Energy Medicine 101

Little did I know when I became interested in energy medicine (aka energy healing or energy work) that I was already doing it. You may be, too - even if you think you're very mainstream in your approach to medicine. My Yoga and meditation practices are forms of energy work. That's not surprising. So are chiropractic and massage. You're probably still not surprised. How about this though - according to the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, MRIs, cardiac pacemakers, and radiation therapy all fall under the heading of energy medicine (http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htm)! 

The NCCAM divide energy medicine into two categories: veritable and putative. Methods that fall under the veritable category use mechanical vibrations (sounds) and electromagnetic forces (light, magnetism, and radiation such as laser beams). They use specific, measurable wavelengths and frequencies in their treatments. It is the ability to measure them using conventional instrumentation that earns them the rank of "veritable".

Putative methods, on the other hand, employ the use of techniques that are thus far unmeasurable by reproducible methods. Putative fields are often called biofields. These treatments are based on the theory that we have subtle forms of energy within and around us. You may hear this energetic life-force referred to as qi (in traditional Chinese medicine), ki (Japanese Kampo), prana or dosha (Indian Aryuvedic), or even homeopathic resonance (which is Western). There are other names as well, but I think those are the most common. Believers feel that a vital energy flows through the material body. However, as stated, this subtle energy has thus far eluded measurement using standard instrumentation. Some common putative methods are Reiki, Healing Touch, Theraputic Touch, Traditional Chinese Medicine, homeopathy, prayer, and Donna Eden's Energy Medicine (which I tried on Sunday - see previous post). Less common is Energy Mirrors which I tried a few weeks ago.

I believe that in our lifetimes many forms of energy medicine will continue to gain wider acceptance. More and more medical studies are showing the efficacy of Yoga to reduce such common issues as high blood pressure. Some health insurance plans even cover the cost of Yoga classes for subscribers. I even believe that as our understanding of physics shows more clearly that matter is just concentrated energy and that dark matter and other forms of energy move through our bodies constantly, the methods that are now putative may end up on the veritable side of the energy medicine equation.