ThePowerofEnergyHealing Sessions

The Power of Energy Healing
http://www.soundstrue.com/onlinecourses/powerenergy/pr...
The Power of Energy Healing presented by Sounds True
Getting Started
Navigating this online course From your digital library, enter your online course through the Go to Course link to your course home page. On your course home page, to the right of the Home tab, you will see three tabs: Session, Notes, and Workbook. Sessions contains all of the instructions and materials for your course. Notes is where your personal notes, entered into the Notepad at the left of the screen, will be saved. Workbook contains all of your assigned work, such as responses to questions about the course materials. To get back to your home page at any time, simply select the Home tab. Any text entered into the Notepad will be saved automatically under the Notes tab. Each time you access your course home page, the current session will be in expanded form. Past and future sessions will be in collapsed form. Select the + or button in the top right of each sessions section to expand or collapse. Select the Start Session button to begin. In each session box, select view course materials after you have completed a session if you want to download audio, video, or text materials for later review. Session availability: If a session has not yet begun, you will see an availability date posted next to the session title. System requirements for online sessions To attend a meeting on a PC, the following is required: Internet Explorer 6.0 or newer, Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or newer (JavaScript and Java enabled) Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server or Vista Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection Minimum of Pentium class 1GHz CPU with 512 MB of RAM (recommended); (2 GB of RAM for Windows Vista) Headphones or speakers Flash Player 10 or newer Mac users will need: Safari 3.0 or newer, or Firefox 2.0 or newer (JavaScript and Java enabled) Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer PowerPC G4/G5 or Intel processor (512 MB of RAM or more recommended) Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection Headphones or speakers Flash Player 10 or newer Online session start times in your time zone For the US: Your time zone Central Mountain Session starts One hour EARLIER than posted time Two hours EARLIER than posted time
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Pacific Hawaii and most of Alaska
Three hours EARLIER than posted time Five hours EARLIER than posted time
International participants, please use the converter at timeanddate.com. Note that online session times are posted in Eastern Standard Time, which is GMT -5. How to attend an online session Your course is kept secure by accessing it through your digital library. Select "Your Account" from the Sounds True home page, and enter your email address and password. (When your account was first created, you were sent a temporary password. If you did not change it to something that you will remember, please go to Your Account and reset your password now.) For assistance with your Sounds True account, please contact customer service. In each live session section on your course home page, there is a button. It says either Join or Register. If it says Join: 1. Beginning one hour prior to the live session start time and until the event ends, the Join button will no longer be grayed out, and you can select it to join the event. 2. You will be taken to the page displaying the live session. About fifteen minutes before the session starts, early programming will appear in the player. At the scheduled start time, the session will automatically begin. 3. Choose a name to identify you to the moderator, and submit it. 4. You will see a box to submit questions to the moderator, who will select questions to be answered by the author during the event.
If it says Register, follow these steps: 1. Beginning one hour before the live session start time, select the "Register" button. 2. Enter your first name, last name, and email address, and select "Register Now." 3. You will see a confirmation page and will also receive a confirmation email. Both will contain the link you will use when your online session starts. 4. Select the link in your confirmation email or on the course home page. 5. You may be prompted to download required temporary internet files needed to join your session. Select "Yes," "Grant," or "Trust" (depending on your operating system) to allow download. 6. If you have Java already installed on your computer, you will be ushered into the waiting room for the course. 7. If you do NOT have Java properly installed, you will be prompted to install it. Follow the instructions to do so. After it is installed, you will be directed into the waiting room.
Note: These links will not be active until one hour before the time of the online session. If your course or event is more than one session, you will need to follow these steps for each session through its own section on the course home page. Note: If you can't make a live session, a downloadable recording will be made available a few days later. Submitting a question for an online session If you would like to submit a question in advance for the author to address during a live session, please do so prior to the session. During the session, you will be able to use the "submit a question" function to ask questions. From the questions submitted, the host will select those of general interest to address during the live portion of the course. Access to course materials You will have access to your course materials for 30 days after the end of the last scheduled course session. If
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you wish to keep anything, please download prior to that expiration date. Weekly reminders You will receive a weekly email describing upcoming sessions, live events, and course materials.
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Course Overview
Session 1 : A Guided Tour of Your Energy System
What Is Energy Healing? You may have heard of the chakras, meridians, or energy fieldsbut what does it all mean? Cyndi Dale offers an overview of the main concepts of energy healing and their importance for your own needs. Drawing from traditions around the world, this far-reaching introduction invites you to explore: What is mindbody healing, and how does it relate to energy healing? Qithe vital life force identified in Chinese medicine and our modern scientific understanding of what it is The auric field, the meridians, and the chakrasthe key elements to your energetic anatomy The healing power of prayerwhat current research says Audio Session: Balancing the Chakras with Anodea Judith A guided meditative journey introducing you to the seven chakras in the body. Discover how these energy centers influence your health, your identity, and your spiritual growthand learn how to bring each chakra into a state of harmony. Adapted from the interactive learning kit Chakra Balancing.
Session 2 : Energy Medicine for Self-Healing

Energy Medicine for SelfHealing Perhaps the greatest gift of energy healing is that it empowers us to take charge of our own health. In this session, Cyndi Dale invites you to explore the world of mindbody medicine and the extraordinary extent to which our beliefs, thoughts, and states of mind can impact our overall health and wellbeing. Join her to discover: Guided imagery and visualizationsthe proven power of the imagination to activate the body's healing response Meditationhow this timehonored practice for spiritual transformation impacts our physical health, mental acuity, and emotional balance Breath workwhy the simple act of changing the way you breathe can be the most important step toward better health Prayer and distant healingan introduction to methods of harnessing intention to heal yourself and others Audio Session: BodyTapping Exercise with Ann Marie Chiasson, MD Dr. Chiasson takes you on an overview of the energy healing modalities most commonly used in mindbody medicine, then teaches you a simple practice that you can do each day to boost your overall vitality and resilience.
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Adapted from the home study course Energy Healing.
Session 3 : Energy Evaluation for the Morning

Complementary Medicine As holistic medicine continues to gain popularity, many people are turning to acupuncture, homeopathy, and other complementary practices to help them stay healthy. What can you expect from these kinds of practices, and how much can they help with specific health conditions? Cyndi Dale provides a clear and informative introduction to six of the most prominent forms of complementary care, including: Acupuncture and shiatsu (pressure points)how these ancient practices work and how to find a qualified practitioner who meets your needs Color and light healingthe history and research behind these therapeutic systems and their effectiveness in working with the chakras Homeopathythe different methods of using the "law of similars" to promote healing Magnetic and meridian therapythe evidence for the use of magnetic energy fields to stimulate the regeneration of tissues in the body Audio Session: Energy Evaluation for the Morning with Caroline Myss Here you will learn a meditation for evaluating your personal energythe same meditation Caroline Myss uses in her own spiritual practice. By exploring your energy centers (chakras) as you begin each new day, you set the forces in motion for true spiritual transformation and affirm your commitment to living a more conscious life. Adapted from the audio learning program Spiritual Power, Spiritual Practice.
Session 4 : Positive Energy Practices

Subtle Body Healing Methods Our overview of energy medicine modalities continues as Cyndi Dale introduces you to seven different types of subtle body healing. From the most ancient lineages of Chinese energy practice to modern refinements of traditional healing arts, these techniques all have gained prominence in present-day holistic care. Here you will learn more about: Qigongthe foundational practice of traditional Chinese medicine that combines gentle movement and meditation to clear blocked energy, boost vitality, and even increase longevity Reflexologyhow stimulating pressure points on the hands, ears, and head can directly impact the health of the organ systems Reikian increasingly popular Japanese healing style for channeling universal energy through the hands Sound healingharnessing the principles of resonance to bring the body into its optimal state of vibration Aromatherapy and flower essence therapytreatments that combine the healing power of scent with the properties of essential oils Audio Session: Positive Energy Practices with Judith Orloff, MD Four easytouse tools for harnessing positive energy and protecting yourself from "energy vampires" people in your life whose influence can deplete your own emotional and physical vitality.
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Adapted from the audio learning program Positive Energy Practices.
