Healer? How?

In 1984 my grandmother had heart bi-pass surgery at age 90.  I was in the recovery room with her at Brotman Memorial the moment she came out of the Operating Room. Her Doctor said she came through just fine. Maybe other family members were in the waiting room. I don’t recall anything else but the details of what happened in that recovery room that would be the catalyst for me to explore HOW HUMANS HEAL.

A heart monitor on the wall above her head tracked her now “in-the-clear” heart with a green line. Other vitals were likewise tracked with other colors on the monitor, but that dancing green line caught my attention. It read the beat of her heart, its rhythm, frequency and strength.

I loved my Grammy Florence. She had saved my butt more than once when I was a child. In particular, she stood as a staunch buffer between me and my father’s sometimes erratic behavior. Yet, when I put my hands on her feet and spoke softly to let her know I was in the room with her, a strange thing happened that seemed beyond the effect that simply loving her would have. The heart monitor’s green line was rhythmic, steady and smooth. When I took my hands off, the green line wobbled all over the screen. Hands on - steady heart beat; hands off non-coherent beats. I was fascinated and stood by her for quite a long time - reassuring her and telling her how glad we all were that she’d come through surgery and was on her way to healing. She was still under anesthetic, but I talked with her as if she could hear and take in everything I was saying.

In fifth or sixth grade, my class saw an animated feature film called Hemo the Magnificent. Dr. Frank Baxter narrated the scenario of what happens when there’s injury in the body while cartoon dump-trucks carted away the debris through the bloodstream and brick layers were dropped off to do the work of rebuilding. I described to Grammy in detail how her body was already in healing mode and that the bricklayers were in there laying down new cells and “mortaring” them into place. The details of how her body was going toward health with every breath seemed important to me in that room where soon she would wake to some amount of confusion and discomfort.

All the while I was talking to her about the cellular level healing going on within, I put my hands -in turn- on her feet, knees, elbows, shoulders and beautiful face. Both of her hands were involved with IV needles so I barely touched her fingertips and wrists. The heart monitor’s green line continued its dance and I was observing and making mental notes the whole time.

After about forty minutes, maybe an hour, she was more stable, breathing easier and I was singing to her Wynken and Blinken and Nod -just as she used to sing it to me. 

I left Grammy’s bedside and drove home to my family - thinking over what I had been privileged to witness. I concluded it was something more than the love I felt for my dear Gram that effected that green line. Something mysterious was going on and I wanted to find out WHAT that was.  

In 1985 I entered massage school to legitimize putting hands on people. On completion of the course, I signed up for one class after another and began to practice what I was learning on any friends and family members willing to lie down on my healing table. Energetic modalities intrigued me most of all. In 1986 I became a Reiki practitioner. In Japanese, Rei means universal; Ki, like Chi, means life force. Reiki energy is on the cool end of the light spectrum. It is blue-ish so it has soothing, cooling and anti-inflammatory effects on the body. Reiki is very useful for (among other things) pain, swelling and recovery from surgery.

In August, 1987, during Harmonic Convergence, a friend of ours barely survived a horrific collision with an eighteen wheeler. His aorta was sliced; his ribcage broken. His wife had been driving when they were hit.  Our friend's wife and five year old son were both killed in the crash. I offered my newly developing skill set to him - going to see him every four or five days for six weeks or so. 

They say you get a few successes as a new healer to hook you. Our friend was one of those. He credits the sessions we had together during his recovery with allowing him to switch from heavy-duty drugs to simple Tylenol for the pain within the first two weeks out of hospital. It was important for me to understand that I was not a healer, but rather a witness to the body's ability to heal itself. Being a willing channel for energy is different from "being a healer." Attachment to outcome is hard to shed when you care about people. Ego can spread its jaws and trap you if you think you have something special to share other than unconditional presence. 

In 1988 I began what turned out to be, for me, a six year program at the Healing Light Center Church, founded by Rosalyn Bruyere. In 1994 I earned a second BA in Shamanic Healing.  My first was in Child Development in 1975 from CSULA. Rosalyn taught me laying on of hands. It is an ancient form of healing belonging to all indigenous cultures and is even practiced in traditional settings such as in Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist religious rites. Her brand of healing brings earth's energy through the hands and is more on the red end of the light spectrum. Very useful for energizing, charging the system and providing a buffer from the ravages of emotional and physical blows.

Over the years, I’ve continued to study those modalities which help me to heal. Currently, I imagine my tools to be like colors on a palette. Which ever one best matches the client’s need for the day is the one I use.

I'm ever grateful to my Grammy Florence for watching over me and for helping me to find my calling.

Thanks, Lynn D for asking me how I ended up doing this work.