There’s a lot of people out there selling a ton of stuff, claiming to do so many things that will help you. When it comes to choosing a healing practitioner, how do you know if a healer is legit? Since I’ve been in the business of healing for so long, I no longer have room for new clients. But the regular clients I do see are like family to me and I love them. In this enjoyable season of my career, I’m into helping others nurture their own potential to become successful healers.When I’m considering receiving work from a therapist, there are specific qualities I look for in any professional. Here’s some things you need to know when choosing any kind of healing practitioner.
1-The first and most important quality I look for is someone who takes care of themselves. Are they walking their talk, practicing what they preach and does their life show it? If they’re in the health care field, are they healthy themselves? And I don’t mean perfect when I say healthy because none of us are perfect. What I mean by healthy is do they have a consistent self care practice, maintaining the daily work that goes into keeping a body, mind and energy field in tip top shape? We all have physical limitations and that doesn’t prevent someone from being a healer. I’ve seen talented healers on top of their game who have lost their limbs or vision. The legit practitioners who are mindful of their own self care practices are worth more than gold. These gifted healers are willing to do their own work to reach their unique potential. Watch out for “healers” who profess to do healing work that stay sick and/or broke all the time because they don’t take care of themselves before attempting to take care of others. True healers work within their own physical limitations and bring the very best of what they’ve got.
2-The second quality I look for in a healer is authenticity. While it’s necessary for a healer to take care of themselves in order to effectively do their work, I also like genuine transparency in a healer that reflects the honesty of their own healing journey. Run from any practitioners that put on a show that their lives are perfect. We are not here to be perfect. We are here to lift each other up by being real. There’s a fine line between a healing professional sharing too much information about their personal lives and making it “all about them” versus a therapist who makes themselves look perfect, putting on a show of a fake life that seems unattainable to the clients they serve. There is a happy medium where a healer can share his or her healing journey, being open about the challenges and struggles they face in a way that is encouraging while keeping the focus on the clients. Authenticity shows that we all struggle, fall down and get back up again and there’s comfort and support in that. A healing practitioner doesn’t have to be perfect in order to help their clients. A genuine desire to be their personal best and heal their own lives goes a long way with the clients a practitioner serves.True healers don’t worry about what other people think of them because they have the highest standards of integrity for themselves.
3-The third quality I look for is clarity. Are they professionally clear with their boundaries? Are they effective communicators? Do they inform you of their policies, fees and scheduling in a direct way that makes you feel informed and at ease? There are many gifted and intuitive healers that lack clarity in how to run their business. Just because someone is intuitive and wants to be a healer does not mean they have taken the effort and time it takes to get clear.
In review, three things to look for when choosing a professional healer: self care, authenticity and clarity. I have found that the right healers and teachers will come into your life when you’re ready for them. Ask yourself, “What kind of healer do I want?” Take some time to jot down the qualities that are most important to you in a healing practitioner. If you set an intention for the kind of person you want to attract into your life to help you, that person is more likely to come into your experience. Be ready. Above all else, trust your gut and your heart when it comes to how you FEEL about a certain healer. If you ask yourself if this is the right healer for you and you get a full body YES (a good feeling in your body), go with that person. They may not have all the credentials, training and shiny bells and whistles that other practitioners have, but they may be just the right healer for you.
Are you a natural born healer?
Now that we’ve discussed some key qualities to look for in someone who does healing work for a living, let’s talk about a broader category of healers that just might include you. True healers are not just a chosen few. They’re everywhere around us. They are touching the lives of others every day as they make their own lives better and help our planet. Some of us are “out” professionally, making our mark in the world as practitioners of various healing modalities. But many are quietly healing themselves and helping their families live more natural, sustainable and joyful lives. The very fact that you are reading this article shows that you are a healer of some sort. Even if you only work on growing yourself up or helping your kids to feel better or assisting our planet, you are a healer in your own right.If you’re an investment banker or a mechanic, you might still be a healer. Your contribution depends on how much you heal yourself, help the planet and serve others. That is the kind of healer I am speaking of, although some of us actually do it for a living. This is a new kind of healer on the scene, one that’s intentional about living the best life possible while he or she is on the planet. This person looks like anyone else you would meet on the street, but they are different. They’ve made a decision to be wide awake and aware of themselves in order to feel good and get the most out of this human experience instead of a life of zombie-dom, mindlessly doing things they don’t know why they do, feeling ways they don’t really enjoy feeling, being constantly distracted with thoughts that are not their own, in a hurry, and racing toward their death and not making a difference while they are here Yeah…they’re already past all that. This person is a true healer, a real deal modern day shaman, even if they only work on healing themselves. I use the word “new” to describe this person because they are not like the tribal shaman of previous cultures. This healer does not have to appropriate a culture that’s not their own and they don’t have to be initiated or born into a specific lineage. This type of healing work is not for the chosen few or selected “special” ones. This opportunity is available to anyone who wants to step up and be empowered to do it. Of course we all know that being self aware and awake is nothing new. The wise ones and sages who have walked this earth throughout time have always done this.
