A couple of weeks back I blogged about tying my healing work to the cycles of the moon. It was a post about general, over-arching healing themes. It was about utilising the wider energies of the world around us – moon phases are one example, but working with the seasons or the wheel of the year are another. Internal tides work too – many women tie their healing work to their menstrual cycles, and I always do healing and reading work at my birthday. We can also tie our intentions to collective ideas – I wish speaking to a witch friend last week and we both agreed that 1st January is a good time for new beginnings and intention setting. For us, the date is arbitrary, but the shared hopefulness and collective desire for something new means our healing and magical desires get a bit more oomph.

But that’s about using the tides to our advantage. What about our personal healing needs? How often do we, as spiritual practitioners – especially those of us that work in healing fields – need to do self treatment?

When do you need a self treatment?

The first thing to say is that there is no definitive answer to this (sorry). Ultimately, it will be your own experience on the path that gives you the answer. Of course, that means learning by making mistakes!

So, while I can’t give you a foolproof answer, I can give you some tips based on my own 20 years on this rocky road! Here they are – in no particular order:

Side note – I am basing this on standard self treatment protocols from energy healing traditions. My go to self treatments are Reiki meditations (this takes the least effort and can more easily be tailored to the right frequency), sound healing (my own singing and drumming in the moment, or listening to one I’ve recorded as a sound bath) and shamanic healing journeys (with my drum or listening to a drumming track).

Self treat if you’re sick or hurt – preferably at the early stage. Got a cold or headache coming on? Menstrual cramps? Running injury? Do your self treatment practice! It is astonishing how easy it is to forget we have this amazing tool available to us.

Self treat to support other healing work. The results of a programme of work with a trusted practitioner – be that psychotherapy, energy healing or bodywork – will almost always be amplified and better integrated with a gentle self treatment practice. There are exceptions of course – for example I wouldn’t recommend a reiki meditation immediately after receiving Bowen technique, as it will disrupt the work that is still happening in your body. So check with your practitioners. But as a general rule, your self healing meditation will make this work even more effective.

Self treat if something has shaken you emotionally. Stepping on to a spiritual path definitely makes us more balanced than we were before, but if you’re hoping you’ll reach a point where nothing ever gets under your skin, I have bad news for you. We are human beings, imperfect and emotional, and while our self awareness does grow and our reactions improve, sometimes we will be triggered. When it happens, do not beat yourself up. You have not failed, you are having a human experience. And as soon as you are ready (sit in the emotion first if you need to!) remember you are lucky enough to heal and support yourself through that experience.

Self treat if you are working too hard. Sometimes, we are in a phase of working a lot – maybe launching a business, a project, or studying for a new qualification while working. I know you don’t have time for a self treatment then. Trust me, I know! But making the time for a treatment, even once or twice a week, will mean you’re far less likely to lose time to getting sick when the work is finished. Stay resourced!

Self treat when you treat others. This is actually my golden rule. If I break this one, I start heading towards a healer’s burn out. And it’s sneaky, because after doing a healing I feel amazing so I never feel like I need it. So this one is an act of will: I do it based on what I know instead of what I feel. I self treat every day that I do treatments – only one is needed for the day, no matter how many clients I have seen – unless I receive a treatment from another practitioner that day.

Those are my guidelines – what are yours? I’d love to hear from you – whether you think I’ve missed something, or this blog gave you a lightbulb moment, or if you totally disagree! Comment and let me know!

How can I serve you?

Unconquerable is the definitive master class in self healing. A six month remote course beginning this September, the course will bring you to a whole new level of understanding of energy work – not just for your self healing but to protect and resource yourself to live in this world as a healer. We work up from simple energy connections to advanced practices of soul retrieval and shamanic stalking for trauma healing. This is not for beginners on the path, but if this path is your commitment, Unconquerable is for you! Find out more and apply here – I’ll be in touch for a chat when I’ve read your application.

Not ready for Unconquerable? Check out my Patreon page, Propolos. Propolos means companion on the path, and my full subscribers get a minimum of two unique healing recordings as well as a reading, a teaching and a live session every month to support their personal healing journeys. I also have a new Patreon shop where you can now purchase my Reiki meditations – with many more coming throughout the year. See my healing resources here.