The art and science of remote healing with il'il Sat Prem.
The following interview is a transcript excerpt from The Heallist Podcast episode. Listen to the full audio version below and subscribe to get notified of new episodes.
Il'il Sat Prem, a Yogini, teacher, and naturopath, is a spiritual guide and holistic practitioner rooted in diverse healing modalities. With a background in music, Il'il received the spiritual name Sat Prem, meaning 'true love' or 'divine love of truth,' during her Kundalini Yoga practice in New York under the guidance of Guru Dev Singh Khalsa. Embracing a transformative approach to healing, she blends modalities like Healing in The Flow, Chinese Acupuncture, and Kundalini Yoga. Based in Berlin since 2011, Il'il offers individual healing sessions, teaches Kundalini Yoga and Healing in The Flow courses, and conducts workshops. Notably, she extends her reach through online courses and remote healing sessions, aiming to guide individuals toward growth, expanded perception, and the dissolution of perceived limitations. Il'il Sat Prem is dedicated to inspiring transformation, joy, and a profound commitment to personal growth in her students and clients.
Yuli Ziv: I'm curious to know how you prepare your clients for the experience of remote healing. Are there any common misconceptions or blocks that you need to address first?
il’il Sat Prem: I'm often surprised by how open people are to the idea of remote healing these days. Sometimes, a client who comes to me for in-person treatment will hear that I also offer remote healing and ask if I can do it for their mother who lives far away or someone else. I'm glad to see that remote healing has become more accepted in recent years. I used to prepare myself for a lot of explanations, but people are now more likely to say, "Okay, let's do it."
Yuli Ziv: It's great to hear that no installation is needed these days. So, how do we set the stage for remote healing? As a healer, are there any specific techniques you prepare for remote healing versus in-person healing?
il’il Sat Prem: Actually, I do the same thing that I always do, but it's even more essential when we're talking about remote healing, which is to go within and connect with the person even before I meet them. But again, this actually happens every time someone approaches me. For example, if I get an email from someone, I go into the space and relate to them within myself to understand the problem and what needs to be done. This is even more essential when doing remote healing, to be very clear of the situation.
With remote healing, it's even more important to understand the specific situation that the client is in at a given moment, because we're used to the normal, in-person encounter between a client and a healer, which is a therapy encounter. With remote healing, however, it's really important to understand what happens when we close our video chat or the phone. What's going to go on for that person? What will they experience and how can we contain that? We need to understand how the healing will develop.
Yuli Ziv: How do you hold the space virtually?
il’il Sat Prem: The point is simply to hold space—it's the way we connect with people. My work as a remote healer, and my teaching of it in recent years, has made it clear that it's all about holding space. It's not about the one-on-one encounter or the physical space we occupy. It's a space beyond the physical realm, beyond physical conditions. It's a space of meditation in which I work. It's the realization that everything is contained within my own space, whether it's an online or in-person space.
Energy healing and consciousness with a mystical perspective
Yuli Ziv: Can we really get into the details? Are we talking about quantum energies, electromagnetic fields, a person's aura, or personal field? Can you describe it a little more, visually, or scientifically, for the people listening to your podcast?
il’il Sat Prem: I could, but I'm not a physicist. Once, I told a physics professor about my work, and he gave me a look. I don't use that term anymore. I simplify and say, "the field." Sometimes, I call it the field of consciousness. Everything is energy; consciousness and energy are one. I prefer "consciousness of field" or "field of consciousness." It transcends the idea of energy transmission. When I think of energy, I still imagine something like throwing a ball and getting it back. But it's more multidimensional.
Yuli Ziv: How does that energy exchange happen especially in the virtual world?
il’il Sat Prem: Using "energy exchange" brings us back to the idea of throwing a ball. While I occasionally use energy healing in a specific manner, moving energy here or there, it's not the core of my practice. It can be a choice within the space, but my healing is rooted in a non-dual state. In this state, the healer experiences everything within their own consciousness. Whatever the healer directs their attention to is influenced by shifts in their consciousness. This is because they've learned to contain it all, allowing space, while also removing themselves in a way that leaves only consciousness, perception, and a single point of view.
