One of the biggest obstacles to self-healing is our belief about whether or not it’s possible, and to what degree. I find that for most people it’s easier to believe in an external agent, like a drug, vitamin, herb, healer, or healing technique, than in their own inherent healing capacity. Research in Energy Medicine is helping us to trust our own healing powers.
One reason for this denial of our own self-healing ability is that we’ve been taught that the body is somehow ‘less’ or ‘flawed’ and that healing must come from outside agents or experts. Many of us have had our intuitions about healing ridiculed by family or medical professionals in favor of trusting in ‘real medicine’, meaning pharmaceuticals.
What if, for the most part, our bodies are not ‘flawed’, and the real issue was faulty programming due to the impact of a variety of life stressors? Energy Medicine and MindBody Medicine are akin to providing software updates to the biological system we call our body. The premise is, update the energy fields and the biology follows suit.
Energy Medicine is Real Medicine Supported by Real Science
Acupuncture and a variety of acupuncture-based processes, like EFT Tapping, are gaining popularity because of their effectiveness. There are over one thousand studies documenting the clinical effectiveness of energy healing.
Here’s a sampling of science supporting Energy Medicine.
- Functional MRI’s have shown that needling or lasering acupuncture points activates relevant brain regions.
- Meditation over a 30-day period has demonstrated a significant increase of brain mass in areas that support emotional regulation, while showing a decrease of brain mass in regions related to hypervigilance and fear.
- Dozens of clinical studies show the effectiveness of EFT Tapping (tapping acupuncture points) for PTSD on American veterans returning from the war in Afghanistan.
- Acupuncture points are easily located on the skin with a galvanometer because they exhibit lower electrical resistance and higher conductivity.
- Harvard University researcher Harold Saxon Burr’s work with salamanders demonstrated that energy fields serve as invisible blueprints for the formation of the physical body.
- Ronald Ruden, M.D., Ph.D., explores the neurobiology of acupuncture point tapping in this article.
Change Your Energy Fields and Change Your Health
The premise underlying Energy Medicine is that energy comes first, regardless of whether you call it energy, chi, prana, or spirit. Energy precedes and structures our physical bodies. And because energy is influenced by thoughts, feelings, imagery, sounds, and the stimulation of acupuncture points … we can change our own energy fields and influence our physical and emotional health in ways that Western Medicine cannot.
The ancient Chinese sage Lao Tzu said, “Within the form is matter, and within the matter is spirit”. If that sounds a tad too obscure, what about Einstein? Albert Einstein said, “What we have called matter is energy, who’s vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”
The beauty of Energy Medicine is that for the most part it’s free, easily applied, and there are no side effects. Does it get any better than that? Its major limitation is that it’s just too novel and too good to believe. That’s why I offer the science and studies that validate what otherwise sounds impossible.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
We can overcome our familial, educational, and cultural biases that limit our ability to believe in our potential for self-healing. Most energy healing is so simple that it’s easy to practice. So, the plan is to practice, practice, and practice more so that you give yourself demonstrable proof that this healing gizmo … your mind and body … really works. Do your own research … for free.
Whether you’re new to Energy Medicine or an experienced veteran, he’s a simple process that will allow you to practice and prove the process for yourself.
- Sit down, close your eyes, and gently scan through your bodymind for any discomfort or pain, physically or emotionally. You can rate the level of your discomfort from 1-10 where 10 is maximum discomfort. If you’re pain and discomfort free …. Celebrate! … and come back to this exercise at another time.
- Do your best to view your discomfort with curiosity rather that judgement. I know that’s easier said than done. You can be curious about its shape, dimension, texture, movement or lack of movement, color or accompanying imagery, and qualities like dull, achy, stabbing, or throbbing. While it’s counter-intuitive to explore all of these qualities (of blocked or stagnant energy) it actually gives the energy freedom to move and balance itself. Judgement of and resistance to an experience tends to keep it stuck …. like Velcro. We want the energy free to move and transform … more like a Teflon experience.
- Next, bring attention to your heart. Feel any and all sensations around and within that space that your heart occupies. And then, most importantly, begin breathing slowly from your heart at a rate of about 5-6 seconds on the in-breath and 5-6 seconds on the out-breath. Do this heart-focused breathing for a few minutes, allowing all thoughts to flow and go. Just return gently to the heart breathing whenever you’re distracted by thoughts. Don’t fight them, just acknowledge the thoughts and return to feeling into and breathing from your heart.
- After a few minutes of breathing from your heart (and by the way, dramatically changing your neurological and biochemical states) you can connect more deeply with your heart energy by bringing to mind someone or some place that you love. Make the time and space to feel this loving connection as deeply as possible in the area in and around your heart. Savor the feeling experience.
- Now you can alternate between noticing the loving feelings around your heart and your physical or emotional discomfort. You could spend a few breaths with your heart feelings and then shift to noticing the variety of sensory experience associated with your discomfort over the course of a few breaths. You can repeat this step a number of times. It’s very likely that by now your discomfort is shifting. The biochemical and neurological shifts that we’re activating do not support the perpetuation of physical or emotional pain. If you haven’t noticed a change don’t be disheartened. While this process can be powerful it is also dependent of the subtle and unfamiliar use of our awareness …. which can be helped with guidance and practice.
Here’s what you’ve most likely accomplished neurologically and biochemically … and with practice you can be assured of these benefits.
- You’ve created a whole brain synchronized alpha wave state, while inhibiting the stress response. This state is what creates the flow, the Teflon so that pain, whether physical or emotional begins to dissolve and melt away.
- You’re changing your biochemistry. You’re in the process of creating more feel good chemistry like serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, and DHEA and lowering production of the stress response chemicals cortisol and adrenaline.
- You’re balancing your autonomic nervous system because this practice convinces your body that it’s safe and you no longer need to live in a survival mode where you’re either stressed, anxious, or depressed. The autonomic nervous system, with the help of your vagus nerve, activates your body’s repair and maintenance capacities …. or self-healing functions.
- Neurologically you’re shifting from the amygdala and its threat-related hypervigilance to the prefrontal cortex where greater ease, peace, and joy are possible.
Remember, practice, practice, practice … so that you learn to deeply believe in and trust your healing abilities.
If you’re new to Energy Medicine and would like to know more, or if you want to tune-up skills that you already possess please contact me at my office.
Steve is a retired Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture Physician, and HeartMath Trauma-Sensitive Certified Practitioner with over 35 years of clinical experience in the fields of Energy Medicine, Energy Psychology, and Biofeedback. 