GayHealthBlog.com

MIND BODY: Create More Joy, Love and Success in Your Life!

“If you don't listen to others negativity, you can really do incredible things,” says Aleta St. James, a renowned energy healer and author of Life Shift, a comprehensive guide to breaking through emotional blocks and creating optimum health and wellness.

With energy medicine being such a hot topic these days--even Oprah is paying close attention to its healing potential--St. James down with us at her healing studio in New York City to talk about her unique approach to creating greater joy, health, and wellness in your life. Here are excerpts from that interview:

Many in the LGBT community have suffered childhood traumas or feelings of rejection. What's your approach to healing very old but still painful feelings?

Simply feeling different at a young age can cause deep emotional blocks that can last for years. I've noticed this block often working with my gay clients. Often, the feeling of being different, and not accepted at a very basic level at an early age, can close someone down and as a result, it feels impossible to find support in this world. So you don't take the risks you need to build a happy life--going for the job you really want, feeling good enough to attract a healthy relationship--these are common issues but I notice it even more in my gay clients. It's important to identify energetically what you're emotionally still holding on to. What usually needs to be healed is self-esteem and worth, and reaching an acceptance at a deep level of self, both spiritually and physically.

Hopefully you can get to the point where you stop protecting yourself from rejection and open up to love and support from the right people. These old barriers and blocks keep support and love away from you, even if it feels like they keep you safe.

I've heard a lot about bodywork being especially helpful in healing old wounds? What kind of treatments can help dissolve emotional barriers?

Deep tissue massage can get right into areas of tightness and tension, which also where fear and anger reside in your body. Acupuncture is really great because it gets your energy flowing again. Reiki is also good, and so is rolfing. I've found that Yamuna body rolling is amazing and more and more available around the country. Yoga is fantastic for moving energy. These are simple tools that can keep negative energy moving out of your body and align yourself back into a state of health and wellness.

My own healing modalities include a combination of touch, breath work, guided meditation, color, light and sounds, which in concert help release emotional blocks at a subconscious and cellular level.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT? Turning the Tables on Bullies...

For many gay teens, being bullied is akin with acne and angst—it's part of growing up.

The bully’s menace is equally familiar: The name-calling, the beckoning to meet after school, and the wary walks home, peering over your shoulder. But this horror often doesn't end with adolescence. Studies say that as many as 87% of gay men have a history of verbal harassment, 25% have had objects thrown  at them, up to 37% have been chased or followed, and as many as 24% have been physically assaulted (10% with a weapon or object) - all for being perceived as gay.

Find someone who will listen—an out gay teacher, a school counselor, perhaps your own parents. But, choose wisely...

Though it is not politically correct to say, the truth is those who have come out at an earlier age and those who are more “obvious” about their sexual identity, such as boys who have more feminine characteristics, tend to suffer the most abuse. Effeminate or not— whatever the rationale these boys have for identifying you as gay—it does not give anyone permission to harass or bully you.

There are several reasons for anti-gay harassment:

1. Some abusers may be trying to assert their dominance and believe that by putting you down, they are lifting themselves up.

2. Some may be following the teachings or philosophy of their own family, church, or even perceptions of government wishes.

3. Some of them may be trying to impress someone like a girl or the leader of the group that is doing this to you.

Perhaps the scariest reason for harassment is because the person doing the harassing is attracted to you, yet his way of coping is to attack you. The attack is both a reason to interact with you and an attack on that part of him that he hates. These people are not always easy to spot. They can be the roughest characters and are often responsible for the worst attacks. So if you suspect this is the case, don't say it to him, it may only increase his rage.