As healers we are always happy to assist in the healing path. Nothing can be as rewarding as being able to support someone on their path to becoming well. There comes a time in every journey however, when healing into perfect physical health isn’t possible anymore, but that doesn’t mean healing can’t still be done. In palliative care we are faced with situations where death is imminent and beyond our control to change. In palliative care we attend to the client with an intention to support and facilitate transition. From an energy worker’s perspective there are some unique points to consider.
Every manifestation of life force emits a frequency of vibration. Strong healthy systems have fine, high frequencies and weakened, diseased systems have dense, low frequencies. Even in dying it is important to try to achieve as high a state of vibration as possible. Ideally, a person is able to transition into death peacefully, joyfully and easily without fear. By introducing a high vibration to any weakened system we encourage it to vibrate at a more healthful frequency. What that means in palliative care is that while we may not be able to facilitate healing of the physical body we are still able to give support to the spiritual aspect, calm the mind of fear and anxiety, stimulate clarity and peacefulness and encourage deep restfulness and even less pain.
How to Help
Your role as a Palliative Care Giver is to provide support. Sometimes that means just being present, or just listening, and at other times it is to give care on a physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual level. It is our way to communicate through the mind. We try to logically think our way through to a solution to a problem or situation. In the practice of Reiki we try to feel our way. This is not to be confused with emotional feeling. We learn to feel with all our senses including our intuition. We are all more sensitive than we want to believe. Science is showing us these days that everything is connected on an unseen level and everything has influence over everything else. In health care it is proven that healing is more possible when people are loved and supported than in situations where they are not. There are only two basic things to remember when caring for others in a palliative situation:
1. Provide a stable safe environment for your client.
This is the first tenement of any healing session and this is not lessened in palliative care. It is the practitioner’s role and responsibility to provide a noninvasive, non-threatening safe environment for the client. Ironically, in as much as people want support they are very sensitive to others being too close. People who are dying cannot be expected to deal with care-givers that become too attached. This is often very difficult for people to put into words and it is an instinctual, intuitive feeling they have and can’t explain. The responsibility rests on the shoulders of the care-giver to be conscious of keeping appropriate space, giving support but not creating emotional attachment.
2. Keep yourself safe and productive.
Working with others that are walking the line between life and death can be a difficult and overwhelming experience for care-givers. It is very important for the care-giver to be aware of the energetic demands another may have on them, and to keep themselves safe. It is very necessary to practice compassion and but also to understand compassion as an attitude of caring detachment. People who are transitioning may suddenly become afraid to leave even when it is painful to stay. Keep yourself grounded and safe by using the Reiki symbols to strengthen your field of energy, to stay mentally clear and compassionate to the highest good in the situation for your client. caregiver agencies