How to Find the Best Practitioner for You

I am a firm believer that everyone has the ability to heal themselves.  The body is a miraculous being that has innate powers to work miracles, as long as you provide it the proper opportunities to heal.  That being said, ask for help when you need help!  Practitioners come in many forms so it is important to understand what you are looking for when you are looking for someone.  Yoga practitioners, licensed massage therapists (LMT), Reiki practitioners, and many other types of body and energy workers can help provide support. ​

I truly believe that you will be guided to the right practitioner.  Friends and family are a great source for recommendations of people that are already known – try asking for a recommendation on your social media pages and see what comes up!  For many energetic practices there are no governing boards if you will, so there isn’t an organization to gather everyone who provides these types of services.  The internet can be a great source to find practitioners as well, again, using your own discernment and intuition about whether or not your feel comfortable with an energy.  

In my experience, the best practitioners are those who help you help yourself.  What I mean by this is that they want to give you the tools for you to grow and learn for yourself, not just give you a quick fix for your issues.  I am always cautious if someone tells me that they go to the same person on a regular basis for the same issues.  As a practitioner, I want to empower my clients to grow and improve their lives, not keep them coming to me for the same problem.

There has to be a level of trust between you and your practitioner.  This is something that can only be discerned by you and only you.  Trust your instincts on this one. 

​If a practitioner says something that you do not resonate with, then trust your own intuition.  If see a practitioner doing something that you do not resonate with, trust your intuition.  If a practitioner says one thing and does another, then they are likely out of alignment with themselves.  No matter what, you should always feel comfortable with the people that you surround yourself with, especially the ones that you seek help from.

One of my mentors' Crystal Anne Compton, discusses this idea beautifully in this piece:

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Good Spiritual Teacher vs. False Teacher

1. A good teacher inspires her students to explore for themselves and to go deeper into the content. A false teacher claims the final word on a subject, and demands that students arrive at the same conclusions.
2. A good teacher seeks to uplift their student, even to a position higher than her own. A false teacher often breaks down her students, pointing out flaws and errors in judgment, and exploiting vulnerabilities. A false teacher is jealous of a student's greater success.
3. A good teacher has experienced life and transmuted the energy of her personal lessons into lessons she can offer others. A false teacher often embellishes her life, says she knows and does things she does or has not. A false teacher creates a narrative -- true or false -- around her teaching to appear more compelling or persuasive.
4. A good teacher is humble and offers her knowledge in real service to her students. She doesn't seek praise or accolades but receives her reward from knowing that she has passed along knowledge that has the potential to change someone's life. A false teacher is often prideful and boastful; she drops names, mentions degrees; she seeks to be the last word and noticeably bristles when someone disagrees or confronts her. A false teacher can rarely withstand challenge and will sink into reaction when confronted, while a good teacher embraces challenge and views it as a development opportunity for herself.
5. A good teacher has a malleable mind. She is a 'fence sitter' in the best meaning of the word. Not because she is lazy, or indecisive, but because she realizes that she does not know everything. To sit on the fence means we can jump down to either side when it is appropriate. It means we are flexible. A good teacher knows there is always more to learn and is willing to be a student while at the same time serving as a teacher. A false teacher appears to know everything on a subject. She is overly invested in her role as a teaching authority and would be uncomfortable having her students know that she is also a student. A false teacher is staunch, unbending, and unwilling to be surprised.
6. A good teacher holds a vision for her students. She sees them as equipped, as empowered. She wants them to succeed at an even higher level than her own. When she looks out upon her students she sees them in their highest version is she is glad for it. A false teacher holds a vision for herself. She is not there to serve the student, but seeks to have the student serve her.
7. Last, a good teacher is authentic. She teaches mostly what she knows bears fruit in her own life. She can teach high minded concepts and knowledge that is complex but she is most powerful when she teaches from the personal space of her own life and experience. She does not pretend to have knowledge that she does not possess. She does not claim to have skills, talents, or gifts that she does not. She does not mimic, or parrot other teachers -- she mines her OWN life for the golden nuggets she will teach. A false teacher mimics. She takes the style and mannerisms of other teachers and makes them her own in a shallow way. She does not transform the content, making it her own, infusing it with her own energy, she more or less steals it and then claims to be the authority or owner of it.

Another concern that I hear often is regarding the proximity to your practitioner.  Some people prefer to see someone locally for the experience, but this is entirely optional!  Technology has certainly aided in easier facilitation of this concept, with options such as video conferencing allowing people to connect more personally.  Since the chakras and energy are apart of the bodies’ subtle energy system, a practitioner who is an energy worker will be able to connect with your energy from a distance. 

I hope this helps your discernment in finding the perfect practitioner for your needs! 

Love and Light,
xo Arielle Sterling

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