“So, what exactly is Alternative Healing?” I’ve been asked this question many times over the years. At first, I didn’t know how to answer, but in time, as I explored more and more healing ways, my response got evident.
A lot of people are confused about the different forms of healing, and let’s face it, there are so many to choose from! Confusion makes choosing the right modality for the right reasons difficult, so I came up with a structure – a framework – that I’ve found really helpful when
answering the question, “Which alternative healing modality is right for me?”
My goal with this article is to give you that framework.
Whether you’re dealing with physical pain, seeking emotional healing, want to balance or boost your energy, or wish to help others, you’ll find this simple framework very helpful.
By the time you finish reading, you’ll know:
- what kinds of alternative healing modalities are available
- how you can organize these modes in a way that makes sense
- how you can choose the right method (s) for you
So read on, and please leave a comment with your thoughts once you’ve finished.
Spirit, Mind, and Body
Real and lasting healing is a holistic, integrative affair. When we give or receive healing,
it comes through one of three gateways to our being:
- the Spirit Gateway- associated with the energy healing
- the Mind Gateway- associated with the mental/emotional healing
- the Body Gateway- associated with the physical healing
Our Spirit, Mind, and Body are deeply connected. This is why, when we have illness or imbalance in one, there’s a good chance problems are going to show up in another eventually. In other words, one part of us can’t remain out of whack without throwing the others off-balance. We see this most often when emotional wounds, over time, become physically debilitating, or when a prolonged physical problem leads to depression.
Shamanic healers have long understood this principle, often traveling into the realm of the spirit to affect physical or mental healing. Louise Hay, whose brilliant book You Can Heal Your Life, is based on this very principle, has worked for decades helping people heal physical disease (body) by making peace with painful emotional wounds (spirit) or destructive thought patterns (mind).
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The Three Gateways of Alternative Healing
In the world of alternative healing, different modalities tend to be associated with and move through one of these three gateways in order to heal the whole of our being. Let’s have a closer look at them.
1. The Spirit Gateway
Energy healing arts like Reiki, chakra balancing, Matrix Energetics, or aura cleansing (to name just a very few) all reach us through the Spirit Gateway. They move from the energy body of one person into the energy body of another. Energy healing can be done at any distance because energy isn’t bound by the physical limitations of space or time.
2. The Mind Gateway
Alternative healing methods like hypnotherapy, past life regression, and EFT reach us through the Mind Gateway. These modalities help us heal by changing our habits of mind (our thoughts and perceptions), which powerfully impact how we feel about ourselves and our lives.
As we now know, thanks to Quantum Physics and the Law of Attraction, what we think about, and how it makes us feel are how we create our reality. We can literally create dis-ease through prolonged, habitually negative thinking.
Healing through the Mind Gateway can be an instantaneous thing – when we literally ‘change our minds’ and it sticks. But more often, we employ a therapist or system to help us make the shift.
3. The Body Gateway
Massage, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and even western, allopathic treatments reach us through the Body Gateway.
Of the three gateways, this one requires the physical presence – and often the touch – of a healer. That ‘healer’ can be a person, or it can be a plant ally we take to nourish ourselves.
Which One is For Me?
Now that you have this framework, you may feel drawn to one gateway more than the other two. Excellent! You’ve got your first big clue to the question, “Which alternative healing system is right for me?”
But remember, we are whole beings, each made up of Spirit, Mind, and Body. This is why I recommend that you focus on the one that resonates most with you, but be sure to give some time and energy to healing methods in the other two gateways as well.
In fact, the very best thing you can do is expose yourself to as many different healing methods as possible so you can figure out which works best for you. And this is why I’m so happy to have you here at the Healer’s Way. I’m going to share with you as many different modalities as possible, and I promise it will be nourishing, useful, and engaging!
