapping up, and the same weekly check-ins.

Whether you visit us in-person or opt for distance energy healing sessions due to COVID or geographical limitations, our goal is always the same – To provide a holistic, relaxing, relief-centered experience that improves your OA symptoms and helps you get back to the activities you love most.

Curious to learn more? Schedule your Free Holistic Health Assessment to explore natural paths to osteoarthritis relief and how energy healing could help you.