Principles of Energy Medicine

Principles of
Energy Medicine
Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1

Overview:
Definition
Classification
Essential Principles
Anatomy of Energy Body
Scientific Evidence
Energy Medicine
According to Donna Eden and David
Feinstein, Energy Medicine, is
 “The art and science of fostering

physical, psychological and spiritual
health and well being”.

Energy Medicine
 It combines a rational knowledge and
intuitive understanding of the energies in
the body and in the environment.
 It recognizes energy as a vital, living,

moving force that determines much
about health and happiness.

Energy Medicine
It is a branch of complementary and

alternative medicine that holds the belief
that a healer is able to channel healing
energy into the person seeking help by
different methods: hands-on, hands-off,
and distant (or absent) where the patient
and healer are in different locations.
 also known as “Energy Therapy” or

“Energy Healing”.
Energy Medicine
 The term energy

medicine is itself a
double-entendre.
 Energy gives life to the

body. Medicine is an
agent that is used to
heal or prevent
disease.

Energy Medicine
 In energy medicine,
energy is the medicine
and this medicine is
applied to the body’s
energies.
 “Energy heals and

energy systems are
healed.”
Energy Medicine
Energy healing practitioners “read” the

body’s energy and provide energy “boosts”
to dissolve dense energy or raise low
vibrations.

Classification of Energy Medicine
The US-based National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM) distinguishes between health
care involving scientifically observable
energy, which it calls "Veritable Energy
Medicine", and health care methods which
invoke physically undetectable or
unverifiable "energies", which it calls
"Putative Energy Medicine“:

Types of "Veritable Energy Medicine"
include magnet therapy, color puncture and
light therapy.
Mainstream medicine involving

electromagnetic radiation (radiation therapy,
or magnetic resonance imaging) is not
considered "energy medicine" in the terms of
complementary medicine.
Cymatic therapy uses sound waves.

Types of "Putative Energy Medicine"

include Biofield energy healing therapies
where the hands are used to direct or
modulate "energies" which are believed to
effect healing in the patient; this includes
spiritual healing and psychic healing,
Therapeutic Touch, Healing Touch,
Esoteric healing, Magnetic healing,
Qigong healing, Reiki, Pranic healing,
Crystal healing, Distant healing,
intercessionary prayer.
Acupuncture and Ayurvedic medicine also

come within this category.
Concepts such as Qi (Chi), Prana, Mana,

Pneuma, Vital fluid, Odic force, Orgone,
etc. are amongst the many terms which
have been used to describe these putative
energy fields, but are not necessarily used
to refer to energy medicine.

Yoga, for instance, has historically been

believed to modify the body's subtle
energy pathways - the Prana - within the
body, but Yoga includes actions such as
stretching and deep breathing that, it is
believed, cause the energy to be
manipulated rather than the 'healing at a
distance' characteristic of energy
medicine.
Essential Principles of Energy
Medicine
1. Energies - both electromagnetic energies
and more subtle energies, form the
dynamic infrastructure of the physical
body.
2. The health of those energies - in terms

of flow, balance, and harmony, is
reflected in the health of the body.

Medicine
3. Conversely, when the
body is not healthy,
corresponding
disturbances in its
energies can be
identified and balanced.

Medicine
4. To overcome illness and maintain vibrant
health, the body needs its energies to:
a) Move and have space to continue to

move - energies may become blocked
due to toxins, muscular or other
constriction, prolonged stress, or
interference from other energies.

Medicine
b) Move in specific patterns - generally in
harmony with the physical structures and
functions that the energies animate and
support. "Flow follows function.“
c) Crossover - at all levels, from the

microlevel of the double helix of DNA,
extending to the macrolevel where the left
side of the brain controls the right side of
the body and the right side to the left.
Medicine
d) Maintain a balance with
other energies - the
energies may lose their
natural balance due to
prolonged stress or other
conditions that keep
specific energy systems in
a survival mode.

Medicine
5. Flow, balance, and harmony can be non-
invasively restored and maintained within
an energy system by:
a) Tapping, massaging, pinching, twisting, or
connecting specific energy points on the
skin.
b) Tracing or swirling the hand over the skin

along specific energy pathways.
Medicine
c) Exercises or postures designed for
specific energetic effects.
d) Focused use of the mind to move specific

energies.
e) Surrounding an area with healing

energies (one person’s energies impacts
another’s).
David Feinstein, Ph.D., and Donna
Eden’s “Six Pillars of Energy Medicine”,
2006, published in Alternative Therapies
in Health and Medicine, reviews evidence
of the benefits for Energy Medicine:
1. Influences fundamental biological

processes in ways a biochemical model
cannot (biofields, local fields, energy
pathways)

2. Methodological
precision and flexibility
through link to
quantum physics
(bioenergetic model
rather than
biochemical model)
3. Speed, efficiency and

lack of side effects of
energy interventions
4. Energy medicine is readily, economically
and non-invasively used
5. Suitable to use by client/patient at home

for self-help/healing
6. Focuses on the person as a whole

system – body, mind and spirit

The Anatomy of your Energy Body
includes Nine Subtle Energy Systems:
1. Meridians: The meridians are energy

pathways that serve as the body’s energy
"bloodstream."
Each meridian runs both along the
surface of the skin, where its flow can be
most readily influenced, and deep into the
body, where it brings the energy to at
least one or more organs or physiological
systems.
Meridians bridge mind,

body, and spirit.
The 14 meridians include

12 connected segments
(often named after one of
the primary organs they
govern) and two energy
pathways called Central
and Governing.
The 12 meridian segments are, ultimately,

a single complex pathway bringing
energy to the body’s organs, muscles,
and cells.
The meridians look to me like a network

of colorful streaming ribbons throughout
the body.

2. Chakras: Situated along the spine are

seven major chakras (additional "minor
chakras" can also be found throughout
the body).
The chakras are like pools or swirling

disks of energy that bathe and fuel the
organs in their proximity.

They govern the endocrine system and

carry information about the person’s
history.
They also encode and process physical,

mental, emotional, and spiritual
experiences.

Each major chakra

has seven layers,
with its deepest
layers reaching
almost into the Basic
Grid and its
outermost layers
touching into the
aura.
3. Aura: Like the Earth’s atmosphere, the

aura surrounds and envelops the body.
It is the body’s outermost energy system,

composed of seven layers or "nested
auric fields" (think of Russian dolls) and
seven concentric bands from the bottom
to the top of the body.

Each layer and each band serves a

different function, but ultimately the aura
acts as:
a filter to protect the body from toxic or
disruptive energies, and
an antenna bringing in beneficial

energies.

The aura processes

necessary nutrients from the
environment, such as
sunlight, and helps harmonize
you within the magnetic field
of the Earth.
The proper functioning of the

aura greatly impacts physical,
emotional, and spiritual
health. Complementary and Alternative Medicine 32
4. Radiant Circuits: The Radiant Circuits

(called the Strange Flows or
Extraordinary Vessels in ancient Chinese
medicine) are subtle energy flows that
support and assist all other energy
systems, especially the meridians.
Highly responsive to thoughts and

emotions, they fuel joy and other positive
feelings. Complementary and Alternative Medicine 33
Stimulating the
Radiant Circuits can
activate inner joy as
well as the inner
physician, which then
continues to do the
work of inner healing
and balancing.

The Radiant Circuits are more ancient (in

terms of evolution) than the meridians, and
are not confined to fixed pathways like
meridians.
Instead, they move instantly where

needed with a radiant glow that attracts
vital energies from the environment and
activates healing from within.
5. Triple Warmer: Triple Warmer is both a

meridian and a Radiant Circuit, but it also
plays so many other roles that it often
speak as a separate and independent
energy system.
Specifically, it governs the immune

system, the fight-flight-or-freeze
response, and the body’s survival habits.

As a meridian, Triple
Warmer energy follows its
pathway, but the flow
varies tremendously.
Sometimes it has a thick,

slow, sludgy movement
and sometimes it shoots
forward with great bursts
of hot energy.
Triple Warmer usually looks reddish-brown

to me, sometimes with a yellow spark at
times of great bursts.
As a Radiant Circuit, its energies can go

anywhere in the body, and it is capable of
siphoning energy from any of the body’s
meridians (except Heart) if it needs their
energies.
As the guardian of the body’s habits, it

allows the person to go into "automatic
pilot" mode for routine processes.
It also plays a gate keeping role, directing

the immune system regarding what to
assimilate and what to block or fight.

