7am. The shrill beeping of my alarm clock jolts me from my
reverie. I’d been awake for about
an hour, watching the early morning light begin to filter through the curtains
of my hotel room and stretch across the duvet that I was snuggled under.
OK – time to go for a run. Quickly,
I dressed in my leggings and fleece running top, and tied the key of my hotel
room to my shoelace. Shut the door,
run down the stairs, and out along the marina that was just yards from my room. As I ran, I could hear the early morning chorus add voice to
the rhythmical lapping of the waves against the marina. The air was cool and crisp.
A seal emerged from the water – watching me carefully as I ran past
him. Curiously, he swam alongside
me for a few minutes, then dove under the waves and was gone.
I
remember thinking what an amazing energy the ocean has, and how it seemed to be
particularly concentrated in this area of San Diego.
I’d driven down the night before for a three-day Healing Touch
conference. This was especially
important for me to attend: I would get to meet Janet Mentgen, RN, BSN – the
founder of Healing Touch. It would
be strange to meet someone in person whose name I had seen on books and in
articles; strange to meet someone who has formulated and structured a
complementary modality that I use on a daily basis.
Excited, yet nervous, I finished my run and returned to the hotel to
shower.
9am. Here I am, sitting in a circle with some of my fellow Healing
Touch colleagues. Janet is
speaking. First she introduces
herself, then some of the instructors who are assisting her.
There are about 30 of us who have come to meet and learn from Janet.
The room falls silent as we begin our morning meditation.
Then the soft tones of Janet filter into my consciousness as she guides
us through the process. Again, that
amazing energy I felt earlier during my run returns to me now, and as I look
around the room, I see my colleagues are experiencing the same energy. We are calm and peaceful.
Now the healing can begin.
We
spent that first day learning some very intense Healing Touch techniques, with
Janet’s expert guidance. She took
us through the Hara Alignment, Chakra Meditation, and Core Star Meditation so
that we could learn how to increase our vibrational energy before treating
clients. Once we had mastered the
meditations, we learned the process of Chelation – how to clear out and charge
the first four layers of the auric field and remove auric debris. Then we moved on to Fifth Level interventions – treatments
designed to work on the fifth level of the auric field.
That afternoon, we added Sixth and Seventh Level interventions to
complete the healing sequence.
Each
process took time to complete. We
worked in pairs, sometimes in threes, switching groups frequently to experience
each other’s different energetic fields, and meet each other’s individual
needs. From time to time, I would
glance out of the many windows in our room and see people peeking in, wondering
what we were doing. “It looks
like massage. Incredible!” I
heard one visitor say. The light
was soft in our room. It was warm. We were located right on Mission Bay. I could hear the waves lapping against the marina again.
The energy was intense, almost electric, and as the day wore on, we
noticed that the birds had moved to the trees outside our conference room.
They could feel the energy too, Janet explained.
I
returned to my room that night, exhilarated from the day’s work, and excited
at the prospect of spending two more days in this incredible atmosphere.
I hardly slept that night, and awoke many times with strange dreams that
I could not recall. Yet as I took
my morning run the next day, I did not feel tired; I felt energized and fully
alert.
The
second day was as amazing as the first. We
learned many more energetic techniques with Janet, including the powerful
Lymphatic Drainage sequence – a form of energetic release used to help relieve
congestion and pain in the lymph system.
I also spent time learning from my Healing Touch colleagues, discovering
that they were from all walks of life. Several
people were repeating this course for the third and even fourth time because of
their love of Healing Touch. There
were hospital nurses from all disciplines, massage therapists, ministers, and
psychologists, even someone who had worked as a high executive with a
pharmaceutical industry. We shared
stories of how Healing Touch had entered our lives, and how it had profoundly
impacted our lives and our practices. We
laughed, we cried, and we healed. I
slept soundly that night. Janet had
taught us how to introduce spirit guides into our work, and as I slept, I felt
enveloped by the love of my colleagues and my spirit guides.
