Establishing Healthy Boundaries

We’ve all had that feeling of someone being too much in our personal space but did you know that you can also be invaded by the energy of others without even being consciously aware of it? And this absorbing of other people’s energies can actually affect you in a very negative ways. The boundary I’m talking about here is your energetic boundary or aura – the energy field that surrounds you and which is made up of your thoughts, emotions, personal history, even energy patterns/karmic patterns carried over from past lives.

Signs of a Weak Aura

If your aura is too weak, you can become easily overwhelmed by certain people, places or situations as you struggle to maintain your own centredness. You can become confused, unable to think clearly, irritable or sad. Some people become overwhelmed by visions, bad dreams and negative premonitions. Insomnia is another side effect of weak boundaries. Some people become overwhelmed with other people’s emotions and can feel like they’re on a roller coaster.

If your aura is weak, on the positive side it means that you have great sensitivity and great empathy with others, which can be useful to those with a healing, caring, therapeutic or psychic profession. On the other hand, if you are absorbing too much emotion and other psychic information, it can be too overwhelming to the point where you are unable to separate yourself from the other person and process the information at all.

Signs of Too Impenetrable Boundaries

A person with too thick a boundary can appear insensitive to the feelings of others. They can display a lack of empathy and understanding. They may be very self-contained and single minded of purpose but will most likely struggle to form real meaningful emotional connections to others. They are less likely to dream or receive psychic information.

Signs of a Healthy Aura

A person with a healthy boundary will be able to stand firm in the face of criticism or abuse and will recover more quickly from traumatic experiences.

What Weakens the Aura

A person’s aura becomes weak through shock, trauma (including relationship break-up, bereavement, major surgery), abuse, neglect, physical or verbal attack, especially if these are long term issues. Bullying has a very damaging effect on the aura, chipping away at more of your personal power with every attack. Medication, drugs and alcohol abuse can all take their toll on a person’s energy field, as can being indoctrinated/brainwashed with negative, limiting beliefs while you are growing up.

How to Repair and Strengthen the Aura

To help detach negative energy and entities, cleanse your aura with a selenite wand on all sides of your aura including above your head and round your feet. To repair holes and tears in the aura, hold an amethyst crystal and go round the whole aura again, setting the intention to repair and seal the aura. If you are aware of where the holes and tears in your aura may be, circle the hole itself with the amethyst crystal.

You can also do a meditation connecting to pure white light shining down from above, bringing it down and visualising beams of white light shining through each of your chakras and swirling round your whole energy field. White raises your vibration and will help you rise above other people’s negativity and other stressful situations around you.

Once repaired, get into the habit of visualising yourself in a bubble of protection (gold, blue or violet) every morning and during the day if needed and make sure you ground yourself regularly so you’re not living in your head too much. Grounding can be anything that helps you feel connected to the earth – walking, running, exercise in general, gardening and spending time with uplifting, supportive people.

Healing treatments such as Reiki, Spiritual Healing and Crystal Healing will also repair, strengthen and rebalance the aura. I offer all of these treatments in Nottingham city centre or East Leake, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you feel I can help.

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Healer/Teacher, Holistic Therapist and Spiritual Development Coach based at City Gate East in Nottingham city centre, NG1 5FS and in East Leake. Helen offers several healing treatments such as Reiki, Spiritual Energy Healing, Angelic Reiki, Faery Reiki, Angel Therapy and Crystal Healing; holistic therapies including Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Foot Massage, Hopi Ear Candles & Facials; as well as Usui Reiki and Faery Reiki training courses and angel card and tarot readings. She has been on the spiritual path for 18 years and has extensive knowledge of healing and the healing journey. For further information about her Reiki courses, therapies and workshops, please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or visit and ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics, Healing & Spiritual Development.

Sleep Deprivation - Effects on the Body

A few weeks ago I watched an interesting programme on sleep deprivation and discovered some interesting facts, namely that lack of sleep leads to dehydration which can cause headaches. I’ve been starting to note when I have bad headaches myself and, sure enough, they nearly always follow a period of little or poor sleep. Many people, especially women, suffer from sleep deprivation. Often this is stress-related – when you wake up too early, start thinking of all the things you’ve got to do and can’t get back to sleep again. Other times I believe it’s hormonal, linked to changes connected with the peri-menopause and menopause. Other causes are depression, poor diet, physical pain from head/neck/shoulder problems and over-use of technology near bedtime.

In addition to leaving us feeling rough, groggy and lethargic with brain-fog the next day, lack of sleep also shows in the face due to its negative effects on the skin. Lack of sleep is also linked to a higher risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It weakens the immune system, affects fertility and has a negative effect on mental health. It is one of the most common complaints reported to doctors and holistic therapists alike.

