"Quick Fixes" Part V: Crossing Over: Bridging Eden Energy Medicine and Hospice

photo by JoLynne Martinez

One of the more memorable experiences I had doing Energy Medicine on hospice patients was the one in which after several sessions, the client I’ll call Jim, refused a couple of sessions.  I assured him that it was entirely up to him whether or not he received energy medicine and that I would continue to make regular hospice nurse visits as long as he felt they were helpful.  Though he had experienced deep relaxation and reduction of his considerable anxiety and pain, when I asked if he wanted to continue, he declined. 

Jim was older than I by about 15 years and one of only a few males who agreed to try this complementary practice.  Unlike many people who seek practitioners for Energy Medicine or are introduced by another friend or health care professional, hospice clients were given the choice of adding an extra energy medicine visit to their plan of care to address comfort.  This meant that people like Jim were exposed for the first time to Energy Medicine and the sometimes profound and intimate relaxation response in a bedroom setting at the hands of a relatively unfamiliar female. 

Jim and I had a professional, honest, mutually respectful relationship before and after the introduction of extra energy medicine interventions. I had established healthy boundaries and Jim’s wife/care giver was often in the room or at least in the home when I did the sessions.  However, when I initially introduced the concept of a relaxing alternative session, Jim made a joke about whether the sessions would take place in my bedroom or his.  A couple of weeks after we suspended the energy sessions, he confided to his wife and me that though he could see the benefit; he couldn’t shake the idea that it was wrong.  When he was in the army, his buddies went for massages for sexual encounters and though only a small part of the protocol I was using with Jim involved massage, the connection still made him uncomfortable.

I am very grateful to Jim for his candor and his willingness to try Energy Medicine.  I suspect that this very proud and independent man also was unnerved by a loss of control he may have perceived--a challenge for most who are losing so much at the end of life.  Relaxation is an appropriate metaphor for letting go on many levels.  Jim taught me once again how sensitive I must be to perceptions and emotional comfort as I share Energy Medicine with the world.

Jane K Lesher, RN, MSN, EEMC-P