Have you had the experience of “waking up” at some point during your day and realizing you hadn’t been fully present until that moment? It can be startling and also clarifying, like when the optometrist clicks that just-right lens into place. Experiencing clear vision brings the realization that up until that point you’d been seeing everything blurry.

This painting hung over the sofa in my maternal grandparents' apartment, and as a child I found it spooky and unsettling. Odd colors, unnameable forms, and that enigmatic eye... it was deeply imprinted in my mind. When my grandmother passed away in the spring, I asked to have the painting. Not because I "liked" it, but because it made me think of her, my grandfather, and the apartment they lived in since 1946. When I took it home and unwrapped it I was bracing myself to feel some regret, worried that it would be too creepy or just make me sad. Instead, seeing it outside of my grandparents' apartment for the first time, I was awestruck.

I think a big part of the solace that energy healing provides is this feeling of being seen and understood. . In an intuitive session wounds, battles, defenses, and strengths are transmitted and received, subtly and yet fully, without judgment or analysis or rehashing, and that alone can be deeply relieving.

As we slog through another pandemic-y February, how are your self-care strategies holding up? At this point you might have a handy list of mood-balancing practices — get fresh air, put down the phone, talk to a friend, do some movement, drink water, eat with intention — and yet ... maybe some new tools would be welcome?

Looking ahead, I'm thinking of something the late beloved poet Mary Oliver wrote: "Attention is the beginning of devotion." I like the reminder that paying attention to something or someone — giving time, curiosity, interest, focus — can be a sacred act, a form of love. And yet there's a warning in there, too: what we pay attention to we elevate and invest with significance, whether intentionally or not.

In this season of gift-giving, sharing, and generosity, we have an opportunity to practice gracious receiving. Receiving plays just as vital a role in the flow of abundance as giving. Instead of brushing off a compliment, a simple and sincere "Thank you!" fulfills and nourishes the exchange. If someone offers help, notice whether and where you feel resistance. See how it feels to accept the offer at face value without presuming any complicated intentions or consequences.

I want to share a visualization technique I've been using and recommending more and more lately for when you need to summon your own inner power and presence, for example when preparing for a challenging situation or an encounter with a difficult person or group, or just when you're feeling depleted and low and need to call up your best self. I think of it as "turning up my volume."

With Thanksgiving around the corner and the winter holidays looming, gratitude is in the air. And so is fear, anxiety, resentment, judgment...there is just so much fodder for intense emotions this time of year. It's a particularly great time to work with gratitude as a tool for healing. The more familiar I get with gratitude's energetic qualities, the more integral it becomes to my practice.

I was giving an energy healing session to a dying man a few years ago, and when I suggested some meditative energy balancing exercises for him to do on his own after the session, he joked, "For my longevity, right?" I had to catch my breath for a moment before being able to respond, "Well maybe, but certainly for your sanity!"

That moment clarified for me one of the most salient differences between a medical and a holistic approach to wellness, and what we mean when we talk about "healing."

In holistic approaches, healing isn't necessarily about "curing" a disease or ailment, or even about prolonging life; it's about being able to live with more clarity, authenticity, balance, and ease, no matter the circumstances. We don't get to choose what happens to our physical bodies, and there's no way to prevent all illness and injury, yet we can choose how we experience illness and other challenges. We can be "healed"— whole, integrated, at peace — even when it might not look that way from the outside.

One afternoon in November of 2016, I volunteered to be a practice client for a life coach training program. At the time I was phasing out my writing and editing work, which had crossed the line from "work" into "drudgery," and I was struggling to identify and articulate a new professional direction. I was starting to play with the idea of doing energy healing professionally, but I couldn't quite take the next step or figure out why I was so hesitant about it.