So who’s this new person and what’s so special about them?
I have grappled with the old stereotypical images of what it means to be a healer and this is the picture of what I see as a modern day healer. The brave new healer is courageous enough to learn how love themselves and others. I see a person who has learned to live from their heart instead from their mind, most of the time anyway. And when they get out of their heart and start making decisions and creating with just their minds and egos, they feel the difference and are able to step back into a more loving, effective space. I don’t stay in my heart all the time, no way. I can totally get up in my head and make decisions with my ego. But I can feel the difference when I’m operating from love or intellect and I can always redirect my focus back to my heart, back to love. The brave new healers of the world create and operate from their heart space (most of the time) and hopefully we can live from that higher space and create our world from that place more and more. The more we practice being in our hearts, the better we will get.
I see brave people who are brave enough to really love themselves and others. This is NOT easy and one must be very brave in order to accomplish it. I’m not talking about a mental concept about what love is, all up in our heads. I mean truly living from love. The hard work of loving ourselves so that we can love others takes so much focus and time. The brave new healers are willing to do this difficult work. When anyone speaks of this work lightly like, “Just love yourself” or “love everybody,” they have not delved deeply into the magnitude of this work. It’s hard, plain and simple. If it were easy to love ourselves, the world would be a very different place.
The brave new healer practices self awareness. He or she lives wide awake. They ask themselves the tough questions about WHY they do the things they do, why they feel the way they feel. He stays tuned in to his body, aware of what makes him feel the best. She pays attention to how she responds to changes in her environment. These amazing individuals are all about making life the best for not only themselves, but for everyone around them. The brave new healer knows how to thrive in the modern world. This modern healer knows how to use the new world of technology to be more effective and informed. No, he’s not sitting somewhere in a hut shaking a rattle or meditating in a remote cave by himself. You might find him conversing with a barista in your local coffee shop or perusing gear for his next camping trip because here’s the thing about this type of healer: they know how to live life to the fullest. Living a full life requires adapting to the world we’re in and soaking up enriching experiences. Healers do not have to be isolated in order to attain some concept of enlightenment or spiritual growth. True growth and awareness comes from putting our concepts of oneness, consciousness, emotional mastery and compassion to work in the real world with real people in true life situations, not by running away from life and just thinking about how to be a good person. These people change with the times, embracing the changes that come from living in a technological world. They know how to use the tools around them, just like shamans of old used the tools that they had at their disposal. They don’t need to appropriate another culture or wear any particular garb to legitimize or identify themselves as healers.
The Brave New Healer is clear. This person is aware of her surroundings. She strives to be present and centered even though she won’t be all the time. She’s aware of what her motives and motivations are for why she does the things she does and what she wants. She has transcended simple knowing what she doesn’t want in her life and she goes after what truly makes her happy with full force. She’s had to do a lot of work to get clear. She regularly clears her living space and her work space. She clears her mind with regular meditation. She clears her body by eating healthy food and exercising regularly. Through these efforts and actions, she makes room for greatness.
The Brave New Healer understands boundaries.This individual has come to realize that having healthy boundaries does not make them a jerk or unlovable. They’ve come to realize that having healthy boundaries makes those around you have more respect for you in general. Instead, it’s magically the opposite. Having healthy boundaries helps those around you respect you. The brave new healer is honest. This requires much bravery in a world where we see even our political leaders not telling the truth and it’s accepted and understood by everyone. It can be scary to tell someone the truth from the heart, but they bumble around and be awkward sometimes but they come from the heart and stay real.
