What is Energy Healing?

The theory is that this vital life force energy continually flows throughout the body in organized patterns, just as blood does. Unlike blood, however, life force energy does not stop at the surface of the skin but extends several inches beyond the body, creating a unique energy field (the biofield or aura) for each individual.

When a person's energy flows freely in a balanced, symmetrical manner, good health is maintained. When the energy flow becomes restricted, disordered, or weakened, an imbalance occurs and an excess or deficiency of energy results. This can lead to symptoms of emotional and physical distress and eventually to chronic pain and disease.

Many traditional health systems have long recognized this vital life force. Indeed, such widely known systems as acupuncture, acupressure, shiatsu homeopathy, naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic and shamanistic healing use some aspect of the vital life force principle in therapy. In addition, practices such as yoga, tai chi, qigong and some forms of meditation incorporate perceiving and directing this energy flow in one's own body.

More recently, the term "energy healing" refers to the abilities of individual healers who assess energy imbalances in clients using their own energy fields. In some cultures, such healers are considered to have God-given spiritual gifts. However, as energy healing has become more widely recognized, the methods of energy healing taught in various cultures are integrated into training programs and professional schools. In such programs, practitioners learn to develop their innate talents in a consistent manner.

Energy healing practitioners believe that the therapy works by manipulating the energy that pulsates in and around all living beings. Energetic intervention by a practitioner, with the hands on or off the body, can serve to correct imbalances in energy flow, restore symmetry, and re-establish the free flow of energy through the body's energy pathways. These pathways are known in energy healing as channels (meridians), chakras, and etheric levels.

Channels. Energy flows through a person's body via various acupoints that are organized into channels or meridians. The meridian system contains several hundred points that can be manipulated to promote energy balance in parts of the body that experience discomfort or disease.

Chakras. The body's vital energy flows up from the feet to the top of the head and concentrates at different levels in the body called chakras. There are seven major chakras along the centerline of the body, with multiple minor chakras outside the body and along the extremities. The state of each chakra reflects the health of a particular area of your body. It also reflects your psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being. When chakra energy is blocked or misdirected, emotional and physical illness can arise.

Etheric layers. Directly above the skin's surface, the human energy field is divided into etheric layers. Each of these layers is three dimensional and envelops the body like a sheath or shell. The layers closest to the body are the physical, emotional, and mental. The physical level is linked to vitality and is the one most easily seen in a person's aura. The emotional level contains the energy associated with both positive and negative emotions. The third level is the mental field and contains energy associated with thought and interpretation of events. Energy from this layer surrounds and interfaces with the emotional level, intensifying the relationship between thoughts and feelings.

In a therapy session, a practitioner of energy healing will assess the pattern of energy flow in one or more of these pathways, and manipulate energy wherever it is blocked. Often during a session, a client will achieve a deep state of relaxation. Deep relaxation helps to balance the nervous system and trigger the release of hormones and neurotransmitters, which help to decrease pain and increase a sense of well-being. Many people who receive an energy healing session note an immediate decrease in their stress level, which has been recognized as a major contributor to wellness.

It is important to note that energy healing is not a substitute for conventional medical care. However, as an adjunctive treatment it can be a very effective and noninvasive approach. Energy therapy has been found to accelerate healing, quicken recovery from surgery and trauma, reduce pain, lessen stress, and assist with emotional and spiritual healing. Among the specific ailments for which energy healing has been found effective are chronic tension and migraine headache, chronic neck pain and low back pain, arthritic pain, digestive complaints, fibromyalgia, respiratory problems, hypertension, mild depression, and anxiety. Some people like to use energy healing as a preventive therapy, believing that blockages in energy flow can occur before actual medical conditions begin to manifest themselves.

What to Expect During an Energy Healing Session
Ten Ways to Energize Your Health and Your Life
Margaret Lesch, Practitioner

Evaluating Energy Therapists
"Evaluating Energy Therapists" by Dorothea Hover-Kramer appeared in Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness (No. 10, March-May 2006, pp. 14-15), the quarterly publication of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS); websites: www.noetic.org and www.shiftinaction.com, and is reprinted with permission of the author and IONS, all rights reserved. Copyright 2007.
For a more expanded version of this topic read Dorothea’s book: Creating Right Relationships: A Practical Guide to Ethics in Energy Therapies, which can be ordered by emailing dorotheah@frontiernet.net or by contacting Behavioral Health Consultants, PO Box 406, Cave Junction, OR 97523.