 

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Skin

One study in South Korea discovered that sleep deprivation led to a significant decrease in skin hydration and impaired barrier function. Decreased hydration led to reduced skin elasticity and translucency, an increase in fine lines, uneven pigmentation, increased skin scaling; facial pores became more noticeable and there was decreased blood flow to the skin. In other words, lack of sleep has a massive effect on skin ageing. When the skin barrier in the outermost layer of the skin (the stratum corneum) is impaired, more irritants can get in and we become more susceptible to illness.

 

Signs of Body Dehydration

The poor hydration resulting from lack of sleep affects the whole body. One study found that adults sleeping 6 hrs a night were inadequately hydrated compared to those sleeping 8 hrs. It is believed that poor sleep disrupts the release of vasopressin, a hormone that regulates hydration in the body. If you wake up too early, you may miss the window of time when this hormone is released. Most people sweat during sleep which acts as a natural moisturiser for the skin. If you don’t get enough sleep you can miss out on the positive effects of sweating.

The signs of sleep deprivation and dehydration unfortunately show in our face. You may have hanging or heavy eyelids, dark circles under the eyes, redder or more swollen eyes, paler skin, more fine lines and drooping at the corners of the mouth. The skin may appear rougher and duller. Overall the effect is ageing.

 

Self Help Methods to improve Sleep

 

·        Take a warm bath or shower before bedtime.

·        Turn off electronic devices a couple of hours before bedtime.

·        Yoga or light exercise.

·        Meditation or breathing exercises.

·        Read a book to distract the mind from everyday stresses.

·        Go to bed at the same time every night to programme the body to fall asleep at a certain time.

Holistic/Complementary Therapies to improve Sleep

Most people report having a good night’s sleep after treatments such as Reiki, Reflexology, Massage etc. Reflexology helps rebalance the body. Reiki (any type) addresses the underlying causes that may be contributing to sleep problems. The healing/clearing continues after the treatment has ended and most people sleep very well that night as the body does most of its healing when we are asleep.

A Facial or Face Massage can ‘lift’ the muscles, release tension and restore hydration and healthy skin tone.

To beat the problem, or at least improve it, the best solution is a combination of lifestyle changes and therapies to address the underlying causes and rebalance the body. With today’s stress-filled, time-pressured lifestyles it may be difficult to solve the problem of lack of sleep completely but at least there are things we can do to help ourselves.

 

Notes:

Reiki, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Facials and Vitality Lift Facial Massage are all available with Helen Shortland in Nottingham city centre or East Leake. Please visit her website http://helenshortland.com for more details and prices.

 

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Healer/Teacher, Holistic Therapist and Spiritual Development Coach currently based at City Gate East, Toll House Hill, Nottingham city centre, NG1 5FS and in East Leake (10 miles south of Nottingham). Helen offers several healing treatments such as Reiki, Spiritual Energy Healing, Angelic Reiki, Faery Reiki, Angel Therapy and Crystal Healing; holistic therapies including Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Foot Massage, Hopi Ear Candles & Facials; as well as Usui Reiki and Faery Reiki training courses and angel card and tarot readings. She has been on the spiritual path for 20 years and has extensive knowledge of healing and the healing journey. For further information about her Reiki courses, therapies and workshops, please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or visit and ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics, Healing & Spiritual Development.

 

Intuition - Your Inner Guide

Developing your intuition means connecting with your higher self – the part of you that is connected to the divine, which is the most awakened, wise and highest aspect of yourself. It is a source of inspiration, guidance and wisdom if you learn how to pay attention to the subtle messages it sends you. Guidance can be subtle – the feeling you have when something just isn’t right, a sense of unease that you feel in your gut, a strong urge to act in a certain way or a powerful resistance to following a particular path. Some people experience recurring dreams with a common underlying theme – this is another way our higher self or intuition communicates with us.

With our busy lives it is very easy to forget all about our intuition and feel disconnected from our higher self. That disconnection however can leave you feeling anxious, stuck, reactive and ungrounded. On the other hand, when connected to your higher self or intuition, you are naturally more receptive, creative and open to new experiences and have a sense of being guided to the right people and opportunities. Life just flows better. And you know when your intuition is spot on because when you speak it out loud, you feel cold tingles or shivers in your body, usually down the spine.

 

How our intuition communicates with us

 

To pick up the messages from your intuition or higher self, you have to learn to bypass the conscious mind – in other words you have to stop thinking and analysing and work with your senses instead. These are your psychic senses, also known as the clairs – clairvoyance (clear seeing), clairaudience (clear hearing), claircognizance (clear knowing) and clairsentience (clear feeling). There are also less common clair abilities of clairalliance (smelling) and clairgustance (tasting).

