Tao-Te-Chi Health Services FAQ
Please note that because of the truly in-depth nature of "Healing" some of
the information presented below needs to be more detailed than others.
Can Healing Hurt You?
What Can Healing Do For You?
Can Healing Be Done On Children?
If You Feel Fine What Can Healing Do?
How Can You Tell A Good Healer?
What's The Difference Between Healing Styles?
Who Regulates Healing?
Can Healing Hurt You?
Truthfully, healing done in the wrong way can actually cause dysfunctions or imbalances within the body, mind, or both. Energy itself, of which healing is only one use, has no motive or control of its own - it is neutral by definition. It is the intent of the individual healer, along with those they work on, that mould and shape the energy into a specific, defined intent or purpose. However, just as the conscious mind is merely a small part of the mind as a whole, it is not the conscious intent that matters. It is actually the more "hidden", unconscious intent that determines what occurs in a healing (both that of the healer and the client). As a result, only a small number of healers can actually control what occurs in a healing session; which is why many healing systems claim the energy merely flows through them - that they have no control over it.
It is important to understand that most healers are generally good, decent people that work very hard to do what is right. However, it is a lack of education and understanding about both themselves and how healing actually works, that causes problems. The harm that can occur during a healing session is the result of the energy being directed in an unconscious manner. As a result, the energy can pick up unwanted qualities and in essence become "messy" or "dirty".
The only way to prevent this from occurring is for the healer to fully know, understand, and embrace their so called "unconscious" mind. Something that many have labeled as "impossible" only because so few people have undertaken the challenge of learning how to accomplish it. This is also one of the main reasons why the Tao-Te-Chi Student Healers spend most of their time learning and discovering more about themselves instead of those they work on. It is also where we get the idea of "living unconsciously" from, which in essence refers to the same basic process - allowing life to "just happen", without any actual direction or control.
Please note: this process is more about the individual healer than the system used, thought most systems don't include any form of self-discovery work; focusing entirely on techniques.
What Can Healing Do For You?
Healing is really about offering the body a chance to find or create relaxation, balance, harmony, or all three. This is not the same as what many of the "spiritual" people are talking about. It is about getting the body and mind working the way they were meant to be working on a physical, emotional, and energetic level - based on the natural processes of life itself. When we are not in balance, our bodies typically try and overcompensate; this then leads to dysfunction within the system as a whole. This dysfunction can be as simple as feeling run down or drained, or can be as major as feeling totally disconnected from our own lives.
When we understand that these "symptoms" are merely the by-product of imbalances, we can take control of them and work to fix them. This is really the essence behind true healing and it is something we all could benefit from on a regular basis. As a result healing can first and foremost promote relaxation - in some cases wonderfully deep levels of relaxation that many describe as "floating".
Along with relaxation, healing can also work to help create, replace or expand on the natural energy reserves of the human body. This ensures that the body has all the resources it needs to be able live life. The opposite of which can be easily seen when we become totally tired or drained in the course of our busy lives. It is as if we had the very life sucked out of us; which is in essence what is happening. We literally have nothing left and the body needs time to rest and recover in order to replenish our energy reserves. This is also why many people can find surges of life from undertaking certain activities like exercise, creative endeavors, and the life. In those situations, we actually "open up" and become filled with life. Something we can actually have all the time if we work to condition our body and mind to do so.
Can Healing Be Done On Children?
Healing generally can be a wonderful and beneficial thing to do on children. However there are some fundamental things that need to be understood: a) parent(s) should be in the room the whole time the healing is happening, b) children should not be touched in any manner not appropriate for an adult, c) children are still in the process of developing and healing should not in any way interfere with that process, and d) healing work on children should focus exclusively on relaxation, balancing and cleaning; anything beyond these types of healing should only be used in dire situations (such as if dealing with trauma or major imbalances).
