Wellness experts are increasingly turning towards practices such as acupuncture, chakra balancing and reiki to heal their bodies’ energy fields. Science is validating ancient energy medicine principles while new technologies offer up an ever-expanding list of uses.
Energy medicine does not replace conventional medical treatments; instead it serves to complement them. Energy medicine aims to identify the source of physical symptoms that may have energetic influences from their surroundings and environments, in order to find suitable remedies.
Acupressure
Acupressure, an ancient Chinese therapy practiced by pressing on specific points on the body to relieve pain, improve sleep quality and decrease nausea, can be performed by yourself; however a trained practitioner is strongly recommended in order to ensure it’s both safe and effective.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes there are channels, known as meridians, which carry energy or qi throughout the body and its points – known as acupoints – serve to stimulate illness or symptoms by stimulation. Needles inserted into skin at certain acupoints by an acupuncturist help stimulate this qi and correct health conditions, while Acupressure uses physical pressure by hand or thumb, elbow or other devices to stimulate these points to achieve health conditions correction; unlike acupuncture it does not break skin so is more accessible since it can be done at home by everyone who participates.
Acupressure can provide effective treatments for many ailments and diseases, including chronic back pain, shingles, nerve pain in hands and feet, headaches, fibromyalgia and even anxiety and depression. According to several studies, acupressure helps decrease pain by increasing blood flow and relaxing muscles; it may also decrease inflammation response while replenishing injured tissues with healthy levels of oxygenated blood supply.
To perform acupressure, find Extra-1 or Yin Tang in the middle of your forehead between eyebrows and above your nose, using your left thumb’s pressure in a circular motion for two to three minutes with your left thumb of your left hand (this should not be painful; if it is, reduce pressure accordingly). Acupressure can also be applied on wrists, shoulders, neck or feet in order to ease specific conditions; placing pressure on palm acupoints for cold symptoms reduction while foot pressure helps with fatigue relief and improving sleep quality respectively.
Chakra Balancing
Chakra balancing is the process of restoring energy flow in the body’s energy centers, or chakras, that is believed to connect directly to physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.
Each chakra has a specific color, location and role. For instance, the root chakra is associated with feelings of grounding, safety and security – when out of balance it can lead to stress and anxiety; similarly the sacral chakra connects with feelings of creativity and playfulness but when out of sync can contribute to feelings of powerlessness or disconnectedness; finally the heart chakra symbolizes love, compassion and forgiveness but when imbalanced can cause jealousy or resentment among its users.
Meditation and yoga can help to balance your chakras. Chanting mantras or using singing bowls for sound healing may also be effective ways of aligning energy within yourself, as can certain crystals like amethyst (crown chakra) and citrine (solar plexus chakra). To further assist this energy realignment process, certain crystals like amethyst (crown chakra) or citrine (solar plexus chakra) could support energy realignment efforts.
Breathing techniques, visualization and affirmations for each chakra can also aid in their balance. For instance, to strengthen your heart chakra you could focus on how much love you give and receive in relationships – practicing forgiveness and gratitude as part of this practice. Or you can engage in activities to open your root chakra such as gardening, hiking in nature and eating root vegetables. And you can activate your solar plexus through drinking plenty of liquids regularly while exercising regularly and expressing yourself authentically. The fifth chakra relates to your sense of intuition and connection to spirit, when balanced it gives confidence and allows you to speak your inner truth freely. Additionally, when balanced the seventh chakra (Sahasrara or thousand-petal lotus) produces feelings of enlightenment and spirituality – two characteristics you need when reaching balance!
Tapping
Tapping is an innovative healing practice that brings together two major healing modalities – ancient Chinese acupuncture and modern psychology. By stimulating specific points on the body’s energy meridians (called meridians ), tapping can help reduce stress and restore balance to your system, offering relief from anxiety, depression, chronic illness and severe PTSD symptoms.
The basic technique involves tapping fingertips on specific meridian points while thinking through a problem or painful memory, with tapping thought to send signals to parts of the brain that regulate stress, pain and emotions – potentially leading to cognitive changes such as processing unprocessed distressful memories or maladaptive mental models; neurochemical changes (such as decreasing cortisol production); as well as possible reduction in stress hormone cortisol production.
Many first-timers who experience tapping are amazed at its effectiveness, often reporting feeling better within minutes of beginning this form of therapy. Tapping has even proven successful in aiding war veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
At each session, you tap nine tapping points along the body’s meridians while remaining focused on your issue at hand. In between tapping points, you may say specific statements, bring back certain thoughts or memories, visualize situations or recall specific memories or events from memory. At the conclusion, rate your issue on a scale from 0-10 so as to measure its intensity reduction.
Studies of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) have demonstrated its potential to effectively address how fear and trauma trigger amygdala responses; tapping helps “rewire” how amygdala processes these signals so as to decrease reactive responses during challenging or threatening situations, potentially making you less reactive and better equipped to stay calm in them.
