What 25 Years of Energy Work Has Taught Me About Healing

By Lila Jean

When I first began studying energy work more than 25 years ago, I had no idea what it meant to heal the spirit. I didn't understand that our past experiences, upbringing, hurts, and losses could remain in our energy long after the events themselves had passed. All I knew was that something happened when I took that first Reiki class—something I couldn't fully explain, but it made me feel better.

Each healing session and every class that followed helped me find strength and refill an energetic well I didn't even realize had run dry. My turning point came after years of extreme stress—running a business, having a husband deployed overseas in the military, caring for a parent with terminal cancer, and raising a child with learning challenges. Something inside me was exhausted. It wasn't just mental or physical fatigue; it was deeper than that.

At the time, I was not a religious person, but through what felt like a series of unexpected events, I found myself in a Reiki class and receiving energy healing from the sisters at a Franciscan convent. That experience became the beginning of my own healing journey. It helped me release some of the burdens I had been carrying and reconnect with a source of strength and peace that I didn't know was available to me.

Perhaps the most profound realization was that healing does not require us to do everything alone. There is support, wisdom, and strength available to us when we learn how to connect with it. That understanding has shaped both my life and my work, and it is something I hope to share with every client and student who walks through my door.

Over time, I learned that healing is not always about fixing something that is broken. More often, it is about restoring balance, finding clarity, and reconnecting with parts of ourselves that have been forgotten along the way.

After working with hundreds of clients over the years, I have seen many experience something similar. The light begins to return to their eyes. There is rarely a dramatic miracle. Instead, there is a shift—sometimes subtle, sometimes profound—that allows them to move away from what has been draining them and begin replenishing their own energy.

Many of the people who find their way to my office are deeply sensitive to the needs of others, often to the point of over-giving. Being empathic or highly sensitive can mean spending a lifetime absorbing more of the world than most people realize. Since childhood, many have been sensing the emotions, moods, and needs of those around them—even strangers—without having the ability to do anything about it.

Over time, this can create a habit of energetically scanning people, crowds, and even loved ones, subconsciously searching for safety. The result is often anxiety, exhaustion, and a feeling that something is always "off." It slowly depletes the energy we need to care for ourselves. The good news is that we can learn how to protect our energy, establish healthy boundaries, and refill the well.

Sometimes the clients I work with are navigating grief. They often describe feeling as though a part of themselves was lost along with the person, relationship, or chapter of life that ended. While grief follows its own timeline and cannot be rushed, healing can help us find our footing again and gently reconnect with ourselves.

Through my training and experience in Biofield Therapy, Integrated Energy Therapy, Reiki, coaching, and other healing modalities, I have come to understand how important our energetic state truly is. The energy that fuels our spirit affects how we move through the world. Old wounds, unresolved trauma, chronic stress, grief, and unhealthy patterns can quietly drain us for years until we become aware of them and begin to make different choices.

What healing really looks like is recognizing and releasing what no longer serves us. It is learning how to navigate life's transitions, replenish our energy, and uncover the authentic self that exists beneath old layers of conditioning, fear, and survival behaviors.

One of the things that surprises clients most is that healing is not about becoming dependent on an energy practitioner. In fact, my goal is just the opposite. Once the healing process begins, people often discover that they are capable of becoming active participants in their own journey. They learn tools to support themselves, strengthen their boundaries, quiet the noise around them, and listen to their own inner wisdom.

Healing takes time, and it may not look the way we expect it to. It often involves learning to say no, reducing what depletes us, taking responsibility for our thoughts, practicing self-care, and asking ourselves deeper questions about what truly brings us joy.

What brings me the greatest joy in this work is witnessing that spark return. I see it in a client's eyes when they begin to remember who they are beneath the stress, fear, grief, or self-doubt. It is the moment they realize they are not lost. Their healing journey has begun, and they have the strength to continue moving forward.

After 25 years, that remains one of the greatest gifts of this work.