What's your most persistent struggle? Do you battle anxiety, depression, or some other emotional concern? Perhaps you must continually cope with a physical problem, such as back pain or an autoimmune disorder. Then again, you might be in the business of helping others with challenging conditions. Either way, individuals suffering from chronic conditions have a lot of company.

The truth is that more than 40 percent of all Americans struggle with a chronic disease, and over seventy percent die from the same.¹ Long-term hardships aren't only an American issue, either; up to 70 percent of all deaths worldwide are due to chronic diseases.² This grouping includes people with physical as well as mental health issues.

There are a lot of recommendations for people seeking to heal—or better cope with—prolonged problems. Most of these are lifestyle changes. I mean, couldn't we all eat better? Exercise more?

Often, it's not that easy. Who hasn't tried one diet plan after another, only to end up more confused for the effort? You know the drill. The initial regime is some combination of gluten-, dairy-, meat-, sugar-, alcohol-, or flour-free foods. Next comes the elimination of the healthy foods, like certain fruits and veggies. Pretty soon, you're nearly food-free. Even if you find that perfect foodstuff program, there's nothing to say that you can afford following it. I've watched those popular healthy-cooking programs. One stalk of whatever vegetable you're supposed to braise could set you back more than a day's paycheck.

There is another—or at least, additional—option for addressing and recovering from chronic issues, and the trauma that most often causes them. It's energy healing. Even better, when performed on yourself, energy healing is totally free. So, what is energy healing? After offering a definition, I'll go one better. I'll guide you through several exercises, each of which is based on my book, Energy Healing for Trauma, Stress & Chronic Illness.

Simplistically, energy is information that vibrates, and absolutely everything is made of it. There are two types of energy, however. Physical energy is measurable and concrete. It comprises the reality that we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. Subtle energy is the less measurable side of the coin. It is ineffable, invisible, and inaudible. At same time, however, it's even more powerful and impactful than physical energy. That's because the material world, and the objects in it, are organized by subtle energies.

Subtle energies are actually composed of quanta. These tiny, sub-atomic particles are beyond slippery. A single particle, which actually operates more like a wave than a distinct particle, can be in two places at once—until it is observed, that is. What you see is what you get. But you'll never perceive all aspects and functions of a sub-atomic particle, because it can exist in multiple dimensions simultaneously.

If it sounds like these spooky characters are too busy to be social, that's not the case. Once two quantum particles have met, they remain connected, no matter the distance. What happens to a single particle creates a response in its partner.

When we're energy healing, we want to alter the subtle energies causing or holding a problem in place. We also want to improve matters by rearranging the subtle energies that exist, or adding new ones, so as to create an optimum 3-D situation. Sometimes, we work directly on the body; other times, on the chakras, which are subtle energy organs that manage both our physical and subtle energies. Working with chronic conditions can be especially challenging, however, because there are a lot of physical and subtle factors to consider. Let me paint you a picture of what happens to turn a life event into a chronic problem.

1. Physiology. All chronic conditions begin as a stressor that kicks off a cascade of chemicals and hormones that alert our body and mind to danger. When we can't turn off this stress reaction, we enter a traumatized state. In other words, we become locked into a reactive mode, and can't get out. The longer we remain in that combative mode, the greater our chance of developing a chronic condition.
 
2. Psychology. Every time we're stressed, we have an emotional response. That's okay! As long as we're allowed to feel and process our reactions, we'll return to an emotional baseline. If this grieving doesn't occur, however, the emotional effects linger. Think how many repressed emotions we have by the time a stressor has transformed into a trauma, and then finally, a chronic challenge. Want another layer to deal with? We also develop feelings about being stricken with a chronic condition, leading to even more issues to address.
 
3. Subtle forces. There are several events that can occur when we're stressed. The problems that most often result in a chronic condition involve many of not all of the following events:
   • Entrance of a subtle force. Stress is initiated with the delivery of a subtle force. A "force" is a field of energy. There are physical, environmental, mental, emotional, and digital forces. When any of these strike us, they can cause harm.
     
     For instance, imagine that you are hit with a baseball. Wonk. It hurts! That's because the physical force leaves injuries in its wake. An environmental force, which includes damage caused by events like storms and falling trees, will do the same. But—so will forces like emotional ones, which might be delivered by a screaming, mean parent. How about a digital force? Surely you've felt hurt or overwhelmed by certain emails. Forces like these, albeit invisible, cause harm to our soul and psyche.
     
     By themselves, the hurts left by forces are hard enough from which to recover. Additional harm incurs when a force carries in negative subtle energies that don't suit. Let's return to our baseball scenario for an example.
     
     You've just been hit by a baseball. Ouch! Let's add a caveat. That baseball pitcher was angry. What enters via the force striking your head, but the subtle energies of anger? Most likely, you won't even know they are there. You might wonder, however, why you get mad more often, or why there is more inflammation in the wound than a doctor might expect. Unless we clear these negative subtle energies, they remain in place, compromising the subtle and physical systems.
    
   • Exit point and pathway of a subtle force. When that subtle force bludgeons its way through the body, it leaves a pathway, and quite possibly, a littering of negative subtle energies. That force (and the negative energies) can remain stuck in the body, creating one or more areas of energetic congestion. All too often, that build-up turns into an actual physical or emotional disorder. The force might also exit, creating an invisible exit point. That exit area often transforms into an unexplainable problem, such as soreness in a bodily region that you can't remember injuring.
    
   • Shocked self. As soon as we're injured, the wounded self is contained in a bubble of chemical and subtle sheaths of energy. And here that self remains, trapped, forever imprisoned in time, unless we address their emotional needs. This self frequently triggers when under pressures that are similar to the original wounding.

