Energy Healing and Side Effects
I am a big supporter of people seeking out a variety of services to heal and work towards on-going growth and progress. Aside from taking care of our physical health, I encourage body, energy, and counseling services. Our bodies are the warehouse for so much and sometimes, we need to help to ‘release’ patterns, trapped emotion, and memories that no longer serve us.
That being said, I recently attended a training. The facilitator is a healer and I was intuitively drawn to scheduling a session with her. At my first session, she asked what I wanted to focus on and/or what I was hoping to achieve from the session. I heard myself say “I know you have answers to questions I have and answers to questions i did not know that I had.” My request was to allow what needed to come forward and I would ask questions as needed. The session was insightful, powerful and helpful. The practitioner uses stones as part of her practice and can shift energy. I felt the energy shifts in session and left feeling euphoric and grounded.
I continued my day as normal and noted feeling queasy, which I simply attributed to a busy day and not eating as I am accustomed. I fatigued that night and nearly crawled to bed. I awoke in the middle of the night sweaty and super nauseous. I began to worry that I may have a stomach bug but nothing ever materialized.
The following days I noted a host of various emotional and physical complaints and discomforts. I also observed the sudden onset of the discomforts (e.g. sudden fatigue, a raging headache out of no where). As a practitioner myself, especially upholding the mind-body connection, I FINALLY realized that I was not sick but experiencing side effects from the session.
Energy work is akin to trauma work. It activates the person on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. It is greatly beneficial to resolve past trauma, integrate experiences, clear energy blocks and facilitate intuitive growth. Great insights and movement in energy and in person can generate quite intense and uncomfortable sensations as the person integrates it all into their being. This is not to discourage such work but to prepare a person to be patient and prioritize self-care as their being acclimates to the clearing and healing.
Here are some common side effects of such work:
- Nausea
- Night sweats and sleep disturbances
- Fatigue and feeling emotional drained
- Mood fluctuations (e.g. free floating emotions)
- Dizziness and feeling light-headed
- Yawning
- Stomach feeling bloated or bubbly
- Increase elimination (urination, sweating, burping, sneezing, bowels, etc)
- Blurred vision
- Reddening of the face
- Flu like symptoms
- Feeling tingling, burning, or currents in body
The period that one experiences such symptoms, as well as their intensity, can really vary. It is quite evident to me that this session hit some core level themes and my being was working hard to accommodate all the new information. It is helpful to allow for more quiet time, meditation, drinking of water, and healthy eating to ease oneself through this process. It can prove difficult to allow and surrender to such processes but the lack of resistance actually helps to minimize the impact. In many ways, the healing process really symbolizes the full spectrum of life and the inherent need for discomfort and comfort. We need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
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Hi Joanna,
I went through a sound therapy (with bell) over 2 weeks ago and I have been suffering of upset tummy (bloated) following session. As you mentioned this as a side effect for energy work, I was wondering how long these effects lasts for you. I am getting anxious as its impacting my daily routines and my eating as I feel bloated after every meal. I am following up with my gastro specialist to run deeper examinations to rule out any anomaly to my tummy. Please reach me over email.
Hi! It lasted for several days. When there are big energy shifts, there can be large physical shifts as the body is trying to acclimate. Drinking a lot of water is really helpful but I have known some people to struggle for days to weeks. Also, as our body heals, it may respond more negatively to prior food choices
I just had my second session and it’s been a not so good one with the side effects. I’ve been so bloated and nauseous, dizzy extremely moody. I’ve had bouts of blurred vision and numbness in my fingers. It’s been two days since my session I hope this goes away.
Drink lots of water, rest, and try grounding techniques. It is sometimes helpful to reach out to the healer too to ask for recommendations on self care too. Energy shifts in the body can be hard to tolerate and most healers have their go to suggestions to help with that.
Hi there,
I have heart palpitations and I was curious to see if crystal bowl sound healing is something I should avoid. I have been trying to research this as I love crystal bowl sound healing and want to continue but also don’t want to make it worse. Can you help answer this?
Spirit energy is fast moving and it is common for our bodies to actually feel uncomfortable when it comes in. Use your intuition. Just be mindful of that uncomfortable does not always mean ‘bad’ or negative. One thing to try is to exhale deeply and state your intent to RELEASE all that does not serve you. See if that helps minimize the discomfort.
This was comforting to read. I had my first energy cleansing session last night, and after the first chakra grounding/clearing, my legs started to ache & almost burn, my feet felt weird, and I got very restless which made the rest of the meditations somewhat difficult. Today I’m quite tired, nauseous, and kind of emotionally numb. Good to know I’m not losing it.
Yes, the physical body tries to accommodate it and it can feel very uncomfortable. Hoping you are feeling on the other side of this now.
So, I’ve been trying to get into the practise of meditation and learning about chakras, and have tried to ‘cleanse’ certain energy blockages all while going through a stressful week. This has all been done without formal guidance from a healer/facilitator, which may have been detrimental? Less than ideal? Anyhow, I’ve been experiencing tingling sensations starting from my feet going upwards (felt mostly in the back rather than the front of my body) and an almost shaky/floaty feeling. At first I thought it was just my body’s physical response to stress or bad posture, but as I’ve never experienced this before, I’m wondering if it’s related to something more… energetic.
All healing is really self-healing. There is no harm to practicing meditation on your own. Sometimes we feel the energy of our body shift. Clearing can allow for increased energy flow through us. Sometimes, we may receive what are called ‘downloads’, which is information quickly. It can make us feel lightheaded and energy moves quickly, so we can feel jittery and almost anxious when it is flowing strongly through us.
One thing to try is to breathe out and fling your hands, stating “I release that which does not serve me”. It can also be helpful to receive energy, messages and healing in a manner that is safe for you. We can get A LOT and it can overwhelm our physical bodies. Before meditating, set the intent that all healing be guided by ___ and in a manner that serves you most.
I am so glad I found this. I went through a spirtual blessing of sorts last night with a church group. I felt awful last night and still do. Multiple bowel movements, mood instability, feeling shaky. Thought I was going crazy.
i am practicing meditation in morning 4.30 AM and night 10.30 PM ,since march 2020 the thing is since almost 2 months
i am having a bowling problem , earlier after awakening in the morning my first steps used to go to bloat only , but now its so irregular that for 2 or 3 days i am unable to and even the gas (fath)problem has started due to which i am unable to spend longer time with any one , kindly suggest some solution , my hunger and all other things look normal only .
Hi,
So on Wednesday I listened to a healing sound called cleansing aura.
After listening to it, I felt nauseous, had a big headache, blurry vision…. It kind of scared me.
The next day, I felt no anxiety, but felt a little disoriented, or like I couldn’t concentrate anymore. Today, I feel exactly the same but with fatigue and headache. Is it normal? Or did I do something wrong? I feel like my head will never go back to “normal” again. It is like I cannot think anymore, like my brain has freeze. Help please!
In a sound healing I was unable to move my arm twice in the session. What is the meaning of this?