Reiki? Tapping? Crystals? Sage...? Where to start and how everything works
I get it. It's overwhelming.
Trying to navigate the exciting world of energy work seems to be... much.
This post is your major cheat-sheet on the different types of popular energy work, how they work and when to use them.
General energetics
These types of techniques require the least amount of specificity. They are pretty set-it-and-forget-it techniques.
The upside: You don't have to think about whether it's doing something
The downside: If you are hiding an emotion that you don't want to deal with, your subconscious can tell these general techniques to kick rocks. And the techniques will bypass those things.
1. Crystals-
Think of crystals like tiny computer processors. They do not need to be plugged in to work though! (ha unless you are talking about Yoni Eggs-- definitely plug them in!)
Crystals hold a specific frequency of the Earth depending on the type of crystal. For example, rose quartz holds the frequency of unconditional love and hematite holds the frequency of extreme groundedness.
They will start to work in your energy field when they are close enough. They will attune your energy to that frequency. Your energy field will respond to it by resonating-- attune to it. Sometimes your field fights it, which will cause you to feel worse for a short time.
You may even attract experiences to show your conscious self that you need to clear some limiting beliefs or stuck emotions before your field will allow you to attune to the frequency of the stone. Pay close attention to your emotions, reactions and everything that goes on around you.
2. Smudge
Smudging is the practice of burning plant material to cleanse the energy of a space. The most popular plant materials to use are white sage, cedar, lavender, and palo santo.
In general, the best plants to use for this are aromatic, woody, resin-filled plants. There is a lot of controversy about where to get these plants, who should use which ones, and such things.
Generally speaking, locally grown plants are probably the best option to use.
This is one practice I have not fully nailed down the science on, but the results are dramatic. I found that smudging for 30 minutes has eliminated my social anxiety. Smudging after an argument freshens the area and makes it so much easier to come back together peacefully.
Think of smudging like a shower for your energy field!
3. Some Reiki practices
Basic Reiki is a general energy practice. The practitioner does not need to know anything about you and they don't even need to tell you anything. (higher levels of Reiki may incorporate more specifics) They simply let the Reiki flow through them into you. The energy just goes where it needs to go.
Reiki practice will greatly improve your general well-being. If there are areas that are depleted, they will be nourished and feel loved. Many people report incredible visuals in Reiki sessions. Others report "meeting themselves" and state it being a truly transformative experience.
Self-mirroring energetics
These kinds of practices can be done by yourself. You don't need anyone else to do this for you. And sometimes it can't be done by anyone but you.
Upside: anytime, anywhere-- you can change your life and get the answers you need
Downside: It can be easy to second-guess yourself sometimes or miss blind spots.
Using self-mirroring energetics in combination with other categories is extremely powerful
1. Card pulling
Oracle, inspirational, and tarot decks are more popular than ever. And for good reason-- getting that perfect card can uplift you, show you the thing you have been ignoring, and give you insight on what's really going on in your life.
These cards are powerful because it quiets the overthinking nature of the mind. It's all random, so the mind can drift into a state of the perfect disbelief. Disbelief or unfocused relaxation is what's required when you are looking for answers you haven't seen before. When the mind is too focused, it blocks out the majority of the input. Meaning, when there are 9 answers, a focused mind will only see 1.
The truth is in this state, there is no such thing as randomness. The right card will come out, and the perfect explanation and perspective is available.
I could write a whole blog post on just cards, card types and when to use which deck. For now, just trust that your intuition has the answer!
2. Journaling
Journaling is a powerful tool into the subconscious mind. People Struggle with journaling for two reasons:
-They try to make their journaling a creative writing project
-They get bored of it because they are not interested in recounting the day's activities
Neither of these things is true journaling. Real journaling is messy. You may not even understand what you are writing until you have finished writing it. Your emotions are meant to take over. You are meant to write things you didn't even know were there. You may even find a part of you believes something you wouldn't believe in a million years.
The real key to journaling effectively is to fully remove judgement. Much of journaling is about emotionally discarding the junk that you don't believe so you can get on with your life. Some of it is understanding the subconscious programming that is really driving your actions (when you didn't even know it)
So stop judging, stop editing, and just write. Your life will literally change if you just journal like this every day for a month.
Belief work
These are techniques that will rewrite your subconscious beliefs. It takes skill and training to design belief work statements + scripts, but there are plenty of pre-written scripts for you to work with.
Belief work must be done in a low stress environment and state of mind or it will not work. Your subconscious is locked down tight when it's stressed. This is why playing affirmation recordings during your morning commute only cause eye rolls-- not lasting changes.
upside: your life will actually change because your beliefs will be more supportive of you
downside: changing your life directly through beliefs often will create turmoil in your life.
You will want to have an experienced practitioner available for consult if you are doing things like this on your own. It's very easy to get lost when changing beliefs in mass quantity.
1. Tapping
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or more commonly called tapping has gained a ton of traction in the energetic community. It works by tapping on energetic meridians to release stuck energy and shake up the physical/energetic connection of the body. This allows for a new belief to come in.
2. Imagery
The mac-daddy of energy healing, imagery works by communicating directly with the native language of the subconscious mind-- images. This can be tricky because it's not always the native language of the conscious mind.
3. Hypnosis
Hypnosis works because it fully creates the relaxation and safety feelings required to access the subconscious without the native's regulation. Then the practitioner can rewrite the subconscious without any pushback. There are self-hypnosis sound tracks available too. Don't use them while you are driving!
This is a generalized explanation of many techniques. We have not even talked about astrology, spellwork, ancestral healing, Identity, or soul work. More to come!