You have probably heard about it a lot in recent years, maybe in relation to today’s contemporary spirituality, but what is energy healing? Energy healing is a holistic approach to healing that acts on the mind, body, and spirit. During energy healing treatment, a practitioner will use various techniques to transfer positive healing energy to another person to remove blocks, reactivate the body’s subtle energy systems, or restore balance. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) refers to energy therapies as complementary healing methods using various energy fields.
Human bodies generate a measurable electronic field that is strong enough for conventional medicine to measure as part of a diagnosis for illness or disease. An example most people would be familiar with is the electroencephalograms (EEGs) used to measure brain activity. Modern medicine also uses the body’s electrical activity to measure and regulate heartbeats and magnetic resonance imaging to heal and reveal the body’s hidden secrets.
The practice of redirecting the subtle energy flows around the body with energy healing has been developed over centuries, mostly in traditional non-western cultures worldwide. And just like in a car, regular tune-ups can keep you running smoothly and ward off disease. Read on to learn more about energy healing, the many different types of energy healing therapies, how they work, and how you can improve your life in many different ways.
What is Energy Healing?
If you are just now discovering energy healing and its benefits, you may be wondering what it all means. From a scientific perspective, energy is a measurement of the ability to do work. The way scientists use work is broad and has nothing to do with how much you can get done at the office during your shift. Instead, work is any type of action or activity. When energy performs work, it changes from one form to another.
For example, thought turned into action is an excellent example of changing one form of energy into another. Though your thoughts are not who you are, a huge part of your actions and energy consumption are driven by your thoughts and emotions. Humans possess an intricate web of energy in a continuous flow around the body, and when it becomes imbalanced, it can affect your health and wellbeing.
Energy healing practitioners aim to restore the balance by connecting the conscious mind with the subconscious and engaging the spiritual and mental aspects of the body. It’s a holistic balancing act that treats the whole person rather than a single symptom in isolation.
A Brief History of Energy Healing
Energy healing takes many forms, and many energy therapy techniques have been around for centuries, and in some cases, eons. Traditional Oriental medicine focuses on the body’s 7 chakras (energy centers of the body), with each chakra responsible for a different part of your holistic whole.
Modern science is only beginning to understand that ancient healing practices aren’t just mumbo jumbo and placebo effects because everything is made of energy and vibrations. The Indian spiritual tradition of prana, which is the term used for universal energy, life energy, or the breath of life, can be traced back thousands of years. Universal energy is the basic building block of all life, and it is how all is connected.
By the third millennium B.C, the ancient Chinese believed that all matter is infused with pulsing energy called Ch’i. There are two opposing forces to Ch’i, the yin and yang. When yin and yang are balanced, all is well. If one becomes diminished or stronger than the other, you are more prone to disease. Energy healing techniques like acupuncture are then used to restore the balance of energy.
The modern medical fraternity is starting to acknowledge the benefits of many of these ancient healing arts, which is why you will now see hospitals offering massage therapy like Reiki and acupuncture appearing as an option on medical insurance plans.
Types of Energy Healing
Hundreds of energy healing techniques have been refined over the centuries. Here are a few of the most popular modalities.
Reiki
Reiki is a relatively modern energy healing technique. It was first created in the early 1900s in Japan and works on the principle of a Reiki practitioner manipulating the flow of energy in a client through gentle or near touch.
The goal of Reiki practitioner is to energize the body’s natural healing mechanisms based on a concept that there is an unseen, pervasive force that runs through all of us.
In yoga, this force is called prana, but the Japanese refer to it as ki. When ki is in short supply, we are more prone to illness, but we feel healthy, relaxed, and happy when we have it in abundance.
Why Use Reiki
If you believe that everyone’s energy can influence everyone else’s, then you are likely in sync with the idea that a trained Reiki practitioner will be able to affect your ki. Your mind is already primed to accept Reiki and benefit from it, and when your mind is tuned towards what you desire, you attract it.
When you are sensitive to other people’s energy, you have an innate sense when something feels off, like when a person walks into the room and sucks all the life out of it. For some people, the sensation is strong, like someone flicking a switch. If you fit this description, then a Reiki practitioner will be a great conduit for you to restore balance.
Chakra Balancing
The human body possesses seven different chakras. Prana, the vital life force energy, moves through each chakra via the body’s midline. Chakra is Sanskrit for wheel, so each energy center is a spinning, spherical ball of energy. Each chakra represents a different human need.
- Muladhara – The Root or grounding chakra for physical and bodily energy.
- Svadhisthana – The Sacral chakra in the pelvic region that is all about your creative spirit.
- Manipura -The Solar Plexus Chakra is about 2 or 3 inches above the belly button and is also known as the warrior chakra because of its connection to bravery.
- Anahata – The Heart Chakra is all about love, kindness, and compassion.
- Vishudda – The Throat Chakra is your center for self-expression.
- Ajna – The Third Eye Chakra in the middle of your forehead opens you up to expanded levels of consciousness.
- Sahasrara – The Crown Chakra at the top of your head connects you to the universe and everything in it.
Why Use Chakra Balancing
Chakra energy healing will benefit anyone who is feeling blocked. Maybe you aren’t feeling as creative, which could mean your Sacral chakra is off balance. Perhaps you are feeling shy or lack confidence. In which case, your Anahata chakra may need some work. When you unblock the chakras related to the issues holding you back, you will find new solutions or discover ways to break old patterns and habits.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an eons-old energy healing practice that uses needles placed along meridian lines to restore balance. It is thought that acupuncture was first used more than 8,000 years ago. Acupuncture is just one modality of Chinese medicine which uses a holistic focus when practitioners are choosing where to place the needles.
You may be experiencing pain in your left foot, but the practitioner will follow that meridian line along your body and place needles where appropriate, which may not be anywhere near your foot. When going through Acupuncture for the first time, the placement of the needles can definitely be surprising.
Why Use Acupuncture
People who are skeptical of ancient healing practices can soon have their viewpoints changed after a session of acupuncture. More and more scientific research is now showing that these ancient techniques have not only some merit in treating disease, but can actually be a better treatment than any other western treatment or medicine.
Millions of people use acupuncture to find relief from a wide range of conditions, from sinus blockages to chronic fatigue syndrome. Most who try it keep going back, which shows that the techniques do work.
Zero Balancing
Zero balancing is another new energy healing technique that was developed by an osteopath turned acupuncturist. The technique works on the relationship between a person’s physical composition and their energy system. Practitioners of zero balancing use finger pressure and gentle friction on areas of the body experiencing tension. They will also work to balance energy fields and clear blockages in the flow of energy to amplify health and wellbeing.
Why Use Zero Balancing
Zero balancing is an east meets west kind of energy healing philosophy. Eastern philosophies are incorporated into western scientific knowledge. The technique is often used to provide people with relief from physical pain and tension. People who prefer hands-on therapy sessions will appreciate the physical contact applied during zero balancing, and enjoy better energy flow and wellbeing.
Energy Healing in Modern Medicine?
As we have seen, energy healing in whatever form it takes aims to restore the balance in the body’s energy systems. Each technique takes a different approach to the same core principle, working holistically on the body while taking into account the spiritual, emotional, and physical components of what makes up a person. To understand the mind-body connection, and the spiritual element that is crucial to one’s health.
Western medicine is starting to notice the potential provided by these ancient and not so ancient techniques. As more research gets done, energy healing is gaining more recognition and acceptance in modern medical circles every day.
How Does Energy Healing Work?
Physicians who have trained in both eastern and western techniques confirm the potential for these alternative healing methods. Deepak Chopra is a famous holistic physician well-versed in modern medicine and ancient energy healing techniques, and says about the efficacy of energy healing:
“It triggers your own healing system, which is called homeostasis.”
Homeostasis refers to the body’s ability to maintain order despite outside or internal influences doing their best to upset it, such as triggering your immune system into producing antibodies to protect against future infection or form a blood clot on a cut to stem the flow of blood. All of that obviously sounds like a great thing, but how do you practically connect with your energy and what can it do for you?
Energy healing can have a wide range of effects on your mental and physical health. People use the various techniques available to manage stress, heal emotional and physical wounds, access energy reserves, and revitalize the body. Energy healing has also been shown to help people with chronic pain, cancer, and burn recovery.
Because of its holistic approach, energy healing does not just help the physical body. It also supports the emotional and spiritual elements of being human. The best way to see if energy healing will work for you is to try it. Talk with your health care provider to find out what’s available in your area. In more and more cases, energy healing services are being made available on medical insurance plans, even the basic ones.
You might feel like you are physically fit and have great mental wellbeing, but even healthy people find benefit from energy healing in any of its guises. Prevention, according to traditional Indian and Chinese medicine, is better than cure, so ensuring all your systems remain balanced with a regular energy healing session may help prevent problems from developing, and build a positive momentum that can even help you reach new heights of wellbeing.