As revealed by this complicated scenario, the chronically wounded self has numerous issues to address. How can you ever go about examining all these different factors, especially if many of them are invisible? The following exercises can help you unwind the subtle factors involved in your issue for deep healing. I suggest you perform them in the provided order the first time you employ them. Know that you can use any of these techniques at any time, however.

Clear the Pathway
You can address the fall-out involved in the subtle injuries caused by a locked-in stressor with these steps.

1. Focus. Select the chronic condition you'd like to work on.
 
2. Connect. Link with a source of spiritual guidance. This can be either your inner mage or your Higher Power.
 
3. Assess. Ask your guidance to reveal the stressor that initiated the challenge. Let yourself psychically see, sense, hear about, or remember what occurred. Then request that you be intuitively shown the entrance site and pathway of the force that delivered the hardship, and the exit point, if there is one. What type of force was involved? It might be physical, environmental, mental, emotional, or digital, or a mix of these. Ask also to perceive any harmful subtle energies, which might be deposited in the pathway. If so, ask to be told what they are comprised of. Request also to know how the force, pathway, or subtle energies have been negatively impacting you.
 
4. Seek the self. Note if there is a self in a shock bubble. During your scan, you might have become aware of a self within a shock bubble. You can ask for healing at this point or conduct the next exercise, "Rescue and Restore the Self in the Shock Bubble," after you're done with this exercise.
 
5. Request healing streams of energy. Always available are streams of grace, or "love in motion," that can clean out challenging energies, fill in the pathways and entrance and exit sites, and provide restoration. Let yourself feel these operate, even as they renew you.
 
6. Feel gratitude. Know that these streams will continue to provide healing and love.

Rescue and Restore the Self in the Shock Bubble
You can perform this activity when you feel triggered or recognize the presence of an internalized, wounded self.

1. Become aware. How do you find a wounded self, especially one trapped within a shock bubble? Your choices include the following:
   • Physical empathy: You sense their presence in a part of your material or subtle body. Maybe you feel a pain, a feeling, or have a strong awareness.
   • Spiritual empathy. Divine energies, and your connection to them, enable you to link to this imprisoned self.
   • Verbal. You are able to hear this self in your thoughts or mind.
   • Visual. An image of this self has popped into your mind.
2. Relate. Through your bond with this wounded self, open your heart and ask them to communicate with you. What is their story? What happened to them? How do they feel about being trapped within their domain? Allow the story to fully unfold.
3. Care. For a few minutes, simply care about this injured self. Feel their pain, embrace their memories, and send love.
4. Enable emotional processing. Linking with your inner sage or Higher Power, ask this self to finish sharing all the different feelings about the original stressor or their time in the bubble. Remain in this receptive mode as long as needed.
5. Exchange the surrounding bubble with better protection. This bubble has become a safe haven for the wounded self. In order to leave it, they will require a heartier and healthier protection. Ask that your guidance or Higher Power exchange the sheaths of the bubble for a boundary that will enable recovery, renewal, and integration.
6. Continued compassion. For this self to be rejoined to the present you, they will need a consistent diet of love and compassion. Vow to provide this.

Establish a Hara Line Through Your Ninth Chakra
This exercise will help bring a wounded-self online, while providing consistent healing.

The Hara is a beam of golden energy that runs from the heavens through the center of the body and into the core of the Earth. We bring this stream downward through the ninth chakra, a golden ball of energy found about two feet above the head.

This chakra holds your healing codes. Once these codes are transferred into your system through the Hara line, they adjust your subtle bodies, bolster your physical wellbeing, and calm emotions. To perform this powerful maneuver, you can do the following:

1. Bring your attention to your ninth chakra, the golden ball of light above your head. As said, this chakra stores codes of healing that can be used to assist you on every level.
2. Ask that Hara energies—heavenly, golden beams of light—fall into your ninth chakra and activate the innate codes of health. As this gold stream of light washes downward, into the top of your head, it then streams through your neck, spine, and legs. Finally, it pushes through your feet to link you with all that is good in this planet.
3. Request that this beam of gold energies continues to flow and deliver the codes of healing as long as needed.

Boost Your Protective Energetic Field
We are surrounded by an auric field, a stack of subtle fields that filter incoming energies. Each independent auric field emanates from a different chakra and performs a specific task in regard to providing protection. Altogether, the overarching auric field provides protection and filtering. To protect yourself from further stressors, it's helpful to repair this field and then energetically reprogram it, so as to keep out harmful forces and subtle energies. You can perform these steps to accomplish this goal.

1. Take a few deep breaths and connect with your inner sage or your Higher Power.
2. Get a sense of the state of your current auric field. You might visualize a beautiful medley of colors, hear the humming produced by the overall field, or simply sense this surrounding field. Then again, you might become aware of glaring holes, slits, or weak spots in one or many individual fields, or the totality, as well. Injury sites often reflect of negative beliefs or experiences, as well as injurious, traumatic forces and the harmful subtle energies these can carry.
3. Request protective programming. Request that guidance fills in any holes or wounding in your overall field, as well as specific fields. Also receive the energies—colors, tones, thoughts, and truths—needed to program your field to deflect others' negative energies and injurious forces from this point onward. Psychically sense, feel, hear, or watch these changes take place and feel the strength of your newly refreshed energetic boundaries.

1. National Health Council, "About Chronic Diseases," https://nationalhealthcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AboutChronicDisease.pdf.
2. World Health Organization, "Background: 2.1, The Global Burden of Chronic," https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/2_background/en/.