Yuli Ziv: If you remove yourself from consciousness, does it mean you're entering the other person's consciousness or their energy field to do your healing there? Or do you bring them into your consciousness? Or is it more like a neutral field that both of you access?
il’il Sat Prem: Your question is very dual, assuming that there is a me and the other. If I were to try to explain my healing method, first of all, it is based in silence. So, all I can do when I teach or explain it is try not to disturb the silence and perhaps give a little roadmap of what is actually happening.
From a dual perspective, I would say that my healing method is based on the power of resonance. However, I prefer to think of it as a non-dual state where there is no real separation. My only power is my perspective and intention, which is to heal. This intention can be more specific, such as healing a particular condition or looking at something in more detail. Then, I direct my attention to the area that I want to heal.
Language cannot fully describe this healing method. However, there is the healer's point of view, the healer's intention, and then the healing happens within the field through this intention and attention.
Yuli Ziv: I guess step one is to step out of the duality and step into oneness. Is that true?
il’il Sat Prem: That sounds easy when you say it, but it's important to recognize that we are already there all the time. All of us who have meditated have experienced a taste of these fields. It's about recognizing and stabilizing this state. When I teach my healing method, there is a leap of recognizing that our silence can be applied, that we have the power to do something with it. This is a huge leap of faith, but it is possible.
Teaching Meditation Remotely vs. In-Person
Yuli Ziv: That's incredible. You touched on a lot of it in your last question about teaching groups. How is that experience different or similar when it comes to remote groups?
I imagine a scenario where you have a large group of people on a Zoom call, some on video and some on audio. Some may be distracted, trying to eat lunch or whatever. How do you bring this group together remotely?
il’il Sat Prem: I've been teaching online for one year, after always teaching in person. Due to COVID, my pregnancy, and other life events, I realized I wanted to start teaching online. This was forbidden in my tradition, as we were told it was dangerous. But when I hear something like this, I feel like I have to experiment with it. I did, and it's been a transformative and amazing experience.
I never had the problem of people not showing their faces. My groups have been 10-20 people, and they're always eager to learn. I've found no difficulty managing the group. Once we go into the field, people can go into a state of trance or deep silence for three, six hours, or even a whole weekend. We've had cases where people from different continents have experienced the same thing at the same moment, such as energy moving their bodies in the same way with their eyes closed in different spaces.
Remote healing and consciousness connection
Yuli Ziv: Can you tell any stories about fascinating reactions that happened during your remote healing or teaching sessions, such as people experiencing the same thing at the same time in different places?
il’il Sat Prem: I had a couple of people in different places and one couple in the same room who shared with the group that they had the same experience at the same moment: their bodies were tilting backwards in a specific way. When they said this, other people in the group started saying the same thing.
I don't usually talk too much about these things because anything can happen. Like another thing I learned from my teachers is that anything can happen in a healing session or teaching.
We also sometimes do remote healing, where a group of people in different places heal someone who is not there, maybe even someone we don't know. This is perfectly possible. As a healer, I also do remote healing when someone asks me to heal a relative even without me talking to that person.
Yuli Ziv: What do you need to know about the person to be able to perform remote healing for them?
il’il Sat Prem: I need to be able to connect. Connecting in the field is like finding a plug. When everything exists in you and you recognize this, everything means a whole universe. The question is only whether you can direct your attention or connect to something specific.
Generally, when someone introduces someone, the information is somehow in the field because they know that person or the information is in the field. I've discovered that we're always right in a sense that after a healing session, we know or can tell how it has developed, how the person is feeling right now, or how it relates to that information.
Remote healing techniques and subtle body awareness
Yuli Ziv: If you do remote healing for someone, and someone comes to you and says, “My mother needs remote healing.” Do you need the permission of that person to perform that?
il’il Sat Prem: In general, yes. I devoted an episode or part of my video course to consent and the code of ethics of healing, especially remote healing. It's very important to me. Even when my child was a baby, I used to ask her if I could heal her. I think it's a decent thing to do.