Brave New Healers know that what they think MATTERS. He’s in control of his mind. He knows that he can use his mind to heal his body and that his thoughts are creating situations and opportunities in his life. He knows these thoughts are his own to direct and manage and he accepts this position of leadership. She’s selective with what she takes in to her mind. She knows that the kind of entertainment she watches affects her well-being. These healers know that the images they see with their eyes along with the words and stories they take in with their ears are going to affect them for a long time. Brave new healers seek forms of entertainment that raise them up and enhance them.
Brave New Healers understand that what they eat MATTERS. They put the very best food they have access to in their bodies for optimal performance.They understand that what they eat and drink makes them who they are. At the same time, they’re always reaching for quality of life over shame and guilt when it comes to food, drink and entertainment. It’s called reaching for joy and growing past always trying to do the “right thing,” feeling guilty if you don’t eat a certain way or behave a certain way.
They understand that what they say MATTERS. She’s careful with the vibration of her words. She speaks life through encouraging, affirmative gifts that come from her mouth. She knows that her body responds to every word she says, so she’s careful to heal through her words.
They’re in the process of raising themselves and growing UP. He doesn’t beat himself up for the destructive thoughts that still lurk in his mind but rather he parents them and coaches those parts of himself with loving leadership. He is fully aware of the time he must put in to be a good parent to him or herself. Parenting and raising up those parts of ourselves that have stayed little and scared and not too functional is a full time job, just as much as having another little human that needs guidance and direction. The brave new healers knows that we never stop having to guide and lead ourselves to the higher vantage point, the bigger picture. Raising ourselves is the nicest thing we can do for the planet and all the inhabitants on it. And it sure helps to raise ourselves first if we choose to raise little humans, too. It takes work to grow up and be the people we are meant to be. Now I don’t mean being grown up in the sense of never having any fun, I mean growing up in the sense of addressing all the small, afraid childlike pieces of ourselves that influence our behavior in every aspect of our life such as our relationships (dealing with jealousy, possessiveness, insecurity, fears and hang ups over money, sex, health, religion, death, God, etc),. Brave new healers are not afraid to take a close look at tough issues and they are not okay with staying stagnant in unhealthy patterns.
Brave new healers are cultivating a healthy relationship with money. They live like kings and queens because they realize that what they spend money on MATTERS. You are truly the king or queen of your own world. Do you live like a noble or do you live like a slave? Do you tell your money what to do for you or does your money run amok?Brave new healers love sustainable comfort and luxury because they realize the power that comes with how we use our money. When people think we can’t make a difference in the world, they aren’t realizing the fact that we vote with our dollars every single day. Our money is a way to harness energy and intentions toward ethical companies that care about our planet. How you spend your money is powerful. Take that power, claim it and use it! Imagine what would happen to greedy corporations that destroy the planet and torture animals if everyone just STOPPED buying their products. This requires knowing what you’re buying and researching the companies that you pour money into, yes another thing that takes time and shows you give a darn. Brave healers know they can make a difference in the world with their money, so there’s no shame or evil associated with dollars, they are just energetic tools. Brave healers also charge what they’re worth and pay fairly for the goods and services they want to support.
They understand the power of their presence. These brave healers realize that their energetic presence is a PRESENT because they have worked long and hard on the level of energy they bring to any situation. Their focus, time and attention are gifts they give to those who can appreciate the value of presence. They don’t waste time on guilt.These people understand the difference between guilt and accountability. Don’t waste time on guilt, but spend a lot of time on accountability, responsibility and the inter-dependancy of every action and decision we make.
Does this sound like you, or who you want to grow yourself into being? These brave new healers are my kind of people-the Light Bringers, The Way Showers. I want to celebrate them, lift them up and support their work. I’m here with resources and tools for every kind of healer in this world.This article and episode was inspired by my appreciation for those I see around me that are leading and teaching by being the best version of themselves every day. It takes a lot of courage to live life on purpose, with intention. If you are reading this and you relate to this message on some level, keep going because this is you. You are your own brave healer!If this type of healer is who you are being/becoming..I hope that you’ll connect with me and tell me the story of your transformation. Tell me about your journey of becoming a healer and how you are living the healer lifestyle.
