Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: Healing Touch

  • Grow Through What You Go Through

    Light rain was tap dancing on the metal roof of the lanai as I sat in the darkness waiting for the sun to make its debut thinking about a dear friend of mine whose brother-in-love is going to be having lung cancer surgery soon. She has been a champion of ours for decades, having thrived through cancer herself. A video interview of Jane’s Imagine Healing Journey is featured on our website.

    I imagined her sharing the Imagine Healing process with him….

    Opening email from The Daily Tejaniya I read: “Practice with the idea of not trying to create an experience. Instead, just take your experience as it is and try to learn from it.”

    You can see the middle path!

    Doing the process of Imagine Healing supports the central nervous system so the physical body has the best opportunity for healing. Having done the process, you are much more capable of being present to learn through your experience.

    Our granddaughter is going through a lot right now. I sent her a photo of a sweatshirt I had seen on Facebook with the words: Grow through what you go through.

    A quick internet search for that phrase took me to a sweet website which listed 12 Hacks to Grow Through What You Go Through. Number 3 on the list is about how you can grow through your fears.

      We don’t run from our fears; we go through them. To get past our fears, we need to do three things:

      1) acknowledge them,

      2) let them go, and

      3) replace them with something else.

    That list took me to a post by another Facebook friend and colleague, Lisa Gordon (I was trained in Healing Touch by her mom, Janet Mentgen). Lisa posted a sweet reminder from “The Female Hustlers” offering a perfect way to navigate these last days of December 2023:

      De-cember
      de-clutter
      de-tach and
      de-lete
      anything that
      de-values your life.
      Don’t bring
      it into 2024.

    Whatever is happening in your life right now, may you grow through all you go through.

  • Our True Nature

    The past two days I have been attending an online intensive with a group of dedicated individuals. Most individuals are dedicated to something. This group is dedicated to opening to awareness, also called “Pure Mind.” This particular series has been meeting weekly for the past year-and-a-half. Many of this group have been studying together for well over ten years.

    Our teacher lovingly reminds us we are not trying to get somewhere or become something we are not. We are simply setting our intention to allow ourselves to experience the awareness that is already our true nature. This was the randomly selected though for the day that came yesterday:


    Deep Spring Center

    Thought for Today

    “These are the people to whom you must talk:

    your neighbors, your coworkers, your parents and children,

    beings with good intentions who want to offer positive polarity

    but also may still be so grounded in their fear

    that when something comes along and shakes them, they react.

    These are the ones who must begin to learn they have a choice,

    and if they react from fear and it causes harm,

    they are responsible.

    And you you who are edging beyond that neutrality,

    more grounded in your positive polarity,

    must be their teachers.”

    For the past 6 weeks I had been unsuccessful trying to purchase a Magic Eye 2020 Calendar. The Magic Eye website announced Walmart as the exclusive merchandiser, but the stores all listed the item as “out-of-stock.”

    A few days ago, I searched ONE more time. The Walmart my brother-in-law shops at while he winters here in Southwest Florida listed the calendar “in-stock.” I sent him a photo, asked if he would check the next time he was there, and now I am thrilled to have one in my possession.


    In the Gospel of Thomas, Patterson/Meyer translation, Jesus said, “The (Father’s) kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished.”

    One of our practices is simply to look at a tree. We are to notice the branches, and then notice the space between. We are to allow our attention to shift between these, knowing that both ARE: simultaneous existence moving in and out of our awareness.

    The Subtle Communication Systems (SCS) training that Joel P. Bowman and I developed and taught for twenty years included higher sense perception. SCS was a synergy of energy medicine (Healing Touch and Reiki) and NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming). Joel and I studied for many years with Richard Bandler, co-developer of NLP.

    A renowned Buddhist nun and meditation teacher from Thailand Joel and I met at a Bandler training in Orlando read our training manual and said, “Debra, this is a shortcut to enlightenment!”

    Students learned to observe the true nature of their subjective experience: every experience went in as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic stimuli simultaneously! Even if all you noticed was a loud sound, or a flash of bright light, your actual experience (and your internal representation of that experience) includes all of your senses. We played games to help us notice the sensory system we were least aware of.

    One day in class, Joel reached out and touched a locket worn by one of the students. He said, “I see an image of a blonde-haired girl, about 8 years old.”

    “That is who gave me this locket,” exclaimed the student.

    When Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right,” he was giving us a great gift. If you think you are not enlightened, you are right. If you think you are enlightened, you can be in the world with greater wisdom and kindness and awareness.

    Joel and I watched sooooo many individuals wake up to what was within them all along.

    I love the Magic Eye calendar! The easiest way to see the hidden images is to begin looking closely at what you can see. Hold the page close to your nose. Relax your vision: trying too hard makes it too hard. With your eyes relaxed, slowly pull the page away from your face. As you see the 3-D image, hold the page and let yourself enjoy how easy it is.

    Where was it when you could not see it? Right there. It already is. The branches and the space ARE.

    If you are working too hard trying, relax, let yourself see what is already there. You are a soul. Every individual is a precious child of god.

