Galactic Shaman mark Jason Donaldson, MAGALACTIC SHAMAN | BREATH & ENERGY GUIDE
What Is Energy Healing?, an opening circle before breathwork

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Glossary

What Is Energy Healing?

Energy healing is a practice that works with the body's subtle energy field through touch, intention or ceremony. See how it works and who practices it.

Energy healing is a practice built on the idea that the body carries a subtle energy field alongside its physical structure, and that working with that field, through touch, intention, sound or ceremony, can support relaxation, emotional release and a felt sense of balance. It complements, and does not replace, medical or mental health care.

a blue star cluster

How it works in practice

Most energy healing sessions involve a practitioner working with their hands near or on the body, often combined with intention, guided breath, or objects like stones, oils or sound. Jason's version, Sekhem energy healing, works through what's described as the soul chakra above the head and the earth chakra below the feet, with channeled energy, sage, cedar and Egyptian oils. Experiences with Sekhem vary from person to person. Clients have described feelings of deep relaxation, warmth, emotional release, greater clarity, peacefulness, and a stronger sense of connection with themselves. Some people also describe physical sensations or shifts during or following a session. These experiences are personal and are not presented as expected or guaranteed outcomes. The work is complementary, never a treatment, and Jason is direct about that limit: "I am merely the channel. They do the work."

Energy healing traditions vary widely in origin and technique, but most share a few common elements: a practitioner trained in a specific lineage, a structured session with a beginning, a working phase and a closing or grounding period, and an emphasis on the client's own capacity to heal rather than the practitioner doing something to a passive recipient. Jason describes this dynamic plainly in his own sessions, framing himself as a channel for energy rather than the source of the healing itself.

How it differs from Reiki and Sekhem specifically

Energy healing is the umbrella term. Reiki is one well-known form of it. Sekhem is an older, Egyptian-lineage practice sometimes called Egyptian Reiki, and it is not the same tradition as Reiki, even though the two share some similarities. See Sekhem vs Reiki for the specific differences, or read what Reiki is if you're researching that tradition specifically.

What Is Energy Healing?: a group breathwork gathering in Hawai'i
A group breathwork gathering in Hawai'i.

Who energy healing tends to help

People come to energy healing for a wide range of reasons: general stress, feeling stuck or disconnected, curiosity about a spiritual practice, or as a complement to other work they're already doing, whether that's clinical mental health care, bodywork, or their own meditation practice. It isn't a fit for everyone, and it isn't positioned as a first-line answer to a medical or mental health crisis. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 in the US for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline rather than booking an energy healing session.

Frequently asked questions

Does energy healing treat illness?

No. Energy healing is complementary and does not diagnose, treat or resolve any medical or mental health condition. It supports wellbeing alongside, not instead of, professional care.

What happens in a typical energy healing session?

Sessions usually involve grounding, intention setting, and hands-on or hands-near-body work from the practitioner, often with sound, oils or channeled messages, followed by a debrief.

Sekhem, Egyptian-lineage energy healing, 90 minutes.

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