Session 5 : Sound HealingAligning Your Energy Body

Aligning Your Energy Body We complete our overview of the most widely practiced energy healing modalities. Join Cyndi Dale to discover some of the most exciting and innovative advances in the energy medicine fieldand how they can be integrated with mainstream medicine to produce optimum results. In this session, you will learn more about: Healing toucha handson practice that has gained broad acceptance in the medical community and is being used in over 100 hospitals today CranioSacral therapya touchbased system that focuses on the head and spinal cord to address headache, chronic stress, back pain, and more Matrix Energeticsa freeform system of energy healing that uses the principles of quantum physics, morphic fields, and instantaneous transformation Gemstone and crystal therapyinvoking the healing properties inherent in minerals Audio Session: Sound Healing and Aligning Your Energy Body with David Ison One of the pioneers of sound healing and meditation presents a sound journey to generate health promoting vibrations in the body. This 25minute guided practice will take you into transformative realms of deep relaxation, insight, and healing, as you release energetic blockages throughout your entire being. You can also play this session in the background for relaxation and quiet inspiration. Adapted from albums included in The Musical Body program.
Session 6 : Healing and the Chakras

The Science of Energy Healing Over the remaining three sessions, we will survey what science has discovered about the field of energy healing. For more than a century, researchers have been conducting scientific studies to evaluate the effectiveness of energy healing in bringing about real, measurable changes in the physical and emotional lives of recipients. In this session, Cyndi Dale presents a summary of research in the field and offers an in-depth look at what science has come to know and hypothesize about the chakra system, including: Mapping the chakrashow a researcher at UCLA found clusters of bioenergy in the body in the exact locations of the chakras The auric fieldhow research has shown the body's energy field in both photographs and in the electromagnetic spectrum A Japanese scientist's compelling physical evidence for the energy meridians and chakras Audio Session: Healing and the Chakras with Cyndi Dale A guided meditation that will bring you into direct contact with your energy centers one by oneincluding the "outer chakras" that connect with others around you, your environment, and the universal energy field. As you discover the dynamic properties inherent in each chakra, you will learn to tap the wisdom of your subtle body to catalyze healing on the deepest levels. Adapted from the audio learning program Advanced Chakra Wisdom.
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Session 7 : QigongChinese Energy Healing

Science and the Meridians As we continue our exploration of the scientific evidence for energy healing, Cyndi Dale reveals startling and persuasive studies about the energy meridian system. In this session, you're invited to learn more about: Biomechanics and subtle anatomyintriguing studies about how the body's electromagnetic field interacts with the life energy known as qi Connective tissuecould these dense, supple tissues act as antennae for etheric energies? One researcher makes a compelling case Evidence of how our energy system forms in the womband perhaps even directs our physical growth Audio Session: QigongChinese Energy Healing with Ken Cohen Qigong master Ken Cohen says that if he could pick only one essential energybased technique to teach, it would most definitely be this standing meditation practice. Join him to learn this meditation for cultivating qi, the vital lifeforce energyand open the door to a powerful transformation in your body, mind, and spirit. Adapted from the video Qigong: Traditional Chinese Exercises for Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Session 8 : Your Daily Energy Routine

Science and Distant Healing Concluding our overview of the research behind energy healing, we explore the body's energy aura and the phenomenon of distant healing. Join Cyndi Dale in this final session to learn more about: Detecting the aurathough we still can't detect subtle energy directly, several exciting studies show us clear evidence of the body's aura Handson healinghow science is helping us realize that we all have an "inner healer" that we can access with surprising ease Distant healingcompelling and fascinating studies that suggest power of intention does not seem to be restricted by space or even time Audio Session: Your Daily Energy Routine with Donna Eden Six easytofollow exercises that take only minutes to activate. Discover key acupressure points and basic body movements that can bring a wave of health and vitality to your body and mindwherever and whenever you need it. Adapted from the interactive learning kit The Energy Medicine Kit.
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Session One: A Guided Tour of Your Energy System

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Introduction to Session One Welcome to The Power of Energy Healing. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to this fascinating field and how you can utilize its principles and practices to bring about healing and transformation in your own life and the lives of those around you. Throughout the course, you will learn about what energy healing is, its many benefits, the many different types of energy healing, and what science has discovered about how and why energy healing works. Energy healing, in one form or another, has been practiced for thousands of years around our planet, to catalyze transformation and well-being in the lives of human beings, animals, plants, and of Earth itself. There are literally hundreds of kinds of energy healing. It is our hope that by learning some of the more common and effective methodologies, you will be able to utilize these techniques to help yourself and others around you, contributing to both personal and global transformation. Our course is divided into eight sessions, each exploring a different aspect of energy healing. Each lesson consists of written material, a guided exercise on audio or video, and questions for you to reflect upon and write about, as well as practice tips and suggestions for further working with the material. We encourage you to make regular use of the online journal provided to you as part of our course. Each session is taught by a well-respected practitioner in the field, most of whom are also bestselling authors with many years of experience both practicing and teaching in the fields of spirituality, health, and healing. We wish you all the very best in this course and in your own ongoing exploration of healing and spiritual transformation.
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In this session, we will define energy healing and learn a bit about what it isand isn't. Despite the fact that there are hundreds of types and schools of energy healing, each with its own philosophy and methodology, some common themes emerge across all healing traditions and practices, and well explore these in this first lesson. You'll learn about the core principles of energy healing and about the three energetic systems that comprise the subtle body of the human being. Your instructor for much of the written material throughout our course is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. Each of our sessions begins with a presentation of theoretical material related to the field of energy healing, as researched by Cyndi Dale, to be followed by a specific teaching and exercise delivered by an expert in the field. Your first guided exercise, A Guided Tour of Your Energy System, introduces you to the energy centers (chakras) that comprise your physical and subtle body. Through this exercise, you will become acquainted with the chakras, identifying their location and color, their unique characteristics, and the life-issues associated with each. A personal and intimate introduction to your inner energy field, this
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practice can help you begin a discovery of your own subtle body and its role in healing and spiritual transformation. Your instructor for our first sessions exercise is psychologist, renowned expert on the chakra system, and bestselling author of the landmark Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System, Anodea Judith. This sessions exercise is adapted from the multimedia learning program Chakra Balancing, also by Anodea Judith.
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What is Energy Healing? Most people associate the word "healing" with working at the physical level to bring about a change in the body or the mind. By using medicine, herbs, vitamins, and exercise, for example, we work with the physical body to find relief from unwanted symptoms such as pain, fatigue, anxiety, or chronic illness. Core Principles of Energy Healing Another way to generate healing involves non-physical aspects of our being, working at what is known as the "subtle" level. Here, we attend to dimensions of ourselves that we can't see in any conventional sense, or are only just beginning to be able to see. When we work at these non-physical, or subtle, levels in response to unwanted symptoms and conditions, we engage the field of energy healing. The term "energy healing" refers to a variety of philosophies and methodologies that recognize a balanced flow of energy in the body as the primary source of health and wellness. When your energy is in harmony, you are in a natural state of physical and emotional well-being. When your energy is out of balance, various symptoms of disease, discomfort, and disorder can arise. Practitioners of energy healing believe that unbalanced or disrupted energetic patterns underlie all unwanted physical or emotional symptoms. In response, they use a variety of methods to work with the human energy system with the aim of returning it to harmony and wholeness. By activating the body's own innate, natural healing energies, balance is restored and health flourishes. Along with the physical body with which we are all intimately familiar, energy healers recognize the existence and importance of a non-physical or "subtle" body. Any disturbance or imbalance first shows up on the subtle level. If not addressed, the imbalance then manifests in the physical body. Just as the physical body is made up of internal organs, the "subtle" body consists of various energetic structures or systems. In this course, we will explore two broad areas of non-physical energy healing: mind-body healing and subtle-body healing. Ultimately it's not possible to separate the two, but it can be helpful to look at them distinctly, as their theories and methodologies differ somewhat. Mind-Body Healing Mind-body healing involves working with the mind to stimulate a healing response in the body. Those who practice mind-body healing work with techniques such as guided imagery, relaxation, visualization, meditation, yoga, and self-hypnosis to generate a healing response to unwanted symptoms and conditions such as physical pain, stress, anxiety, insomnia, and dis-ease of all kinds. According to proponents of mind-body healing, illness can be seen as an opportunity for personal growth and transformation, and mind-body healers serve as midwives in this process. Subtle-Body Healing Subtle-body healing is less concerned with working with the mind; instead it focuses on what's known as one's "energetic anatomy." Specifically, energy healers work with "energy fields" that make up the human
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organism. Healer and author Cyndi Dale says in her book The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy: "Classically, a field is an area in which a force exerts an influence at every point. Like all energetic structures, a field involves a vibration of energy and can carry information. Fields operate on both physical and subtle planes . . ." Accordingly, these energy fields are generally divided into two types: 1. Veritable (which can be measured) 2. Putative (which has yet to be measured) In this course, we will be exploring putative fields, which involve healing methodologies based on the concept that human beings are infused with a subtle form of energy. By working with this subtle energy, healers claim to be able to effect changes in the physical body that influence health and wellness. Examples of subtle-body healing methodologies include acupuncture, homeopathy, chakra healing, distant healing, sound healing, qigong, aura healing, reiki, and shamanic healing.
