My New Year Energy Cleanse: Polarity Therapy

By: Leah Shannon, FullWell

In January, a lot of us want to go through “cleanse”. After almost a two-month spate of parties, we definitely feel it. So we look for ways to eat “clean” and “detoxify.” But recently, I discovered “Polarity Therapy” and it was a revelation. The best way I can describe it is an energy cleanse.

The American Polarity Therapy Association (APTA) defines it as “A blend of modern science and complementary medicine, it is a comprehensive health system involving energy-based bodywork, diet, exercise and self-awareness. Scientifically, it works with the Human Energy Field, electromagnetic patterns expressed in mental, emotional and physical experience. In Polarity Therapy, health is viewed as a reflection of the condition of the energy field, and therapeutic methods are designed to balance the field for health benefit.”

My therapist is Alexis Shaw, new Pittsburgh transplant and the sole Polarity Therapy practitioner in the region (there are only and estimated X in the U.S.)

Wearing all-white to provide a neutral palette of energy, Alexis begins the session by asking me open questions about my health, moods and what I feel like I need most help with. Then, I lay on a massage table (fully clothed, unlike acupuncture or massage as we generally know it). The session was an hour and Alexis used palpation, point specific touch (my meridians, which are familiar to those who use acupuncture) or light touch. During the session, Alexis also used crystals and other subtle energy work.

According to APTA, “In the session, the practitioner supports the client in increasing self-awareness of subtle energetic sensations, which are often experienced as tingling, warmth, expansion or wavelike movement.”

It was certainly intense. After the session, I felt the same relaxed sensation that I feel post-massage.

Here is a video explaining Polarity Therapy further: