Thanks for helping me uncover a vast reservoir of unresolved anger, anguish, and grief.
...Today [I am] seeing things with more clarity than in a very long time.
Male client, age 61
Surprise, Arizona
The Ancient Basis of Healing Energy
Before the advent of science , spiritual traditions advocated energy healing. These traditions date back thousands of years and exist in almost every culture.
Indian spiritual traditions refer to Prana as the source, or breath, of all life. In China, ch’i energy is the basis for healing practices by lay and medical practitioners. The Japanese term for the energy of life is Ki, and the practice of Kiko is training to promote health.
Although the teachings vary, a crucial principle underlies all of them – namely, the that the breath of life and the material form are one and cannot be separated. This principle is the foundation for all comprehensive theories of subtle energy healing.
Yuasa1 quotes a passage attributed to Confucius:
“That which is beyond form is called Dao and all that is formed is called a vessel. …There is no vessel apart from Dao nor is there an activity of Dao apart from the vessel. Both are originally one. The function of Dao permeates the vessel.”
This invisible function of Dao is what the Chinese call ‘qi’ and the Japanese ‘ki.’ Any separation of the life force from the form it animates makes it difficult to account for many phenomena described in energy medicine and energy healing.
1Yasuo Yuasa, The Body, Self-Cultivation, and Ki-Energy, State University of New York Press, 1993, p. 187.
The Science Behind Energy Healing
For decades scientists have performed studies that examine the energy systems of the body. The results conclude that the body generates an electrical field and produces magnetic pulsations. T hese results have led to the development of Electrocardiograms and electroencephalograms which measure the currents from the heart and brain.
The nerve sheaths of the body also carry electrical currents necessary for growth, repair, and healing. The current seems to attract the white blood cells and stimulate skin cell and connective tissue growth. The current changes as healing progresses.
Investigation of the energy emitted by the healer during a healing session indicates that the pulsations range through all of the same frequencies as brain waves: .3 - 30 Hz, falling primarily in 7 - 8 Hz, the alpha state. Medical research has shown that this is the range of frequencies that stimulates healing in the body. Specific frequencies are helpful for specific tissues, for instance 2 Hz encourages nerve regeneration, 7 Hz bone growth, and 10 Hz ligament repair.
Scientific Studies Show Energy Healing Works
In a 2004 study, patients who received energy healing before and after their surgery were able to walk nearly 50% faster than those who did not.
« Read about this study »
The following exploratory study took place in 2004, performed by Shelli Nelson, RN. Nelson designed and received the approval of the IRB (Investigative Review Board) to perform this research in a community hospital in the Minneapolis area.
Nelson wanted to examine the efficacy of Brennan Healing Science® (a form of energy healing) on pre- and post-operative pain management, range of motion, sleep quality, and post-acute strength and endurance in patients who underwent Total Joint Replacement Surgery.
The treatment included four healings: the first one week prior to surgery, the second in the post-surgical care unit immediately after surgery, and one each day for the next two days.
Everyone who participated in the study received either a total knee or a total hip replacement. Nelson worked with 25 patients, of whom 11 were controls and received no energy healing treatments.
The results:
- People receiving energy healings reported an ability to relax and sleep: greater than 90% of their stress and insomnia were relieved with the healings.
- Without treatment, patients were able to walk about a quarter mile in 8 weeks. Patients who received the energy healings were able to do so in 4-5 weeks.
- Without treatment, patients were able to walk upstairs reciprocally (one foot after the other) in an average of 7-8 weeks. Patients who received energy healings were able to do so in an average of 3-4 weeks.
- Without treatment, the length of time patients used daily narcotics after leaving the hospital was an average of 7-9 weeks. Patients who received energy healings used daily narcotics for an average of 2-4 weeks.
- Some patients who received energy healings went home using no narcotics within a week. Normal expectation is that some narcotics will continue to be used for about 8 to 12 weeks.
Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine published a report showing that hysterectomy patients who received energy healing recovered significantly faster than those who did not.
