Energy medicine is an holistic approach that uses techniques such as touch and movement to balance and restore flow in the body’s energy field. Practitioners believe that there is an invisible energy flowing throughout their bodies that when disturbed can lead to illness.
These practices differ from many conventional treatments in that they’re non-invasive and low risk; however, they should still be combined with medical attention as an integral component.
Reiki
Reiki practitioners believe that by channeling universal life energy through their hands, they can balance a person’s physical and emotional states. Furthermore, Reiki has been shown to augment conventional medical treatments like chemotherapy or radiation more effectively.
Reiki (pronounced “ray-key”) is an energy healing modality originating in Japan that employs two Japanese words to describe spirituality and energy: Rei means spirituality or higher power while Ki is life force energy. Sometimes known as prana in yoga or chi in Chinese medicine, Reiki can help restore equilibrium to your body as well as reduce stress and pain while encouraging holistic healing on all levels of being: Physical, Mental and Emotional wellbeing are all improved with regular Reiki sessions.
Sessions typically last an hour. You lie fully clothed on a massage table as your practitioner gently places their hands over or slightly above you from head to toe, moving her hands from head to foot in an uninterrupted flow from head to foot. As her hands move gently from one part of your body to another, warmth or tingling may spread throughout your body and your mind may drift into an altered state of relaxation.
Communicate with your practitioner regarding any particular health concerns you are experiencing, Berry advises. “Energy work isn’t religion or magic; rather it can serve as an adjunctive therapy that has proven useful to many.” She adds that sessions of energy work are safe for all ages and can even be combined with other healing modalities for increased benefits.
Healing Touch
Healing Touch involves practitioners using specific hand positions and visualization to direct energy toward areas of blockage, as well as breathing techniques to maintain the flow of energy. Practitioners receive training through a structured training program with hands-on experience and case studies.
Researchers are beginning to demonstrate that our physical body and the energy flowing through us form one entity; physicists refer to this phenomenon as our human biofield. With more research underway, this could provide new perspectives on health and disease.
Energy healing may be helpful for some with certain health conditions; speak to your doctor about incorporating it along with more conventional forms of treatment.
A 2015 review concluded that energy therapies were associated with improved quality of life and reduced anxiety, stress and fatigue levels, along with other benefits like decreased pain, depression and inflammation levels as well as better coping mechanisms and more balanced sleeping patterns. Unfortunately, many of these studies used subjective measures rather than hard clinical evidence; future studies will need to enlist more rigorous scientific rigor when conducting studies such as measuring physiological changes such as biomarker reduction or cell signaling effects.
Polarity Therapy
Polarity Therapy is a holistic system that uses touch, exercise, nutritional guidance and verbal counseling to restore body, mind and emotions to their natural equilibrium and state of health. Polarity works with life force energy present everywhere and works off principles such as expansion and contraction – or “yin and yang”.
As with most energy practitioners, polarity therapists believe that life force energy animates all living bodies is controlled by opposite poles of positive and negative electromagnetic energy–known as the Three Principles in polarity therapy. If these forces become imbalanced and disease develops, this could result in physical symptoms being experienced by a client. Polarity therapists use different types of touch to manipulate the energy fields within soft body tissues and energy points: light or gentle touches known as “sattvic,” vibrating or rocking touches known as “rajasic”, or deep powerful deep pressure touches known as “tamasic”.
Before beginning treatment, polarity therapists conduct an in-depth interview and evaluation to understand an individual’s history of health issues, family dynamics, diet and lifestyle. Sessions typically combine massage-like bodywork with energetic touch techniques as well as stretching postures alongside verbal counseling and nutritional recommendations.
Cranial-Sacral Therapy
Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle hands-on healing approach that utilizes soft tissues of the body to release restrictions and restore balance. Craniosacral Therapy works by listening to and tuning into rhythms of cerebrospinal fluid – the bath that surrounds and bathes the brain and spinal cord – in order to access healing at its source.
