I’m a traditionally trained, left-brain focused healthcare practitioner turned holistic, alternative integrated brain, mind body soul healer. When did I step over the line and go Woo-woo on you? When I began to learn about and experience some of those kinds of practices for myself and understand that just because something isn’t proven doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Akashic records, chakra healing, Reiki energy, energy cyst, crystal grids, Kunda-what-i? Yeah, my reaction to most of the Woo-woo stuff was like a dog cocking it’s head sideways at a high pitched noise – I wasn’t too sure what I was hearing and it was combined with that painful look on my face. But the more I hang out with the Woo-woo crew, the more I know they’re connected to something real that I can’t see or hear…yet. I no longer think they’re crazy – I just want to learn how to see and hear it too.
I was recently researching books on the topic of healing to help me with my comparative analysis for a book proposal and was immediately sucked into the one-star reviews of authors who were tackling the subject of holistic healing, including mind-body-soul perspectives that felt similar to my own. Several had as many initials following their name as mine – something that tells me they started in a similar traditional world, and did the left-brained education.
Reading the opinions of their critics, not yet open to spiritual, mystical, or otherwise alternative, Woo-woo ideas was eye-opening. I realized that if I want to help others redefine healing I’m going to have to help people with topics that will sound “out there” to them, and I’ll need to do it in a way that draws them in, not sends them running. These authors were getting seriously bashed for being too Woo-woo.
Mind you, I’m not out to turn them all – and I know when and where to spend my energy. But the closed-mindedness really surprised me.
Part of what I’m meant to do is help the Wanna-believers transition to the active exploration that will help them experience their mind body and soul at a whole new level of awareness. This includes understanding their mind body system past the traditional Western medical explanation. There’s so much we don’t know about the body-mind-soul. There’s so much information that we’re learning now that wasn’t in my anatomy book twenty years ago.
So if science is still discovering new things, why are we so quick to dismiss other ideas we don’t understand, can’t see or haven’t had proof of yet? We should be asking this question a lot. We should be questioning our own closed-mindedness often.
Maybe what you once thought Woo-woo is for you too. There could be a healing art you’ve never tried, or a explanation of the energy system of the body that you’ve never heard, or a way to practice awareness that you’ve never been taught…all these things could be an open door leading to new discoveries for healing. If you don’t walk through, you’ll never know.
The key to healing isn’t about finding the keys, or realizing the door is unlocked. It’s about showing you the doors you don’t see at all. It’s about giving you access to what you don’t know you don’t know. And the only way you’ll achieve the Aha is to be open enough to the opportunities around you.
Nowadays, I get excited when I’m introduced to a healing practice I’ve never tried, or hear of a term I’ve never heard of; it’s one more new opportunity to explore, another possibility for a deeper level of healing, understanding and experience I can use to get closer to joy. And something else I can share with my less and less skeptical fans.
So the next time you hear me talk about the fascia having a memory, and how trauma gets stuck in your tissues as a mind-body event, or how to listen to the messages from your inner healer, or how a strategically placed, properly chosen crystal can absorb the electromagnetic frequencies from your cell phone (or help you attract abundance), don’t look at me sideways with that painful look on your face. Be brave. Be curious. Ask me how I know. Ask me where I learned what I learned. Ask me how you can experience what I’ve experienced.
Instead of brushing me off as the Woo-woo one, look at the interaction as an opportunity you’ve been given to learn something new, something that could be the door you didn’t see, something that could change your life.
Here are a few simple steps to follow when you’re getting brave about trying a new thing:
1. Get a personal recommendation from someone you trust. I can’t say enough about this.
2. Research the practitioner, their website, their articles, their mission, and see if they fit for you. How do you feel when you’re reading their stuff? Does it resonate?
3. Call the practitioner and have a chat. The sound of their voice and the way they hold a space for your conversation on the phone will lead you in the right direction. Trust yourself.
Spend a moment thinking back to a time you were introduced to a term, idea or practice that you blew off because it was on your Woo-woo radar. Join me in the comments with that awareness…maybe you’re ready for something new. And if you’d enjoy a bit of a challenge – join me for the Warrior Writing 10 Day Challenge where you’ll connect with your body and begin to untether your soul with a simple journaling practice. You can find that HERE.
