What practical, down-to-earth healing looks like

Imagine yourself at your next healing session. You are seated or lying comfortably, snuggled up in soft blanket. The lights are low, gentle music plays softly in the background, and a delicate, beautiful, scent drifts through the room. Before you closed your eyes, you'd noticed the lush plants and pretty crystals dotted round the room. You feel calm and peaceful, and are already drifting into a lovely, relaxed state. Sounds good, right? I think most of us would agree this all sounds pretty perfect, and something we would definitely enjoy. But, and this is a big but, does this beautiful, calm, peaceful – perfect - room actually make your healing session better or more effective? Now, there's a question! And I would suggest that it doesn't. 

This may be a controversial statement, but, for me, ambience is not the main event in a healing session. So, wait, before you throw your hands up in horror, hear me out. 

No fluff

I've never been one for fluff, or unnecessary fussing. I say things straight, as they are and to the point. I cut to car chase. I like practical solutions that get results. And this translates into my spiritual practice too: I like my spirituality to be pragmatic, practical and down to earth. 

From an Anamchara Wellbeing perspective, this means what I offer is accessible and transparent. There's no off-putting ‘mumbo-jumbo spiritual nonsense’ and to a degree what you see is what you get. I offer a service that, literally, meets you where you are at, not just emotionally and spiritually, but in your physical location as well. In practical terms, I’m very happy to always go with the flow and work with what I have, wherever that may be. I don't need there to be a ‘perfect environment’ to be able to do what I do. And for it to work! 

The benefits of a nice environment

Of course, a nice calm, dedicated therapy space with soft fluffy blankets, beautiful ambient lighting, incense and plants all make for a more aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable experience. It's what we expect from any holistic wellbeing practitioner these days. Indeed, it's important when you go to your therapist, that the space they offer is, at minimum, clean and professional at all times. 

It is also imperative that you always feel safe, calm and relaxed in your practitioner's space. These should all be givens in this work we do. As humans, our ability to feel calm, safe and secure is significantly impacted, for better or worse, by the environment we are in. At its most basic, this is a primal instinct going way back in our evolutionary history. The need for safety runs deep. So, the soft blankets, low lighting and plants all play a key role in determining how safe you feel on the day.  

To be clear, I am not advocating a healing environment which is austere, stark, minimal and devoid of enjoyment. Nor am I diminishing the importance of the right environment. Quite the contrary. When we feel calmer, happier and safer, the more our body relaxes, and the better our energy can flow. Our vibration rises, and healing is more readily accessible. So, clearly, creating a conducive healing environment is a big deal. But note, I am talking about the right environment, not necessarily the most perfect environment as these are, often, two very different things. 

A less perfect scenario

Let's look at a less perfect scenario. Imagine you are at a different healing session. Because of work and family commitments, you can't get to a therapist's treatment rooms at a convenient time. You can't leave your elderly dog alone for too long. You have project deadlines and a to do list as long as your arm. Quite frankly, there's just too much going on in your life right now to fit in travelling somewhere for healing. In fact, tbh, you'd rather just do without than have that added hassle this week. However, you've found a healer who will come to you at home. 

You arrange to see them in an out of the way corner in your rarely used dining room. It's not the quietest corner; you are on a main road after all. Nor is it the prettiest. It's quite cluttered, a bit cramped, a bit of a dumping ground right now. And the dog-bed takes up most of the floor space beside your chair. You haven't even managed to repaint the walls since you stripped off that horrible wallpaper when you moved in last year. Your stress levels are running pretty high.

But, despite all that, you feel safe here. You feel very grateful that you found someone willing to come to you. You're delighted to be having healing at home when you have so much on. So, despite your concerns that the space is too small, too noisy and too messy, you give it a go. And it worked! You felt invigorated and refreshed after the session. You felt relaxed for the first time in months, and weren't aware of the traffic noise at all. And you love how special the space feels now you've had healing there. Your healer didn't even seem to mind the dog snoring away during the session. Or that you hadn't tidied before they came. Big plus! Nothing was perfect, but, yet everything still, somehow, felt perfect. 

Pragmatic, practical, down-to-earth healing

Here’s a very real example of just such a scenario earlier today. 

I was with a client doing an Anamchara Guidance session, followed by a healing session. We were in a small, fairly cramped study, my client sitting on a scruffy, old, dining chair. There was a housemate on a work zoom call in the room next door, and roadworks and drilling going on outside for almost the entire session. On the face of it, not an ideal environment for offering healing. But my client was totally immersed in what we were doing and didn't even notice the drill. Despite the noise, and the drill was loud, the two sessions went very deep, and brought up some big, important stuff that she was ready to release. Her healing had been no less impactful because the setting wasn't perfect. 

It can be very easy to become caught up in what is going on externally; the facilities, the décor, the image of what we expect to see. But healing is inner work. When I offer healing, I channel universal energy into and around the body to best support my client's energies, directing it where I am drawn. Universal energy is always available and pays no heed to the trappings of an aesthetically pleasing environment. It goes where it is needed at that point in time, regardless of the surroundings. 

In reality, healing works just as well being offered in someone’s noisy home on a wobbly chair, with pets, children or housemates coming and going outside the room, as it does in a perfect, pristine environment. If this is where and how it needs to be, then this is the right environment. 

And that, my friends, is what pragmatic, practical, down-to-earth healing looks like. It's not pretty, but it gets the job done, and done effectively. Far better the imperfect, than not at all. 

I'll come to you

I offer a mobile service within most areas in the SE19 – SE27 postcodes, within 15 minutes' walk of train stations, where I come to you at your home. We will work together with what you have, although ideally somewhere where we won't be interrupted. You will be seated, fully clothed, somewhere such as your living room, dining room, kitchen or study. Even your hallway could work! And if you have a garden, and the weather is kind, receiving healing outside, listening to the birds, can be a very beautiful, nourishing, experience. Wherever we end up, the sessions will, fundamentally, be no different from being in your environment rather than mine. 

Healing works anywhere

Healing can be offered, received, and make great impact, absolutely anywhere. We don’t need to become a slave to the ritual and ceremony of perfect surroundings. Those external things are there to support us, and to enhance what we do, but never to become the most important thing we offer.

I always strive to provide the most aesthetically pleasing and supportive environment I can in which to offer healing, meditation and end of life companionship, wherever I am working. I am also pragmatic enough to accept that sometimes good enough is good enough! Once my home therapy studio is up and running (keep an eye out for more on this later in the year), then you can expect to find an oasis from the outside world that feels calm, peaceful and welcoming. That oasis will be light, bright and airy, and there will be those soft blankets and cushions, those beautiful plants, that comfy consultation chair and therapy couch, the soft lighting and whatever else is conducive to you finding that easeful place where you can flow, breathe and release.

Until then, I look forward to meeting you on the wobbly chair…

You can find more information about Healing and what I offer here.