[member="George O Rourke"] | [member="Lily Hex-Volsh"] | [member="Ryn'Dhal"] | [member="Audren Sykes"]
"Very good," Teynara noted, watching the others carefully. It was easy to see that most of them had little practical experience with the techniques of healing themselves (or others) with the Force, but their initial exercise at least proved that all were capable. Sometimes you get those who can't manipulate the Force this way, and there'd be no point continuing their training these disciplines if so. All of them had stayed awake after the soporific had been administered, so they could at least chalk that one up as a success.
"Remember what I said about ourselves being a jug, and the Force being that which fills it?", she asked, perhaps a little rhetorically, taking a moment to sweep a stray blonde hair away from her face so that her vision wasn't obscured or distorted by it. "The Healing Trance is the pinnacle of this understanding. When our bodies are injured and have suffered trauma, it may be necessary to maintain your life's functions by pushing yourselves into a restorative trance. Your breathing slows to next to nothing, your consciousness wanes entirely, and you can't move even if you want to." It was a dangerous technique, in truth, even though it was considered common for Healers: the Archives had spoken of one or two that had slipped into the trance and never come back out of it.
"Your mind can be a major obstacle for the Force, since we are naturally taught to manipulate the energy and direct it in different ways, while our thoughts and feelings can prevent us from truly making contact with the Force," she remarked, shuffling a little to get comfortable on her seat. "When we lapse into a trance, we essentially empty our bodies of our selves - we fully empty the jug, and let the Force fill it." Doing that the first time is a truly terrifying thing, she remembered, recalling her own introduction to the technique. Just breathe, relax, let go. It's like sinking into a bath of warm water where you simply float on the surface and rest, totally free of tension. It was a deeper level of unconsciousness than she'd ever experienced, and sometimes it felt easier to simply sink into the darkness and stay there.
"Doing this lets healing energies move within our bodies at an accelerated rate, so a Jedi can heal injuries, shake off potent toxins or even delay imminent death. It's also a great technique for conserving your air if you're stuck aboard a ship without life support," she added with a wry smile. "But it's not a cure-all, nor is it fast. You always hear of Jedi who claim to have healed a broken bone or severe burn within minutes, but that's utter nonsense," the blonde woman remarked, shaking her head vehemently. "You can expect to be in a trance for several hours, at the minimum. Sometimes for days."
She'd lost count of the times she'd woken a patient from a trance and they'd lost track of days. None of them could entirely say where their consciousness had been at the time, either - it was always a very hazy thing. You might recall where you were when you entered the trance, but the time between slipping into it and being awoken...usually it's a blank. She wasn't going to tell the students that, though. They'd find this difficult enough.
"We're going to practice putting ourselves into a trance, one at a time, so everyone can observe both the experience and what it looks like in others," the Healer continued. "Audren, if we may start with you?", she asked with an inquiring look. "There are several key things we need to note here: firstly, you can put yourself in a trance or be placed into one by another, and you also must set a key for waking you. Most people choose a key word that can be spoken aloud, or use a chime tone or other alarm. You're also able to do it by duration of time, since for some reason, your subconscious mind stays aware of the passing of time while you're in the trance."
She'd never been able to figure that one out, frankly, but perhaps it was like the way a person would wake up minutes before their alarm clock, worried that they might not hear it, and thus end up oversleeping. On some level, a Jedi would be aware of how much time was passing, so if they were sat in a cockpit making a hyperspace jump, they could time their trance to wake them just before it reverted to subspace, and so on. Many potential uses of this one, but that's for you guys to discover.
"Now, I will be inducing the trance myself this time, because it's going to take you a good few meditation sessions to do it yourselves," she said, her expression becoming slightly grave for a moment. "When you do practice, don't do so alone: have someone monitoring you at all times. It's a drag, but it's for your own safety," Teynara added with a soft sigh. "If you're doing this to someone else, you need their consent above all: this isn't something you can do to on someone unwilling to be forced into it. Anybody have questions before we start?"
