Distant Healing Strategies to Relieve Suffering
Every Thursday since the Spring 2020 covid lockdown I have led a twenty-five minute online healing meditation to relieve suffering.
‘We send healing to wherever there is suffering. Calmly, patiently, we send healing.’
Over these four years my own way of practising distant healing has developed, and I want to share my journey and practices with you. It may encourage, support or expand your own practices. And of course I welcome feedback and other ideas.
Relief of Pain
To begin, I practised distant healing in a way that most people will know already. I bring into my heart and mind the people I know who are physically or mentally ill — family, relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours.
Softly from my heart I wish them well. Just calm thoughts of wellbeing for them.
Long ago I learned never to direct healing energy, prana or qi indiscriminatingly at people who are ill. This is for two reasons:
First, I do not have their permission, so may be intruding.
Second, more energy can sometimes stimulate, amplify and worsen an illness, especially nervous system disorders and mental illness.
So I hold people in Love and calmly wish them health and healing.
Birthing Self-Compassion
Over the months, as I contemplated the pain and distress of people in suffering, my perspective changed. Meditation, when we are in a profoundly calm, expansive and connected state, is also a process of curiosity. Consciousness expands. Insights come.
I contemplated the reality that, for many, pain and distress are not necessarily going to end. Even with a miracle cure, end of life inevitably awaits — indeed awaits all of us.
I remembered the nurses’ training led by Professor Margaret Newman where the nurses were told: Wellness and sickness are inevitable cycles. The nurse’s true vocation is, yes, to relieve suffering, but more importantly to midwife an expansion of consciousness so that patients can connect with something Higher and self-manage with philosophical hope.*
I also remembered the teaching of Stephen Levine when he wrote about how patients can ‘heal into death.’ We all die, but patterns of suffering can be relieved by shifts in attitude, in consciousness, in forgiveness.**
And the Buddhist teaching too – it is not the suffering that matters, but our attitude to it.
My internal strategy in the Thursday healing meditations therefore evolved. I still wished everyone relief from pain. But I also prayed — for me, prayer is a contemplative thought held calmly, with a sense of connection to the wonder and energy of life — that the consciousnesses of these people would be birthed into a compassionate and loving awareness, so they might be at peace with their pain and suffering.
This is a deep shift in attitude for people in pain or suffering, the benefits of which can be twofold. Psychologically they can find respite. Physically, this change of attitude can stop the toxic effects of negative thoughts and emotions, which cascade through the neuro-endocrinal system, triggering adrenalin, cortisol, acidity, cellular tension and more pain.
Supporting the Hospitals, Hospices, Care Homes, Medics & Carers
Over the ensuing year, my contemplative prayers and thoughts expanded to include the local hospitals, hospices, care homes and their patients. I contemplated clouds and waves of healing warmth enveloping these places, supporting the patients in having a more compassionate and peaceful attitude to life and themselves.
At the same time, the medical staff and carers came into my heart and my distant healing strategy expanded to bless and have loving thoughts for all these people on the front line.
My contemplative awareness expanded from local hospitals to all hospitals across the UK and then to places of crisis in the world. I contemplated the medics and carers in Gaza, then other places of war, famine and catastrophe – wishing them love and strength to relieve the suffering around them.
Attunement and Solidarity with Healing Spirits
The most recent shift in my practice is more metaphysical as I gave attention to the healing spirits that may be found around hospitals.
Anyone who has been in a hospital in the early hours of the morning, before and at dawn, will know that there can be an extraordinary atmosphere of calm and healing — a magical and benevolent presence.
In my worldview this beautiful presence radiates from spirits and angels. In particular, my sense is that all hospitals, surgeries, care homes and hospices are overlit, blessed and enveloped by loving, subtle beings, who radiate reassurance, encouraging growth into healing and recovery.
In my distant healing meditations I therefore began to revisit all my local hospitals, and beyond, to contemplate how each place was accompanied and supported by these benevolent subtle beings.
I connect and commune with these spirits with an attitude of gratitude. As best I can, I express my solidarity and gratitude, both as an individual and as a representative of the human community, to these magnificent subtle beings.