6. Celtic Weave: This
energy system is similar
to the weave of a cloth or
basket that helps create
a container for all your
body’s energies.
It is also like connective
tissue that extends
throughout your energy
body.
Whereas meridians can be compared to

streams and the chakras to pools, the
Celtic Weave is comparable to a web.
It draws all of our energy systems together

into a network of communication through a
criss-crossing dance of large and small
figure 8s and sometimes other geometrical
shapes, as well.

Crossover patterns found in the Celtic Weave

reflect basic forms found in nature.
The healthier the body and its energies, the

more prominent the Celtic Weave will be.
Strengthening the Celtic Weave is a good

way to end any healing session.
It reinforces and "locks in" the gains.

7. The Five Rhythms: Moving through all of

the body’s energies is a complex set of
pulses called the Five Elements or Five
Seasons or Five Rhythms.
These are underlying energy patterns that

flow through and leave their imprint on all
of the other energy systems.

The Five Rhythm

Model, based on
ancient Chinese
medicine, reflects the
rhythmic pulse of all life
that influences human
events and cycles.

Each meridian vibrates according to one

of these Five Rhythms or Elements
represented by the metaphors of Water,
Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal.
The Five Rhythms provide a lens for

understanding and working with chronic
health issues, behavioral patterns, and
emotional challenges.
8. The Electrics: The Electrics, like the

Celtic Weave and the Five Rhythms, is a
system that acts on all the other energy
systems.

That’s because the Electrics are

comprised of the electrical dimension of
each of the other energy systems, from
the Aura down to the Basic Grid.
The Electrics help to charge and connect

the cells, organs, and other energy
systems at an electrical level and both
affect, and are affected by, the nervous
system and the heart.
Electrical energy is the densest and most

easily measured of the body’s energies.

9. The Basic Grid: Embedded throughout

the body is a matrix or grid pattern.
Dense and slow-moving, it is the

foundation of the other energy systems
and the innermost energy of them all.

Just as the skeletal system

provides the body’s basic
structure, the Grid provides
the basic structure for the
body’s energy systems.

It also directly supports the bones. If there

is a break in the Grid, people cannot fully
thrive and will have a difficult time
mustering their energies or healing
completely, physically or emotionally.
If the Grid is healthy and strong, all the

body’s energies are supported.

Energy Healing Techniques
Magnet Therapy, Magnetic Therapy,

or Magnotherapy
It is an alternative medicine practice involving
the use of static magnetic fields.
Practitioners claim that subjecting certain

parts of the body to magnetostatic fields
produced by permanent magnets has
beneficial health effects.

These pseudoscientific physical
and biological claims are unproven
and no effects on health or healing
have been established.
Although hemoglobin, the blood

protein that carries oxygen, is
weakly diamagnetic and is
repulsed by magnetic fields, the
magnets used in magnetic therapy
are many orders of magnitude too
weak to have any measurable
effect on blood flow.
Mechanism of Action:
Perhaps the most common
suggested mechanism is
that magnets might
improve blood flow in
underlying tissues.

The field surrounding

magnet therapy devices is
far too weak and falls off
with distance far too quickly
to appreciably affect
hemoglobin, other blood
components, muscle tissue,
bones, blood vessels, or
organs.

Light Therapy or Phototherapy

It is classically referred to
as Heliotherapy.
It consists of exposure to daylight or to

specific wavelengths of light using
lasers, light-emitting diodes, fluorescent
lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-
spectrum light, usually controlled with
various devices.
The light is administered

for a prescribed amount of
time and, in some cases,
at a specific time of day.

Common use of the term is
associated with the treatment
of skin disorders
(chiefly psoriasis), sleep
disorder and some psychiatric
disorders.
Light therapy directed at the

skin is also used to treat acne
vulgaris, eczema and neonatal
jaundice.
Light therapy which strikes
the retina of the eyes is used
to treat circadian
rhythm disorders such
as delayed sleep phase
syndrome and can also be
used to treat seasonal affective
disorder, with some support for
its use also with non-seasonal
psychiatric disorders.

