Falling Asleep to Wellness: Exploring the Rise of Energy Healing
The pursuit of holistic wellbeing is driving a surge in popularity for practices like Reiki, as individuals seek alternative methods for emotional and physical relief. But what does it feel like to experience energy healing, and is it truly effective? One writer chronicles her experiences with two leading practitioners, navigating skepticism and a surprising tendency to drift off to sleep.
The mind doesn’t need to “know” the story in order for the healing to take place, explains Sama Trinder, a Reiki master and multidisciplinary “joyraiser.” It was after my second session with Trinder – and my second hour spent repeatedly falling asleep on her massage table – that she offered this reassurance. “Did you feel anything?” she asked gently, as I sat up, slightly disoriented.
We were in a cozy treatment room overlooking the Thames at Bingham Riverhouse in Richmond, a boutique hotel and private members’ club that Trinder took over from her parents in 2001, and which, since 2023, has also served as the base for Broher, an “eco wellbeing escape.” I confessed to being out for the count for most of the session. Trinder, unfazed, explained that conscious awareness isn’t a prerequisite for benefit.
Trinder described spending the session hovering her hands above my body, guided by intuition to various “chakras,” or energy centers. She noted a particular focus on my heart and throat chakras. “It’s not really me doing the healing, but energy coming through me,” she clarified, describing herself as a “conduit.” “You can feel energy and it’s like a magnetic force… I stay in a position until that force begins to soften, then move on to another area. It’s very intuitive and quite difficult to explain.”
Reiki and the Broader Landscape of Energy Healing
Reiki, developed in early 20th-century Japan, combines the Japanese words rei (meaning “universal”) and ki (meaning “vital energy” or “life force”). It’s just one practice within the broader, and often amorphous, field of energy healing, which aims to address both emotional and physical imbalances. Nieve Tierney, an energy coach, puts it succinctly: “I’m a healer but my lens is really guiding people how to master the energy they hold.”
While anecdotal evidence abounds, scientific validation remains a work in progress. A study published earlier this year in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management suggested Reiki might offer benefits in areas like alleviating chemotherapy symptoms, with participants reporting “relaxation, symptom reduction… gratitude, and a desire for further Reiki sessions.” However, researchers emphasize the need for more robust, placebo-controlled studies to confirm these findings.
Trinder, who integrates Reiki with sound healing, believes the practice can connect clients to something akin to a higher power – or, at the very least, to feelings of love and joy, a deliberate contrast to her “hellraiser” days in her 20s. During our session, she occasionally made skin contact, and spent a few minutes holding my feet at the end to “ground” me. I was also vaguely aware of the sounds of a shamanic drum and a crystal bowl, which she explained were intended to restore balance and enhance the Reiki energy’s effectiveness.
I left both sessions feeling relaxed, calm, and emotionally lighter. While I didn’t experience a dramatic “energetic shift” – not one noticeably different from a good massage – I certainly felt well cared for.
From Fashion to Frequency: A Modern Energy Coach
Snow Tierney, another Reiki master, brings a unique background to the practice. After 15 years as an art director and graphic designer working with brands like Max Mara and Anya Hindmarch, she now identifies as a “modern-day energy coach” focused on helping clients achieve a “vibe check that changes your frequency.” Tierney recently completed a sold-out Reiki residency at Soho House, and her clientele includes Olympic athletes, Hollywood actors, and international musicians.
I approached my first session with Tierney with a healthy dose of skepticism, particularly as it was to take place over Zoom. I worried the platform might create a technological barrier to my “vital life force.” However, Tierney pointed to quantum theory, which suggests energy can transcend space and time, and encouraged me to remain open. She shared a remarkable story of a Zoom client who, after 17 years without menstruation, experienced a period and, six months later, became pregnant following another Reiki session. “She calls it her reiki baby,” Tierney shared.
Tierney’s approach differs significantly from Trinder’s. It’s largely Zoom-based and more focused on self-empowerment. “I’m an energy healer but my lens is really guiding people how to look after and master the energy that they hold,” she explained, her voice as soft and flowing as her cotton blouse. She conducts sessions from a stylish, softly lit home office in northeast London.
During our session, Tierney guided me through a process of identifying how I allow negative energy to affect me and how I block the flow of energy from my heart. My “energy hygiene,” it seemed, needed improvement. Like the in-person experience, the virtual healing didn’t feel immediately transformative, but Tierney assured me the work is subtle, cumulative, and slow. She sensed a shift in my energy, which, even if I didn’t fully feel it myself, was encouraging. She also provided visualization techniques that I found genuinely helpful.
One technique involved imagining myself stepping into a giant disco ball before entering potentially draining environments, allowing negative energy to bounce off without affecting my own. Another, described as an “energy cafetière,” involved visualizing myself plunging negative energy from my body at the end of each day, releasing it back to the earth. “I release any energy that doesn’t belong to me and I give it to the earth beneath me,” I would repeat, finding it a surprisingly effective mood booster.
Whether I was truly “unblocking” anything remains uncertain. But the experience, and the tools provided, offered a sense of calm and a new perspective on managing my emotional wellbeing.