To summarise:
Always calm, centred and connected:
My heart goes out to all in pain and suffering, and I wish them relief and recovery.
I contemplate the birthing of their compassionate consciousness.
My heart goes out too to all the healthcare staff and carers, professional and voluntary, and wish them blessing and gratitude.
I acknowledge the great spirits and angels of healing who overlight and support all places of healing, and express gratitude to and solidarity with them.
Finally I envisage a network of healing linking all these elements across the Earth.
And, of course, I will learn more.
I hope this is helpful.
*
Comments and feedback are welcome on this blog.
I know that many of you will also be experienced in Reiki and other forms of distant healing.
* Margaret A Newman: Health as Expanding Consciousness, 1999
** Stephen Levine: Healing into Life and Death, 1993
Hi William, I am reading your book, Psychic Protection, and I am interested in your views on Reiki healing. Thanks so much.
Reiki can be a very effective healing strategy.
thank you William, I needed to hear this information about consent, so important, and you explain it beautifully
Thanks, as always, William. As someone who can be very sensitive to subtle energies, I’m sometimes aware of energy being directed toward me by well-intentioned others. I often say that I can tell when somebody is praying for me, although I may not be sure who – sometimes I have an idea but I can’t verify it! 🙂 A lot of the time I’m OK with this – it can be very nice! – but there have been times when it’s felt distinctly uncomfortable and unhelpful. This has helped me to realise that great care must be taken when seeking to help others on subtle levels, and I think the old principle of ‘primum non nocere’ – ‘first do no harm’ is a good place to start. In my own prayer and meditation within a mainly esoteric/mystical Christian tradition, a practice of simple ‘mentioning’ before God (or as someone else here has put it – ‘holding before God’) has evolved, just ‘lifting’ someone up, momentarily, when I am standing in a heightened state of prayerful awareness – a very light touch, not trying to ‘do’ anything to them myself. I don’t know how much this is helpful to those I pray for – it’s not something I can measure, of course. I guess if I were a trained practitioner of a particular healing modality I would want to use that in some way, but in that case it would certainly be important that I do nothing without a person’s permission and also that they be advised about how the healing work might affect them. For now, the safest thing for me to do is to ‘show’ the person to God (and by God I of course don’t mean a white-bearded old man sitting on a cloud but something more akin to a great Source of enormous compassion and wisdom), and entrust the person to That. With thanks and blessings on your work, Gary
Thank you William A very helpful blog. I have often had feelings of guilt for not sending energy but holding persons, in prayer before God, as I put. As a Reiki practitioner I can appreciate that it may be easy to bombard with energy, because we are anxious and have an almost egoic need to be helpful. In addition it is easy to lose sight of death as healing as you suggested. Thank you so much
Thank you, William, for sharing more of your compassionate wisdom. “Consciousness expands. Insights come”–the fact that your meditation process deepened over time, with a distinctively organic flow, guides me to approach meditation in the same way. I read your comments regarding Healing Spirits in hospitals with interest as well. When I ended up in Emergency last summer with a fractured femur, I was aware of a mysterious presence soothing and guiding me during my 7-day stay in the hospital. This palpable yet unknown energy helped keep me relatively calm & stable as I went through surgery and the initial recovery period. I went home with a renewed sense of admiration and gratitude for all those in the helping professions–whether seen or unseen. = – )
Thank you William for sharing your very inspirational and interesting article about distant healing. It’s such an important subject and one which I have not previously looked at in any depth, but would now like to learn more about and be able to practise.
As a lifelong spiritual seeker, I have found and continue to find so much in your teachings which resonates with my own experience and expands and develops my insights. You have a great gift for communicating subtle teachings in very accessible ways.
One thing which you often mention which I do not understand is the existence or presence of “spirits and angels”. These seem so very real and helpful to many people, but for me they are just imaginal figures of no real significance.
Maybe at some time in the future you could write something explaining a little about what these phenomena actually are, for people like me who have never encountered such things?
Thanking you once again,
Mari
Thanks Mari
I wrote a book on the subject available on Amazon etc “Working with Angels” and you’ll find a Youtube video of a lecture from a while ago here – https://youtu.be/qkVXmAkYnPA?si=qSQvUIHSoGk9uDO1
Wm x
Thank you for your post, I’ve really enjoyed reading it.
