I tried Spinal Energetics and I think it changed my life?
Words by Kaya Martin
“While I’m still not sure what exactly happened to me on that table, for the first time, my mind was officially boggled.”
When it comes to all things woo-woo, I have to admit I’m a bit of a sceptic. I’ve dipped my toes into the world of metaphysical healing. I’ve had my tarot cards read, I’ve sipped the tonics, I’ve been spritzed with colloidal silver and essential oils, and each time I’ve come out thinking “alright, cool.”
I’d describe my previous experiences as interesting or relaxing, but in no way mind-boggling. All this to say, I was completely unprepared for spinal energetics.
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Ahead of the session, I tried, without much success, to figure out what spinal energetics actually was. I read the blurb of the website, which described it as a modality that works on the spine and energetic field to “harness a person’s own innate wisdom to know and heal themselves”.
I watched a video of chiropractor, counsellor and energy facilitator, Dr Sarah Jane, the founder and creator of Spinal Energetics, waving her hands over a patient like some kind of elaborate contemporary dance, making wooshing sounds with her mouth. The patient jerked and twitched as if having an exorcism. “Alright, cool,” I thought.
The team’s Richmond office had that air of modern wellness chic I’d come to know and love: sunlight streaming through the windows, scented candles and a fresh pot of tea resting on the table.
On the wall hung a portrait of Dr Sarah Jane, which she told me was done by the skateboarding painter Brett Ashby, as well as framed magazine write-ups about her service. Briefly, I wondered if my own review, once complete, would end up on that wall.
Dr Sarah Jane
Unlike most other practitioners I’d interacted with, who typically exuded a soft-spoken sense of calm, Dr Sarah was bright and effervescent, making jokes with me and her team. In an effort to further understand what I was getting myself into, I asked her how she came to develop the practice.
She told me while she originally wanted a career in fashion, she ended up working for a chiropractor and getting a degree in psychology. “She was a chiropractor who works tonally, which means no cracking,” Dr Sarah said. “It made me realise that chiropractic isn’t about bone manipulation, it’s about something else. It’s about working with the nervous system and the person within it.”
This inspired further study into Buddhism, Chinese medicine, Eastern philosophy, yoga and meditation (among other things) which lay the foundations for what came to be Spinal Energetics. “[On] the western side, we look at it more from an anatomical point of view. We still look at the body as a nervous system-based thing,” she said. “Then we bring in more of that eastern side, like, we’re working with the soul. We believe that things store in the body.”
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I mention Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps The Score which outlines how trauma reshapes the brain and the body, and Dr Sarah said its popularity helped people better understand the concept behind Spinal Energetics.
Using that logic, she decided to make something that addresses “mind, body, energy and soul” all at once. While she admits it’s hard to explain her work, she’s confident once people experience it, they’ll notice a tangible chance. “I wouldn’t have chosen to dedicate my life to something that looks so strange and is a bit odd,” she laughs, “if I didn’t believe in what it does.”.
With that, it was time for me to get on the table. The session began by Dr Sarah pressing her fingers into different part of my body, massaging and analysing. Almost immediately, she began making very acute, accurate statement about myself. This included specifics about my extended family dynamics, things said to me as far back as elementary school which made lasting impressions on me and my future plans.
She also made less esoteric, more health-related comments as well. Pressing on my liver, she said “I didn’t expect that from you!” (in reference to all the partying). She mentioned a misaligned hip, an enzyme problem and a high-sugar diet, all things I already suspected to be true.
I was seriously taken aback by her insights, especially how precise they were. These weren’t generic, horoscope-y truisms anyone could confirmation bias their way into, these were clear-cut facts – ones I hadn’t expected to be facing on a casual Friday morning.
Then, she said she was going to open up my ‘energetic flow’. Her dog, Cooper, scampered in and lay down. “He can tell when people need it,” she said. She pulled my wrist (hard, I must add) and it felt like an electric shock going through my arm and into my chest.
After identifying what we needed to work on, the next part of the session involved doing the actual work. I flipped over while Dr Sarah started on my back, touching me lightly and moving a speaker playing music and nature sounds from side to side. At one point, I was told to breathe in and out, tilting my spine back and forth.
This part was chill. I didn’t feel extreme emotion or sensation, as others have reported. But when the session was over and I sat up, I felt extremely lightheaded and dizzy, like I was about to faint.
Dr Sarah put a hand on my shoulder to steady me and said it happened sometimes. Leaving the studio, the sense of lightness stayed with me the whole day. I had plans to go out for a boozy lunch afterwards, but I couldn’t stomach drinking. When I came home, my boyfriend told me I looked like I’d seen a ghost.
I had the urge to sit by myself and reevaluate my life, to move slowly and carefully through it. My intuition felt clearer, as if I had a better understanding of myself and what was right for me. While I’m still not sure what exactly happened to me on that table, for the first time, my mind was officially boggled.
For more on Spinal Energetics, try this.
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