By
the third day, I was completely relaxed. I
felt free. Somehow, the routine of my life in Los Angeles was a distant memory.
As I took my morning run on that last day, I said goodbye to the seal.
He had greeted me every morning since my arrival, and stayed longer with
me this morning, honoring me with his farewell.
The sky was incredibly clear, bluer than I remember on the first day.
The ocean and the morning chorus were now in perfect orchestra, each note
soaring and climbing to new heights that I had not heard before.
These three days were slipping by so quickly; I wanted to hold on to
every moment. Pausing from my run,
I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes, tasting the cool, salty air in my
mouth, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.
A moment of perfect happiness. Life
is full of such moments, I thought. I must take time to cherish each one.
9am. I’d arrived a few minutes early to the conference in order
to pick up some textbooks and buy a new pendle (a pendle is a tool used in
Healing Touch to determine the rotation of the chakras). I had been searching for a wooden pendle for a while, and
finally I had found one at this conference.
After our morning meditation, Janet had us sit in pairs whilst she taught
the Central Core Balancing technique – a treatment that affects the entire
auric field, and helps identify the problem chakra in clients with multiple
non-specific problems. I paired up
with David, the pharmaceutical executive, who was not only a Certified Healing
Touch Practitioner, but was repeating this course for the fourth time.
An excellent guide and teacher, he was gentle and kind with me.
The
energy in the room heightened. This
was a very powerful technique, one that allows clients to experience deep
relaxation. First, I treated David,
listening to Janet’s peaceful tones guiding us through the process.
Then we switched. As David
began to work on me, I slipped away from the physicality of my surroundings and
into a place between consciousness and the unconscious world of dreams.
I became vividly aware of the energy flowing through my chakras; a
gentle, warm, tingling that started at my feet and worked its way up through my
crown and out beyond my physical body. Time
stopped, disappeared. I entered the
vacuum of space and floated away.
Eventually,
I became aware that David had finished, and was sitting on a chair, patiently
waiting for me to return to my body. I
was surprised that nearly an hour had gone by.
Chiros time, I was once told, not chronos time:
God’s time, not Man’s time. I
had experienced the gift of peace, and my soul was nourished.
Lunchtime
was blissful. We sat out in the
warm, spring sunshine and talked. Janet
told us stories about Healing Touch and energy work, and asked us questions
about our lives. As we shared
stories, I had the odd sensation that I had known these people for years, not
days. The energy we had created had
connected us somehow, and I felt inextricably linked to those in the class.
The lunch hour was but a fleeting moment, and at the end of our break, we
reluctantly left the warmth of the sun for our conference room.
That final afternoon was spent learning the Pyramid Technique, which is a
treatment for those with weakening conditions such as cancer and Aids; the
Double Hand Spinal Balance for traumatic spinal problems, and Sacred Chakra
Spread for those in transition. The
class ended with us sharing our experiences over the three days, and a final
meditation and prayer led by Janet. Tired,
excited, yet peaceful, I hugged my colleagues goodbye.
I knew I would meet them again. The
Healing Touch world, although growing, is still small enough that I will
encounter many of my classmates again. This
pleased me greatly. And as I drove
home, I recalled my experiences and smiled, just as I smile now writing this.
So
what did I learn during my three days with Janet?
The importance of time. The
concept of Chiros time (God’s time) became more real to me than ever.
My three days in San Diego were a powerful demonstration that all time is
Chiros time. We spend so much of
our lives in a rush, hurrying from one thing to the next, never spending time to
enjoy the warmth of the sun on our faces, or to experience the mystical energy
of the ocean and the life within it. Each
moment is a precious gift to be cherished, even those that hold darkness and
pain, for here we can find the most profound messages.
Find the joy that lies within.
Time is a brisk wind, for each hour it brings something new... but who can understand and measure its sharp breath, its mystery and its design? ~Paracelsus