 

Meditation is a good starting point if you want to develop your psychic senses because it teaches you to detach from the mind chatter and calm the mind. After all, if you ignore something, over time it goes away.

When receiving your intuitions through the clairs, you’ll find that you have a natural affinity with one or two more than the others. So how do you know which is your strongest clair?

 

·        If you are someone who senses the emotions of others, if you feel the physical pain of others when giving healing, if you ‘feel’ when you are being watched or feel someone stood behind you, your strength may be clairsentience. You can walk into a room and feel the atmosphere, especially if there has been an argument of if the space is full of joy. These people are very empathic and often taken on the emotions of others.

 

·        If you are someone who sees someone in the street who reminds you of someone you know and you then bump into that person or hear from them shortly afterwards, you may be stronger at clairvoyance. These people often enjoy art and visual experiences and can see the finer details of a situation.

 

·        If you are someone who can just completely download an idea for a book, film or other concept in your head from out of nowhere, you may be claircognizant. Creative people are strong in this area, especially those who do creative writing where ideas just flow through the pen.

 

·        If you are someone who receives words imprinted on your mind or hears actual words spoken to you that others cannot, giving you information or a warning, you are likely to have the gift of clairaudience or inner hearing. These people often like silence, chanting meditation or just listening to the sounds of nature.

 

The language you use can also give an indication of which psychic sense is the strongest. Note how often you say “I see what you mean”, “I feel what you’re saying, or “I hear you”.

The more we practice and tune into our intuition, the stronger it becomes. It doesn’t mean you’ll never make a mistake again but you’ll find that you have an inner wisdom that you probably didn’t have before. You’ll also learn from ‘mistakes’ a lot quicker, sensing the best way to put them right and get back on track.

 

 

Notes: Helen is running a Developing Intuition workshop on Sat 17th August 2019 at 2pm-4.30pm at City Gate East, Toll House Hill, Nottingham. Please email her at helenshortland@live.co.uk if you would like to book a place. No previous experience necessary, just an openness to have a go!

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Healer/Teacher, Holistic Therapist and Spiritual Development Coach currently based at City Gate East, Toll House Hill, Nottingham city centre, NG1 5FS. Helen offers several healing treatments such as Reiki, Spiritual Energy Healing, Angelic Reiki, Faery Reiki, Angel Therapy and Crystal Healing; holistic therapies including Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Foot Massage, Hopi Ear Candles & Facials; as well as Usui Reiki and Faery Reiki training courses and angel card and tarot readings. She has been on the spiritual path for nearly 20 years and has extensive knowledge of healing and the healing journey. For further information about her Reiki courses, therapies and workshops, please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or visit and ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics, Healing & Spiritual Development.

 

PENDULUM HEALING - POWERFUL ENERGY HEALING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!

Pendulum Healing is a combination of energy healing and spiritual healing. It works with the energy field of the body like dowsing rods, reacting to the energy emitted from a person’s body, both from healthy and unhealthy tissues. I connect to my healing guides and angels and ask the pendulum to release mental/emotional blocks, clear pain, release causes of a health problem etc in the same way that you would program a crystal. The pendulum then moves from side to side to break up the energy block then swings anti-clockwise to release it, returning to stillness when finished.
 

Uses

So far I have used Pendulum Healing to relieve pain, congestion and inflammation in the physical body, to clear blocked stagnant energy in the chakras and aura and to release negative thoughts, beliefs and emotions held in the mental/emotional bodies. I now include Pendulum Healing in my Reiki sessions and Crystal Healing treatments to clear the underlying causes of a client’s presenting problem, such as anxiety, depression, migraines and physical pain or to assist breaking down and releasing a build-up of negative energy. Pendulum Healing clears the underlying causes a lot faster than Reiki or crystals alone.

In a treatment the pendulum is held over the problematic body part or over the solar plexus if it is a generic condition affecting the whole body or if we are aiming to clear a mental/emotional condition from the subconscious. Pendulum Healing can also be used to clear individual chakras so that they function more effectively. It can also clear any blocks that are preventing you manifesting positive change in your life. For example we can ask it to remove blocks to receiving abundance, creativity, clarity and enhanced intuition.

Pendulum Healing can be applied to other areas of your life where healing is required, such as relationships or work. Many people suffer from low self-worth or slip into self-sabotaging behaviour which adversely affects the way these areas of their lives.

