Distance Healing

In this time of lockdown, it can be increasingly useful to send healing energy and love to your friends and family and beyond. There’s no need for even a phone or computer!

For those initiated into Reiki, my experiences and tips which follow might serve as a reminder. They might also encourage others to give it a go. I do think that everyone can feel and share energy; it’s just a matter of trying it!

Osho: You would like to become a healer? …You will be able. It will be good for you. It will be good for others. Healing is a beautiful communication, deeper than any other communication. You can talk verbally, you can say to somebody, ’I love you,’ but words are just words, empty. If you can simply shower your energy on the other person, you say in a very much deeper way ’I love you’. That really heals. …

So just start… and there is no need to be worried about technique. Whenever you feel that you have the energy to share, just share.

Just being

I have talked, and will continue to do so, about “sending” – as I can’t think of another word to use. Actually, what is needed above all is to be present – to be open to the energy of existence coming through you – to be a “channel.” In this way healing is not a “doing” and you don’t get depleted. In fact you also feel the energy yourself – you are both giving and receiving.

Who to?

Usually I’m sending distance healing to friends and family. If they have physical issues and I think a little extra energy might help and I feel they might be open to it, I will then offer some distance Reiki – explaining what it is and what it would involve. If they agree we’ll arrange the when and how. I also send love and healing energies to people who have requested it as part of the Facebook distant healing group mentioned later.

So in the beginning never try on just anyone. It is a very tempting thing, because people who don’t believe say, ’Okay, now try on us. We are ready. You can show us how you can heal.’
Never make it an argument, because that will be very destructive to you, and when the person is not receptive, you will feel very tired.

A few pointers

It’s important not to send energy to anyone you don’t feel to, at any time, for any reason. Also it is important not to send energy when you feel sick or depleted, or to intend any outcome. Let the energy do its work, what happens is not in your hands (if you’ll pardon the pun!). I do get attached to my friends staying in the body healthily for as long as possible, but that’s not up to me!

I don’t usually give distance healing without permission. If unable to ask permission and the need is immediate, at least I would tune in on a subconscious level to see if it feels OK for the person or not on this occasion.

Your recipients can be individuals or groups of people. You can send with others, present with you or not. You can also send distance healing to yourself. I’ll cover all these situations at least briefly.

One-to-one

A few pointers how to prepare for a virtual one-to-one session. Some reflect an ideal scenario, but things don’t have to be perfect!

• It’s good to know as much as you can about the recipient, and their condition – to have a feeling of who they are. This could include their name, date of birth, a picture (I have heard that Mikao Usui – the founder of recent Reiki – called this the ‘picture method’).
• Make an arrangement for time and date. Reiki can be ‘programmed’. I often say that I will send to someone when they’re lying in bed, ready to fall asleep, and let the recipient know this – and that they don’t have to do anything. Alternatively, you can make a specific date and time, suitable for both of you, or for Reiki to be received when they do something specific, such as clicking their fingers. I can then send it anytime during the day, while ‘programming’ the sending/receiving of the energy according to what has been agreed. It is ideal for me if the person is conscious when I am sending healing at a particular time, but it’s not necessary. They can be asleep. But anyway it’s good to have a clear arrangement with the recipient.
• Prepare yourself and the space as beautifully as possible, as if you were giving a physical session. You may want to shower first and make sure you’re warm and comfortable, so energy can flow. You need warm hands!
• Before attempting to connect, be centred within yourself in whatever way works for you.
• Through the process you can use music or not, as you feel.
• If you know the person visualise them, feel into their essence. Bring the person ‘to you’ virtually (with Reiki methods, or not). Be totally present to them.
• Check inside if it feels right for this person to receive energy at this time.
• If they’re a sannyasin, or someone who resonates with Osho, I will probably invite him to be present. I may invite my guides (though I don’t know them personally!) and theirs – whatever I feel comfortable with – before attempting to connect.
• When I’m ready I say a few words, ideally out loud – appropriate to what I am doing, something like “In the presence of Osho or guides (if appropriate)……….. I am sending love and healing to …….. (name of the recipient), to be received…… (when or how I have arranged).
• Then I tune in. What do I feel? Do I get a sense of peace, of the other being frazzled, or maybe there is sadness or another emotion? Do I feel connected with them, maybe not? – just accepting what I feel without judgement. If I don’t feel connected, I give it time, just be, coming more to myself and then see if it changes. I find it is different every time, even with the same person.
• A session can be as long or as short as I like. Sometimes I’ll feel a change in energy and feel ”that’s it”. I may give a ‘full’ session – of about an hour or more – or a quick one, which for me is 15 minutes. I’d recommend that you do whatever works for you – and your recipient.
• You can imagine the person full-size, or smaller… if life-size, you could start with a namaste – bowing to them in meeting. Then sweep your hands over the aura, a few inches from the body.
• Then you can place your hands, palms down, on different parts of the body. (I usually start at the top end of the body – on the shoulders or head – or where I feel intuitively – and finish at the feet.) Some places may feel they need much longer; others don’t really resonate – there is nothing to connect with. Focus on the places that are resonant.
• You can also give healing to the chakras, from top to bottom, or move intuitively – or both. See if you can feel where the need is, and if you know there’s a physical issue give it extra energy.
• Work on the front and back. A great advantage of distant healing is you can do this at the same time, and don’t have to turn the person over physically!
• Be totally present, all the time being aware of what you are feeling – don’t worry if it’s imagined or not.
• As well as feeling the energy in your hands, you may find sadness, laughter or tears arising too! It’s important not to get caught up with the meaning of the feelings; just let them come and go.
• When I feel the session has come to a close, I say something like, I’m coming to a close. I thank all present – ideally, out loud – saying something like, “Thank you for receiving, and thank you to all present. I am leaving now.”
• I then namaste, disconnect and clear my energy. I may want to wash my hands.