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The Three Basic Energetic Systems Practitioners of energy healing recognize three basic energetic systems within the subtle body: chakras, meridians, and fields. Chakras: The Prisms of Our Bodies Chakras are energy organs that manage all parts of your life. They're similar to other organs in your body, such as your heart or liver, except they operate at a higher frequencyone that's invisible to the human eye. Imagine walking into a medical clinic in the future and stepping behind a screen for an examination. You look at the "X-ray" only to discover that the only organs visible are swirling prisms of light. Red, purple, blue, green, yellowall the colors are there. Your practitioner evaluates your condition based on the coloration, shape, spin, and speed of these ultrasonic organs. Though a chakra-viewing X-ray machine isn't available today, some practitioners can see these swirling organs without a machine. They work directly with the chakrasthe energy centers that govern specific physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual concerns for the body. If They're in My Body, Why Can't I See Them? It's easier to perceive the chakras intuitively than with our human senses because chakras are vibrationally faster than our regular organs. As part of the subtle-energy system, they are made of energy that moves faster than the speed of light, and faster than the blink of an eye. Some researchers have provided evidence that chakras do indeed exist, even though they're invisible, and Kirlian photography has captured images of their counterparts, the auric fields. Why Should I Know about the Chakras? Practitioners work with seven to twelve chakras, located inside and just outside of the body. Each is a prism that regulates a specific set of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual concerns. This means that you can use chakras to diagnose problems and create solutions for all sorts of issues, including: Chronic problems such as heart disease or diabetes Weight loss Troubled relationships Spiritual purpose
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Money problems Emotional well-being
Chakras work with countless important and vital life areas. They are your life-balancing organs, and they can help you to make the important, and often long-postponed, changes needed in your life. What Does Chakra Mean? The word chakra means "spinning wheel of light" in Sanskrit, and that's exactly how these rainbow vortexes look and work. Think of little whirlwinds that come from your spine and swirl around in front of and behind your body. Some are even in areas around your body. How Do Chakras Work? Chakras serve as your life-enhancing organs because they are frequency based. Each chakra runs on a different frequency or vibratory level, each of these in turn associated with a different color. Each takes in, interprets, and sends out information (energy) that matches its own vibratory level. The chakras are also able to convert fast or spiritual energy into slow or sensory energy, and vice versa. In this way, they can process something as quick as a wishmaking it come trueor as solid as a cyst, helping whisk it out of the body. You're in Good Company For centuries, people in nearly every part of the world have worked with chakras. Shamans, spiritualists, and sages from indigenous cultures in India, Russia, Africa, Peru, and Mexico have used the chakras for healing divination and to help awaken kundalini, or the rising of life energy from a low chakra to a high one. Skeptics have scoffed at the thought of "invisible energy bodies," but researchers are becoming more and more interested. For example, Valerie V. Hunt, PhD, a professor of kinesiology at University of California, Los Angeles, has conducted studies validating the possible existence of the chakras and the auric field. What was once the realm of mystics has now piqued the interest of scientists worldwide. For example, Kirlian photography is a special medium that is actually able to photograph the auric field. In the 1930s, Russian scientist Semyon Kirlian and his wife, Valentina, invented a new photographic process that involves directing a high-frequency electrical field at an object. The object's pattern of luminescencethe auric fieldcan then be captured on film. Contemporary practitioners are using Kirlian photography to show how the aura responds to different emotional and mental states, and even to diagnose illness and other problems. Medical science is now using a heat aura, as well as other imaging processes, to show the different aspects of the body's electromagnetics. Meridians: Channels of Energy, Rivers of Light If someone handed you a pair of special eyeglasses that allowed you to see through your skin and beyond your physical self, the first thing you would notice would be rivers of light flowing up and down inside your body. These rivers are called meridians. Meridians are energetic channels that distribute a vital material called qi throughout your body. (Qi is pronounced, and sometimes spelled, chi.) Another term for qi is "life energy." Qi is the energy that, when flowing correctly through the meridians, creates health and wellness. What Is Acupuncture? Acupuncture involves the use of needles to remove energy blockages. By inserting needles into specific points along the meridians, an acupuncturist is able to open up the energy so that it can flow freely, restoring you to health and happiness. Acupuncture is only one of the many meridian-based therapies that have been used around the world for thousands of years to create health and balance. What Is Qi and Why Is It Important to Me?
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Qi is life energy. Free-flowing qi is a prerequisite for life; without it, you would die. When your qi is blocked or stuck somewhere in a meridian, you experience illness or life problems. If it is flowing as it should, on the other hand, you will have a healthier body, emotional balance, a clear mind, and will be inspired to make good choices. What Types of Energy Healers Work with My Qi? There are many types of meridian-based therapies. Many meridian professionals practice under the umbrella of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) because most meridian-based treatments originate in China. The most well-known meridian practice is acupuncture, which involves the use of needles to stimulate the meridians so stuck qi can move freely, restoring balance and health. All meridian therapies balance energy so you can heal and live a healthy life. Where Are My Meridians and What Do They Do? You have twelve main meridians in your body. Like a river on a map, each runs a specific course, distributing qi throughout the body. Your Liver Meridian, for instance, actually travels through both legs, across your chest, and up into your face. As does a river, it intersects with or is within "shouting distance" of a few other meridians. In this way, all the meridians keep each other informed about what's happening inside your body and what conditions outside your body are affecting you. These twelve main meridians are organ based; that is, they're named after the important organs in your body. They also convey information about each organs needs throughout your system. Each organ system governs specific health concerns, but together the twelve main meridians and many secondary meridians work holistically, providing a full view of your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Who Found the Meridians? Step back in time to 2700 BC in China, and you'll discover the first people who uncovered the body's meridians. They didn't have microscopes or X-rays, so they harnessed the power of their intuition to create a system of energy healing now referred to as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). By working with the meridians, these first TCM practitioners diagnosed disease and created effective solutions. In fact, the system worked and continues to work so well that in most of the world, Eastern medicine is considered "traditional" medicine, not the "alternative" system we consider it to be in the West. Since its beginnings, the original system has been updated and amended, spreading first throughout Asia and finally making its way to the Western world. What Does Science Say? We couldn't really "prove" that the meridians existedexcept through the effectiveness of the treatments until a number of avant-garde scientists recently started digging into the matter. We now have thermal or heat-sensitive images that show the meridians existence. Two researchers, in fact, tracked the meridians with radioactive tracers, actually showing the causeways of these rivers of light! The Five-Phase Theory Meridian-based therapies work with the five-phase theory, a holistic concept that describes our holistic and energetic nature. Its major ideas are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Elements: There are five elements that comprise reality. Yin-yang: Everything is made of polar opposites, describable as male and female. Disease: There are internal and external sources of disease. Cycles: All of life is cyclical, such as the seasons or the flow of qi in the body. Meridians: Qi flows through our meridians and determines our health.