It is also very important to understand that healing work on children and adults differs a great deal. One of the main reasons is that children by nature are typically more open, energetically functional and generally have smaller issues to deal with. This means that healing should normally require less work than an adult and also require less sessions over time. In general, this means that a child should only need to undergo healing work one to four times a year (unless something major has occurred) and that the sessions should be about half the time of an adult. Healing work should also NOT be used to define, shape, or alter the natural tendencies or energy systems of children as it can alter normal development. However, as children age there may come a time when it becomes acceptable to do some of that - such as when puberty has finished running its course.
On the same note, during puberty healing can be a beneficial tool to assist in the process of development and growth. However, because it is naturally a time of change, healing work should not be used to alter any of the normal processes that occur. This means that healing should only be used to further aid cleaning and balancing. The specific amount of healing work needed will vary; however it should still be limited to once per season (three months).
If You Feel Fine What Can Healing Do?
Healing by nature provides wonderfully deep levels of relaxation, works to ensure the natural energy reserves of the body are maintained, and assist in keeping the body balances and aligned. As a result, healing is an excellent tool to assist with things such as stress reduction, tiredness, feeling drained, and some general sleep issues (some sleep problems are the result of an underlying medical/mental condition and professional help should be sought in those cases).
It is also important to note that feeling good is a subjective and relative term. In most cases, people generally associate "good" with the normal feelings that they have experiences for years. In this way feelings of stress, hardship, fear, and others can often be hidden behind "normal". Because these "hidden" feelings and emotions generally impair our ability to actually live a fully functional and happy life, they work to increase feelings of stress, helplessness, apathy and more.
This means that even when we feel "good" it is a good idea to look within and see if we are actually DOING good. If we find that the two are not the same, then there are underlying issues, fears, or complications that need to be dealt with. In those cases, healing is a wonderful tool to assist in the process - provided that healing is used to do more than simply promote relaxation. Only by accepting, addressing, and dealing with those underlying problems can you truly become free from them; which then fully open the door to actually being "good" inside.
It is also important to note that if healing is used purely for maintenance of the body and mind it should not require constant visits with the healer. In most cases coming one to four times per year should be enough depending on what you are dealing with. If healing is used to assist with underlying problems, then healing may be required more often. Regardless of the situation, it is important to trust your own instincts. If you feel healing is needed more or less than the healer, be sure to voice your opinions. In the end, stopping or lowering the number of treatments may work to slow the process of dealing with issues etc - however it will NEVER cause any harm.
How Can You Tell A Good Healer?
Since healing ability is a matter of individual talent and skill and not necessarily the system used, it can be very difficult to determine if someone is actually a good healer or not. Even if they have a good reputation if may not mean that they are in fact a good healer. For most people (clients) healing is a new experience, one that promotes some amazing and wonderful sensations within the body. As a result, someone ("healer") with very little healing ability can be seen as being amazing when in fact they have very little skill or ability.
The same can even be said for people with a huge client list or massive reputation. Both of which are more often a by-product of sales ability than healing ability. This means that it is very possible, and does happen fairly often, that a healer with great people or sales skills and little actual healing ability are seen as being exceptional. In essence they "up-sell" their ability way beyond the level of their actual ability. In which case it becomes all about their reputation and not about healing itself. In essence, they work very hard to make sure their clients "feel" awesome, instead of doing the work to actually help them "become" awesome.
One of the easiest ways to tell the difference is to see how often they have clients return and what occurs during the individual sessions. If every session is essentially identical to every other, no matter who's receiving them, then the healer obviously has no other skills or abilities. If sessions are required on a regular basis without any real change in their clients, it shows nothing is really improving. The whole point of healing is to promote an improvement in the client's body, mind, life, or all three. Without any of that occurring, then the healing is ineffective.
True healing, on the other hand, is determined exclusively by the outcome. If life essentially remains the same, it failed; if it improves and expands, the healing is working. As well, over time the client should require fewer and fewer sessions until they reach the point that they no longer NEED the sessions for anything other than maintenance purposes or cleaning. Something that should only be required a few times a year - much like spring cleaning the house.
