EP15: "We're All Special" Jill Blakeway
For this week’s episode I had the honor of sitting with Dr. Jill Blakeway to discuss her latest book “Energy Medicine: The Science and Mystery of Healing”.
Dr. Blakeway is a licensed and board certified acupuncturist and clinical herbalist. She’s the founder of Yinova, an alternative health clinic in New York City. She is the co-author of Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility, and the author of Sex Again: Recharging your Libido.
In her new book she seamlessly connects the spiritual aspects and scientific facts of Healing Energy Work, how this tool is accessible to all, and it’s expansive Universal source. This book is written in a beautiful, thorough and honest way, and it is unique in it’s simplicity and warmth. I highly recommend it.
During our conversation Dr. Blakeway shares how her turbulent childhood enhanced her sensitivity to this energy, how she eventually found herself in this work, and a few simple techniques with which we can tap into it ourselves. Please listen in and enjoy.
ps: This book literally fell off the shelf for me as they say - as I’ve been deep into studying the subject and have recently become certified as a Reiki 1 practitioner - I truly feel as though my teacher appeared.
“Energy Medicine: The Science and Mystery of Healing” comes out April 2nd (run, don’t walk to get your copy). You can also find Dr. Blakeway and her incredible team at yinovacenter.com
JILL’S FAVORITES
Dr. Blakeway what are your “keep my sanity” essentials?
Breathing exercises. In my new book, Energy Medicine, I give an example of a breathing exercise that I use when treating patients. As part of my research for the book, I was given an EEG of my brain and an EKG of my heart, and found that they went into resonance with each other when I treated patients. That means that may brain and heart emit the same frequency when I am performing acupuncture. Interestingly, the patient’s heart then goes into resonance with mine. To accomplish this, I take 6 breaths a minute which increases my heart rate variability and allows me to adapt my body so that my energy field can connect with a patients field in a way that allows a transfer of information. This slow regular breathing makes me feel calm and I also do it simply to remain clear and grounded.
What's your favorite workout or type of movement?
Qi gong is an ancient technique that helps energy flow through the body. It perfectly balances yin and yang and allows qi to flow. It’s the perfect form of exercise for an energy healer. There is also a form of qi gong, called medical qi gong, where a practitioner uses the qi gong exercises to cultivate energy and then transmits the energy generated to a patient.
What’s your non-negotiable self-care ritual or tool?
I’m British, so I love a cup of tea and find taking time to make and drink tea to be a calming ritual. When I was writing Energy Medicine, I spent a lot of time in Japan, where the ritual surrounding tea is an art form. Slowly sipping green tea from my favorite cup is a daily treat and the way I unwind.
What is the best beauty/health/wellness advice a parent or loved one has given you?
My mother was an excellent cook and my father was a very good gardener. I used to host a weekly podcast for CBS called Grow Cook Heal that combined my love of growing vegetables, cooking nourishing food and wellness. I got that from my family and I’m grateful. These days my husband Noah and I have a vegetable garden in upstate New York and nothing gives me more pleasure than wandering down to the garden and picking what is ripe and ready to eat and cooking with it. It’s a way of letting the seasons guide my food choices.