There are exceptions, of course. If someone is in a coma, for example, I think it's appropriate to heal them without consent. However, there may be cases where healing without consent is appropriate or even necessary. For example, if you're a healer and you find yourself in a situation that obviously requires healing, you can just do it. Healing can also be used to heal situations of violence or other problems; in which case you can also heal without consent.
However, in general, you should ask for someone's consent before healing them. I've had cases where I didn't get the person's consent, and I don't do it.
Yuli Ziv: In cases like that, do you try to talk to the person and explain what you do? Or do you accept that if someone isn't ready, they're simply not ready?
il’il Sat Prem: Generally, whoever is not ready is not ready. But it really depends on the situation. People may suggest remote healing to others. However, when people are already in my practice, even in person, I usually find that they are open to remote healing once they know me.
Yuli Ziv: What are some of the specific parts that you teach? What are some of the skills that you find are specific to remote healing that people need to master? And what are some of the blocks that they might need to overcome?
il’il Sat Prem: The blocks are very simple: the standard "I can't do it" or "it can't be done." My whole video course is fitting for remote healers, but it can also be practiced or applied by people who work in person. There is one specific episode on the subtle body, which is a very useful tool for remote healing. I love to practice it in my online classes. The subtle body allows us to time travel and space travel with remote healing. The subtle body allows us to go to the space where we are now and feel and smell the room or have the sense of how the light in our space is falling on our skin. It's not essential for remote healing, but it's a nice tool.
Kundalini Yoga and its Impact on Consciousness
Yuli Ziv: I'm glad you brought up kundalini yoga. I studied at the same school in New York City as you, although I didn't go through the training like you did. I studied kundalini yoga for many years. I didn't realize how much of kundalini yoga is the basis of many other modalities.
I'm curious how you view kundalini yoga because it doesn't always get credit. I see a lot of people using kundalini practices, such as the kundalini breath or awakening the kundalini energy, but they don't call it kundalini yoga. Can you tell us how you incorporate kundalini tools in your current practice?
il’il Sat Prem: First of all, I was blessed to find Kundalini Yoga directly. I never tried any other kind of yoga. I came across the concept of Kundalini and I was lucky to have Kundalini Yoga East literally around the corner. The first class was intense and weird, but I knew I would practice it every day for the rest of my life. It's been almost 20 years ago.
I use Kundalini Yoga in my healing work. It is the most efficient way to shift consciousness, both group consciousness and individual consciousness. Kundalini Yoga works deeply on the nervous system, and I use the arm exercises in my healing classes to help people go deep fast.
I also use specific Kundalini Yoga meditations and meridian practices to release specific blockages in groups. For example, if the communication is not flowing, I might lead a group in an 11-minute meditation that opens the third eye point. This is the most efficient way to release very specific blockages.
Yuli Ziv: I love how Yogi Bhajan called Kundalini Yoga a technology. It wasn't a method or a practice; it was a technology. I always connected with that, and when I found the school, it felt right. I knew this technology was for me. Like you said, when you follow the directions, Kundalini Yoga is pure magic.
It's great that you're not only keeping the tradition of Kundalini Yoga alive, but you're also embedding it in other healing methods. I think this is making it more accessible to people who might not be familiar with it or who might not resonate with the name.
il’il Sat Prem: I'm on a very interesting journey, similar to the one that Guru Dev started. I feel like I'm continuing his work in a way. Traditionally, healing was taught in absolute silence. It was practiced by healers, shamans, and yogis for millennia. Guru Dev was the first person to teach healing to the public and use words for it. He did this incredibly for a few decades. I feel like my work is also to elucidate healing in different ways, to find the words for the silences.
Somehow very carefully guiding the people through and sometimes telling them, "You know, here's a roadblock. Beware of that. That's not where you want to go." It has to be this balance of allowing people their experience, because this is what it's really about: the experience of those who practice. I'm only there to guide them through.
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