Healing Guide   What is Hands-on Energy Healing? Throughout history, many cultures have practiced “laying on hands�?to heal. Now, several modern healing techniques have developed for directing healing intentions through gentle touch. These techniques involve a view of the human being as a living energy system, and the belief that practitioners are working with the human energy field to lead to physical, emotional, and/or spiritual healing. Hands-on energy healing is a process where the healer places her hands either directly on or very near the body of the person being treated. The healer will then scan or assess the ‘patient�?to determine what imbalances need to be healed, or what energy blocks need to be released. The healer then focuses her mind on healing intentions, and amplifies her own energy through breathing techniques, meditation, prayer, or connecting to a feeling of unconditional love. Then, depending on the specific healing techniques, she either sends energy to her patient, “jump-starting�?his energy, or her energy serves as a resonating pattern which helps to guide his system back into a healthy, balanced state. Energy healing can be used to treat specific physical illnesses, or specific emotional concerns, but its effects tend to be broad-based, with benefits to physical systems beyond the targeted “diseased�?area, release of long-held emotions, and spiritual growth. The process is not usually instantaneous, as it is in "faith healing." (Faith is not a factor in the healing process.) Treatment sessions may take from 20 minutes to an hour or more; a series of sessions is often needed to complete treatment of some disorders. Techniques Studied Over the past year, I have studied various systems of energy healing, and that research is summarized here. I included techniques that use only light touch (or hand motions “touching�?just off the surface of the body) and healing intentions to unblock or re-balance the human energy field. I did not include any system that uses: physical pressure (e.g. massage or acupressure), any effort to work with physical systems like the muscles or the lymph system (e.g. kinesiology, Touch for Health, and Donna Eden’s Energy Medicine) any attempt to re-align parts of the body (e.g. cranio-sacral or Rolfing), or any physical substance or tool (e.g. homeopathy, flower essences, gemstones). Certainly, each of these could be defined as energy work, and may have significant effects on a client’s subtle energy field; however, I wanted to limit myself to techniques with no potential causative agents other than energy and intention. Note that some recent research into Quantum Physics, Distance Healing, and the non-local consciousness aspects of Era III Medicine, as Larry Dossey describes it, indicate that intention alone (beliefs and consciousness) may have far greater healing effects than we might have imagined. I have not controlled for this in my work here, as I have not made any attempt to determine whether beneficial effects are due to the hand placements alone, or to the healing intention alone, or to a combination of the two. Healing around the World Traditional Healing. In the techniques section, I include several examples of traditional healing techniques from around the world, all of which focus on laying-on hands, energy fields, and healing with intention. Techniques include: Qi Gong healing from China, Kahuna healing from the Polynesian islands, Native American healing, Ju|’hoansi healing dance from the Kalahari desert in Africa, Hucha Mikhuy from the mountains of Peru, and a brief description of healing with Intent in aboriginal Australia. One of the things I find most intriguing about energy healing concepts is their universality, the degree to which similar concepts have appeared in such geographically diverse areas. Some significant concepts are that anyone can learn to heal, that there is an unlimited supply of healing energy available to us, and that the process of healing is helping the ‘patient�?to release energy blockages which prevent his energy from being balanced and harmonious. Details of the healing practices vary, but there are intriguing overlaps, such as the clockwise and counterclockwise circling in Qi Gong and in Cherokee medicine. Another ‘coincidence�?is that the primary center for energy in the body is in the lower abdomen, around the navel, in the traditional healing systems in China, Peru, and southern Africa; and the same area is one of the major Sanskrit chakras, and is visible to modern clairvoyants/energy sensitives as the sacral chakra, or the kath. Modern Techniques: The techniques section also reviews several modern healing techniques that have been developed. Some developed independently but were later influenced by other techniques, some are closely related to each other, or are even direct descendants of each other. However, aspects of each technique have developed independently, primarily based on the author’s own direct experiences with energy healing, whether it’s Brennan’s High Sense Perception, Pavek’s experiences with systematically mapping out the human energy flows, or Joy’s sensing energy fields from his patients in his internal medicine practice. Again, the intriguing aspect to me is not the differences between the techniques, but instead the rather striking similarities amongst them. Current Status of Healing in Modern Cultures. United States: “No formal census is available, but reasonable estimates suggest that some 50,000 practitioners in the United States provide about 120 million sessions annually (Pavek, 1994).