(This article is in the current issue of Healthy Aging magazine).
When we think of holistic alternatives in Health Care, typically our minds go to such things as vitamins and supplements, exercises and diets. The more adventurous will also look at herbal remedies and be willing to try out acupuncture, yoga or qigung.
There is a whole new movement going on out there that has exceedingly powerful effects on our health. This is the field of Energy Medicine, although that is perhaps not the correct term as there is no ‘medicinal substance’ involved. A more apt description may be Energy Psychology or Energy Healing.
These modalities are based on the scientific fact that we are all basically energy. This body that we see in the mirror everyday is built up of minute units of energy at the atomic and subatomic levels. Everything that is matter is actually energy at the core. So when we bring about shifts in the energy, we can affect change at the physical level. And what is more, it is far easier to change the energy than to change the physical form.
Energy Healing modalities have another very interesting and critical underpinning. This is the fact that not only are our bodies made up of energy, but so are our thoughts and emotions. So every thought we think and every emotion we feel carry energy. The good ones help our bodies become more healthy, the negative ones make us unhealthy.
Farfetched as it may sound, energy healing practitioners are finding more and more evidence of these facts. People who are trying these methods are able to see quick shifts in short term problems and alleviation of long term and chronic issues.
The National Institute of Health now has a special branch in its Complimentary and Alternative section that has started to investigate the effectiveness of Energy Medicine. The few studies that are available are showing positive indications of the effectiveness of Energy Medicine.
What are these Energy Healing modalities? The two that are most widely known and are also being used in several hospitals and health care centers are – Healing Touch and Reiki. In these, the practitioner and the receiver both get into a meditative mind space and direct healing energy to the troubled spots. Sometime this is done by gently laying the hands, and sometimes just mentally. Person receiving healing universally report a feeling of great relaxation and well being. This is precisely what the body needs to allow the healing to take place, whether it is to let a medicine work or whether recovering from surgery.
Other Energy Modalities include a system called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) that is based on Thought Field Therapy combined with the Chinese Meridian concept. It helps to release old trapped emotions that play over and over in head and create negative energies resulting in physical illness.
There are two major advantages of Energy Healing. The first is that it can do no harm. There are no negative side effects, because it must necessarily be anchored to a positive mindframe to have an effect. The second most wonderful advantage is that each of us can learn the techniques and apply them on ourselves. Just like exercise and diet, we can develop our own regime of meditation and self healing with Reiki or EFT.
Energy Healing is on the threshold of taking the concept of health care to a whole new level – a completely new paradigm. To be effective, however, it is necessary that we begin to understand the mind-body-spirit connection. This forms the base of Energy Healing.
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