Auric Fields: The Self Around the Self
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A field is technically a force that exerts an influence at every point. You might picture it as a great wave of energy that can move through space in many (or sometimes all) directions simultaneously. Most of the time, a field eventually "runs out of speed" and dissipates. Some fields, however, are like Supermanthey can't be contained, even by walls. Because of this, a field from a star millions of light-years away canand doestravel all the way to our planet. The far reach of a field is the reason that someone in Dubuque, Iowa, can send loving thoughts to a sick person in Mumbai, India, and effect a positive change. It's also the reason that energy healing is so interesting for exploring the nature of fields for diagnosing problems, and healing them. Healing through the Fields Did you know that healing almost always involves your energy fields? An entire "field" of healing has emerged around the energy fields. In it, practitioners work on what they call the auric field, biofield, bioenergetic field, subtle field, or biomagnetic field, to create health. Our body's fields are the reason that: You can sense how a loved one is feeling, even miles away You can send healing that actually makes a difference, even miles away Your prayer or intention can travel at the speed of light Just touching someone with good intention changes his or her body for the better These things are possible because the energy fields around your body are able to send and receive energy; in fact, they can actually overlap with another's energy field, even if you're in America and your loved one is in China! Have You Seen a Field Lately? It used to be that only mystics were able to perceive auras. Today, we have technology such as Kirlian photography, aura imaging, and gas-discharge visualization that can reveal the fields around all living things. And guess what? The newer technology reveals a huge difference in the field before and after energyhealing treatments. That means that your fieldthe "you outside of you"is involved in helping you heal and create your best possible life. What Do Fields Do? Fields surround every living beingand all parts within us, too. They have several basic functions: Protection: to keep bad energy out Filtering: to let good energy in Communicating: to carry subtle messages into the world so we can get what we want How Are Fields Made? The fields we best understand are generated by electricity. Electricity creates magnetism, which emanates in every direction at once. How Many Fields Are There? Every cell and organ produces fields, as does the entirety of your body. In fact, the earth itself radiates fields, as do the planets in the sky. If that weren't enough to keep track of, we humans have created brand new fields by putting up power lines, using cell phones, and turning on our televisions and other household appliances. Because most fields are invisible, except when scientifically measured, we often don't picture the world as a great big web of fields. But it is. How Can Fields Help in Healing?
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Studies show that your body's energy fields are involved in all healing efforts, accepting healing energy and releasing negative energy. There are other fields, however, that are vital to our well-being and that support health and happiness. A few of them include: Fields from the sky that keep our atmosphere steady Magnetic fields from the sun that regulate the body's rhythms Fields from the earth that support our own magnetic fields Fields generated by moving water and other natural forces that support our own fields Fields in devices such as the X-ray machine and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that help spot physical problems Sound and light fields that do everything from stimulating our DNA to preventing depression, stress, and insomnia Fields That Can Harm Many researchers believe that we are poisoning ourselves with energy fields that aren't good for us by: Living in certain geographic areas that aren't healthy for us. One researcher, Dr. Hans Nieper, showed that 92 percent of his patients with cancer had been exposed to negative "geopathic" energies. Geopathic stress refers to the harmful effects of natural and artificial fields and of radiation from physical and subtle fields. Putting up power lines, which may negatively affect how our bodies use calcium, potentially increasing our chances of leukemia. Allowing cell-phone signals to penetrate our heads, which many believe is a cancer risk. Overusing household appliances, as the power they draw into our homes can cause disturbances in our fields, even when the appliances are turned off. (If plugged in, they're still drawing forth 70 percent of their full-use power.) By assessing the colors, shape, intensity, and area of a person's various fields, an energy healer can often figure out which diseases might correspond with that person and perform energy healing to bring the body into balance to prevent those diseases.
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TEACHING: A Guided Tour of Your Energy System, by Anodea Judith The chakra system is a map for the journey through life. In the following guided exercise, energy healer and bestselling author Anodea Judith helps you make initial contact with your chakras to explore the wisdom they contain. You will gain a sense of the characteristics of each chakra, and how to work with their energies to transform your physical health and psychological and emotional wellness, and promote spiritual evolution. To navigate this territory, says Anodea Judith, is to take an exciting journey of awakeningin body, mind, and spirit. The Seven Wonders of the Soul There are many challenges on this journey. Try something new and you might feel butterflies in your stomach. Try to speak up and you might get a lump in your throat. Fall in love and you might feel your heart leap with joy and fear. These are all common activities that happen through your chakras. They occur for most people quite by accident. Sometimes the experiences are better than others. Learning about the chakras gives you access to your programmed responses so you can minimize their negative effects and maximize their positive ones. But first you need to understand just what the chakras are and how they work in your energy body. A chakra is a spinning vortex of activity created by the presence of consciousness within the physical body. These vortices exist within what is called the subtle bodya hidden field of energy that carries your urges, emotions, and habits, as well as the imprints of all that has happened to you. As vital portals between mind and body, the chakras can be thought of as
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chambers in the temple of the body that organize various elements of your life force as it travels through you. Like the rooms in your home, chakras are the areas in the body that take in energy from outside, process that energy internally, and express it back out again. In this way, chakras are the centers of organization for the reception, assimilation, and expression of life-force energy. Classically, there are seven major chakras whose locations correspond to seven central nerve ganglia branching out from the spinal column. Each of these nerve bundles influences the subtle or energy body as well as the physical body. Some interpretations of the chakra system postulate more or fewer chakras, but for our work together here we'll stick with the elegance of the seven major chakras that match the structure of the nervous system. Just as the electricity running through your computer allows your software and your hardware to work together effectively, the mind (software) and the body (hardware) are brought together by the life force running through you. Some call this energy prana, chi, charge, or subtle energy, but these are all words for the same basic life force. It is this vital energy that the chakras organize. The seven chakras, along with the many highways and back roads that connect them, comprise the energy bodythat mysterious essence that makes you uniquely alive. The word chakra comes from the ancient Sanskrit language and means "wheel" or "disk," as the chakras are commonly experienced as spinning wheels of energy. In the computer analogy, the chakras can be thought of as programs on a CD, installed into our hardware, which influence the flow of the life force. We each have several programs installed: a survival program that tells us when to eat or rest; a sexual program, with our morals and preferences; a relationship program that tells us how to relate to others; a language program; as well as an immense body of data that we have acquired over the years. Unfortunately, we all have bugs in our programs. Some of us lack imagination; others have trouble concentrating or struggles with finances. Perhaps our relationships fail or we have health problems or emotional turmoil. In working through the chakra system, the "user" (consciousness itself) creates new and better programs, making changes in the software and even the hardware as needed. We can make changes in our thinking by examining our programming, and we can make these changes in our bodies through yoga, exercise, diet, and healing our illnesses. When we work mind and body together, the basic tasks of life flow more smoothly and enjoyably. Information on the chakra system far predates our technological history. Its ancient roots originated in India and traveled to the West through the philosophies of yoga. Yoga is a word that literally means yoke or union and describes a system of practices and philosophies designed to yoke the individual with the divine. In many ways, the chakra system is the structural aspect of that yoke, as the chakras are stepping stones along the central channel that connects heaven and Earth, mind and body, spirit and matter. This yoke runs through the core of each of us and links our mortal selves to the divine energy of consciousness. You can think of it as your personal Rainbow Bridge.