Unfortunately, there are people who want the "illusion" of improvement without anything actually changing. This is the result of fear, insecurity, issues, or other unresolved problem that the person wants desperately to avoid. In true healing work, one of the major goals is to help the client become ready, willing, and able to deal with everything that is holding them back in their own life. If healing is only used to promote relaxation, it is like an ultra expensive version of valium©; it helps you to relax for the moment, but it fades shortly thereafter. The effects of a true healing should last longer and longer the more it is done. Something that may truthfully require more frequent sessions in the beginning, however it does truly improve over time.
What this all means is that the only true way to see if a healer is any good is to either question some of their current clients or experience their services first-hand with a critical eye. It should also be mentioned that referrals, testimonials, etc can be easily faked or exaggerated. If there is no means to get hold of the person who provide the testimonials etc directly, then you should assume they are not real. A real testimonial etc will include a means to contact the person who made the claim in the first place; and the fact that they will have no direct connection to the "healer" other than being a client (like being friends for the last ten years, dating, etc).
It is also important to note that many healers only have their healing business as a means of income. Much like anyone else who has a risk of losing their job, they work very hard to do everything they can to ensure a steady income. That is why many healers want regular visits from their clients. It is also why they devote so much time to their reputation. As we live in a world that requires money, there is no issue with charging for services. However, there is a huge difference between doing it for the money and doing it for the betterment of the client. Make sure you know which one the healer you are dealing with is working for - and don't take their word for it. In the end, actions dictate reality, not words; over time their actions will clearly show which they are really after.
Plus, most importantly of all - Trust in your own instincts! If something doesn't feel right to you, it probably isn't. In the end you should never lose site of the fact it is your life. You are the one that has to live with it, so make sure you have no problems living your own life when everything is said and done. Also, don't let someone else tell you what that means. It is okay if the offer ideas, suggestions, or assistance - but it up to you what you do with it in the end.
What's The Difference Between Healing Styles?
Healing systems and styles are like clothing styles - there is a huge difference between everything, even though in the end they follow similar lines. Think of it like buying a pair of pants, some you will pay a great deal more for because of the name on them or who sells them, others are so cheap they will fall apart after a few uses, and then there are some that are relatively inexpensive but will last a long time. In the end, every healing system or style is different.
It's important to understand that just like clothing, each different healing system or style exists for a reason. Some are trying to branch off or create something new from an older style. Others want to reclaim older ways of doing things that have been forgotten over time. Still others want to do something totally different than what has been done before. Because of this variety, no two healing systems or styles are the same; even ones that may share the same name.
However, regardless of the name used or the reason for it's existence, there are a few things that can be done to distinguish systems from each other. The best and easiest is to see how they work and what tools they use to promote healing. By focusing on these options instead, healing can be broken down into a small number of different groups: a) technique based, b) energy based, c) blended, d) discovery based, and e) life based. Many people will claim they are in one group or the other, however it is not their opinion that determines which group they belong to, it is their actions.
In a Technique Based system everything is about the technique. Students and healers are taught how to use the techniques to provide specific benefits or services. These include styles like Healing Touch, Bio-Feedback, etc. The healers from this group will be able to offer an explanation of how things work by offering "buzz words" or abstract ideas. (Eg: this technique creates a disruption in the electrical impulses of the body and allows us to re-program them).
In an Energy Bases system everything is about using energy to create a defined effect; much like the technique bases system, except the focus is on the energy. These include styles like Reiki, Qi Gong, etc. The healers from this group will usually not be able to explain how things work beyond ideas that the energy does whatever it need to. In essence, showing they have no control over the healer, by only being a "conduit" for it.
In a Blended system they combine both the energy work with some defined techniques. This group includes a number of newer Reiki styles, and many Reiki off-shoot styles (like Karuna Reiki etc). Students and healers use a combination of "buzz words", abstract concepts, and promote the idea that everything happens at is needs to. The main idea used here is that neither of the other two systems work by themselves, so they combined them together to create something better.
