When we receive a healing treatment, it can be a special experience. Often it can remind us what it feels like to have a body, to have a sense of balance and gives us some insight into the possibility of a better state of health. It is why, if we can make the most of the treatments we receive, we are helping ourselves to heal.
There are some simple things we are able to do in order to meet the practitioner. This means to take some responsibility for our own healing and allowing the process of healing to take place in its natural way.
In my experience as a Shiatsu practitioner, I find the people that have the best response following treatment are those who inquire into what they can themselves do to further their own healing experience. It is true that in a modern lifestyle, we have less time to care for ourselves. For this reason, respecting the small amount of time we do give to ourselves, is something worth considering.
Knowing When You Are Ready For Treatment
Where possible try to book an appointment for a healing treatment when you feel you need it. When we leave it a long time, our body is less open to healing. The body adapts to the stressed or strained state is has become. Listen to your body, when it says, "I need some nurturing."
Keeping an attitude of 'got to keep going, no time to stop,' is not the way to go. This encourages the body and mind to adjust to the imbalanced state and can make you feel as though always being tired, in pain or stiff and tight is a normal state of being. None of these sensations are normal. They should be treated as signs of imbalance in the body and reason to nurture and take care of oneself.
Preparing Yourself For The Treatment
Try to rest well the night prior and following a treatment. In my experience this is factor number one in respect to how well the treatments takes effect. When you rest well before a treatment your body is able to accept and adapt more easily to the changes that take place during treatment. If you are somebody who has trouble sleeping, then simply rest. This means not being active or working during the night but simply resting even if you are awake.
Most healing therapies should be received on an empty stomach, or preferably when you are not feeling full. Always clear the bowels and bladder beforehand. Make sure you are well hydrated. Most practitioners will mention this and it is very important as activating the flow of energy or 'Qi' in the body can have a dehydrating effect. It is not necessary to drink so much that your bladder feels it will explode during the treatment! However certainly afterwards drink water and avoid alcohol, coffee and tea that can further dehydrate.
Where possible, take some time to be peaceful and calm before a treatment. If you are rushing or stressed when arriving for an appointment, you may spend the first half of the treatment just calming down. Otherwise it may take longer for you to relax and to be present with the experience.
When a treatment begins, acknowledge that you are entering a time for healing, a time for self focus and self care, allow your attention to settle within this space. You may try to focus on your own breathing, or that of the practitioner, this rhythm may help you to relax. When you are relaxed, you are more open to the experience and its potential for healing. If you are not feeling comfortable or at ease, don´t be afraid to tell the practitioner.
In my own practice of Shiatsu, I often ask the receiver to take their attention to my hands and to the sensation of touch. If your attention reverts swiftly away to thinking about events of the day, as is normal, just keep drawing your attention back to the pressure of touch on the body.
"Where attention is, mind is. Where attention is, energy flows."
As a healing practitioner, my role is to locate areas of blockage and stagnation and assist in the free flow of energy. It can be a profound experience of healing when as a receiver you can fully be present with this healing potential.
After The Treatment
Following a healing treatment, the body may be left in a more open state and can be more susceptible to various conditions. On the most basic level it is important to stay warm after receiving a treatment. Pathogens may enter the body more easily in this time so to avoid getting a cold due to weather conditions make sure you always have enough clothing to stay warm afterwards.
If you are able to avoid rushing back to work or to further appointments after a treatment, it will also further support the effects. Book times with consideration, like at the end of the day or on a day off. It can unravel and reverse the positive effects of healing when immediately afterwards you are plunged back into the stresses of life.
This is because the body is in an open and relaxed state. The more you can encourage and support this state, especially in the time following the treatment, the larger and longer the effects will be on your entire being. Rest following a healing treatment is like drinking water after a run, your body just needs it.
Also you may see changes in yourself after a treatment, unexpected emotions may rise, you can feel tired or drained or a little sensitive. All these things are normal and only indicate why it is necessary to respect and listen to your body, to hear what your body is saying.
With practice listening to your body becomes a skill. Using this skill along side seeing a practitioner you trust, is the recipe for great healing and positive change to take place. In my own experience, when this happens, it is something that changes peoples lives because our physical and mental health always reflect our personal and spiritual happiness.