Colorpuncture, or Color Light

Acupuncture
It is an alternative
medicine practice asserting
that colored lights can be
used to stimulate acupuncture
points to promote healing and
better health. It is a form
of color therapy.

There is no known anatomical or

histological basis for the existence of
acupuncture points or meridians.
Colorpuncture is based on the idea that

illness and pain occur when an individual
has strayed off his or her "life path".

For example, a treatment

might be intended to
release an emotional
blockage to heal a nervous
system condition, allowing
patients to devote
themselves to their
individual spiritual purpose.

Cymatic therapy or Cymatherapy
It is based on the assumption that human
cells, organs, and tissues have each a
natural resonant frequency which changes
when perturbed by illness.
Cymatic therapists apply different audible

frequencies and combinations of sound
waves which they claim entrain
malfunctioning components back to their
healthy vibratory state and promote natural
healing.
Cymatic therapy is operationally,

historically, and philosophically distinct
from the many medical uses
of ultrasound and from the more
mainstream practice of music therapy.

Therapeutic Touch
also known as Non-Contact Therapeutic
Touch (NCTT).
It is an energy therapy which practitioners

claim promotes healing and reduces pain
and anxiety.

Practitioners of therapeutic touch state

that by placing their hands on, or near, a
patient, they are able to detect and
manipulate the patient's energy field.
According to Dolores Krieger, practitioners

say that therapeutic touch has roots in
ancient healing practices, such as the
laying on of hands, although it has no
connection with religion or with faith
healing. Complementary and Alternative Medicine 66
Krieger states that, "in the
final analysis, it is the healee
(client) who heals himself”.
The healer or therapist, in this

view, “acts as a human
energy support system until
the healee's own
immunological system is
robust enough to take over".

Esoteric Healing
It brings the arrest of the ill
energy that is causing the ill
Will.
It is the Will or, range of

choices that one makes, that
needs to be healed, if what
lays at hand is a condition
that needs healing.
But, no Will can be changed or altered if the

energy entering the body is not changed.
The energy field surrounds and permeates all

living beings.
It is the scaffolding for our physical body.

Within the energy field of each person are
seven major centers.
Each of these centers

energizes or vitalizes its
related nerve center,
endocrine gland, internal
organ system and the
circulatory system.
It is within this energy field

that the cause of disease
appears to be located.
Through training, a practitioner can learn

to work with areas that are weak or
congested within the energy field, and by
use of various balancing techniques, can
bring the individual's energy field to a more
flowing, healthy, harmonious state.

Qigong, Chi Kung, or Chi

Gung
pronounced "chee-gung",
literally "life energy
cultivation“.
It is a practice of aligning
breath, movement, and
awareness for exercise,
healing, and meditation.
With roots in Chinese medicine, martial arts,
and philosophy, qigong is traditionally viewed
as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi)
or what has been translated as "intrinsic life
energy".
Typically a qigong practice involves rhythmic

breathing coordinated with slow stylized
repetition of fluid movement, a
calm mindful state, and visualization of
guiding qi through the body.
Qigong is now practiced

throughout China and
worldwide, and is
considered by some to
be exercise, and by others
to be a type of alternative
medicine or meditative
practice.

From a philosophical
perspective qigong is
believed to help develop
human potential, allow
access to higher realms of
awareness, and awaken
one's "true nature"

Reiki
It is a spiritual practice developed in 1922
by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui, which
since has been adapted by various
teachers of varying traditions.
It is a combination of two Japanese

words rei and ki meaning universal life
energy.
• Reiki is an ancient laying-

on of hands healing
technique that uses the life
force energy to heal,
balancing the subtle
energies within our bodies.

It uses a technique commonly called palm
healing or hands on healing as a form
of complementary therapy and is sometimes
classified as oriental medicine by some
professional medical bodies.
Through the use of this technique,

practitioners believe that they are transferring
universal energy (i.e., reiki) in the form of ki
through the palms, which allows for self-
healing and a state of equilibrium.
There are two main

branches of Reiki,
commonly referred to
as Traditional Japanese
Reiki and Western Reiki.

Though differences can be wide and

varied between both branches and
traditions, the primary difference is that
Westernised forms use systematised
hand-placements rather than relying on an
intuitive sense of hand-positions, which is
commonly used by Japanese Reiki
branches.