Pendulum Healing can also  be used to clear any negative energy in relationships (bad feelings, lack of forgiveness etc) and to clear negative karma of a family lineage or from past lives. More widely it can help release the negative energy of injustices and help heal communities. It is excellent for healing low self-esteem, self-worth issues, lack of confidence, anxiety and low mood.

 

How does it work?

It is believed that the spinning action of the pendulum creates an energy vortex, sometimes known as a ‘cone of power’. Pendulum commands can be likened to placing thought forms in the energy body which affect the subtle bodies and physical body in a positive way, improving health and wellbeing.

I have found Pendulum Healing to be incredibly powerful for shifting blocks, probably because the energy is focused in and amplified by the energy of the crystal pendulum. Like other healing modalities, Pendulum Healing cannot promise a complete cure but it helps to create conditions that are favourable to healing. I can honestly say that this is one of the most effective forms of healing I have discovered so far.

 

My Experiences

Pendulum Healing can be used for self-healing, healing others and as a distance healing treatment. So far I have used Pendulum Healing on myself to relieve headaches and clear the underlying causes of my migraine-type headaches, namely an intolerance to my triggers of perfume, aftershave and other perfumed smells. For the following two weeks I noticed a marked improvement in my tolerance levels which I would say improved by 70%. Two weeks later I repeated this program and again my tolerance levels have improved considerably. I also used it effectively on myself to clear any blocks to fully connecting with my spirit guides, angels, higher self and spirit and have experienced a much deeper connection, particularly to the angelic realm, since doing so.

I have used Pendulum Healing to relieve a client’s cold symptoms (catarrh and congestion) on her chest which cleared completely after treatment. Pendulum Healing has also helped relieve neck pain, stomach pain and considerably improved the relationship between a client and a friend.

With distance Pendulum Healing I tune in just as I would if sending distant Reiki: you make a mental connection with the person, visualise them, and ask the pendulum to clear and heal whatever the client wants to release.

 

Pendulum Healing Treatment

As stated earlier, I now include Pendulum Healing in my Reiki and Crystal Healing treatments where needed but Pendulum Healing can also be taken as a stand-alone treatment which includes the use of dowsing rods to dowse the state of your chakras, ie whether they are open, closed/blocked or stagnant. I can then rebalance the chakras with the pendulum, as well as work over specific problem areas in the physical body, then finally clear any blocks/negative energy from the subconscious that are preventing you manifesting your goals, such as improved self-confidence and self-worth, attracting love or greater financial abundance, increasing creativity or intuitive abilities.

The treatment can be an hour or half an hour depending on how much clearing you want to do. This treatment is ideal for anyone who holds limiting negative beliefs in their subconscious mind, as well as for all those who want to feel lighter, clearer and more balanced.

 

1 hr treatment  £30

½ hr treatment  £20

Distant treatment (max ½ hr)  £15

 

I will also be running an Energy Healing workshop in early Autumn using dowsing rods and healing pendulums so you can learn how to do this yourself!

 

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Healer/Teacher, Holistic Therapist and Spiritual Development Coach currently based at City Gate East in Nottingham city centre, NG1 5FS. Helen offers several healing treatments such as Reiki, Angelic Reiki, Faery Reiki, Angel Therapy and Crystal Healing; holistic therapies including Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Foot Massage, Hopi Ear Candles & Facials; as well as Usui Reiki and Faery Reiki training courses and angel card and tarot readings. She has been on the spiritual path for 18 years and has extensive knowledge of healing and the healing journey. For further information about her Reiki courses, therapies and workshops, please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or visit and ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics, Healing & Tarot.

 

HEALING: GETTING THE ISSUES OUT OF YOUR TISSUES

 

 

I’ve recently been reading a book about a clairvoyant’s view of the dying process (not as morbid as it sounds!) and an image of the last sight I had of my grandma, who died 5 years ago, popped into my mind. The image was of my nan sitting up in her hospital bed and me leaving the ward with the nagging feeling that it was the last time I would see her. At exactly the moment I thought of her I had a stab of pain in the left side of my upper back. Following this was the realisation that I’d been storing up all the guilt I’d felt about not being there for her at the end in my upper back (rear heart chakra). This was why I have an ongoing weakness in this area which causes me a lot of aches and pains. I had thought these pains were merely due to holding my arms out doing my therapy work but there was obviously more to it than that.

The late Louise L Hay has written a lot about the underlying mental/emotional causes of physical ailments and I think may even have coined the title phrase of this blog. I’ve also seen over my many years working as a therapist that the people with the most physical pain also have the most unresolved emotional pain. Healing of any kind (Reiki, spiritual healing, massage or other form of bodywork) aims to release this negative energy stored in the physical body. Only when it is released can real healing occur.

