I want to dedicate this post to Louise Taylor, a woman who had a huge influence on me.

To explain how I came across her, I have to start at the beginning, when I first became interested in the healing arts. Early on, I started checking out books from the library on dreams, reincarnation and similar topics. I found a book on self-hypnosis and started practicing and experimenting with it and found that it was something that came easily to me. The book suggested that you make a recording of the hypnotic induction (in other words, record yourself playing the hypnotherapist role), and then play the recording back while in a relaxed state so you can hypnotize yourself and plant suggestions. I found the idea of recording myself to be somewhat annoying since my pacing/timing as “hypnotherapist” were skills that weren’t really honed at that point, and I didn’t like the sound of my own voice. It was easier to just memorize the script and go from there, and once I used that method I did find that self-hypnosis worked for my purposes.

Another book I found at the library was Richard Gordon’s book Your Healing Hands: The Polarity Experience. I loved that book and the idea of polarity therapy so much, it changed everything for me. It was life-changing when I actually got to practice polarity therapy on people because I could feel the energy, and the person I was working on could feel me working with it, moving it around, and getting it to flow. It helped me learn to sense energy, move energy and start to figure out how to interact with practice clients.

Around this time I started meeting and befriending people who were psychic to one degree or another, so my own abilities were enhanced by my connection to each of those people and the work I was doing. One of my friends bought me a small crystal bunny that somehow became a hilarious thing to both of us. She knew I kept the crystal bunny in my pocket when I left the house, and on my nightstand when I slept, so she would use the crystal bunny as a GPS of sorts: a way to locate me whenever she wanted to send me thoughts or contact me (this was before cell phones). Another friend could (and would) regularly wake me up from sleep.

There was a small metaphysical bookstore called “Akashic” on the main street that ran through the city where I lived. They sold books, candles, Tarot cards and crystals (I think the crystal bunny was procured there). I remember when I was there once Barbara Brennan’s book Hands of Light practically fell off the shelf when I walked by it. I looked through it, bought it, and it had a huge influence on me.

When I was in Akashic, I saw a flyer for holistic healing classes. See, back before the internet, you had to market by making paper flyers and putting them in bookstores where your target audience may shop. Bookstores within driving distance of your classes, because this was before Zoom. Anyway, the flyer advertised a series of classes held at a different bookstore in Van Nuys, CA.

That’s where I met Louise Taylor, who taught the classes. I have no idea why this amazing woman was teaching holistic healing in the back of a bookstore in Van Nuys, but I chalk it up to the fact that she was probably an outcast because she was way ahead of her time.

I wish I still had the flyer so I could list the classes exactly as she described them, but I don’t think I have it anymore. I do, however, still have my notes (somewhere). When I find them, I will update this post. But for now I have to rely on memory.

We met in small groups of probably ten people (or fewer). Louise would give us some super old, hard to read Xerox copies of things that were probably very fringe and occult at the time. You know, things like Kirlian photography and a healer’s affect on a cell. But she really knew her stuff and she walked her talk.

One of the classes was on something called magnetic therapy. NOT the magnetic therapy with actual magnets; magnetic therapy where you use your hands as magnets. You use your right (or dominant) hand as the ‘+’ (positive) hand, and you “send” or “push” healing energy with it while it is on the client’s body. You use your left (or non-dominant) hand as the ‘-’ (negative) hand and you “receive” or “pull” energy with it while it is on the client’s body. (Interesting notes: I ended up going to Barbara Brennan’s school sometime around the year 2000, and we learned this exact exercise, just with different terms and a few additional techniques, such as “stop”. Also, I ran into one of the women in Louise’s class at a Barbara Brennan workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico many years later.) Louise demonstrated the techniques and then had us pair up and practice on each other. She clearly explained that, as we pushed and pulled another person’s energy, we needed to send any excess energy out through our elbows to avoid picking anything up from the client. Magnetic therapy is mostly used for pain relief, such as headaches and sore muscles, if I recall correctly. While this technique probably seems outdated, I’m sure it is still very effective.

During class one week, Louise distributed the ancient-looking Xerox copies that were taken from Richard Gordon’s polarity therapy book. The topic for that week was polarity therapy, so I was pretty excited since polarity therapy is my jam. Each week Louise would pick someone from the group and use them as the practice client for demonstration purposes, and I was the practice client for polarity week. She had me remove my shoes and lie down on a massage table while she talked about what she was doing, which involved sending currents of energy through certain energy pathways in the body. While she was talking, I started drifting away a little bit, not really able to hear what she was saying. I glanced down to see what she was doing and, to my total surprise, she was using only one finger to make contact with my pinky toe. There were surges of energy flowing through me, up from my toe, through my leg and torso, up to my head, and back down the other side. It was so powerful, but not overwhelming. It was amazing and inspiring. It was clear to me that the group didn’t know this was happening at all. They didn’t know she was sending energy and she didn’t know how powerfully I was experiencing it. I wondered if she saw potential in me, and was showing me that I could do the same thing, but she was showing me in a very private (but still public) way. It was an amazing one-on-one moment with her, and it still inspires me when I think about it. The group proceeded to do the polarity techniques the “normal” way, with both hands placed on the practice client’s body. After we practiced, Louise took us back to the bookstore’s bathroom to show us how to properly wash our hands, ground ourselves and clear excess energy from our hands and arms using the water faucet and certain hand movements. Those techniques are used to remove any energy picked up from the client, and I still use them to this day.

The private moment I had with her was not the only thing she shared in that covert way. There were other things she shared, for example by having them sitting out in the room or on a table or mantel, but she never pointed them out or spoke about them. There was one thing in particular that I saw (it was a book), that she never mentioned. But later I found the book at Akashic so I could see what it was all about, and it became another major influence on my life. In retrospect, I understand that she was never trying to push anything on anyone, but gave people the opportunity to notice something, investigate it for themselves if interested, and have their own experience of it.

Louise gave additional classes on the topics of Therapeutic Touch, candle magick, acupressure, chakras (using Barbara Brennan’s Hands of Light book), and light and color therapy.

Separately from the classes, she made her own recording of a couple of color therapy mediations and offered the tapes for sale. In the recording, she walks you through visualizations of the colors associated with each chakra in combination with images of crystals/gemstones to help you clear and charge each energy center. I bought a copy from her and still have the tape.

I Googled Louise a few years ago and believe she has passed on to her next great adventure. Additional creative Googling helped me stumble upon a book she wrote called Simple Ways to Wellness. It’s a workbook that describes different self-help healing techniques for various ailments. In the book, Louise shows you how to use acupressure, visualization, color therapy and affirmations for each affliction.

The variety of techniques I learned (or enhanced) from my time with Louise really inspired me to take up healing as a serious hobby, and eventually as a subject of lifelong learning. I’m so grateful to have met such a talented and inspiring individual. If anyone who reads this ever knew her or learned from her, please reach out. I’d love to hear your stories about her.