In an ideal world we would go for a healing and feel wonderful immediately afterwards. Unfortunately there is sometimes a clearing out phase after healing that may feel quite unpleasant for a day or two. This is commonly called a healing crisis.

An analogy that is sometimes used to explain a healing crisis is to imagine a pond. The water can look fairly clear on the surface, but you can see lots of junk that has collected on the bottom of the pond which is polluting the water. You want to clear it out so you start hauling out old boots and cans, but as you do so the quality of the water muddies and the pond temporarily looks awful. You know that if you let the water settle back down it will clear naturally in a day or two and will be clearer than before.

Healers can sometimes haul out the ‘old boots’ from your energy system, but in the process your energy gets stirred up and you can feel murky just like the pond. It can take a little while for your energy to settle back down again during which time you may notice diverse symptoms which are due to the energetic detoxification process.

Here are some of common symptoms of a healing crisis:
Feeling cold and shivery
Tearfulness
Belching
Loose and/or smelly bowel movements
Frequent need to urinate
Vomiting
Smelly flatulence
Flu like symptoms
Feeling very tired
Generally feeling ‘under the weather’

If you suffer symptoms like these immediately after a healing or on the next day then you are probably experiencing a healing crisis. Don’t panic as these phenomena should improve by themselves within 24-48 hours. You would normally be best advised to rest as much as possible, stay warm and drink water to help flush the old energies out of your system. You may also help things along by taking a cleansing bath or shower. Your therapist will usually be interested in these symptoms, so let them know what is happening.

If you are concerned about your symptoms at any time do consult a physician and get a medical check up. It is possible to develop an illness that just happens to coincide with a healing you had. It wouldn’t be very therapeutic to confuse the onset of appendicitis with a healing crisis for example!

Releasing stuck and unhelpful energy can usually be achieved over time with minimal disruption and side effects for the client. I would never deliberately provoke a healing crisis, but sometimes a big shift happens and the body wants to release the problem all at once.

Occasionally someone gets up from my treatment couch feeling ice cold and shivering and I know that some very deep shifts in their energy have occurred. I’ll give them a blanket to wrap around themselves and some extra recovery time before they leave, plus a hot drink if they want one. The chilliness normally passes quite quickly.

It is very normal for a client to need to use the bathroom immediately after a session as the flushing out can begin quickly. I take this as a good sign. On rarer occasions they may need to vomit. This isn’t pleasant but it is one of the ways that the body can get rid of toxicity very quickly. I’ve experienced this myself several times after I’ve received profound healing.

Some of my most remarkable and memorable healings had unpleasant after effects for a day or two afterwards. One lady wanted to get pregnant and had been trying with no success. After a healing she contacted me to tell me that she’d had such vile smelling flatulence the next day that she’d had to leave meetings. She described the smell as, “The Devil’s own.” That month she became pregnant. I believe the congested and stagnant energy that had been stuck around her sacral chakra and womb area had been preventing pregnancy and shifting these energies through healing resulted in the need to release them quickly from her system. A case of short term embarrassment for long term gain!

The most dramatic healing crisis that I am aware of occurred in a client who was due to have a gallbladder operation because she had gallstones. During the healing I focussed on the area that was giving her discomfort and we did some visualisation together imagining the stones dissolving and clearing. Afterwards she contacted me to say she had been experiencing black vomit and diarrhoea. That sounded extreme and I asked her to visit her doctor to get a check up as the references I found to black in stools indicated internal bleeding. She was convinced that she was having a major clear out, however she did visit the doctor and he confirmed there was no bleeding. On later examination the gallbladder had cleared itself and she no longer needed surgery.

As it is very hard to predict whether anyone will experience a healing crisis after their treatment it is wise to book healings when you can rest and relax afterwards. Resting also allows the body to rebalance itself more effectively and to integrate any changes that have occurred during the healing. If you do experience a healing crisis remember that your body is ridding itself of unpleasant energies and this is part and parcel of your healing. Keep a note of what occurs and how you feel after the symptoms have passed.