Pranic Healing
It is a highly evolved and
tested system of energy
medicine developed by
GrandMaster Choa Kok Sui
that utilizes prana to balance,
harmonize and transform the
body's energy processes.
Prana is a Sanskrit word that

means life-force.
This invisible bio-energy or vital energy

keeps the body alive and maintains a state
of good health.
In acupuncture, the Chinese refer to this

subtle energy as Chi.
It is also called Ruach or the Breath of

Life in Hebrew.
Pranic Healing is a simple

yet powerful & effective
system of no-
touch energy healing.

It is based on the fundamental
principles that the body is
a self-repairing living entity
that possesses the ability to
heal itself and that the healing
process is accelerated by
increasing this life force that is
readily available from the sun,
air and ground to address
physical & emotional
imbalances.
Crystal Healing
It is a pseudoscientific alternative
medicine technique that employs stones and
crystals as healing tools.
The practitioner places crystals on different

parts of the body, often corresponding
to chakras, or places crystals around the
body in an attempt to construct an "energy
grid", which is purported to surround the
client with healing energy.
When the stones are placed in

the area of the chakras, the
colour of the stones may
correspond to the colour which
is associated with the
corresponding chakra.
Going from the tail bone to the

top of the head, the colours
are red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, indigo, violet.
Stones may also be used at
the feet in an attempt
at grounding the individual, or
held in the hands.
Practitioners may also use

tools such as crystal wands,
which are placed near the
receiver's body, or near a
certain 'blocked' chakra, or
use to perform psychic
surgery, normally conducted
with laser quartzComplementary
wands. and Alternative Medicine 87
Acupuncture
It is an alternative medicine methodology
originating in ancient China that treats
patients by manipulating thin, solid
needles that have been inserted
into acupuncture points in the skin.
• According to Traditional Chinese medicine,

stimulating these points can correct
imbalances in the flow of qi through
channels known as meridians.
However, scientific
research has not found
any histological or physiolo
gical correlates for qi,
meridians and acupuncture
points, and some
contemporary practitioners
needle the body without
using the traditional
theoretical framework.
Current scientific
research supports
acupuncture's efficacy
in the relief of certain
types of pain and post-
operative nausea.

There is general agreement

that acupuncture is safe
when administered by well-
trained practitioners using
sterile needles but does
carry small but serious risks
and adverse effects
including death.

References:
 Eden, D., Feinstein, D. (2012) Principles of Energy
Medicine.
 Oschman, J. (2000). Energy Medicine: The
Scientific Basis.
 National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (2005). "Energy Medicine: An Overview".
 Warber, S. L., Straughn, J., Kile, G. (December
2004). "Biofield Energy Healing from the
Inside". The Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine.
 www.innersource.net

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Principles of

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1

Anatomy of Energy Body

 “The art and science of fostering

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 3

 It recognizes energy as a vital, living,

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 4

It is a branch of complementary and

 also known as “Energy Therapy” or

 The term energy

 Energy gives life to the

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 6

 “Energy heals and

Energy healing practitioners “read” the

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 8

The US-based National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 9

Mainstream medicine involving

Cymatic therapy uses sound waves.

Types of "Putative Energy Medicine"

Acupuncture and Ayurvedic medicine also

Concepts such as Qi (Chi), Prana, Mana,

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 12

Yoga, for instance, has historically been

2. The health of those energies - in terms

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 14

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 15

a) Move and have space to continue to

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 16

c) Crossover - at all levels, from the

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 18

b) Tracing or swirling the hand over the skin

d) Focused use of the mind to move specific

e) Surrounding an area with healing

1. Influences fundamental biological

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 21

3. Speed, efficiency and

5. Suitable to use by client/patient at home

6. Focuses on the person as a whole

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 23

1. Meridians: The meridians are energy

Meridians bridge mind,

The 14 meridians include

The 12 meridian segments are, ultimately,

The meridians look to me like a network

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 26

2. Chakras: Situated along the spine are

The chakras are like pools or swirling

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 27

They govern the endocrine system and

They also encode and process physical,

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 28

Each major chakra

3. Aura: Like the Earth’s atmosphere, the

It is the body’s outermost energy system,

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 30

Each layer and each band serves a

an antenna bringing in beneficial

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 31