Energy Medicine

What is Energy Medicine?

Energy medicine recognizes ENERGY as an essential, living, moving force that determines the state of being of our mind, body, and spirit. In Energy medicine, ENERGY is the medicine and it is the patient. The body is healed by activating its natural healing energies, restoring energies that are weak, disturbed, or out of balance. Energy medicine is used to compliment other forms of medicine or as a self-help and self-care system.

There are two types of energy medicine. The first is using measurable energy to influence the flow, balance and harmony of energies. Measurable energies are things like the mechanical vibration of sound and electromagnetic forces, which include visible light, magnetism, monochromatic radiation (laser beams) and rays from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. In measurable energy medicine, specific, measurable frequencies and wavelengths are used to influence flow, balance, and harmony of the patient’s energy systems. The second type of energy medicine is called biofield energy or subtle energy fields medicine that lack measurement by reproducible methods to date. Therapies involving biofields are based on the concept that human beings are infused with a subtle form of energy. The health of the subtle energy fields is reflected in the health of the body, mind, and spirit.

Application of measurable energy fields are used as diagnostic tools or therapies. The MRI (electromagnetic resonance imaging), cardiac pacemakers, radiation therapy, ultraviolet light, laser surgeries and others use electromagnetic fields that can be measured and dosed based on established evidenced based studies for desired clinical effects for the patient. Magnet therapy involves the use of static magnets used to influence physiologic processes affecting the tiny blood vessels of muscles which reportedly improves muscle health lessening pain. Pulsating electromagnetism has been used to promote healing of nonunion fractures in bones and is claimed to be effective in treating osteoarthritis, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, and sleep disorders. Sound therapy uses measurable vibrations or frequencies to resonate with specific organs of the body for healing and support; examples include music therapy, wind chimes, and tuning forks. Light therapy capitalizes on the influence of varying frequencies and colors of light influence moods and hormones of the body. Natural, artificial, lasers, colors, monochromic, and high-intensity light therapies are examples of this type of energy therapy. Homeopathy uses highly diluted substances to stimulate the body to heal itself based on the principle of “like cures like”. Homeopathic remedies are believed to mobilize the body’s vital force to achieve a coordinated healing response throughout the body. The body translates the information on the vital force into local physical changes to heal form acute and chronic illnesses.
Subtle energy field medicine seeks to influence the life force of human beings. This life force is known under different names in different cultures; qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine, prana in Ayurvedic medicine, and pneuma in Greek medicine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the opposing forces of yin and yang regulate a person’s spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health. Acupuncture is the most well known form of subtle energy medicine. It is the stimulation of specific points on the body by insertion of thin metal needles through the skin intended to remove blockages in the flow of qi and restore and maintain health. Acupressure and reflexology operate on a similar belief. Some forms of subtle energy medicine are believed to emit or transmit the vital energy (external qi) to a recipient from a universal energy to restore health. Examples of this form include Reiki, Johrei, vortex healing, and polarity therapy, Therapeutic Touch Healing Touch, and Qi Gong. These therapies using external energy fields lack convincing evidence of their therapeutic effects by any biophysical means to date. Intercessory prayer, praying for another human being with or without their knowledge is a type of energy medicine based on the intentions of the praying person and belief in a divine being to intercede or influence the health of the one being prayed for. Each of these subtle energy field approaches lack effective scientific studies to validate their therapeutic effects. However, anecdotal cases of their effectiveness are increasing as is the popularity of such therapies.

By Dorothy Carey RNC
www.georgiaintegrative.com