Pick a Healer you Trust

There's a fine line between self-discipline and self-abuse.

SEDONA, Ariz. — Midway through a two-hour sweat lodge ceremony intended to be a rebirthing experience, participants say, some people began to fall desperately ill from the heat, even as their leader, James Arthur Ray, a nationally known New Age guru, urged them to press on.

“There were people throwing up everywhere,” said Dr. Beverley Bunn, 43, an orthodontist from Texas, who said she struggled to remain conscious in the sweat lodge, a makeshift structure covered with blankets and plastic and heated with fiery rocks.

Dr. Bunn said Mr. Ray told the more than 50 people jammed into the small structure — people who had just completed a 36-hour “vision quest” in which they fasted alone in the desert — that vomiting “was good for you, that you are purging what your body doesn’t want, what it doesn’t need.” But by the end of the ordeal on Oct. 8, emergency crews had taken 21 people to hospitals. Three have since died.

There's also a reason that 'New Age healing' has a lousy reputation. Getting in touch with your 'spiritual side' does not mean abdicating all common sense and self-responsibility.

Obviously the results of the investigation are still underway; it would be premature to declare that this guy, James Arthur Ray, is an arrogant, irresponsible, abusive predator. Nevertheless, there's a lot of evidence pointing that way. What kind of nincompoop stands in front of the exit to a sweat lodge, repeating "Play full on, you have to go through this barrier," preventing people who are ACTUALLY DYING from leaving?

Lesson 101 of being a responsible healer is to leave your ego at the door. And Lesson 101 of being a responsible seeker is to trust your intuition.

In other words, if your 'healer' appears to be making you sicker, try someone else.