Gwyneth Paltrow has been hailing the benefits of healing stickers and vagina scented candles on her site Goop for more than a decade.
And it seems she could be on to something because mindful healing trends have gone mainstream.
From ice baths to deep breathing, 50-year-old Gwyneth predicts cold and psychedelic therapy will continue to rise in 2023.
READ MORE: Doireann Garrihy reveals 'jitters' ahead of Dancing With The Stars hosting debut
Three well-known Irish names tell us why they’re embracing alternatives to promote better mind, body and soul connection.
Reiki
Former pop star Hazel Kaneswaren has been a reiki healer for 20 years.
Her business, Halo Therapies in North Dublin, is thriving.
Cameron Diaz and Christina Aguilera incorporate reiki – a Japanese energy healing technique – into their wellness routine.
Holistic therapist Hazel said reiki involves a purging of the physical body.
She told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “When you have a reiki session, it’s coming from God source, Heaven or whatever you want to call it.
“We are energy beings made of energy.
“When I put my hand on you, I’m connecting to that energy and it’s coming from source, it flows through me to get to you.
“When it goes into your chakra system, it spins all of your energy centres in your body and then it hits each energy centre.”
The 45-year-old added: “The only way to get those negative energies out is through a purging.
“People will cry loads or go home and go to the loo loads.
“They might have a dose of the runs afterwards or feel lots of emotions coming up that they didn’t know they had, like anger and rage because it’s suppressed energy in their bodies.
“These are good side effects, you want to get rid of the negative energy physically.
“Things have to get worse before they get better, and reiki pushes stuff to the surface.
“Physical pain in your body is the way it sabotages itself to show where the energy is blocked. You’re saying, ‘I want it gone’, I’m letting it go.
“So when this happens tap the area, in your mind direct the energy down your leg and it will go out your Meridian line and leave the body.”
Practitioners use a technique called palm healing through which a “universal energy” is said to be transferred to the patient to encourage an emotional or physical purge.
Mum-of-four Hazel said: “The law of Cara states what you put out into the universe you get back, so always make sure your thoughts are positive.
“Say; ‘I am healing, all is well.’ Change your mindset, your body listens to everything you tell it.
“That’s why positive affirmations are so powerful.
“I’m not saying don’t go down the medical route, but what I do is work in conjunction with it.
“You have to let go of the energy, this thing happened to you, it’s not still happening.
“You’re not the victim.Every experience is there to teach you an emotion. You aren’t that emotion, it’s just you felt it at the time.”
Crystals
Popular with Kate Hudson, Kim Kardashian and Adele, crystal healing interacts with the body’s energy fields or vibration. Believed to unblock areas of the body or energy field that have become stuck when touched healing is immediately activated to relieve stress and anxiety.
Panto star Erin McGregor, sister of MMA fighter Conor, is a firm believer in the power of crystals.
Dubliner Erin, 41, said: “We forget what we’re trying to bring into our lives. I 100% believe in manifestation.
“You can do this with the crystals.
“For anxiety, I use amethyst.
“When you feel worried rub an amethyst chain or a ring, you’ll always see me rubbing the crystals. It’s just to remind you that you are strong.”
Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy and transform a body’s aura.
Semi precious stones including quartz, agate, amethyst and opal are used with crystals often placed on different parts of the body corresponding to chakras.
In some cases crystals are placed around the body in an attempt to construct an energy grid – which some believe provides healing energy. Erin, who has spoken publicly in the past, reckons meditation and crystals combined help calm her inner critic.
The tiny seed of her journey to create her own brand Imperfection started one day when she placed a crystal stone in her bra.
Erin said she was sick of feeling tired, stressed and “less than”, so she found herself committing to a new way of living.
She added: “There’s no real training for spirituality, it’s about practising and using the tools.
“Every time you wear a piece of crystal jewellery I want you to know you can achieve the life you want and heal your heart.”
Emotional Freedom Technique
This treatment is used by Madonna, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Allen and I’m A Celeb contestant Boy George.
The practice, also known as tapping, emerged in 1995 when Stanford engineer Gary Craig was trying to find a cure for a client with a fear of water.
He noted that tapping points on the face and body using one or two fingers while saying positive affirmations out loud helped ease her fear.
The technique works by admitting you have the fear in the first place and then stating out loud how you can overcome it. B*Witched singer Sinead O’Carroll is a qualified EFT practitioner.
She used the technique on Dancing With The Stars to help other contestants.
Sinead, 49, said: “It’s about having things in your tool box to help you. The tapping is great, you have lots of reckless energy around your body.
With your index finger and your thumb squeeze them together and put them behind your back and it takes the focus off shaking, when your heart rate is going fast. I recommend loads of lavender oil too.” EFT is still being researched but has been used in mainstream medicine to treat people with anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.
Based on Chinese medicine, it focuses on the meridian points – or energy hot spots/pathways – to restore balance to your body’s energy.
Now that she’s working in EMT, Sinead says her clients don’t care she was once a member of arguably the most successful Irish girl band ever.
She added: “People who come to me know I’ve been in the band, I’ve always had the stage school. Nobody really cares.”
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