Spirit in Business II

Where Are The Healers?
Elizabeth Tobin

“The planet does not need more successful people.  The planet desperately needs
more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds.”
…

You have probably seen this quote attributed to the Dalai Lama.  This sounds great!  But it begs the question: Why aren’t more people healers?

I think the answer lies in the quote itself.  It seems to imply that being successful and being a healer are mutually exclusive.  And this view isn’t held by just the 9 to 5, climb the corporate ladder, run the rat race proponents.  Surprisingly, it’s held by healers themselves.

So I did some informal research and looked for statistics on just how many healers actually make enough money to support themselves from their healing practice.  I couldn’t find any hard and fast numbers.  In fact, I couldn’t find any numbers at all.

But I did find some on-line forums where people discussed this very topic.

The vast majority of the responses were from people who are doing their energy healing work as a hobby or very part-time, in addition to their full-time job.  In fact, they didn’t think it was possible to actually earn their living through energy healing.  And furthermore, most of the respondents felt it was unethical to charge for their services.   Hmmm.

An Interesting Distinction

I found it interesting that people made a distinction between modalities that are more “spiritual” such as Reiki, and more “clinical” modalities such as Acupuncture.  For some reason people feel it is okay to charge for Acupuncture, yoga and massage, but they see charging for Reiki and other spiritual based healing methods as offensive.

As one Reiki practitioner put it, “To take money for connecting to the source somehow offends me.  Using that connection to calm or relieve pain for a client while I am doing some other service works for me.  I kind of think we should all do God’s/ the Source’s/Mother Earth’s work for free.  But alas we must eat and put roofs over our heads and shots for our dogs.”

As a spiritual entrepreneur who earns my living from my energy healing practice, I understand this conflict.  I get it.  I would much rather be in a position to give away my services than to have to charge money for them.  It would be so much easier not to have to deal with money.  But alas, indeed; we do need to eat.

Are You a Money Monk? 

This world-view actually has a name.  It’s called the “Money Monk.”  I know this because I had to clear it within myself in order to build my business.  In fact, I see this program running in so many talented, yet frustrated, would-be professional healers that I developed a Repatterning to clear Money Monk Karma.

Money Monks believe that money is bad, dirty and profane – that you can’t have money if you’re on a spiritual path.  They’ve bought into the whole “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” line.  This may be a conscious belief or it may be lurking in their unconscious, and it thwarts them from establishing a successful healing practice.

Money Monks are usually focused on helping the world and humanity.  But their money woes keep them from giving at the level they’d really like.   Because they are spiritual, Money Monks think they have transcended the desire for money.  But the irony is that struggling to pay the bills takes up a good portion of their time and energy.

What Money Monks don’t understand is that there is a connection between their ability to manifest money and their ability to wield their own personal power.  Therefore, they don’t feel comfortable wielding their personal power, saying “No,” and setting boundaries.  Most Money Monks have deep guilt and shame around receiving and deep down don’t feel worthy and deserving of having their needs met.

The challenge for the Money Monk is to master the right use of their power and to trust themselves to wield their power with integrity.

The gift of the Money Monk is that they are loving, altruistic, spiritually evolved and concerned with the highest good of all.  Imagine if they could integrate their Money Monk aspects?  With adequate financial resources they could really do some good in the world!

Money Monks are commonly healers, lightworkers and artists that have taken a karmic vow of poverty which now needs to be released if we are to fulfill the Dalai Lama’s vision of having more “peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds.”

It’s an Ongoing Process

While clearing your own personal Money Monk Karma is key, it isn’t enough.  Don’t get me wrong; it’s an important piece that would free up a lot of people to follow their true heart’s desire.  But you also have to clear your family and societal programming.  This is an ongoing process.

I remember when I first launched my business back in 2001, some irate guy sent me a flaming email.  In addition to calling me a number of expletives, he accused me of being a snake oil peddler!  Reading that email was like a poison arrow to my heart and a punch in the gut all at the same time.  Whoa!  I was visibly shaken.

But I also knew that this email was a gift because there was a reason why I attracted this guy’s violent reaction.  It was an opportunity for me to clear my own patterns around doubting my work and deep down feeling like a fraud.  So I sat down and did a Resonance Repatterning session to clear these patterns.

The More the Merrier?  Not! 

Another idea that people have about what it takes to build a successful practice is that you have to offer multiple specialties to people.  I’ve seen this among my own clients, friends and colleagues.   For some reason, knowing just one healing method isn’t enough; people think they have to get certified in multiple methods.

For example, I know healers who got certified in massage therapy as a way to bring clients in the door.  They soon discover that they are attracting people who want massage and not people who want energy work.  So they get stuck doing massage because the money is good, when their true passion is giving energy healing sessions.

I am living proof that you can offer just one specialty and make a living doing that.  I got my certification in Resonance Repatterning in 2001 and that’s the only service I offer.  There’s something to be said about learning just one healing system and becoming an expert in that.

Of course, once you’ve mastered that one method, then you can add more.  But be careful that you’re not a serial seminar taker who spends more time collecting certifications than building your practice.

You Get What You Pay For 

One of the great perks about being a healer is that you get to know other healers and can exchange sessions with each other.  But if you want people to pay you for your services, you need to walk your talk and pay for sessions with a practitioner who is doing this work as their livelihood.

You can’t expect people to pay you for the very thing that you’re not willing to pay for yourself.

 There’s another reason why it’s important to receive sessions from a successful, professional practitioner.  As the client, you entrain to the practitioner’s higher energy state.  So, doesn’t it make sense to receive sessions from a professional practitioner that is resonating with and has already manifested a successful practice?

 Avoiding the Real Issue – If You Build It Will They Really Come???

When I first started building my practice I thought that if I did my own inner work and cleared my personal, family, societal and karmic blocks then my business would grow in proportion to the state of my own energetic coherence.   And this is true.  But it will only take you so far.

Action is the bridge between intention and manifestation and how you market yourself can make all the difference.  There are proven sales and marketing techniques that can really help you increase the amount of people who actually sign on and pay you for your services.  And you need to learn these in order to be successful.  I’ve spent thousands of dollars investing in my sales, marketing and business education.  Believe me.  It was worth every penny.

The fact is that most energy healers shy away from learning this essential business building step.  You have to put yourself out there.  And how you put yourself out there can make all the difference between spinning your wheels and getting real results that pay the bills.

So, Where Are the Healers?

I like to think they’re preparing to put themselves out there by perfecting their craft, doing their own inner work and learning how to effectively communicate their value to a planet that sorely needs them.