Picking up Bad Energy from an Ill Client?

[A B]

Hello! I just registered with Body Work Online and have been practicing as a massage therapist for 5 years. I am also a Reiki Master.
My question is:
I am working on a 76 y.o. client that has "bone mets" and the cancer is also in her liver. She has a distended stomach and is jaundiced. I give her comfort massage with soothing touch and of course Reiki. My problem is that after the last 3 sessions I have pretty severe stomach and intestinal upsets.
I try to make sure that I am not picking up any bad energy but am wondering if anyone else has had this experience? I need to add that this is a very brave and upbeat person that I am working with. She usually has such good energy, but is just so ill now.

Thank you for any input you can give me!!

 

[Agalloch]

It can happen if you really care about a person and the session you are in. I find that I get tired after intense Reiki session, although I was taught this was not supposed to happen.

Are you doing anything for protection, bands of white light around your wrists? What techniques are you using to break the energy connection after a session?

I do a formal closing with an energy sweep and a little prayer protecting us both from picking up any residual energy in the room. I also will do a quick clearing with the symbols. I always wash my hands in cold water after a session.

I personally wear black tourmaline during my sessions to help keep the bad energy from my body. I will also use bands of white light around my writs and upper arms as a double layer of protection.

 

[josey]

Is your client on any medications? Chemo?? If so, what you could be picking up is the meds/poisons.

 

[G-man]

I'd also suggest getting a couple good sized pieces of raw ruby, (at least an inch or more across by 1/4" thick) which you can generally find on ebay, as well as getting a few additional pieces of black tourmaline, and a good sized quartz cluster for the office space. You can use the raw ruby piece either by keeping it in a pocket or have it wrapped in silver wire and wear it around the neck as a pendant piece. Like black tourmaline it never needs to be cleared energetically, as it's self-clearing. Your quartz clusters can be used to clear other crystals, jewelry, and being like an "energetic room purifier" too.

You may also want to clear your space immediately before
and after her sessions. Set a prayer of intention before hand which includes a statement about any and all energies
which are released be transmuted into light and that any openings created by that "release" be re-filled with light &
healing. In addition consider taking a nice bath in sea salt
at the end of the day to clear your energy field of any "stuff" you may have picked up.

Also, before your client comes in, when you set your intention/prayer be sure to include sending cords of light from the palms & wrists, perhaps off the elbows too, into the earth and state that any energy exchange that takes place be one way only from you to her. Should any energy even start to enter into your body, it should immediately be sent into the cords you have previously set up and down into the earth to be transmuted. Once she leaves, be sure to fully clear your energy field, wash with cold water, from the elbows all the way to the fingertips.

I hope this is helpful and that you find you're able to keep your energy clear when working with this person.

 

[Connor]

Maybe you just caught a bug and it has nothing to do with this client?

 

[Mister Kai]

I always include in my opening prayer:

"I recognize that what is mine, is mine, and what is [client name]'s is [client name]'s."

which better defines the boundary between therapist and client.

 

[supersetter1989]

My problem is that after the last 3 sessions I have pretty severe stomach and intestinal upsets.

Softhearted,

Anytime something like this occurs more than once, especially with the same client, you have to consider its something more than a "bug" !

 

[Emma B]

My bad, i didn't register the '3 sessions'. :roll:

Yeah, its something.

 

[Sarah Lee]

Thank you, all of you, for your input. While I do know to clear the room prior and after a session, sometimes I do forget to clear afterwards. I was shown how to "lock" my wrists to prevent pain/bad energy from ttraveling up my arms. After I started doing this I usually felt better after a Reiki session. But you are right, I do care a lot about this client. Have worked on her for almost 3 years now, I see her weekly and she is such a strong and positive energy herself.
The question about her chemo is a valid one, in fact she was just switched to a new type and it coincides with when I started having these upsets. The onset of my symptoms hit me( and I do mean hit me!) within 30-60 minutes after I leave her. I was going to inquire about that next week.
As for the use of crystals, I love that idea, I have read some on the use of crystals and even bought a beginners set but haven't had the time to pursue it any further than that.
The white light thing, I haven't heard about, or if I did, I have forgotten. Any more information on that would be most helpful and I will go back through my study guides and see if I can find anything about that.
Riversinger and Talenyn- you have given me a good start on how to handle this ( the white light and white bands) Thank you!!
I will also include the extra prayer in with my intentions.
As for what I use to break the energy connection? I use the sweeping of hands to break it and use the Z like symbol over her body. And I do wash with cold water.
So.,I think I have about 1/2 of it right and need to step it up a bit.
this is a great forum, so glad I found it.

 

[Eclipse]

For the bands of white light I literally visualize arm and wrist bands of light that stop energy flow up my arms, while allowing flow down my arms. It has always worked for me.

Selenite would also be a good choice for the room to absorb the negative energies as well as kyanite. Although I do agree with riversinger, a quartz cluster is also effective.

