Energy Medicine

The term “energy medicine” covers a lot of territory and carries a lot of different connotations.   Basically, energy medicine is a “complimentary” modality (used in conjunction with other types of healing/medicine).  It works with the individual’s energy systems to notice and clear blockages and deficiencies.

Essentially, we are composed of four types of energy – physical, mental, emotional and subtle.  They are distinct but not separate.  Moment to moment our experience is occurring in all four regardless of where our attention is.

It is the nature of energy to flow.  When it is allowed to do so, it dissipates.  Notice a light bulb.   What happens to the light energy being constantly being created?  It doesn’t build up – rather it dissipates as it flows.  When we do not allow any of our four basic energies to flow, they back up, create pressure and pop out somewhere.

According to Wikipedia, “Energy medicine proposes that imbalances in the body’s “energy field” result in illness and that by re-balancing the body’s energy field health can be restored.”

The practice of putative energy medicine dates back at least 5,000 years. A mummified body from around 3000 B.C. had tattoos on exactly the points that are indicated in Traditional Chinese Medicine for treating the kind of lumbar spine arthritis revealed by an x-ray analysis of the body.  Meanwhile, the term “energy medicine” has been in general use since the founding of the non-profit International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine in the 1980s and was further defined by two books, each titled Energy Medicine, one which is a guide for practitioners and one which surveys existing research evidence.

Energy medicine is a comprehensive term for practices that include, but are not limited to:

Transform Your Life through Energy Medicine, Acupuncture and acupressure, Applied Kinesiology, Chromotherapy, Emotional Freedom Techniques, energy psychology, Healing Touch, homeopathy, intercessory prayer, intuitive medicine, Johrei, laser therapy, light therapy, magnetic therapy, NAET (Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique), qi gong, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created a division known as NCCAM (National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine).  They sponsor research in the field and are beginning to understand energy medicine and be a source of information.  A caution, this is a government agency and does not even come close to being on top of what is happening.  ISSSEEM is a much better resource.

The use of energy medicine is not limited to any specific group of people.  Each time we hold a hurt, kiss a boo-boo, send a supportive thought, etc., we are practicing.  For those who hold them self out as practitioners, I believe it is important to have some type of meaningful credential. (That means spending a lot more time then a weekend.)  I am not saying that anyone who doesn’t have such a credential is not doing good work.  I am saying that unless you are a very savvy energy person, you need some way of knowing what you are buying.