During the last ten years, there has been a marked shift in attitude to using alternative modalities in healing and alleviating pain and/or illness.
No longer pigeon holed as ‘something you do in Byron Bay’, Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Naturopathy and Homeopathy, have now virtually become mainstream. With an assortment of alternate therapies now available, some more out there than others, people from all walks of life have begun to use them to complement western medicine.
The Fitness Industry has long been banging on about the mind and body connection, but still the scientific nature of exercise keeps some sceptics from venturing forth to dabble in alternate therapies.
As someone who is open to giving most modalities a shot, I recently visited SoulSpace, a natural healing centre offering treatments such as Holistic Counselling, SandPlay Therapy, Shamanic Healing and Crystal Light Bed Therapy (CLBT) to name a few. I give my mind and body over to the new experience of CLBT to see what it does for my physical and emotional wellness.
I meet yoga teacher and Crystal Light Bed Therapy practitioner, Emma Lascelles, who is a convert after trying different modalities before settling on CLBT a few years ago. Similar to Reiki, Emma claims that CLBT can be beneficial for physical (illness, disease, injury, condition), mental (busyness, apathy, addictions, depression), emotional (fear, grief, anger) or spiritual (confusion, questioning, seeking) issues, rebalancing and recharging the mind and body. She explains that the experience can be very different for everyone and if the person is stressed and in need of a relaxing experience it can be likened to being in a beautifully warm bath and can initiate a very deep level of relaxation and release of stress.
While some clients say they feel light and revitalised, many clients have reported improvements in sleeping patterns and a general lasting calmness. “Others with injuries or illness can experience slight discomfort on the bed as the energies held within the body causing the issue to linger are released,” Emma says. “There can also be more bizarre experiences like a client last week who said she felt like she had been on a psychedelic carpet ride, and another who had seen images of a friendly tiger.”
After filling out a form and a quick chat with Emma, I lie on a bed much like a massage table under seven clear polished quartz crystals that are suspended about 30 cm above me. Each crystal is aligned above one of the seven chakras (energy centres in the body), and has a corresponding coloured light that flashes through the crystal to the chakra (each chakra is defined by it’s own colour). Peeking from behind my eye mask, the flashing lights remind me of a 1980s blue light disco and without getting too ‘healy feely’, the very same flashing crystal lights are cleansing, energising, and balancing my chakras as I relax. Emma talks me into a meditation to calm my monkey mind before I drift off to sleep.
Although classified as a pseudoscience, cultures such as the Hopi Indians and the Hawaiian Islanders have historically used crystal-healing methods for centuries. In the 1900s, research scientist and inventor Marcel Vogel, created the faceted quartz crystal, validating that indeed crystal energy is beneficial in therapeutic applications.
But the premise behind CLBT has its origins from John of God. The famous medium’s headquarters at the Casa De Dom Inacio in Brazil, is more or less a pilgrimage site where thousands of accounts of healing have been reported.
I don’t want to lose you here so I won’t go into the spiritual side, but lets just say it’s got to do with spirit guides.
So how did I feel after the session? Well, I didn’t take a psychedelic carpet ride, but I did feel floaty at first with an intense pressure through my skull. My inability to take a full breath at yoga during the past few days had been alleviated about 15 minutes in, when I felt an extraordinary instant release and opening through my chest and lungs. Emma tells me she can feel a blockage in my solar plexus and in the left side of my body, and explaining in laymans terms what they relate to, she actually hit the nail right on the head regarding my emotional issues. In terms of what happened later that day, I felt more relaxed and to be honest, intrigued. “When a few of your friends all have amazing experiences you can’t pass it off as a placebo effect or a mind trick or even relaxation,” says Emma. There might just be some truth in that.
Want to try Crystal Light Bed Therapy? For a limited time your first 60-minute session is free. To find out more click here.
Article by Toni Krasicki.