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Currents of Energy In understanding the centers on the map that we call the chakra system, it is essential to learn about the highways that connect them. In addition to thousands of nadis, or inner pathways of energy, there are four major highways, which I call the currents of liberation, manifestation, reception, and expression. As an upright creature standing on your hind legs, you walk through life moving forward with your feet on the ground and your head in the air. Thus the main currents of energy within the body flow upward and downward. As we exchange energy with the world outside the body, we engage in horizontal currents of expression and reception. The upward current, which is most commonly associated with chakra theory, is called the current of liberation. It begins at the earth and rises through the body, step by step, toward ever-greater awareness, gaining increasing freedom from the limitations of the physical world with each step. The
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journey to consciousness allows us to wake up to new possibilities and liberate ourselves from constricting or compulsive behaviors. In the ancient texts, this current is called mukti, or freedom. The downward current, which begins in consciousness and descends toward the earth, is the current of manifestation. Beginning at the crown of the head, thought-forms arise and become denser and more specific with each step downward, until they manifest on the physical plane. You might have an idea, then form your idea into images, talk about it to your friends, and give it your energy until you manifest a finished product. The ancients called this downward current bukti, or enjoyment. I believe it is essential to have both currents flowing freely to be a balanced individual. You need to be able to liberate yourself from fixed or limiting forms in order to experience the true nature of expanded consciousness. And you need to be able to manifest your dreams and visions, bringing them into reality in order to influence the world around you. If the upward current is blocked, you may be unable to liberate, meaning that you are limited by constricting or destructive patterns such as health problems, addictions, or compulsive activities. If the downward current is blocked, you may have lots of ideas and talk about them to all your friends, but somehow they never come to completion. As these two currents pass each other, they combine and create the vortices known as the chakras. In the higher chakras, we have a great deal of freedom, but little substance. For example, the mind can imagine things that do not exist in the manifested planes. In the lower chakra levels, we have less freedom, but a more solid manifestation. We have structures and forms, things we can touch and see, but they do not have the flexibility of the imagination. If all the chakras are open, these currents can complete their journey and you can experience the full spectrum of your potential. In addition to the vertical currents, there are two horizontal ones: the currents of reception and expression. You receive energy from those around you in the form of information, emotions, love, or touch. You express what's inside of you, such as your thoughts, creativity, or your love. If either of these currents are blocked you may be compromised in your social interactions, having difficulty receiving or expressing one or more of the chakra-related aspects. Excess and Deficiency in the Chakras While the journey through the chakras may be challenging at times, it's not as hard as the journey through life itself. And this journey occurs at all chakra levels. When life hands out its troubles, as it does for all of us, we find ways to cope with them. In terms of energy dynamics, there are two main ways of coping with such difficulties. You can increase your energy in order to deal with the problem, or decrease your energy in order to get away from the problem. This is an adaptation of the basic fight-or-flight response, programmed into our survival instincts. Examples of increasing your energy would include creating a fever to combat bacteria, gathering your buddies to help fight a bully, or staying up all night studying for a test. Decreasing your energy is a way of trying to get away from a threatdissociating to minimize pain, running or hiding from the bully, or simply deciding not to care what happens on the test, perhaps by not showing up at all. As you engage in these defenses, over time they become "hardwired" into your chakra system, meaning they exhibit their patterns unconsciously, whether or not these patterns really work for you. When used repeatedly over time, these coping strategies create either excessive or deficient chakra imbalances. If you habitually increase your energy, you may find yourself overcompensating for some injury, fixating on something so that it becomes too important, or creating an excessive behavior in a particular chakra. Deficient chakras are created by habitual patterns of avoidance. Typically, some of your chakras take the lead and become excessive, while other chakras retreat and become deficient. It is also possible to create both excessive and deficient characteristics within a single chakra. For example, if you didn't receive enough love or attention growing up, you might have adapted by creating behaviors to bring yourself into the center of attention, such as surrounding yourself with friends all the time. This would be an excessive response to a wound in the heart chakra. Yet another person with the same wound might become a loner and avoid social interactions as much as possible, thereby becoming deficient in the heart chakra. Others might surround themselves with people yet feel very alone, exhibiting characteristics of both excess and deficiency.
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In the guided practice session to follow, we'll take a journey through the general territory of the chakras. Through this meditation, you will make initial contact with your own energy centers and explore their contents. You will start to sense the characteristics of each of the chakras and prepare yourself for more-advanced chakra work should you choose to do so.
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GUIDED EXERCISE: Chakra-Balancing Meditation Please listen to the following guided chakra-balancing meditation, and then respond to the questions for reflection that follow. Please also note your homework for the upcoming week. The meditation in written form is included at the end of this session, along with a few general questions and answers within the larger field of energy healing. Please refer to the written form of the meditation for color images of each chakra, which may help you during this exercise. This meditation is taken from Anodea Judith's multimedia learning series entitled Chakra Balancing. Chakra Balancing Meditation by Anodea Judith
Questions for Reflection What was your experience during the chakra meditation? Were you able to make a connection with your own inner energy system? What was this like for you? Try the chakra meditation a couple of times a week over the next few weeks and write about your discoveries. How does the practice change over time for you? What is your experience of your own chakras?
Your Homework for the Week We recommend that you set aside twenty minutes each morning and also each evening to experiment with the chakra meditation from this session. It can take some real practice to make a personal connection with your inner energy system, as most of us were simply not trained to be sensitive in this way. Please be patient with yourself! It will get easier over time and more natural the more you are able to practice. Just stick with it, and don't be too hard on yourself if you find it challenging in the beginning. If you find it useful, please write about your experiences in a meditation journal. You may find it interesting to note your progress over time.
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Chakra-Balancing MeditationWritten Version So for now, turn off the phone, and perhaps turn off the lights. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. And allow yourself to go on this wondrous journey. Take a deep breath in, and let it out. And pull your attention away from the outer world. And begin to focus on the inner world. The world of the energy body. The place where spirit and matter, mind and body, and heaven and Earth come together within you. And know that this core within you is unique to you. You are the only one on the planet who has exactly your configuration, exactly your patterns. You are unique and you are awake. And you have an awareness that is capable of exploring your own workings. So we begin this journey, like any journey, by getting into a vehicle. That vehicle is your body. It's
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equipped with everything you might need. It has storage, it has steering, it has ways to see, ways to express itself, ways to remember. Everything you might need to go on this journey. But you only get one per lifetime. So it's very important to be good to that body. To develop it and make sure it doesn't break down on the journey. In fact, the vehicle is so important that without a body, there's simply a no-body. So to take the journey, we must get down into our body, into our body, into the corethat's where the chakras reside. And we can't do any work on our chakras from outsidewe must get down inside them. So allow yourself to come deep into the cells of your body. Here, you learn how to drive that bodywhere the brakes are, where the gas pedal is, where the steering wheel is. We have to learn these things before we can take the journey. We have to make the vehicle our very own. We have to make sure it's healthy and functioning. And so we get in the vehicle and we know that this vehicle is on the ground. The journey we take begins on the Earth plane, wherever you are, right now. That means the journey includes the mundane aspects of your life, like cooking food and washing dishes and paying bills and going to work. These are things that each of us does every day, and they must be part of the journeynot something separate.
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Meditation on the First Chakra So on the first chakra, we deal with the element earth. We deal with everything that is practical, physical; everything that is involved in maintaining our survival, maintaining support of the body itselfthe vehicle that takes us on the journey. Here we look at roots, for the name of this chakramuladharameans root support. It is the roots that go down into the element earth and the roots that bring us the support, the strength, and the nourishment for our growth. So here at the first chakra is a red lotus, of four petals, within which is a square, within which is a downward-pointing triangle, saying that the divine energy of the body begins in the earth and rises up into consciousness, expanding as it goes. So feel yourself rooting into the earth, allowing your energy to fall down to the base of the spine, down to the legs and the feet. Down to the earth below you. Here at the root chakra is where you find your physical identity. That's the part of you that can identify with your physical body, that identifies when you're tired or hungry or need exercise or need to be touched. And by identifying with your physical body and its needs, you're better equipped to keep yourself alive. So the orientation of that physical identity is self-preservation. We must meet that requirement in order to go on the journey. So take a moment to affirm that physical identity as the ground of your being. Allowing it to descend into the roots and anchor you, giving you a firm foundation for the journey. And once we are in our vehicle, with a firm foundation, the next step on the journey is to get the vehicle moving. This takes us into the realm of chakra twoswadisthanawhose name means "one's own place." To get things moving we must stir up the forces within the energy body. And what stirs up the forces are the emotions, the feelings of desire that make us want something; we literally get up off our butts, the first chakra, and move through life. Pleasure invites us to move and to expand, and to open to the sensations, which are gateways between the outer and the inner worlds.
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As these gateways open, information comes into the inner world through the senses and stimulates consciousness. When consciousness is stimulated, it expands, which means it moves. And so from the contracted, earth-bound place of the first chakra, we start to yield and flow with the element of water in the second chakra.
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Meditation on the Second Chakra So here we come into the sacral area of the body. We find a lotus of six petals, a warm, glowing orange. In the center of the lotus is a crescent moon, the smile of the second chakra, the smile of the energy body, which occurs when there's pleasure, when you feel good, when your emotions are positive. Dropping down into the second chakra, we come into contact with our emotional identity. That means you can identify when you're angry or scared or excited or happy. It's important to be able to identify those emotions so we know what we feel, because this is the first level of information coming into the body that tells us which way to move. If something feels good, we tend to move toward it; if something feels bad, we tend to move away. So the emotional identity is oriented toward self-gratification. It's oriented toward making us feel good, which is a way of keeping us in contact with the inner world. Because when there's pain, that's when we tend to distance from ourselves; and when there's pleasure, that's when we tend to come down inside the body. So in the second chakra, we open to the flow of feeling, the waters of emotion, the gateway of the senses. And in our final moments, all these fall into the realm of sexuality, where we take these qualities and use them to connect with another person. In this chakra, we balance the polarities of the self: left and right, up and down, inner and outer. By balancing these polarities, we come into a unity within the core.