After each healing it is better that if you can take a shower, do so. If it is not possible, then at least wash your hands immediately and shake them. It always happens that when you are passing your energy into the other person, his or her energy also sometimes passes into you; they overlap. Sometimes the person can be very very strong, even stronger than you.

Sometimes the person may not be strong, but his illness may be very strong, so those vibrations of illness can enter you and can be destructive. They can make you tense. Healing is good but not at your own cost, because then it is foolish and you cannot heal much.

Variations

• You can use an object to represent them, such as a teddy bear, and give healing to that. You can just hold both your hands over the aura, sending light or colour – as you feel.
• And you can also do all of the above in your imagination!
• Sometimes at or towards the end of a session I feel to just sit in meditation with the person – virtually – tuning into their essence.

Feedback

I ask people to give me feedback afterwards if they are able, or if not, I would like at least to have an update, from a friend perhaps, on how they are doing. If I’m giving healing frequently or long-term, then an update every so often supports my motivation.

Sending and/or receiving in a group

It can be extremely powerful if a group of friends – who may be in different locations – sends healing to someone at the same time that the recipient/s is/are receiving. You have the added advantage of feeling you are in a team. The recipient can feel the increased energy and the support from the group. There are no limits to the number of people who can work together like this.

Generally, a shorter session from a group is as effective as a longer one from an individual.

On occasions, when a friend is terminally ill, a group of friends have arranged to send healing together, every day and at a prearranged time that is suitable for senders and recipient. If there are at least a few committed to every morning, others can join in when they can. The feedback was that the recipients found it very supportive just to know that every morning at a particular time a group of friends were thinking of them.

Facebook

In the Facebook distance healing group I am involved in, the BB Distant Healing Group – which has a weekly distance healing event – people from around the world send love and healing energy to those who have requested it. Often, recipients are quite seriously ill. Some people sending healing to recipients do so to each individual separately, and others to them as a whole. Both seem to work. The group is open for everyone, not just for Reiki initiates, to be healers or give people directives on how to send healing!

In fact, every person has the energy to heal. It is something natural. It is not that a few people are healers and others are not, no. Every person born is a healer but has forgotten the capacity…

This group was originally set up for a musician – Benjamin Brelain – who was terminally ill with leukaemia and later left his body. Sometimes, when I was tuning in to Benjamin, I felt just to move and dance. Others went for walks with him in mind.

The number of people receiving healing in this group can be quite large – sometimes it has been around 40. Not all those sending healing will know each one, or even any of the recipients, and the information we have about them may be no more than a name and a brief description of their background.

As a sender I am often amazed at the strength of the collective energy, and that the recipients report they feel the energy and feel supported emotionally and physically.

Distance healing for yourself

You can distance-Reiki yourself sitting anywhere, with nothing visible to anyone else. It could be on a bus or train journey. After completing Reiki II, I first practised this on myself, lying in bed, distance-Reikiing my feet – and was astounded that I felt it so strongly.

I have even Reiki’d myself to receive energy at the baggage check after an international journey. It worked – a helpful boost. Be creative!

How often to send healing

If someone is seriously ill you can send as much or as often as you like – depending on your own time and energy, your intuition and what your friend is receptive to.

I have sent daily healing in various circumstances – for example to my father during his last year and to several terminally ill friends. Obviously, the motivation needs to be high to keep up a daily distance healing for weeks or months. It can therefore be of great help to form a group; then if one of you isn’t there, the recipient is still receiving energy.

Can you feel it?

Sometimes people feel a distance healing, especially at a prearranged time, really strongly, other people don’t, but find it a support anyway, and others don’t resonate or want to receive it at all. It’s up to the individual, but certainly many people are open to it. Certainly, as Osho mentions above, don’t try to impress people!

Animals and more

You can also send distance healing to animals, houses, places, countries. A group of us sent healing to a friend’s cat, who was very thin, not eating and seemingly didn’t have much life left. After a few sessions it suddenly ‘came to life’, started eating and lived for many more months. Whether or not it was the healing, I don’t know, but it certainly was very synchronistic!

Where does Reiki fit in?

Some people naturally have very strong energy in their hands. For myself I felt a very noticeable amplification of energies after receiving the Reiki attunements. And it lasted… and still does.

After completing Reiki I, in a second level Reiki workshop I learned and practised techniques for distance healing and also other mysterious processes!

In the years since my Osho Neo-Reiki training (with Punya) I have found myself using distance Reiki more and more in everyday life, in many different ways and situations.

I enjoy both giving and receiving it, and have now enjoyed sharing a few things about it with you.

Thank you for reading this far!

Summary

• Make an arrangement with the person you will be sending healing to
• Prepare yourself and the space
• Tune in, connect – feel the person’s essence
• Check if it feels right to give a session
• Namaste and acknowledge verbally what you’re going to do
• Visualise the person receiving
• ‘Do the session’
• Feel what you feel as you go
• Get a sense of when to come to a close
• Come to a close – verbalise that you are going to disconnect
• Thank all present for receiving, namaste
• Disconnect energetically
• Later, receive feedback, and set up another session, if appropriate

All quotes from Osho, The Passion for the Impossible – read whole question here: How to become a healer?

Finishing this article at this time is particularly poignant as Sharmi, who was one of the founders of the BB Distant Healing Facebook group, and who I worked with as part of that group for the last few years, recently left her body.