« Read about this study »
A study reported in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine (1996) used an energy healing technique for abdominal hysterectomies. Sixty patients between the ages of 35 and 65 who had undergone abdominal hysterectomy were randomly assigned to receive either an energy healing for 20 minutes, a 20-minute backrub, or no-treatment. Based on a Surgery Recovery Index, the energy-healing group experienced faster recovery (especially in their pulmonary and gastrointestinal systems) with highly significant results after a single treatment (p < .00005*). This significance grew even more with two healings (p<.0001*) and again with three healings (p <.00005*).
*Explanation of these symbols: To say p< .00001 is to say that the likelihood that this test result occurred by chance is less than 1 in 1 million. Generally, a test is considered to have significant results if the likelihood of a random result is less than .05, or 5 out of a 100. The smaller the value of p, the greater the strength of the evidence for the test results.
« Read about this study »
An Israeli study examined 53 men recovering from inguinal hernia surgery. The men were divided into three groups. One received distant healings (the healer was thirty miles away), one group received taped positive suggestions, and the third group received no treatment. The healing group did significantly better than either of the other groups based on nine major variables used to measure recovery (p<.05*).
(Dr. Zvi Bentwich et. al., 1993.)
Chronically ill patients experienced decreased symptoms from chronic illness.
« Read about this study »
A 1998 study randomly assigned 120 chronically ill patients who experienced pain to one of four groups: energy healing, muscle relaxation, false energy healing, or no-treatment. All of the patients had pain that had been present for at least one year. The initiating illnesses included headaches, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, ulcer, asthma, hypertension, and HIV infection. The three treatment groups all received ten 30-minute treatments. These were spaced twice a week for five weeks. The patients were assessed before and after the series of treatments using several pain and anxiety scales. The energy-healing group was also assessed three months later.
Comparing the pre- and post-treatment scores showed the energy healing sessions to be significantly better than the other treatments on 10 out of 12 variables. Three months later these changes remained consistent and there were further highly significant reductions in these patients’ total pain rating and in their sensory and affective qualities of pain. Within the energy healing group, depression decreased significantly more in the men than in the women. However, the women experienced greater increases in their spiritual connection.
(Subtle Energies, 1998.)
In a University of Minnesota study, energy healing is proven to reduce pain and distress on arthritis patients.
« Read about this study »
Arthritis is a crippling disease for which Western medicine has only limited treatments. Some of the conventional treatments carry serious side effects. The following two research studies examined the use of energy healing to relieve pain and increase mobility in arthritis patients.
Susan Peck examined the effects of routine medical treatments on arthritis when this was combined with six sessions of energy healing. The study showed a significant decrease in pain and distress based on the patient’s self-assessments from before and after the energy sessions.
(1996, University of Minnesota)
According to a Journal of Family Practice report, energy healing reduces pain and increases physical activity levels for osteoarthritis patients.
« Read about this study »
The Journal of Family Practice (1998) reported the results of a study on the use of energy healing on osteoarthritis. The clients were ages 40 to 80 with osteoarthritis in one or both knees. They were assigned to one of three groups. One group received six energy healing sessions over a six-week period. A second group received false energy healing sessions and a third group went untreated. The energy healing and the false energy healing sessions were videotaped to assure that an untrained observer could not tell the difference between the real and false energy sessions.
Pain was measured with several standardized tests as well as during interviews. The results showed that the true healing treatment group demonstrated significant improvements on 10 of 13 Multidimensional Pain Inventory Scales and on their physical activity levels.
Energy healing was shown to decrease depression.
« Read about this study »
Some think that the sure-ticket way to beat depression is prescription medications. This is simply not so. Many people cannot find an effective antidepressant. Others suffer unpleasant and often severe side effects. They face the horrible choice of a markedly diminished quality of life due to dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, diminished sexual drive and more side effects, or suffering from the depression.
A 1996 study at the University of North Carolina explored whether energy healing could be of help for long-term depression. The participants had been suffering depression for periods ranging from two months to 36 years. The treatment group was given six healing sessions over three weeks. A depression inventory was given to the subjects before and after the treatment period and to the energy healing group again a month later. The scores showed a highly significant decrease in depression for the energy treatment group. The decrease in depression was sustained a month later.
« Read about this study »
A 1998 exploratory study in The Journal of Holistic Nursing reported on the use of energy healing to reduce the emotional suffering of terminal cancer patients hospitalized for palliative care. There was a highly significant improvement in the well-being scores of the treatment group while the non-treatment group did not show any significant change.