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Meditation on the Third Chakra With our vehicle grounded and then moving, the next job is to steer that vehicle. That's the job of the will, which brings us to the third chakra. The third chakra is related to the element of fire. It's our vitality, our get up and go. You might even think of it as the engine of the vehicle as well as the steering wheel. It takes will to get through the parts that don't flow so easilythe parts that are challenging, the parts that take work and effort. This is the job of the third chakrathe manipurathe center of personal power. Personal power comes from the deep interior of the body, where consciousness descends from the top and meets the energy flowing up from the bottomliterally the fuel that is made by matter and movement. And consciousness directs that energy into some kind of activity. So here you imagine a lotus of ten petals, just like you have ten fingers, of golden yellow like fire or the light of the sun. Inside is a downward-pointing triangle, a triangle of fire rooting itself down into the earth
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and expanding up into spirit.
The goal of this chakra is to create mastery, so that through practice, through attention, through focus, and through intention in forming your activity, you gradually develop mastery of your energy body in order to achieve your purpose or goals. This is not a matter of control as much as it is of directing, that you embrace the energy body within you and learn to subtly direct it into the places you want it to go. That might mean directing your body in different yoga poses or practicing the piano or running or dancing or whatever form you practice. It might mean directing your energy body to create projects, to finish your tasks. It is the consciousness within that directs this energy coming up from the bottom. And this is a very tricky chakra. As fire transforms matter to heat and light, this chakra is a chakra of transformation, transforming the world around us. It is oriented to the ego identity, our concept of self. The ego identity is the executive identity that decides what to dowho to hire, who to fire, what the game plan is. And its orientation is to self-definition. This creates a coherent unity in the self. One that is important at the third-chakra level, and yet we don't want to be bound by our self-definition. If we are, then we're extremely limited and we don't go any farther on the journey.
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Meditation on the Fourth Chakra So now we come to the midpoint of our journeythe fourth chakrathe chakra of the heart. And if we imagine taking our vehicle and getting it rolling and steering it, you have to have some space to be able to move into. So the fourth chakra opens to the element air, the spaciousness that really allows you to expand. The name of this chakra is anahata, which means "sound that is made without any two things striking," meaning unstruck, unhurt. We enter this chakra when we are no longer hurting ourselves or anyone else, and are instead open to that divine realm of love, of relationship, of connection, of understanding of both self and other at the same time. This chakra is over the heart area, and as the element of air relates to breath, it also includes the lungs and the chest and the insides of the arms and the hands where we reach out to touch another person. We work on this chakra largely through the breath, through expanding the chest, and through transcending the ego of the third chakra, in order to get beyond ourselves enough to really embrace another. The fourth chakra is a green lotus of twelve petals, within which are two intersecting triangles: the downward-pointing chakra that we had in the third chakra, which is spirit coming down, rooted into matter; and the upward-pointing triangle, which is matter expanding up into spirit, piercing the chakras as it goes. And this six-pointed star says that spirit and matter are perfectly in balance at this center point of the chakra system. So take a breath in and feel the balance within you. Inhaling and exhaling in balance. The inner world and the outer world connected and balanced. Masculine and feminine, light and shadow, mind and bodyall coming into balance within you, which ultimately brings a deep sense of peace.
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The identity of this chakra is our social identity. This is where we relate to other people. And in many senses this is the persona that we put on in order to interact socially in the outer world. But underneath that persona is what we call the authentic self. To open the heart chakra is to come into self-acceptance, of our authentic self. And to open the heart chakra is to be able to bring that acceptance into relating to others in the outside world in a way that is full of compassion and understanding and joy.
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Meditation on the Fifth Chakra This brings us to the fifth chakra, whose element is soundthe realm of vibration, communication, and creativity. Its name, vishuddha, means purification. For it is here that we purify the energy body for the states of higher consciousness in the upper chakras. It is here that we filter the many, many thoughts that go on in our minds and distill them down to the ones that we actually utter or act upon. In the body, it relates to the throat and the neck and the shoulders and the back of the arms. And the neck is literally the bottleneck of the whole system; it is the narrowest place in the chakra system. And so it's the great distiller, the great translator between mind and body. It is a lotus of sixteen petals, and each of these petals is one of the vowel sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet. The consonants surround the petals of all the lower chakras. In the Hindu tradition, the vowels are the energy of spirit. So here's where we start to transcend the physical world and enter the symbolic world of communication, as a link between the mundane world and the archetypal world of spirit. In this chakra, you relate to your creative identity. And that identity is oriented toward self-expression. Whether you create via painting or in how you set the table or in how you dress or whether you write or sing or dance, each of these is a self-expression that is an act of communication from the inner world to the outer.
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Meditation on the Sixth Chakra In order to really travel into the complexities of our journey, we need to be able to see where we're going. How else can we match the map to the territory? The role of vision is what helps us navigate on our journey; it helps tell us where we're going. We pick some place we want to go and we look at the map, and it shows us how to get there. So this chakra has a certain future orientation. We pick our goals and our visions here. The element of this chakra is light. Light is what enables us to see, whether it is the inner light that occurs within the psyche, within the dreamworld, within our visualizations or the light that enables us simply to see where we're going in the outer world. The name of this chakra is ajna, which means both to perceive and to command. For it is here where we perceive or see where we are going, where we see the patterns, and where we say, "Ah, I see."
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In the body, it's often called the third eye: that psychic place between our two physical eyes deep in the center of the head, where we dream, where we see visualizations when we close our eyes and have imaginings, where we have insight and intuition. Here we come to a lotus of only two petals. Again, we have the downward-pointing triangle, pointing down into the manifested world, within which is the seed sound of the primordial OM, the sound of all creation. I think of the two petals as the two physical eyes. And the third eye as the center, which perceives through these eyes and makes meaning out of what is being seen. Here we have our archetypal identity, which is oriented toward self-reflection. It shows us the bigger picture of where we're going and the mythic meaning of our journey.
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Meditation on the Seventh Chakra And then at last we come to the crowning glory of the whole chakra system, the crown chakra at the top of the head, the thousand-petaled lotus, which is what its namesahasrarameans. This is related to the element thought, or really, consciousness itself. Here we find that consciousness is the awareness that truly operates all the chakras. But in the seventh chakra, we encounter that consciousness in its purest form, removed from the mundane aspects of existence; removed from the emotions and what we're doing and relating to and creating, and opening to the divine realm of consciousness itself, to the divine, expansive, limitless realm of the heavens. In the body, it relates to the top of the head, the cerebral cortex, the mind, the intelligence, and the inner witness that is behind everything we say or do or see or feel. Here we discover our universal identity, which is the true meaning of self-knowledge: that we know we exist as a spark in the mind of God or Goddess, however you perceive the divine to be; a universal awakening that is the mystic knowledge of who we really are.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing
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Cyndi Dale, renowned energy healer and bestselling author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy, has answered the following frequently asked questions. Q: I don't understand what you mean by "energy healing." Can you please explain? A: Energy healers understand that physical reality, including the body, is built on subtle energies. An energetic practitioner can peer through the physical energy of body tissue and see the world beneath the swirling layers of subtle energiesoften called qi or life energywhich form our life force and subtleenergetic anatomy. Energy healing involves uncovering, manipulating, and releasing the energy behind sickness or disease. It also involves inviting energy that promotes wellness. There are two types of energy: physical and subtle. Either type can cause, or heal, disease or other problems. Physical or sensory energy is measurable. Physicians and "allopathic" (Western-trained) health-care providers specialize in physical energy. Harmful physical energies include germs, chemical toxins, energetic fields (such as X-rays), and forces from traumatic events such as car accidents. Typical physical treatments include prescription medication, surgery, mechanical diagnostic equipment (such as MRIs and EKGs), and physical therapy. Subtle or invisible energy is less measurable than physical energy. This subtle energy is the specialty of the energy healer. Disease-provoking subtle energies include troublesome emotions, negative attitudes, and alterations in the various invisible fields that lie inside and outside of our physical body. Subtle healing often includes the manipulation of the subtle energies, but it may also include organic and natural remedies and behavioral changes. This energetic anatomy is composed of three basic types of energetic structures that operate much like our physical systems. There are energetic centers, such as the chakras; energetic channels, including the meridians; and energy fields, including the auric field. Most energy specialists tap into at least one of these subtle structures to see what's really going on and alter a problem at its source. As stated, energy healers also work with physical energies as well, usually recommending natural solutions to support the body in regaining health. These might include diet changes; exercise; natural supplements and medicines; and treatments such as acupuncture, spinal manipulation, hands-on healing, and bodywork. Q: Should I see an energy healer instead of a medical doctor? A: Energy healing is not a replacement for Western medicine; rather, the two traditions complement one another. Western medicine is well-equipped for diagnosing and treating many diseases and health conditions. That said, many conditions are caused by problems that can't easily be identified or treated by allopathic means alone. For example, most doctors don't search for the negative thoughts, emotions, or "stuck energies" underlying a disease, and few prescribe natural treatments to support our body's normal healing processes. How many Western doctors have suggested yoga or qigong to restore your energy flow, or asked you about events in your past that might be creating today's dissatisfactions? We turn to energy specialists for this level of treatment, to get "under our skin" so we can alter the subtle energies that underlie physical reality. These healers can help you change the energy creating a physical problem, thereby changing your reality. Q: Is prayer a form of energy healing? Is there any evidence of its effectiveness as a healing modality? A: Yes, prayer is a form of spiritual healing, which is one of the categories of energy healing. Frankly speaking, the studies are mixed on the healing effects of prayer by itself. There is quite a bit of research (see, for instance, the work of Dr. Larry Dossey) showing that prayer has effected change in people, animals, and even plants. Many of the studies have also noted that people who pray are more likely to be part of a spiritual community. Those in spiritual communities have been shown to live longer and have healthier lives than people who aren't. So prayer itself may be part of the healing or the curative, but we have to also look at the type of person who prays. People who pray tend to be in a position of being less lonely, which does have beneficial medical consequences. They tend to be more connected with others and therefore more apt to have
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healthier behaviors than people who aren't in those kinds of communities. So, yes, prayer does function as a form of energy healing, and many studies have demonstrated its positive effects in the lives of those who pray.