Over the last month I have given several Reiki treatments which show the healing that can occur when emotional pain is released. Details of three of them are given below:-

Reiki brings just the positive life changes the client needed!

This particular lady suffered with a lot of physical pain due to fibromyalgia and IBS but she booked a Reiki session to help her deal with the emotional pain and loss she was currently feeling. She was dealing with the grief of losing her mum two years before and was struggling to find purpose in her life and a sense of belonging. She was lonely as her health conditions meant she couldn’t work or get out much.

In addition to giving Reiki to all the painful areas in her physical body, I lifted a ‘heaviness’ off her heart chakra and did emotional releasing from the solar plexus and sacral chakras. The client actually felt the shift at her heart centre. We also released a lot of negative emotions stored in the lower back (rear sacral chakra), at which point she suddenly felt cold. This implies a shift has taken place on an emotional level.

All good stuff but it was what she reported to me the next day that made this session so remarkable. At a group meeting she attended after her Reiki session, she exchanged numbers with two ladies to meet for coffee/chat, she was invited to join a seated tai chi group and gong bath session she could manage physically and heard about various local coffee groups she could attend and meet new friends. She also noticed leaflets and posters for other groups she would like to try out in the future. She ended the day feeling much more optimistic than at the beginning.

So many coincidences and synchronistic events occurred following her treatment. I’m already convinced that the Universe brings us what we need rather than what we want and what this lady needed most of all for her healing was a whole new social life. When we tap into this universal energy source during Reiki, setting the intention and allowing it to heal us on all levels, we allow the Universe (or Spirit) to step in and guide our lives in the best possible direction. Her tummy was also blissfully calm after treatment!

 

Help for ME and Emotional Issues

This particular client suffers with ME and anxiety and had recently experienced the loss of an old friend. She had gone through two physically abusive relationships in the past, after which her health had “gone downhill”.

During treatment lots of energy flowed all around her head and rear third eye chakra where we store bad memories, fear, shock and negative perceptions. The client reported that she felt she could breathe again when I held the back of her head. An interesting experience occurred at her sacral chakra – the centre of our emotions and relationships with others. I had a strong intuition that I had to pull a cord out. This cord was to an ex who took away her personal power. When treating her left leg there was a sudden rush of energy up and down the leg like something had just been released. I sensed she had felt ‘disconnected’ from her legs before. A heavy sadness was released from her heart and sacral chakras.

After the treatment the client said that she often feels like she’s dragging her legs around “as if my legs aren’t really mine”. During treatment she also had thoughts and memories of the friend who had died. Afterwards she felt recharged, her abdomen felt nice and normal rather than weighed down and heavy and her whole body felt “as one”. When I saw this client again about 3 weeks later, she reported that she had felt better, with more energy, since I last saw her.

A powerful emotional release with Reiki

This lady had been feeling sad due to a relationship that wasn’t progressing as she had hoped. She had also suppressed her sadness following the ending of her previous relationship of 8 years.

During treatment a lot of energy flowed around her heart chakra, as well as the sacral chakra and a couple of physical areas. The client felt a shift in her chest during treatment, after which she could breathe a lot better. When this happens to such a noticeable degree that it affects breathing, it is a clear indication of the amount of tension caused by unresolved emotional pain stored in this area.

Her experiences that evening however were even more interesting. That night she slept for nearly 12 hours and the next day was very emotional, releasing all the tears that had been pent up for so long. She then found the courage to talk to her current boyfriend and they agreed it wasn’t a relationship with a future. In her words, something released at this point – she was no longer sad, either towards him or to her previous long term boyfriend. She really had released all the sadness and has emerged so much stronger.

 

Releasing emotional pain is, in many cases, the key to healing. So if you have been through an emotionally traumatic time or have long term health conditions which you feel may have an underlying emotional cause, please get in touch as a healing treatment may well benefit you too!

 

Notes:

1 hr Reiki treatment £33, half hr £18.

 

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Healer/Teacher, Meditation Teacher, Holistic Therapist and Tarot Consultant based at 15 Wheeler Gate in Nottingham city centre. Helen offers several healing treatments such as Reiki, Angelic Reiki, Faery Reiki, Angel Therapy, Fairy Blessing Guided Journey and Crystal Chakra Balancing; holistic therapies including Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Hopi Ear Candles & Facials; as well as Usui Reiki and Faery Reiki training courses and tarot readings. She has been on the spiritual path for 18 years and has extensive knowledge of healing and the healing journey. For further information about her Reiki courses, therapies and workshops, please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or visit and ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics & Healing.