If I mention the term intuitive healer, would it sound familiar to you or a bit unconventional? For the unfamiliar, this type of healer is someone who listens to our unspoken needs by connecting with a source energy. No, not a source of energy, a source energy. Never heard of that either? I’ll explain.
Holly Hughes, an energy healer based in Matthews, describes source energy as an external source — God, goddess, the divine, universe, etc. These sources of higher power vary and may resonate differently with individuals, Hughes explains. No two people, their experiences or beliefs are identical, so it’s important to keep this in mind as one wades gradually into the world of healing practices. Intuitive healers listen deeply to receive guidance from these external sources about what we may need to remove blockages, whether mental, emotional, physical or spiritual for optimal healing.
I booked my first healing appointment with Holly the energy healer seeking answers to my many elusive, existential questions. But perhaps I am also looking to diversify perspectives that traditional talk therapy doesn’t fulfill. Holly specializes in relationship difficulties, self-sabotaging behavior, and transition uncertainties along with past trauma, anger and pain. In my initial email communication with her I misstepped by assuming areas of my life I need help with. She course-corrected by explaining she would intuitively know areas of struggle when we met in person, and to let her do the work, to which I said, “Yes ma’am!”
Joining Holly in her space on a Saturday afternoon felt like meeting up with a friend; she was warm-hearted and inviting. We cozily sat across from one another for a general meet and greet. She allowed me to record our session and admitted she may not remember everything she said due to calling in guidance from an external source. Sadly, that source is for her own use. I didn’t get to meet my guides that day. Maybe I’ll save that topic for our next session.
A key takeaway from my hour-long healing session, from my hastily taken notes, involved how to protect myself as an empath. According to psychalive.org: “Empaths are highly sensitive individuals, who have a keen ability to sense what people around them are thinking and feeling. Psychologists may use the term empath to describe a person that experiences a great deal of empathy, often to the point of taking on the pain of others at their own expense. If being an empath sounds exhausting, I can assure you it is.
Side effects of being an empath include having a big heart, which leads to absorbing others’ emotions and attracting negative energy. Holly broke it down for me: Because I have such a considerate nature I can easily be taken advantage of. People gravitate toward empaths because of their approachability, but this doesn’t mean I have to hold their baggage or become a human doormat. During our session, I learned that I need to approach situations “with more teeth.” This means to speak up and be heard, in my personal and professional lives. But this also means I need to let go of the fear of offending anyone. Basically, fuck everyone else; I’m working on a new me.
As Joe Rogan stated, “There’s a direct correlation between positive energy and positive results.” If I can set boundaries in a positive manner, my personal growth will be nurtured and respected by people meant to be in my life. Relationships will shift in tandem with my energy. I view this as a potentially painful process because growth hurts! Walking toward the pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow sometimes means walking away from people and habits I’ve outgrown. I’m ready to let that shit go, so see ya!
After our talk, I laid on what looked like a massage table for the energy healing portion of our session. I should also mention this was my favorite part, simply because it was so relaxing. Below the table sat an amethyst pyramid, supposedly a power stone meant to open the spiritual and psychic centers. To a layperson like myself, it’s just really pretty.
Here Holly guided me through a meditation practice to help close my crown chakra, important for blocking extra or potentially harmful energies. Remember, I’m setting boundaries, and closing certain chakras can lead to a sense of protection and inner calm.
If you’re dealing with relationship dilemmas, looking to get to the root of personal issues, life transitions, or self-forgiveness, why not explore your options with an intuitive healer? Just be prepared for the price tag if your insurance doesn’t cover alternative therapies.
Healers like Holly may not be able to “fix” you, but they can provide a sense of restoration by reconnecting us with our inner self: our core values, belief systems, and personal intentions. I view it as a form of counseling or life coaching — tools for resolving personal, social, or psychological road bumps. And if you’re like me, you may even suffer from a nice, unhealthy mix of all of the above.
Read past Seeker columns here.
This work by Queen City Nerve is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
