Energy Healing, Essential Oils, and Sound Baths: Getting to Know Deeper Forms of Holistic Healing
The renowned yogi and spiritual teacher B.K.S. Iyengar once said, “The hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it.” This is what wellness and the deeper forms of holistic healing are all about – getting to the underlying issues, finding the beauty that is inside all of us, and recovering at the cellular level.
What Does It Mean to Heal at the Cellular Level?
Healing at the cellular level is all about healing based on the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and soul. It is about addressing all issues, including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Healing at the cellular level is also about utilizing holistic wellness tools and techniques. “Holsim” actually means addressing all of the separate parts of the whole. In recovery, we address all of our issues to ultimately heal the entire “self.” This is holistic healing at the cellular level.
What Is Holistic Healing at the Cellular Level?
B.K.S. Iyengar also said, “Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind, and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.” This “harmony” is the aim of holistic healing at the cellular level.
Deeper forms of holistic healing are also about addressing the root/core causes of our addiction and/or mental health issues. It is often not enough to address the surface issues of toxic behaviors and negative actions. We must go under the surface and find the cause of these issues.
For example, for many people, their underlying issues have to do with unaddressed trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Also, trauma is more common than many people know.
According to the 2019 academic journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, “Exposure to traumatic events is not rare, as has been consistently found in epidemiological studies. The World Mental Health Surveys of adults were carried out among nearly 70,000 participants from 24 countries ranging in economic status from low to high. These data showed that at some time in their life, 70.4% of the respondents had experienced at least one type of a traumatic event.” So, it is underlying issues like trauma and PTSD that must be addressed to fully heal at the cellular level. There are many forms of holistic healing that can help with this.
What Are the Various Forms of Holistic Healing?
The renowned author and philosopher Eckhart Tolle once said, “Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment… Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life – and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you.” Many people shy away from holistic healing options because they fall into the stigma that minimizes natural modalities and Eastern techniques. What they don’t realize is they are doing themselves a great disservice.
The key to healing at the cellular level is often getting out of our comfort zone and trying new things. This includes trying new forms of holistic healing. As Tolle advised – “Say yes!”
Better Understanding Energy Healing for Recovery
Energy healing for recovery (also known as “energy work”) is a practice that works to align and balance the body. Specifically, it aims to positively address, assess, and align the body’s energy systems.
Perhaps the most common form of energy healing is known as Reiki healing. According to Pain Management Nursing: the Official Journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses, “From a practical standpoint, Reiki therapy is a way for the practitioner to guide energy to the recipient, to assist the innate healing energy of the recipient and facilitate self-healing. The practitioner does not cause the healing, nor are they the source of the energy, [rather] the practitioner is a channel for the energy, much like a garden hose is a channel for water.”
Reiki is also an optimal way to heal both body and mind at the same time (a focus on interconnectedness). According to the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, “From the information currently available, Reiki is a safe and gentle ‘complementary’ therapy that activates the parasympathetic nervous system to heal body and mind. It has the potential for broader use in the management of chronic health conditions, and possibly in postoperative recovery.” This broader use also includes recovery from issues of addiction and/or mental illness. Essential oil healing is also a form of holistic healing that can be highly beneficial.
Better Understanding Essential Oil Healing for Recovery
Essential oil healing (also commonly referred to as “aromatherapy”) is the use of various aromatic oils for whole mind-body-spirit healing. The idea is that inhaling the various types of oils directly triggers the emotional center of the brain, the amygdala. Along with a professional holistic wellness healer, these sensations can help get to the underlying root/core causes of our issues. Ultimately, essential oil healing can bring these underlying issues to the surface so they can be addressed via other forms of therapy.
Essential oils also have many benefits beyond merely “triggering” the amygdala. According to the peer-reviewed journal The Nursing Clinics of North America, “Clinical aromatherapy [essential oil healing] is an alternative medicine therapy that can be beneficial in the inpatient or outpatient setting for symptom management for pain, nausea, general well-being, anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia. It is beneficial for preoperative anxiety, oncology, palliative care, hospice, and end-of-life.” Now, it should also be noted that essential oil healing should only be done in the care of wellness professionals as there can be risks such as skin rashes and oral toxicity. Another holistic wellness method that should always be administered by professionals is sound bath healing.
Better Understanding Sound Baths for Recovery
Sound bath healing utilizes binaural sounds and resonant music to bring about a better sense of inner peace and external calm. This is why sound baths can be so helpful for individuals struggling with issues of anxiety and depression.
One type of sound bath healing utilizes singing bowls. According to the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, “The reason(s) for the beneficial effects of singing bowls is unclear; however, various theories have been proposed. One theory includes the potential effects of binaural beats in which the brain entrains to the hertz difference between tones played in each ear, propelling the brain into brainwave states of deep relaxation, such as beta waves or even meditative or trance-like brainwave states in theta waves. In addition, potentially the action of sound waves on the purported biofield or energy field of the body could be a factor.”
So, while the underlying causes of efficacy are not totally clear, the results are better health and wellness. This is true with many forms of holistic healing, including acupuncture.
Better Understanding Acupuncture for Recovery
According to the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), “Acupuncture is a technique in which practitioners insert fine needles into the skin to treat health problems. The needles may be manipulated manually or stimulated with small electrical currents (electroacupuncture).” Also, “Acupuncture has been in use in some form for at least 2,500 years.”
Acupuncture can help to unblock “meridians,” which are the pathways by which energy in the body flows. This can help with both chronic physical pain and emotional stress.