In a Discovery Based system everything is promoted as if it will help delve into and explore life, however will only focus on surface level things. Often times in systems of this nature there is a number of different techniques used to create specific defined effects. However, a major component is that the client needs to return regularly and often to get the best benefit. Very few styles of this nature exist because people in general are unwilling to explore their own life in this way. It should be noted that even though there are not many healing systems that use this style, there are many other groups who do - like Life Coaches, etc.
The final group, called Life Based, is the single rarest style used. The main reason is that it requires something that no other style does - understanding. In all other styles everything is based on theory, idea, and concept - all of which are purely KNOWLEDGE based. Understanding, on the other hand, is first and foremost about using experience to convert the Knowledge into an understanding. Something may Knowledge based groups claim to do, however, it is not experience in general that is required (such as experience doing healing work). It is the experience of life that is required (dealing with personal issues, hardships, problems, grief, loss, etc). Because of this very high requirement, very few people are willing or able to offer this kind of healing work. In truth, everything about this type is based on the healer first exploring and dealing with their own life - so they can apply that same understanding to help others do the same thing. This of course is the foundation that everything Tao-Te-Chi is about is based on.
It is also important to note that this is also, to a very diluted degree, the same basis support groups etc are based on. By having people who have undergone the same basic events, they understand how it feels to be there. By bringing people together with the same experiences, helps people to understand it better, see that they are not alone, and other such benefits. However, that is generally where the support group mentality stops; everything is focused primarily on support.
As a point of information, which is very important to understand. True healing (no matter what kind - healing, conventional, therapy, etc) all require FIVE components to be met in order to work. If any one is missing, the whole thing falls apart. These are: 1) Knowledge - something we excel at currently, 2) Understanding - something most confuse with knowledge, 3) Compassion - something that is normally faked in modern society (and thus destroy the healing), 4) Support - this can come from any source and is about ensuring have all the things NEED to get through whatever's happening, and 5) CHANGE - the single most important element. If nothing really changed when everything is over, then healing did not occur. It is also important to note that this is based on reality and not perspective - and includes many layers.
As an example - if we break our arm and it heals, then a healing occurred in the fixing of our arm. However, if we continue to live the exact same life we were before we broke our arm, then in regard to life there was no healing that took place. Sometimes healing of life is not needed, however, regardless - none happened anyway!
Who Regulates Healing?
The simple, basic truth - NO ONE!
Currently the closest thing that we have that attempts to put standards and regulation on healing work are a variety of different healing groups. These are simply a number of people who get together and agree to work under a specific code of conduct or guideline of practice. In essence, this is actually a really great and excellent idea. Unfortunately, because of the nature of these groups they have no government backing, support, or requirements.
In most simple terms, what this means is that the only thing that the group can do if and when someone violates their mandates or principles is to kick them out. They legally can not be fined, disciplined, black-listed, or anything else of that nature even though they violated the group rules. In fact, to even publish that they have been removed from their list for violation of the group standards can result in a lawsuit against the group itself; depending on the rules that the individual agreed to when they first joined. As a result, these groups have no actual power or authority to do anything other than offer a great ideal to live up to.
As well, most of these groups operate on a negative complaint model. Meaning as long as the individual has no negative complaints against them, they are considered in good standing. Thus, people who are violating the group policies left and right can remain in good standing simply because no complaints have been filed against them. That then also assumes that the group will do anything if and when there is a complaint. In some cases, the people who created and coordinate the group use it to augment their own income; thus are more interested in keeping members so they can make more money. Not all groups operate in this manner, however, there are some that do (even outside of healing groups too).
Because there is no government backing, support, or regulation (aside from those governing all "Societies" in general) the group also has no defined obligation to their members or more importantly the clients of those members. This means that the only real recourse the client has should anything occur, is the same as if the healer was not part of the group or organization, it to seek legal action. Something that most never do because of the time and expense, because of embarrassment, or because it is very difficult to show "loss" beyond that of the fees paid for the services (provided that receipts were given).