Practitioners use light touch evaluation of this fluid movement and its influence from surrounding structures like skull bones, sacrum (tailbone), and surrounding structures that influence it – including skull bones, sacrum (tailbone) and surrounding structures that interconnect to form the rest of our bodies. As tension patterns arise within this network of interconnection, practitioners work to ease them in order for craniosacral system normalization and nervous system self-correcting to occur more smoothly.
Cranial sacral massage can be an invaluable therapy to treat migraines. By relieving tension in the head, neck, and spine, this form of therapy helps decrease headache frequency and intensity.
Keep these things in mind when getting a cranial sacral massage: communicate with your practitioner regarding any specific issues you want addressed, practice relaxation techniques and stay hydrated afterwards – this will ensure a deeper sense of relaxation during and after your session, as well as assist in the integration of healing benefits into both body and mind.
Trager
The Trager Approach is an exquisitely gentle yet profoundly effective bodywork system. Used to release muscle tension, relieve chronic pain, facilitate movement re-education and healing and enhance overall well-being, it causes less muscle breakdown than deep tissue massage or physical therapy and leaves clients feeling more whole and calm than with traditional massage alone.
Trager Approach practitioners employ a relaxing and meditative state known as “hook-up.” Clients experience blissful rocking, stroking and elongations of their limbs and body parts during sessions; these rhythmic movements promote greater ease in movement, emotional stability and awareness of our ageless humanness.
Trager’s work is grounded on the understanding that life force, often known as energy flow or chi, animates all living beings and plays an essential role in their health and vitality. Trauma, stress, poor posture or repetitive movements may interfere with this flow of energy and cause feelings of restriction or illness; with his work on unconscious movement patterns reprogramming these unconscious pathways he restores natural flow of chi through your body to restore health and vitality.
Bowen
Bowen Therapy is a gentle form of bodywork designed to facilitate your natural healing capabilities and restore homeostasis within the body’s energy systems. Bowen’s precise, non-invasive moves encourage these energies to realign with one another in order to balance and rebalance them and bring balance back into harmony – this can help alleviate pain, treat chronic health conditions, and increase overall well-being.
Bowen Therapy is minimally invasive, with sessions lasting roughly an hour. You lie fully clothed on a massage table while your practitioner applies sequences of small moves targeted toward specific body areas with brief pauses in between to give the body time to respond and adapt. Bowen Therapy has proven its worth treating numerous ailments such as chronic pain and tension, spinal misalignments and sports injuries.
Bowen therapy lacks any substantial scientific basis, and his claims about “energy” are extremely dubious. Although anecdotal accounts of miraculous recoveries may exist, no controlled clinical trials exist of his approach. Furthermore, its spiritual beliefs run contrary to God’s word – Christians should avoid participating in it or similar forms of energy healing altogether.
Brennan Healing Science
Human Energy Field (HEF), commonly referred to as aura, pervades all living things and connects their vital life force, also known as prana or chi. The HEF contains seven levels which radiate out from skin in an organized pattern; trained healers in Brennan Healing Science can balance, charge and clear these fields to bring physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness.
Barbara Brennan created Brennan Healing Science while serving at NASA physicist, energy healer, and internationally-known energy healer Barbara Brennan founded her Barbara Brennan School of Healing (BBSH) in 1982 where healers are offered four year training programs on hands-on energy healing techniques with psychological and spiritual components.
Healers trained in Brennan Healing Science are highly experienced professionals capable of working across all aspects of human experience. The program involves rigorous instruction in healing theory, college-level anatomy and physiology, energy psychology, body psychotherapy, personal transformation and High Sense Perception.
Energy healing sessions usually last from 60 to 90 minutes and are designed to relax or energise participants; some find the experience so calming they often fall asleep during one, while others feel refreshed afterwards. Beyond relieving stress and improving general well being, energy healing may help alleviate symptoms associated with chronic illnesses, pain conditions and emotional distress.
