Imagine seeing the world in infrared light

Our already stunning world would burst with vibrant color. Though the human eye cannot perceive ultraviolet light, we know that it is inextricably shapes our world. For example, ultraviolet is fundamental to the navigation of insects and birds.

In the same way, energy exists on a spectrum, and part of that spectrum that cannot yet be measured with current devices. This is subtle energy, and it is the foundation of the earliest healing techniques.

Subtle energy is so-called because it is difficult to measure, not because it is subtle in effect. Subtle energy shapes our experience of our bodies.

In this post, I will share my journey with energy medicine and why I believe it is a foundational aspect of holistic wellness.

Seeing Subtle Energy

Three years ago, I woke heated in the middle of the night. I reached to push my blankets away and saw sparks of bright light blue light where my fingers came into contact with the blanket. Mesmerized, I kept touching my blanket and watching the energy from my hands. In that moment, the comprehension appeared in my mind: I was seeing subtle energy. And I knew this moment was fragile, magnificent, enchanting, and precious.

Then, suddenly, the light disappeared.

After this experience, I knew that every movement I made was intertwined with energetic reality which I couldn’t see.  I felt compelled to learn how I had this experience, and how to use this energy in my life.

This led me to research on ancient healing, energy medicine, consciousness, and scientific studies on the power of intention. It also propelled my journey into using energy medicine for my own health, with profound results.

What is the Energetic Body?

The Energetic Body is subtle energy interacting with our Physical Body.

The hardware of atoms, cells, tissues and organs compose the Physical Body. The software of the Energetic Body directs our Physical Body. 

In a computer, software dictates electrical impulses that control the mechanistic action (such as powering off or on) of the hardware. Without software, both the physical computer lacks power and function. Like software, the Energetic Body sends information as frequency to the Physical Body.

The Energetic Body is an enduring and universal concept identified by every ancient culture. Healers knew that the only practical way to correct the hardware of the body was to address the software.

As the Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Gyorgyi said,

In every culture and in every medical tradition before ours, healing was accomplished by moving energy.

Energy medicine is not outdated – rather, it is where the greatest potential of medicine lies. As Norm Shealy, MD, founding president of the American Holistic Medical Association said,

Energy medicine is the future of all medicine.

How to Experience Subtle Energy

If subtle energy is all around us, why don’t we see and feel it all the time?

The most articulate explanation for this, I believe, comes from Dr. Mario Beauregard, a neuroscientist at the University of Arizona. He explains that the brain filters frequencies, limiting our perception of reality. These filters may be intentionally or spontaneously deactivated, allowing us to experience greater portions of reality.

My filters were spontaneously deactivated when I saw energy. I believe it was because the left hemisphere of my brain was not fully conscious, still partly asleep. 

Many people have learned to intentionally deactivate their filters through practices like Rekei and Qi Gong, in order to feel energy. And, as a more rare example, people have learned to hear energy in the sonar range. One blind man named Daniel Kish recently gave a TedTalk about how he uses echolocation to navigate his environment.

As another striking example, neuroscientist and author Jill Bolte Taylor experienced a stroke which deactivated her filters (she gave a TedTalk, too). The stoke affected the left side of her brain, and suddenly she knew the interconnectedness of the world through the aperture of her right brain.

Albert Einstein eloquently and succinctly stated how our filters fundamentally narrow our perception.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us […].

I’ve never again seen subtle energy, but I’m learning how to feel it. There is a simple practice outlined in Energy Medicine which explains how to feel the powerful energetic fields of your palms. When I do this practice, I feel the resistance, like opposing magnets, between the two palms of my hands.

You do not have to be “gifted” to learn how to intentionally feel energy. It is a physical reality of our world, and the human body is intelligent and sensitive enough to perceive it. And you don’t need to feel or see energy in order to use Energy Medicine on yourself or others.

How does Energy Medicine work?

We, Human Beings, are not our parts. We are the interaction of our parts. We are the interaction of our Physical Body and our Energetic Body.

The Energetic Body determines wellness through two components: pattern and its strength. The pattern consists of meridians, acupuncture points and chakras. The strength of the energy affects the flow of these patterns. Weak energy flow is like a poor WiFi signal – the delivery of information is slow and incomplete.

A disruption in the pattern and strength of the Energetic Body causes a disruption in the Physical Body. For example, in Chinese Medicine, inadequate energy flow through a meridian means that the organs connected to that meridian is energetically malnourished. Without proper energy flow, the organ cannot optimally function physically.  The Energy Medicine approach to a dysfunctional organ would be to re-align the pattern and strength of energy flowing to it.

I see Energy Medicine as a chiropractic adjustment for the Energetic Body. When aligned, the Energetic Body can maintain homeostasis and guide regeneration processes.

What are types of Energy Medicine?

• DIY Energy Medicine and emotional work, discussed below
• Acupuncture
• Reflexology and acupressure
• Tai Chi and Chi Gong
• Homeopathy
• Flower Essences
• Laying-on-of-Hands Healing
• Electrical machines, such as the Rife machine

3 Ways to Use Energy Medicine At Home

1. Tapping Therapy

Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) are clinically-studied therapy created for PTSD sufferers. EFT provided tremendous shift in my emotional trauma and unhealthy coping patterns.

Creator Dr. Roger Callahan perceived how negative emotions create a Thought Field –a pattern of energy which disrupts the Energetic Body and triggers that negative emotion again. This gentle therapy involves thinking and speaking about the trauma, fear or negative emotion while tapping, with your fingers, on specific acupuncture points. This dissipates the Thought Field.

Tapping helped me heal from painful memories and profoundly reduced my response to old emotional triggers. I also use tapping to reduce anxiety when I’m concerned about a specific event, past or present.

Tapping Resources

• You can find an EFT Practitioner in your area, who can walk you through the process. I believe this is the most effective. Once you have the hang of it, you can do it without a practitioner.
• Tapping The Healer Within is Callahan’s book, outlining his discovery and technique
• Get the EFT Manual for straight-forward instructions, and start doing it yourself.
• Tap along to instructional Youtube videos. I recommend Brad Yate’s videos.

2. Energy Medicine Book

When it comes to good energy, Donna Eden is the epitome… she exudes love, joy and vitality. Her essential guide book Energy Medicine explains the history of energy medicine and practical ways to use it for wellbeing. All you need for the energy balancing techniques is your own body! No special tools or training needed.

I practice Donna’s Five Minute Energy Routine (described in the book) daily. Remember how the Energetic Body consists of pattern and strength? This easily-memorized routine re-sets the basic patterns energy pattern and improves the energy flow.

Energy Medicine is like the Nourishing Traditions for the Energetic Body… it’s an essential wellness book that belongs in every home.

3. The Emotion Code

Do you feel like you have “stuck” emotions that are impacting your life? Stuck emotions disrupt the pattern of the Energetic Body.

For me, stuck emotions felt like obstacles, impeding my ability to live in the present. I felt untapped grief, repressed anger, and unresolved fear about situations in my past. The Emotion Code, like tapping, has been a gentle but highly empowering method to move forward from repressed emotions.

The Emotion Code presents a simple biofeedback tool of asking the body what emotion needs to be released. It can be done on yourself, or with a partner. Once a stuck emotion is identified, it is released by using an everyday magnet over a specific meridian. Again, no special tools or training needed.

How have you used energy medicine in your life? What other energy medicine resources do you recommend?  

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