| Energy healing. It's the new fad these days. Just | | | | usually seen as western, is logical, practical, and based |
| around every corner there seems to be a new | | | | on what we see, feel, touch, and hear. Rather than |
| technique, method, or therapist. Whether the method | | | | exploring another avenue towards healing such as |
| has been around for only a few years or thousands | | | | sensing without touching, using breath, imagination, |
| of years, most Americans are looking into and using it | | | | color, or music we assume they don't work based on |
| to help them heal whatever it is they need healing | | | | our worldview of what healing technique is. Recent |
| for. But is it real? | | | | research, along with past research of course, reveals |
| That's what this article is about. The very term | | | | that these techniques work. They base these |
| energy healing puts most people off. The reason? It | | | | techniques on electromagnetic energy, vibration, and |
| sounds hokey, sounds new age, sounds like science | | | | sound. Since electromagnetic energy, vibration, and |
| fiction. However, it all comes down to the words | | | | sound are every day real things that are all around |
| themselves. First of all, what is energy? | | | | us, it seems likely that they, in some way, could help |
| Energy is usually defined as the capacity to do work. | | | | us heal. Based on creativity and awareness, individuals |
| However, there are other definitions of energy such | | | | around the world have discovered or created |
| as a healthy capacity for vigorous activity, forceful | | | | techniques that utilize these basic every day things |
| exertion, or the fundamental substance of the | | | | to help us heal. |
| universe. Since there are so many definitions and one | | | | Ever heard of qigong or Tai Chi? Under the definition |
| we usually define as energy, the problem is how we | | | | of energy healing given above, these can be placed in |
| view the terms energy healing. It's obvious that | | | | this category. Millions of people heal themselves using |
| energy in this case means the fundamental substance | | | | qigong and/or Tai Chi. Ever heard of Therapeutic |
| of the universe and/or a healthy capacity for | | | | Touch or Reiki? Although not as popular as Tai Chi or |
| vigorous activity. Healing is usually seen as restoring | | | | qigong, they are just as effective in healing. What |
| the body's health from sickness or disease. However, | | | | about such off the wall therapies like craniosacral |
| in this case as well, healing has other definitions. | | | | therapy, bowen therapy, or hypnotherapy? Although |
| These definitions range from curing the body, | | | | they are not as popular as acupuncture or |
| restoring the vital energy of the body, or the | | | | acupressure or Tai Chi, the very basis of their |
| process where the cells in the body repair damages. | | | | methods are the same. |
| In each case, the definition of the words allow us a | | | | Every day the healing world gets wider and wider |
| new way of looking at the subject. | | | | with new methods and techniques devised under the |
| So, if we take energy healing to mean restoring our | | | | heading of energy healing. Are they real? For the |
| capacity for vigorous activity, then it makes sense | | | | most part, yes. Some of the methods are obviously |
| logically to be a real way of helping people. | | | | bogus, but don't assume the others are not real. So |
| The techniques themselves seem to be at odds with | | | | in answering the question of whether energy healing |
| our perspective of how to heal. Our perspective, | | | | is real, my answer is absolutely yes! |