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Session Two: Energy Medicine for Self-Healing

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Introduction to Session Two In this session, we will explore the various types of energy healing, including mind-body and subtle-body healing methodologies. Throughout our course, we will learn about the twenty most common kinds of energy healing practiced today. In this session, we'll begin with the most common of the mind-body systems. Your instructor for much of the theoretical material in this session is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. This sessions guided exercise, Energy Medicine for Self-Healing, offers an introduction to the field of energy medicine and its proven ability to catalyze healing at all levels of our beingbody, mind, soul, and spirit. After an exploration of the basic principles of energy medicine, you'll learn a simple, yet powerful exercise that you can do each day to generate energy, well-being, and healing. Your instructor for this exercise is integrative and energy-healing physician Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson. Dr. Chiasson has spent a number of years exploring and practicing energy medicine, which is the ancient art of working with the subtle or energy body to improve health and vitality. She has a private integrative practice in Tucson, Arizona, where she offers consultations, treatments, seminars, and retreats. She teaches at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and has co-facilitated spirituality and healing conferences. This sessions exercise is adapted from the multimedia home-study course Energy Healing: The Essentials of Self-Care, by Ann Marie Chiasson, MD.
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Types of Energy Healing Hundreds of therapeutic practices make up the field of energy healing, including both mind-body and subtle-body approaches. While there are differences in the theoretical foundation and application of these varied methods, they share the goal of effecting a shift from imbalance to harmony. Whether focusing upon the mind, the physical body, or the energetic systems of the chakras, meridians, or fields, the purpose of each practice is to establish balance and wholeness within the organism. In this section, we will look at many of the commonly practiced forms of energy healing. Each in its own way acts upon the mind, body, or energetic anatomy to restore balance and harmony. You can practice some, such as guided imagery or qigong, on your own as a form of self-healing. For others, such as acupuncture or craniosacral therapy, youll require the services of a qualified practitioner. Mind-Body Methodologies A number of methodologies utilize the interconnectivity of the mind and body to bring about transformation in the organism. From prayer and meditation to visualization and working with the energy of the breath, these timeless techniques can be learned by anyone wishing to catalyze the healing process. Guided Imagery and Visualization A mental image can be defined as a thought with sensory qualities. It is something we mentally see, hear, taste, smell, touch, or feel. The term "guided imagery" refers to a wide variety of techniques, including simple visualization and direct suggestion using imagery, metaphor, and storytelling, fantasy exploration and game playing, dream interpretation, drawing, and active imagination where elements of the unconscious are invited to appear as images that can communicate with the conscious mind. Once considered an "alternative" or complementary" approach, guided imagery is now finding widespread scientific and public acceptance. It's used to teach psychophysiological relaxation, alleviate anxiety and depression, relieve physical and
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psychological symptoms, overcome health-endangering habits, resolve conflicts, and help patients to prepare for surgery and to tolerate procedures more comfortably. Mental images, formed long before we learn to understand and use words, lie at the core of who we think we are, what we believe the world is like, what we feel we deserve, what we think will happen to us, and how motivated we are to take care of ourselves. These images strongly influence our beliefs and attitudes about how we will fall ill and what will help us get better. All healing rituals either overtly or covertly manipulate mental images, and thus guided imagery can be considered one of the oldest, most ubiquitous forms of medicine. All healing rituals of various cultures that have persisted over time have a certain level of clinical efficacy. Though we may attribute these therapeutic benefits to the placebo effect, they have real and measurable results, with important implications for our understanding of the healing process. In the early 1970s, David E. Bresler, PhD, LAc, and Martin L. Rossman, MD, began to develop and research contemporary imagery approaches for patients coping with chronic pain, immune dysfunction, cancer, heart disease, and other catastrophic and life-threatening illnesses. By integrating techniques originating from Jungian psychology, Gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, object relations theory, humanistic psychology, and advanced communications theory, these approaches were constantly redefined, expanded, tested, and codified, giving birth to Interactive Guided Imagerysm, a powerful yet remarkably safe and rapid therapeutic approach for mobilizing the untapped healing resources of the mind. (Definition provided by the Academy for Guided Imagery)
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Meditation Meditation is a mind-body practice demonstrated to stimulate a healing response in those practicing its methods. There are many types of meditation, most of which originated in ancient religious and spiritual traditions. Generally, a person who is meditating uses certain techniques, including a specific posture, focused attention, and an open attitude toward distractions. Meditation may be practiced to increase calmness and physical relaxation, to improve psychological balance, to cope with illness, and to enhance overall wellness. The term meditation refers to a group of techniques, such as mantra meditation, relaxation response, mindfulness meditation, and Zen Buddhist meditation. Most meditative techniques started in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions. These techniques have been used by many different cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. Today, many people use meditation outside of its traditional religious or cultural settings for health and wellness purposes. In meditation, a person learns to focus attention. Some forms of meditation instruct the practitioner to become mindful of thoughts, feelings, and sensations and to observe them in a nonjudgmental way. This practice is believed to result in a state of greater calmness, physical relaxation, and psychological balance. Practicing meditation can change how a person relates to the flow of emotions and thoughts in the mind. Most types of meditation share four common elements: A quiet location. Meditation is usually practiced in a quiet place with as few distractions as possible. This can be particularly helpful for beginners. A specific, comfortable posture. Depending on the type being practiced, meditation can be done while sitting, lying down, standing, walking, or in other positions. A focus of attention. The meditator may focus on a mantra (a specially chosen word or set of words), an object, or the sensations of the breath. Some forms of meditation involve paying attention to whatever is the dominant content of consciousness. An open attitude. Staying open during meditation means letting distractions come and go naturally without judging them. When the attention goes to distracting or wandering thoughts, they are not suppressed; instead, the meditator gently brings attention back to the focus. In some types of meditation, the meditator learns to "observe" thoughts and emotions while meditating. In addition to using meditation for overall wellness, people also use it for various health problems, including: Anxiety Pain Depression Stress Insomnia Physical or emotional symptoms that may be associated with chronic illnesses (such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer) and their treatment
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Examples of Meditation Practices
Mindfulness meditation and Transcendental Meditation (also known as TM) are two common forms of meditation. National Institutes of Health-sponsored research projects are studying both of these types of meditation. Mindfulness meditation is an essential component of Buddhism. In one common form of mindfulness meditation, the meditator learns to bring attention to the sensation of the flow of the breath in and out of the body. The meditator focuses attention on what is being experienced, without reacting to or judging that experience. This helps the meditator experience thoughts and emotions in daily life with greater balance and acceptance. The TM technique is derived from Hindu traditions. It uses a mantra (a word, sound, or phrase repeated silently) to prevent distracting thoughts from entering the mind. The goal of TM is to achieve a state of relaxed awareness. How Meditation Might Work Practicing meditation can induce some changes in the body. By learning more about what happens in the body during meditation, researchers hope to identify diseases or conditions for which meditation might be useful. Some types of meditation might work by affecting the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system. This system regulates many organs and muscles, controlling functions such as the heartbeat, sweating, breathing, and digestion. It has two major parts: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the body for action. When a person is under stress, it produces the "fight-or-flight response" in which heart and breathing rates accelerate and blood vessels narrow, thus restricting blood flow. The parasympathetic nervous system causes the heart and breathing rates to slow, blood vessels to dilate (improving blood flow), and digestive juices to increase. Some types of meditation might work by reducing activity in the sympathetic nervous system and increasing activity in the parasympathetic nervous system. In one area of research, scientists are using sophisticated tools to determine whether meditation is associated with significant changes in brain function. A number of researchers believe these changes account for many of meditation's effects. It's also possible that practicing meditation may work by improving the mind's ability to pay attention. Since attention is involved in performing everyday tasks and regulating mood, meditation might lead to other benefits. Some recent studies supported by the National Institutes of Health have investigated meditation for: Relieving stress in caregivers for elderly patients with dementia Reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes in menopausal women Relieving symptoms of chronic back pain Improving attention-related abilities (alerting, focusing, prioritizing) Relieving asthma symptoms
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Breathwork Breathwork refers to ways of consciously working with the breath to catalyze healing and transformation at the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Breathwork practices form the foundation of many of the world's wisdom traditions and are a gateway to accessing deeper states of consciousness. Learning to breathe properly and consciously benefits us at many levels, and is taught in India's pranayama yogic traditions, qigong Taoist breathing exercises, Buddhist-derived mindfulness exercises, and modern non-religious breath-oriented practices. Conscious breathing is the single most important practice we can do to improve our health, regardless of exercise and diet, states Andrew Weil, MD, pioneer in the field of integrative medicine and bestselling author of many mind-body books. In fact, Dr. Weil reports that breathing exercises get more favorable responses from patients than anything else he teaches. To learn the art of healthy breathing, Dr. Weil turned to Eastern traditions, including yoga, which view the breath as a vital link to the prana, or energy of the universe. In his practice and research, Dr. Weil discovered the secret of breathwork's power over our health and its remarkable ability to influenceand even reprogramthe nervous system. Breathwork offers tremendous benefits to our health and well-being, from increasing energy, to lowering blood pressure, to improving circulation, to beating anxiety disorders without drugs.