I think you are good for breaking the energy connection, you can always also bring your fingertips and thumb of each hand together (kind of like making your hand "talk" motion but not spread out, I hope that makes sense), this helps to closes the circuit and break the energy ties.

And don't forget to clear after!

Good luck and let us know how the next session goes.

 

[SoCal Cody]

When one of my ladies had her chemo, I too felt sick afterwards. That particular chemo poison leached from the pores of her skin so strongly that the faintest of touches was sufficient to make me ill. The best thing I found to help me, in addition to energetic clearing, etc., was to go and soak in baking soda and sea salt almost instantly after energetic and massage bodywork. It didn't completely clear me body of the chemo I'd pick up from her, but, it sure took it down to where I didn't become ill. [She was always the last client of the day so I could follow that routine.]

 

[gaga4cash]

AnastasiaB, I'm really glad you shared that piece. I have not had the "chemo-transference" experience personally, but a dear friend of mine did and it laid her out for DAYS, she couldn't move. She's not an MT, she is a very part time energy healer and just was not prepared. She went to visit our mutual friend whose standard poodle had recently begun chemo treatment, the dog would not leave her side and insisted on physical contact at all times. Not unlike the dog's usual temperament, but exaggerated. After the visit my friend got very ill. She called me a few days into it and I did not have much to offer aside from some long distance energy work. I will have to remember the detox soak. She said had she known ahead of time, she would have grounded and prepared herself for it.
I worked with the dog extensively as well throughout the course of his treatment and after, but did not have the same response. Maybe he was in a very toxic place that day and/or my friend is more highly sensitive than I. He did pass, sadly.
Gosh, given all that, it makes me wonder how it must be for the nurses and other medical staff that have to interface with the chemo patients, are they taking this stuff in?
Really good topic.

 

[dustin]

Well, I worked on this wonderful, positive, but very ill client again and I did much much better. I was more vigilent with my grounding remembering to clear the room (and area) after. I was pretty exhausted though.
I am debating wearing some vinyl gloves though, just in case some of this is from chemo leaching.
I just worry that it will somehow offend her and I always worry when I need to do something that takes me away from what I perceive as my caring and nuturing side.
Crazy, huh?

 

[shann]

You're not crazy ! If anything you're learning to be wiser with your energy and how to protect yourself. All good things to learn in life & in your practice.

Aside from gloves there are a couple of products on the market which you can use (in a liquid form) to rub throughly over your hands and they seal the skin from anything getting through. I don't know for sure, but I believe it was called Nu-skin.

 

[Henna]

Nu-Skin, I think, is like a liquid ban-daid and i don't think it would be good for applying all over the hands. I apply it on small open cuts and I generally have to apply once between massages. If it was all over my hands I think it'd flake off. But it's really great for cuts and scabs and such.

 

[Chrissy Grace]

Perhaps it was a different product then ! I'm to bleary
at this hour to recall for sure. Whatever the brand, it is
a clear liquid which dries almost instantly, but it can be used
over the hands and does not come off until you wash again with soap & water.

 

[britaniisaurusrex(:]

Better off using gloves. Easy to explain this to client as well. Simply tell her the chemo has been affecting you after each session, and you need a barrier to prevent problems. If the gloves fit well, she will notice little difference in the work and you will be safe.

 

[Northern Sky]

I totally am okay with wearing gloves, I worked for years and years in a dental office where at times I also assisted the Dr. So gloves are like another layer of skin to me. I know this sounds silly, but I feel like as her therapist through all of this, I have been this caring, therapeutic person in her life and I worry that showing up with my gloves will make her think that I am suddenly not as caring.
Yes, I know,,, stupid on my part. Why in the heck do I let my mind do these things to me???
I was talking to a Nurse Anesthesist about my dilemma and she also suggested that this client, since she is so jaundiced and holding so much fluids, possibly has her own bodily toxins coming through her skin and I am picking that up.
So, I am definitely using gloves, I just have to view it as keeping myself helathy so I can continue to give her some relief.

 

[heppeee]

I'm sure the gloves will be fine with your client, and as you said it will take care of any "transfer" problems easily.

Also, just to pass it along for anyone who may be interested the skin barrier stuff I mentioned previously is by
Skinvisible Pharmaceuticals, Inc. It's supposed to be an
anti-microbial skin protector. Active ingredient: Triclosan 1
Other ingredients: De-ionized water, Glycerine, Nonoxynol
9, Jatex 88, Aloe Triethanolamine, Germaill Plus, Carbopol
Ultrez-10.

The only times I've used the product was when I worked with a client who was HIV positive, and when I've had a small cut I didn't feel was significant enough to warrant wearing gloves.

 

[b3nzin]

I think that is a wise decision, cabwy. One of the side effects of most chemo drugs is leukemia. I've known cancer patients who survived the original cancer but did not survive the resulting leukemia....which is another type of cancer. Being exposed to that is for the purposes of fighting for one's life. Limiting exposure as much as possible is only prudent, otherwise.