    You already are that which you seek.

    That is your true nature….

  • Healing Touch

    The hospital she worked in as a nurse offered a 1-hour introduction to Healing Touch. The very next day after she attended the intro, a patient with brain cancer was having a lot of difficulty mitigating pain.

    The family was doing massage, they were playing soft music in the room, they were doing calming touching, and speaking lovingly. Nothing was helping.

    She kept calling the doctor, asking for more pain medication for the patient, although the increases offered no relief.

    Finally, the doctor said he could not increase the dosage any more.

    Speaking to the patient, she explained that while they could not administer any additional medication, if the patient was open, she would do some Healing Touch.

    She prayed. She knew so little. She hoped it would help.

    It was as though she was in an altered state. Her hands got hot. She was almost out-of-body. She only did it for about five minutes.

    She stopped and then opened her eyes. Her brow was sweaty and her hair was damp.

    As she regained her focus, a family member gasped.

    The patient was peacefully sleeping….

    (Debra is certified in Healing Touch. Janet Mentgen, the nurse who developed the Healing Touch training program would tell her students, “Just do the work.”)

  • The Giving Hat

    P.S. When Jane Foster received the hat (see previous post) she sent this photo, and a message saying she thought the hat needed to be named.

    She decided to name it the “Giving Hat” because her husband gifted her the hat, it is giving her so much pleasure, and the proceeds that will go to cancer research is giving others a chance at a longer and better quality of life.

    Here she is in the “Giving Hat.”

  • Do You Know Who Your Master Is?

    Our daughter was sharing a precious “aha moment” she had recently. She works in an industry which has it’s peak adjacent to retail sales— during the months of November and December. As many who are responsible for hiring entry level workers, she has struggled to get reliable help. That has been a HUGE frustration to her, robbing her of the joy of the rest of her job. She experienced an emotional overload, had a crying time, and then an insight. Related to her responsibilities, she became aware of feeling pulled between her plant manager who was screaming for help, a co-owner who wanted to keep payroll down, and the publishers who wanted timely deliveries…. just to name a few.

    Awareness is key. Her awareness included a sentence spoken within herself that became her ticket to freedom a few days later, “I don’t know who my master is.”

    Deep Spring Center Thought for Today

    ‘You’re on a boat,’ he said. ‘The boat is riding too low on the water and there are waves. You’ve got to toss one person out. In the boat are a loved one, a person about whom you feel neutral, a person who is a difficult person, and yourself. You’re the one to decide: which one are you going to cast into the water?’

    She thought about it awhile and said, ‘There are no grounds for decision.’

    He just smiled and bowed and indicated that the interview was over.

    ‘Did I get it right?’ she wondered.

    But of course, when you get to that place where you understand your interrelationship with all beings, there are no grounds for decision. You cannot cast yourself into the shark-infested sea to save others nor can you throw others in to save yourself.

    ~ Aaron

    There are no grounds for decision.

    Like the people on the boat, every one of those needs my daughter was feeling torn between had value, but not ONE of them was more or less important than the others.

    A few days after her breakdown, she had a breakthrough. This is the insight that set her free:

    “I do know who my master is. I serve God. The plant manager is not my master. The co-owner is not my master. The publisher is not my master. My master wants me to experience peace, and joy, and to do what I can do to serve/help.”

    An aside: if you do not automatically receive the Beyond Mastery Newsletter, or if you currently receive only one email message with links to the newsletter included (rather than the email message with the links plus the individual post/s), then you will want to sign up now to receive all posts automatically. The January edition will come out at the end of this month, and it may just rock your boat. Here is the link: Sign Up Now for Beyond Mastery.

    The outer circumstances at work have not changed. She did not magically have adequate, dedicated, reliable hires. She was able to have a heart-to-heart with her plant manager, and with the company president about having recognized her real master. Theirs is a Christian organization. The name they use is God. The miracle in her life happened because she listened to God, she heard that voice within. When we listen, we have to take action. The action she took was to let herself be transformed from within.

    Included in my January article will be an invitation for others to join an online group based on the book Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within, by Janet Conner.

    You will know if you are ready.

  • Follow the Energy

    Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, way back in the sixth century B.C. said: “You cannot step twice into the same river.” This is because the river is in flux. Perhaps it is also because we are always changing. I certainly was aware of this truth while attending a Level 1 Healing Touch workshop at the VA in Hines, Illinois. I attended my first Healing Touch Level 1 in February, 1995.

    Accompanied to the workshop by my friend, Norleen, my heart was filled with compassion for the nurses whose work days are rife in life-or-death actions. Instructor, Ann O’Malley, tells us to ground and center, attune to the universal healing energy and the person we are working with, and to “follow the energy” because “you cannot do it wrong.”

    This class is all women, most nurses working with Veterans here at Hines VA.

    We learn the basic healing sequence, practice on/with one another, and find ourselves changing, just like the river.

    Since my first Level 1 Class in 1995, I have had the honor to help many individuals become aware of the subtle healing energies. I have great respect for Ann, and I am grateful she is still teaching after all these years. I am profoundly aware it is good for each of us to be here in this class and simultaneously good for our world that we can be open and willing to learn and share the truth.