�?(NIH Report) Therapeutic Touch alone has been taught to 40,000 nurses and others in America and around the world; it is now taught in more than 90 nursing schools in America. (Gerber, page 387) Continuing education credit is available in several states for Therapeutic Touch workshops and other healing workshops for acupuncturists, massage practitioners, and nurses. Of the people who have been trained in healing, some work as healers as their primary profession, some use healing as a complementary adjunct to other treatments, and some simply use healing occasionally for friends and family. Europe: Currently, more than 8,500 registered healers in the United Kingdom (British Medical Association, 1993) "are permitted to `give healing' at the request of patients.�?“At least 1500 government hospitals in Great Britain have been given approval to use bioenergetic healing as an adjunct to conventional medical and surgical therapies. In fact, many bioenergetic healers are paid for their services under the UK’s National Health Service.�?(Gerber, 387) “In Poland and Russia, biofield healing is being incorporated into conventional medical practice; some medical schools include instruction in the process in the curriculum. In Russia, the process is under investigation by the Academy of Science. In Bulgaria, a government-appointed scientific body assesses abilities and recommends licensing for those who pass rigorous examinations. (Benor, 1992).�?(Quoted from NIH report.) Asia: China leads the rest of the world in research on therapeutic application and methods of increasing biofield effects. “Departments of medical chi gong research exist in every college of traditional Chinese medicine throughout China.�?(Gerber, 387) Statement of author bias: Since this collection is primarily a compendium of available literature, I have generally allowed the authors to speak for themselves, attempting to minimize my bias on the work. However, clearly, my choices of what to include reflect my own stance on the issues. Therefore, I feel that it is important to state up-front what my bias is. Frankly, I do not know whether I “believe�?in energy medicine. But I do feel it is not something that should be ignored or dismissed without due consideration. When I began this research, my educated side led me to be cynical about the efficacy of these techniques. The idea that focusing on your breathing, laying hands on someone, and holding healing intentions could actually make any difference seemed dubious. However, my initial examination of all the different techniques left me wondering. Realizing that so many people in so many different parts of the world believed in energy medicine and practiced energy medicine made me begin to wonder if there might be something to it after all. Many scholars have done cross-comparisons of the world’s religions, searching for the common threads, under the theory that the universal truths about God must lie somewhere in those threads. Perhaps, likewise, some universal truths about illness and about healing may be found by examining these various techniques, and seeking to understand their commonalities. As I began to read more and take workshops, I began experimenting with energy medicine to see what I could learn through hands-on experience. I used healing on a dog bite on my husband’s face, on his mild asthma, on impending ear infections and various bumps and bruises on my kids, on my dog’s bronchitis, and on a friend’s on-going respiratory infections. In most cases, though not all, the healing seemed to have a beneficial effect, and things seemed to improve sooner than they might otherwise have improved. Though, of course, it was impossible to be certain, having no control subjects to compare anyone to. Now, in the most recent stage of my research, I looked at some of the writing on the scientific basis for energy healing, and the results from studies of the efficacy of healing on various illnesses (including many controlled studies). Studies generally support the positive effects of healing practices, generally indicating measurable positive effects from the healing which can not be dismissed as mere placebo effects. As I said above, I am not certain whether I could say I am a true believer in energy medicine. But here’s what I can say for sure: Energy medicine is a non-invasive, non-drug form of healing, with virtually no apparent negative side effects, and virtually no contraindications. It can be combined with any form of mainstream or alternative medicine with no apparent concerns about adverse interactions. It appears to have a beneficial effect on a wide variety of physical injuries and illnesses, and may also lead to emotional healing and spiritual growth in the process. It can apparently be taught to anyone, and then can be performed whenever needed at no cost, with no medical supplies needed. The risks are apparently very low, and if healing can only provide a fraction of the benefits attributed to it, then the reward-to-risk ratio is large enough to be well worthy of further examination. If the benefits of healing are as great and as diverse as the practitioners and theorists claim, then it would be foolish to dismiss an idea that could revolutionize health care. A Bee Bg