Toronto Star

I had a healing breakthrou­gh over Zoom

Releasing trauma in an online session sounds far- fetched, but I did

- JEN KIRSCH SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Feeling ready to get rid of nega- FF tive energy I’ve accumulate­d over the past year, I booked a 90-minute “Samhara Energy Medicine” session with Shelley Burton over Zoom the day before my birthday. I wanted to kick off this new spin around kk the sun refreshed.

I’m always seeking out ways of working on coping and healing, ww even if they seem a little differ- ent. Recently I did a tarot card reading and at the start of 2019, I experiment­ed with equine therapy with Burton, where I worked on developing better ww boundaries in my primary relationsh­ips. Yes, it’s true, I worked with a horse to find inner peace, ww and surprising­ly, I did.

But the latest session ended up being nothing I could have ever expected.

Samhara Energy Medicine is a system Burton created to help ss release traumas that have manifested as emotional blocks, in order for you to move forward, feeling empowered.

I met her onscreen to start the session and she went over how things would unfold and assured me that she would be there to protect me, no matter what we uncovered.

“I’m your guide through the process, and you are your own healer. This is important as I work to build self-empowermen­t; from your power, you heal,” Burton said.

Prior to the session, I had to fill out a form, answering a few questions on whether I’ve expe- qq rienced any trauma in the past year, what the biggest challenge yy is in my life right now, how long has it been a challenge — and if healing allowed me to accomplish anything, what would that one thing be?

Burton says to guide the healing process, she begins by looking at a client’s pain points and goals from how they an- aa swer the questionna­ire, and then sees what stands out as a starting place.

What stood out to her from my very personal answers in- mm cluded a few things: I have fresh anger, my throat felt choked — a sign, she agreed, that I’m not using my voice, and deep-rooted feelings of abandonmen­t.

She told me to make myself comfortabl­e and said, “We know we want to clear this tra this anger, the holding in of the voice, but this abandonmen­t thing is so important to address because that might be related to the holding in of the voice. “I know you want to clear trauma,” she said. I agreed, and said I just want to use my voice. Already, as she was saying that within our first minute or so, ww she began channellin­g my energy. Her own throat started choking up and she lost her voice. This, her empathy and sensitivit­y, is why I continue to hold her in such esteem.

She then asked what made me angry and enraged recently. Her channellin­g persisted throughout the 90 minutes, and often she would use an al- a ternate voice, one with a British- like accent, that she explains as her guides speaking through her, delivering what she calls energy transmissi­ons, also known as channelled wisdom.

And just like that, I let it all out.

Through her guidance and encouragem­ent — by telling me not to close-up or lock down, and looking at me through the as creen with such sincerity, openness and attention — we went deeper to find out where this stemmed from, taking me t back to being about nine years old, when my mother’s father died of cancer, spiralling her into grief which had her send me to stay with friends after each school day. I realized this is where I had felt abandoned. needed her. I was going through a loss, too. This session took me right back to being that nine-year old, feeling alone, angry, sad, and ignored after my grandfa- aa ther’s death. I now know that I t have had a fear of people leaving me. My mother died when I was 18, so that sense of abandonmen­t is still with me. In the session, Burton helped me forgive my mother, realizing she was trying her best in her own grief. My eyes were closed and I was crying, sort of con- a vulsing as she kept telling me it is OK, and my mom was doing her best over and over again. I let everything out and kept my eyes closed. And then, in that moment, Burton said my mother was with us. Now I know, if you ww haven’t done a session of this kind, or if you’re a skeptic, that kk this sounds hard to believe. But t Burton said my mom just wanted to do two things, things that really only I would know about, from a mother to a daughter. As the session came to a close, I felt lighter. Although I had broken down, what I really experience­d, surprising­ly, was a breakthrou­gh. I woke up on my birthday feeling like my true self, having let go of a burden I didn’t even know I was carrying. Burton had emailed to check up on me, acknowledg­ing how intense the session was. Through this experience, I feel like I started down a path of healing and growth. I have already booked her for a follow up session, but this time in person. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Samhara Energy Medicine is a system to help release traumas that have manifested as emotional blocks

 ??  ?? During 90- minute Samhara Energy Medicine session over Zoom, spiritual healer Shelly Burton tells writer Jen Kirsch she can feel her energy stuck in her throat.
During 90- minute Samhara Energy Medicine session over Zoom, spiritual healer Shelly Burton tells writer Jen Kirsch she can feel her energy stuck in her throat.

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