    During the last weeks of my brother-in-law’s life, as he and his family dealt with his increased body restlessness, I offered to share some of the Healing Touch techniques that might lessen or abate some of his symptoms. In our class Ann stresses the ethics of always asking permission before sharing Healing Touch. She tells of a man who sat in her chair for a demonstration at a health fair. When she sensed he was not open, she asked him if he wanted to receive the Healing Touch. He admitted his wife had made him come and he did not believe in it. She suggested he be honest about that and allow someone else to come. He left the chair.

    We must be open.

    We must be willing.

    Sunday morning’s Thought for Today from the Brahma Kumaris seems so very timely: I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.

    I am grateful my brother-in-law was admitted to Hanson Hospice Center and that he passed peacefully. In the last minutes of his earthly life between 3 and 5 a.m., I was awake. (See Shadow Work)

    I toyed with the thought of getting dressed and going to Hanson Hospice Center, but determined I could just as easily offer support from home. As I settled onto the sofa in the great room here in the tiny house, my heart went automatically to the Healing Touch technique called Chakra Spread, often used in hospice care for the terminally ill. You begin by holding the sole of one foot with the palm of your hand and the other hand on top of the foot or ankle. Then you do the same to the other foot. Next, you do a thumb-lock handshake with your other hand on the back of the client’s hand. Repeat with the other hand.

    Moving gently from about a foot above the head you slowly and tenderly spread each chakra three times: Crown, Brow, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral, Root, knees (done together), and ankles (done together), then slip the “earthy boots” or “worldly cares” off the feet. This entire process is repeated three times before you return to one hand and hold it in the thumb-lock handshake again as you place your other hand over the person’s heart.

    This is often taught to a family member or loved one. Rather than sit in fear or sadness, it is a way of praying with your whole body, mind, and spirit.

    I fell asleep on the sofa after doing the chakra spread and it was shortly before 5 a.m. when my husband came in to tell me his brother hand passed. It was wonderful to have the song No Longer Slaves sung at his service.

    “No Longer Slaves”

    You unravel me with a melody
    You surround me with a song
    Of deliverance from my enemies
    ‘Til all my fears are gone

    I’m no longer a slave to fear
    I am a child of God

    From my mother’s womb
    You have chosen me
    Love has called my name
    I’ve been born again into your family
    Your blood flows through my veins

    I’m no longer a slave to fear
    I am a child of God

    I am surrounded
    By the arms of the father
    I am surrounded
    By songs of deliverance

    We’ve been liberated
    From our bondage
    We’re the sons and the daughters
    Let us sing our freedom

    You split the sea
    So I could walk right through it
    My fears were drowned in perfect love
    You rescued me
    And I will stand and sing
    I am a child of God.

    Yes, I am
    I am a child of God
    I am a child of God
    Yes, I am
    I am a child of God
    Full of faith
    Yes, I am a child of God
    I am a child of God

    I’m no longer a slave to fear
    I am a child of God

    Janet Mentgen, beloved founder of Healing Touch, encouraged all Healing Touch students and practitioners to “Just do the work!” Her personal goal was to have each human on earth bring light with every step that we walk. What gift. We can just follow the energy. We do not have to worry that we are doing it wrong. Hallelujah!

    I am so honored to have spent these two days with my friend Norleen and these other brave women. May all be no longer slaves to fear….

  • COIK

    I have been doing a lot of contemplation regarding the healing capability of your mind, body, and spirit. This model of medicine is overlooked by most of us in the U.S. Conversations this week have been with clients, friends, colleagues, and family. Perhaps the real challenge is the military idea of Clear Only If Known (COIK).

    Learning about the human energy field changed my life. Not only did I experience relief from chronic pain, I also stepped into my life’s work. If you are new to this blog or want to share the details of my story with someone else who is ready for relief, check out the digital copy of my Freedom from Pain

    Two techniques from Healing Touch became mainstays in my health and well-being. These are Track 3 and Track 4 on the Freedom from Pain MP3 audio. (Sample listen: Freedom from Pain.)

    You can download Freedom from Pain for $8.99.

    I’ve been reading the transcript from a talk given in May 2017 by Barbara Brodsky and Dr. Tavis Taylor. Both Barbara and Tavis are familiar with John of God’s Casa de Dom Inacio in Brazil where many people from all over the world have experienced healing outside of the current medical model. Barbara says the doctors in Ann Arbor wanted to do surgery on her back. She was in pain and was unable to walk. Her words about what she learned in Brazil are telling, “For them to be able to help me, instead of relating to the spine as damaged and something that had to be fixed, I needed to meditate and know the strong perfect spine, to visualize it; to feel places of blocked energy and invite the simultaneity of the flow of energy; to love my spine.”

    Richard Bandler says if they can’t see it, they can’t see it. I am so very grateful I was able to see the importance of knowing we are energetic beings. Painful sensations are communications from our bodies. It is possible to love our bodies and see ourselves whole and healthy….