As an avid celebrity watcher I can tell you the buzz around energy healing in Hollywood these days is deafening.
Apparently they are the new shrinks, psychics and therapists all in one. We know that Gwyneth Paltrow is a fan but also celebrities like Naomi Watts, Jessica Biel and Halle Berry are reportedly getting energy ‘adjustments’ during important photo shoots.
Recently W magazine hailed energy healers as the ‘new shrinks’ amongst the A-list, and more and more celebrities have been experimenting with energy work to help with everything from pain, insomnia, weight loss, heartbreak, grief, anxiety, and depression.
As crazy as it sounded, ultimately it was a trend I was happy to try. After all, who can’t use a little bit of an ‘energy adjustment’ now and again? I went to see Paul Lennard, who is the healer of choice for footballers, royalty and yes, dogs. (Apparently the A-list in Hollywood get their dog’s energy adjusted too; and I’m betting serious money that Jennifer Aniston is one of them).
Meeting Paul, I immediately felt at ease; at the same time there’s an intensity behind those eyes. I saw him in London at the Shambhala Urban Escape in the Metropolitan by COMO, but Paul is a jet setter; he is currently in Spain at La Escondida Hotel hosting a retreat but frequently works out of celeb favourite Chiva-Som in Thailand, (he’s their most popular visiting therapist) and everywhere from Amsterdam to LA. The treatment itself is a mix of craniosacral therapy, psychic insights and Chi Nei Tsang - an ancient Taoist abdominal massage that releases blocked energy.
As I lay fully clothed on a massage table, Paul scanned my body without touching it, and occasionally pressed a point which was excruciating. At other times, he appeared to pull invisible 'strings' from my body - stuck energy, apparently. He says that he’s guided in his work by what he can only describe as 'intuition' or a 'sixth sense' to clear old traumas that are showing up as current health problems in the mind and body.
The therapy is said to address the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. According to Paul, these aspects are so intricately intertwined and connected that a physical problem may have its roots in an emotional difficulty. Once he has addressed the energy 'leak' or 'blockage', the body, he says, heals itself.
As he worked, I felt so relaxed it was ridiculous. I felt weightless, like I’d just had an intense, hours long massage – without being touched. At one point, he asked me if I’d had any kind of a physical or emotional trauma around the age of 7 years old, one that caused me to be separated from my mom overnight. Without hesitation, I dismissed it and answered no. Then I remember I’d had surgery, a complicated tonsillectomy at age 7 and was in the hospital overnight. He also recognised other things about my character and spirituality without my saying very much at all.
Naturally curious, I asked him how he does it and why.
Although there’s no formal training for something like this, he told me that he began his career as a physical trainer and working with clients he began ‘seeing things’ – pictures and images that turned out to be connected to a trauma in the person’s life.
He clarified that he is not a psychic and he has no power to predict the future – rather he can sometimes look into the past, particularly if a past trauma has manifested into a physical blockage of energy. He says that he is ‘tuning in’ to the client's emotional history, clearing trauma that is stored at a cellular level. He claims that he can often 'see' where the body is unconsciously 'holding' the memory of an event or feeling which has a physical manifestation, most often in a negative way.
As outlandish as it may sound, my overall feeling upon leaving was that just maybe these crazy celebrities are on to something. As I left I felt positive, relaxed and re-energised. Energy healing may not be for everyone but I found it to be something far more restorative than I had imagined it could be.
Paul is currently hosting an ‘Energy Healing Week’ at La Escondida Hotel & Restaurant, a stylish luxury boutique hotel in Spain until the 18th March 2015. Guests will have three sessions with Paul on alternate days and three massages on the other days, with guided hikes through the Font Roja National Park as well as horse riding and cycling available.
A one-hour treatment with Paul Lennard at La Escondida is €85, a minimum of 3-4 treatments are recommended for longer lasting benefits.
Download a PDF of this article as it appeared at dailymail.co.uk
View this article at dailymail.co.uk