Healing My Energy in the Mountains

Confession:  I am somewhat addicted to Groupon and Living Social.

I have to consciously tell myself not to buy more.  They offer so many great deals though.  From Wine Tasting to Yoga Classes to Energy Healing, there’s always something that I want to buy… or that I feel compelled to try because it’s such a great deal.

I actually had one of each of these until last weekend.  There’s a little winery in my town that had a wine tasting Groupon that I bought.  I need to use that ASAP as it expires at the end of this month!  I’ve got TWO yoga Living Socials that are waiting for me to use… and I had another Living Social for an Energy session.

Energy session?  Having gotten really into yoga over the past year, I’ve read up quite a bit on chakras and how the operate as energy sources within our bodies.  I’ve experienced reiki once before during a spa outing in Las Vegas.  For a discounted price, the deal I bought entitled me to a 30-minute energy clearing session.  It took me about 2 seconds to decide to buy it.

When I called Shawn at Inner Healing to redeem my package, she told me that she had an office in Golden and one in Estes Park.  Being that it’s October and the trees are changing so beautifully right now in the mountains, it took me those same 2 seconds to decide to schedule my session in Estes Park.

I scheduled my visit with Shawn right after a particularly busy two weeks at work.  Two weeks where I felt like I did nothing but work, and really focused very little on myself.  I thought this would be the perfect time to get my energy back in check, and it was the best timing!  The drive up to Estes Park (the mountain town that is home to Rocky Mountain National Park) was therapeutic in itself!

I always stop at this spot and take pictures of this gorgeous creek

The gorgeous Stanley Hotel in the distance

How does it get more beautiful than this?

Living in Colorado and so close to Boulder, I have access to a lot of different spiritual resources that I don’t take nearly enough advantage of.  I love to explore the spiritual world and to understand new and different ways to heal my body.  While I’ve been making my body healthier over the past few years through diet and exercise, I was eager to learn more about how to heal myself through energy balancing as well.  The great part about it is it’s completely non-invasive, and you can do it on your own.  Simple.  Easy.  And, frankly… why not?

I’ve read about Chakras quite a bit over the years, and I’ll share what I’ve learned and what Shawn shared with me during my visit to give you a little taste of this experience.

What is a Chakra?

The 7 Chakras are the energy centers in our body in which energy flows through. Blocked energy in our 7 Chakras can have physical and psychological implications.  Keeping the energy flowing freely and spinning clockwise brings balance and strength.

Each of the Chakras are identified with a certain part of the body and associated with a different color (as pictured above.)    Here is a super-simple breakdown of each chakra.

• The Root (Red) Chakra represents your foundation and your feeling of being grounded and is located at the base of your spine.  If you’re root chakra is not balanced, you may feel uneasy and overly dependent upon others.
• The Sacral (Orange) Chakra is associated with the parts of the consciousness concerned with food and sex.  It’s also associated with your ability to experience emotion.
• The Solar Plexus (Yellow) Chakra represents our ability to be confident and in control of our lives.  It’s located at the upper portion of your abdomen.  If your solar plexus chakra is not balanced, you may lack confidence and self-esteem.
• The Heart (Green) Chakra is located at the center of the chest right above the heart.  Operating from the heart chakra is one of the most spiritually powerful place to exist.  If your heart chakra is not in balance, you may lack joy and inner peace.
• The Throat (Blue) Chakra is situated at the neck and represents communication.  If your Throat Chakra is out of balance, you may feel suppressed in communication.
• The Third Eye (Indigo) Chakra is located between the eyes and represents our intuition and wisdom.  If you are not balanced in the Third Eye Chakra, you may be detached.
• The Crown (Purple) Chakra is associated with the divine and your connection to source.  It is located at the crown of the head.

If you have interest in learning more, I definitely recommend Sonia Choquette’s book True Balance, which I read a few years back and just adored.

Why conduct Energy Healing/Balancing?

If you injured yourself in some way, most people would consider seeing a traditional doctor to receive diagnosis.  It’s viewed the same in the spiritual world.  You have to practice good health to have good health.  I know when my body is off kilter, when my energy is off, but I haven’t always known how to heal it.

Something Shawn shared with me is that your energy is constantly flowing and constantly changing.  You can have a healing session today and walk out completely balanced, where an encounter the following day could completely change your energy.

Example:  Have you ever been in the presence of someone wildly negative?  And their energy seeps into yours or worse… they deplete your positive energy?  It can happen quickly, and if you’re not aware of it, it could happen completely unknowingly.

Shawn focused our session on teaching me how to stay in check with how I’m feeling energetically and to balance on my own when necessary.

How did it go?

I found the experience to be exhilarating and fascinating.  One of the key reasons was because I already knew where I was out of balance.  I find myself to be incredibly in touch with my feelings/my intuition/my energy.  Not surprisingly, I knew which chakras were spinning in an unhealthy fashion, and as a result of my visit, I learned how to balance them.

During my session, I received a refresher training on the chakras and actually balanced my own energy (awesome!)  I couldn’t resist purchasing a kit to do this on my own from time to time.

Most helpful perhaps was that I got a copy of the chart that has a simple cheat sheet associated with the chakras.  The chart includes foods you can eat, colors you can wear, essential oils you can use, and stones that empower the chakras.

Have you ever felt yourself intensely drawn to a certain color?  It may be that you are craving it energetically.  Here’s one of my examples, I went through a major orange phase a few years back.  I decorated my bedroom with orange accents and couldn’t get enough orange…. in retrospect, I know that it was a sacral chakra imbalance.

While my session was scheduled for 30 minutes, you’ll not be surprised to hear that I was with Shawn for about an hour and a half, just talking about life, my experiences over the past few years and I shared with her information about this “little-blog-that-could.”

Shawn’s cute little studio in Estes Park, CO

When I told her about the weight I’d lost, Shawn shared that weight challenges can also be addressed through balancing chakras and staying in tune with your energy.  I too firmly believe that weight gain is associated with more than just too much food entering our bodies.  It’s emotional, and driven by other causes than hunger.  I actually found an article by another healer that outlines a similar point of view.

Shawn also shared information about a blue stone ironically named “apatite” that can help to curb your hunger.  Also interestingly, I mentioned it to my massage therapist last week and she pointed out that she was wearing apatite earrings… and was aware of what it could do.

What do you think of this necklace from Etsy? (Source)

Since I heard her talk about it, I’ve been looking for a pretty piece to buy on Etsy.  I love accessories afterall, and how fantastic if a pretty necklace could help me curb my appetite??

Why am I talking about Energy Healing on Today’s Blog?

My point in sharing this story with you today is that everyone’s journey is absolutely different, and there are a MILLION of different ways to achieve your goal of losing weight and feeling healthier.  I also share this unique energy experience because it’s another way to heal that beautiful body you walk around in every day.

I know that our journeys are about MORE than just shedding the pounds and changing our dress size.  For me, it’s about becoming the best possible version of me.  And, I’m going to get there on foot, by train, by plane, and by automobile.  It’s going to take exploring every bit of who I am and who I can be to find her.  And, every day I get closer.

Have you ever explored energy healing or chakra balancing?