Thank you
Many thanksfor sharing your knowledge and experience.
Not too long at all. I’ve always been reticent to try any healing modalities for the very reasons you stated and also, many, many years ago I was studying medicine and got sick for six weeks. I became a patient at the hospital at which I was studying. They tried all the usual tests which came back negative. They couldn’t find any bug or anything to account for my illness. I would get better and then relapse. After six weeks they decided I wasn’t infectious and decided to release me. I had been in isolation but now I could have visitors. The first one was a fellow student who brought a text book and was reading out the symptoms of the disease I was supposed to have had. I agreed I’d had all those symptoms except the last one which was ‘skin peeling off the soles of the feet’. I hadn’t had that. But 15 minutes later, the skin started peeling from the soles of my feet! I freaked out a bit and thought maybe I was hallucinating. For some reason I decided to recall all the times I had been ill and realised it was always when something was happening that I didn’t want to do or deal with. Appendicitis, the first week of High School for instance. Colds and flu at exam times. I then realised what was making me ill this time. That finished me for medicine as I realised I was being taught to treat symptoms and not the underlying cause of the illness.
Thank you William. Your writings have been an inspiration since I first discovered you in the 90s I believe. Oh, later I was telling he story of my ‘skin peeling’ illness and I had the same text book my friend had been reading from. ‘Skin peeling from the soles of the feet’ is not listed as a symptom. My friend, who had a great sense of humour, had made it up!
Hi William , I thought I might add some different perspectives to this subject .
Years ago when I was an active member of the Andronicus Foundation and involved in distant healing group and individual practice we would first build energy within our group by connecting physically,asking guides and higher intelligences to work in cooperation and through us to send positive life force and healing towards global areas of conflict and war . Channelled information was often given to guide us in this practice .
Whenever I send a reiki 2 healing I call in the person’s thought form between my hands by visualising an image or representation of the intended recipient and ask for permission to conduct a healing , usually it’s a feeling of yes go ahead but there have been times of a since of a strong NO and I will try again some time later .
I often found it shifted .
I was also told by my teachers to visualise my teacher or master healer doing the healing if I found it daunting or challenging.
When I studied with a Hawaiian Kupua Shamanic teacher Serge ,he taught that Hawaiians traditionally found that Western Views of healing practice lacked something important , the generation of qi ki or mana inside oneself to energize the intended action of healing .
They called us ” Haolis” ..
Without breath .
We need to breathe into life our intention by first raising our own energy field then sending the built qi or mana forth towards manifesting the desired goal or intention in this case for healing . .
I was taught to use practices of kalana hula and invitational intention to higher self or aumakua ( ancestors) for guidance and directed assistance .
My Shiatsu teacher and Monk Ryoku used to say connect with Naikan ,the heart self and then direct focus of loving intention
I worked in hospitals for 35 years as a social worker and am a long term meditator. Some of the language you express about healing prayers for other really resonates with me, e.g. birthing compassion, and as Marilyn said,
“holding them in the Light ” Simple, loving, intentional thoughts, thank you for articulating your wisdom so clearly.
Thank you, William! I would like to join your Thursday morning distant healing group. Please send details..
Thank you, William, for these gems of loving wisdom for assisting the healing and suffering of others on a larger scale. I’ve been thinking of how to approach more people involved. Many blessings to you and your family as we grow and learn the birthing of compassionate healing for us all.
Bless you William you are such a rock and a comfort🥰🙏💖🧿 It’s always great to hear from you 🌈
Thank you so much William for putting into words what happens in your distant healing Meditations.
It is similar to what I do, both with my family and friends and with my counselling clients when they’re not with me. I call it “holding them in the Light.”
Particularly useful was what you said about not wishing for absolute results. I always want some kind of resolution, particularly for my clients. But I know now that if it is THEIR resolution, not my version of it, this brings more peace, and therefore more healing into situations. As you say, we are always learning!
Thank you William, it is good to hear news of a regular distance healing group.
Many 🙌
Ang