Acupuncture is also becoming more widely understood and more utilized in the U.S. According to the peer-reviewed thesis, Acupuncture, by Doctors Van Hal, Dydyk, and Green, “The efficacy of acupuncture is changing. Up to 1.5% of the US population has utilized acupuncture at some point, and the service is even available at many top academic medical centers in the United States. Acupuncture is seldom used as a sole treatment, however, but rather in conjunction or as an adjunct to traditional medical care.” This last point is important to understand. Acupuncture’s efficacy can be greatly increased when used in tandem with more “evidence-based” Western therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
Better Understanding Massage for Recovery
Many of us have had a message at some point in our lives. This may have been from a loved one or a licensed masseuse, and hopefully, it relieved some tension and offered some relief. The same concept is involved in massage for recovery. However, the difference is that massage (also known as “bodywork”) is more involved and intensive when it comes to holistic massage for recovery.
Massage, as with the other holistic healing methods discussed, is best utilized in tandem with other therapies. According to Focus: the Journal of Life Long Learning in Psychiatry, “Although the data are limited, some findings have suggested that massage may acutely decrease hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity, have a positive effect on immune function, enhance parasympathetic tone, and modulate brain circuitry. The approach and philosophy of well-trained massage therapists are complementary to conventional psychiatric training and can thus be an important additional resource in treating patients. A respectful and collaborative approach to care may truly help patients.”
Massage can be particularly effective at helping individuals who are struggling with underlying issues of trauma. The same is true with the practice of yoga.
Better Understanding Yoga for Recovery
B.K.S. Iyengar said that “Yoga allows you to rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life, where you do not feel like you are constantly trying to fit broken pieces together.” Yoga is a way to bring all of the components of the “self” that need healing together (mind, body, spirit).
Now, like other deeper forms of holistic healing, yoga has been practiced for thousands of years. Initially, it was solely utilized for spiritual or religious purposes. However, it has now begun to be utilized in the arena of holistic wellness and addiction and mental illness recovery.
Yoga also has a myriad of benefits. According to the International Journal of Yoga (IJOY), “Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions. Yoga therapy involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional and spiritual pain, suffering or limitations. Yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.” Yoga also often integrates mindfulness practices and meditation, which are also essential holistic healing practices.
Better Understanding Meditation for Recovery
Eckhart Tolle also said that, “To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.” One of the best ways to find this stillness is through the practice of meditation.
Like many of the other holistic practices, meditation has been utilized for thousands of years, first starting as a strictly religious and/or spiritual practice. Also, like many of the other practices, it is now shown to be highly beneficial for people in recovery from issues of addiction and mental illness.
The benefits of meditation are vast and varied. According to the International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda (AYU), “Research has confirmed a myriad of health benefits associated with the practice of meditation. These include stress reduction, decreased anxiety, decreased depression, reduction in pain (both physical and psychological), improved memory, and increased efficiency. Physiological benefits include reduced blood pressure, heart rate, lactate, cortisol, and epinephrine; decreased metabolism, breathing pattern, oxygen utilization, and carbon dioxide elimination; and increased melatonin, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), skin resistance, and relative blood flow to the brain.”
Now, as previously mentioned, holistic wellness methods like the ones previously mentioned can be highly beneficial. However, they should still be considered “complementary therapies” to other evidence-based therapies like psychotherapy and group psychotherapy.
Various Forms of Holistic Healing with Psychotherapy and Group Psychotherapy
Psychotherapies like CBT and DBT can be exceptional foundations for any effective recovery plan. These therapies can be the base upon which all other modalities are built, including deeper forms of holistic healing.
Psychotherapies can get to the underlying issues of our external behaviors. For example, CBT can identify how we negatively see ourselves and the world around us. Once this is identified, we can begin to work toward changing the way we treat ourselves emotionally and the way we interact with the external world.
According to the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, “The core premise of this treatment approach… holds that maladaptive cognitions contribute to the maintenance of emotional distress and behavioral problems… [T]hese maladaptive cognitions include general beliefs, or schemas, about the world, the self, and the future, giving rise to specific and automatic thoughts in particular situations.” Group psychotherapy can also be highly beneficial.
Iyengar said, “One’s spiritual realization lies in none other than how one walks among and interacts with one’s fellow beings.” According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “Group psychotherapy is one of the most common modalities for treatment of substance abuse disorders. Group therapy is defined as a meeting of two or more people for a common therapeutic purpose or to achieve a common goal. It differs from family therapy in that the therapist creates open and closed-ended groups of people previously unknown to each other.”
In recovery, it is important to know that we are not alone. Group psychotherapy offers the fundamental “shared experience” that shows us essential togetherness along with the support needed to continue pursuing our recovery goals. In combination with individual psychotherapy and deeper forms of holistic healing, group psychotherapy offers a vital opportunity to connect and recover.
Deeper Forms of Holistic Healing and Recovery at the Cellular Level With Exclusive Hawaii Rehab
Recovery can be the adventure of a lifetime. It can be a beautiful journey that one will not wish to miss. The key is to take the first step and reach out for help.
Eckhart Tolle famously said, “Life is an adventure; it’s not a package tour.” For those looking to experience deeper forms of holistic healing and recover at the cellular level, that adventure can start right here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab and then continue toward a better, brighter future.
There are many types of holistic healing methods that can be utilized for mental health and addiction recovery. This includes holistic healing methods like essential oil healing, energy healing, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, massage, and sound bath healing. These holistic wellness methods can be particularly helpful when combined with other types of “traditional” and experiential therapies. If you feel like you or a loved one are struggling with issues of mental illness, addiction, or both, we can help get you on the right road to recovery right away. For more information about the various types of holistic healing methods and their benefits, please reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab today at (808) 775-0200.