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Prayer and Distant Healing Throughout time, people have used non-physical methods to effect a healing response in another person, even someone far away. Many energy-healing methodologies can be applied without the need to be in the physical presence of the recipient. These include reiki, shamanic healing, external qi healing, chakra and aura healing, and the larger domain of what is known as intercessory prayer. In short, each of these methods uses the power of intention and focus to send healing energies to a living organism (plant, animal, or human), or even to a particular situation (a war zone, the site of a natural disaster). Significant research suggests the ability of prayer and other distant-healing techniques to stimulate a healing or transformative response in the recipient. Much of this research has been conducted by Dr. Larry Dossey, MD, professor and former editor of the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Dr. Dossey has presented his findings to the public in a number of bestselling books, including Prayer Is Good Medicine: How to Reap the Healing Benefits of Prayer; Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine; and Healing Beyond the Body: Medicine and the Infinite Reach of the Mind.
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TEACHING: Energy Medicine for Self-Healing, by Ann Marie Chiasson, MD In this teaching, we will briefly explore the fundamentals of energy medicine. Then I will teach you an exercise that you can do every day to stimulate and circulate powerful healing energy throughout your entire being. Energy medicine or energy healing is based on the concept that in addition to a system of physical and chemical processes, the human being is made up of a complex system of energy." This underlying energy field, also called the subtle body, is housed within the physical body and extends beyond it. I like to use the analogy of a garden, where the health of the soil affects how a plant grows and flowers. If the soil is nutrient depleted, the plant grows poorly. Likewise, if the energy body is not balanced and the energy does not flow or move in its natural state, the physical body is affected and can begin to function improperly. This energy body is described in many healing modalities, although each describes it a bit differently. In this course, I will teach the most commonly used systems of energy anatomy: the chakra system, the dan tiens, the meridian system, the matrix of energy, and the aura.
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The Chakras Mention of the chakra system first appeared in ancient Indian yoga traditions. The chakra anatomy delineates seven wheels, or vortices of energy, which are aligned in the body from the tailbone to the head. The chakras spin in a clockwise direction to move energy through the body. The chakra anatomy is a commonly used system in many energy-healing modalities today. While the seven chakras are the main components for balanced flow, there are also smaller secondary chakras at each major joint in the body. The seven major chakras are illustrated below.
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The Dan Tiens The dan tiens appear in Traditional Chinese Medicine and earlier ancient teachings from China. This system of energy anatomy delineates three primary energy centers, or energy bodies: a lower dan tien, a middle dan tien, and an upper dan tien. Each dan tien affects a different aspect of healththe lower dan tien governs the physical body, the middle dan tien governs the emotional body, and the upper dan tien governs the spiritual and mental body. The dan tiens are illustrated below.
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The Meridian System The meridian system, illustrated below, also originates in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The meridians are small channels of energy that run under the skin, affecting the entire energy body. Acupuncture is one healing modality that works with the meridian system.
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The Matrix of Energy The matrix of energy, picture below, is described in multiple cultures and shamanic traditions. This energy anatomy is based on a three-dimensional grid of energy housed within the body. This grid becomes tangled when there is an energy imbalance or block in the body. Healthy energy flow allows energy movement along all channels of this grid.
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The Aura The energy body extends beyond the physical body and is called the aura (see below). It is also referred to as the electromagnetic field or biofield of the body. Healing work can be directed to the physical body, or to the aura around the body. The aura is also the energy interface between one person and another.
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Our Energy Bodies These energy anatomies are actually different layers of the energy body. Different healers work with different layers of the energy field, depending on their training and abilities. A traditional Chinese medical doctor works with the dan tiens and the meridian system, while a healing-touch practitioner works at the chakra layer. The diagram below puts the different modalities into one model to give you an understanding of how these different layers coexist. As you work with this material, note the way you experience energy in order to discern which model makes the most sense to you.
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How Illness Develops Illness can develop when there is decreased or blocked energy within the body over a period of time. When underlying energy is not flowing properly, cells and organs may begin to function improperly, and illness may occur. Pain is blocked energy, and can occur immediately when there is an injury or trauma. An example of an energy field that is not flowing well is represented below.
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Physical health is best maintained by keeping the energy body clear and balanced, allowing a healthy energy to flow throughout the body. Once illness or disease has developed, it often requires even greater effort in order to remove the energy block and restore healthy flow to both the energy body and the physical body. Energy healing in conjunction with conventional medicine and other healing modalities is helpful once disease is present. An energy blockage does not always occur at the site of the illness; it can be the result of a restriction or blockage at another site. The illness or pain can manifest downstream or farther away from the block due to a buildup of energy that cannot flow through the energy channels. The figure below is an illustration of this principle of energy. Blocked energy in the hip can result in pain in the foot, as is often the case with foot neuropathy.
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Chronic-pain syndromes and fibromyalgia (a condition characterized by long-term pain and tenderness in joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues) require special care, because the energy blocks have often been present for a long time. In these cases, it will take time to restore normal energy flow. If you suffer from chronic pain or a syndrome such as fibromyalgia, be gentle with yourself as you go through the opening exercise and movements that we'll do together later in this lesson. If you stimulate too much energy flow, it can cause a flare-up of your pain because the energy block is still present. Healing usually occurs after you do these and other exercises daily over a period of at least nine months, with a gradual build-up of the duration and intensity of the practices. This will allow the energy body to open slowly. Use a journal to chart your pain and symptoms over nine months or more. You will notice that improvement happens gradually, and will continue to deepen over time. Connecting to a Larger Flow of Energy There is no place in this new kind of physics both for the field and matter, for the field is the only reality. Albert Einstein There are several tenets that are basic to the practice of energy medicine for self-healing. First, we are all born with a yolk sac of energy that we typically use up in the first forty years of life. After forty, feeling energized and vital depends on daily gathering energy from the earths energy field. Optimum health also depends on clearing blocks in our energy body daily, especially when we are experiencing difficulties with health or other aspects of life. Before age forty, gathering energy each day is also reenergizing and healing; after forty, gathering energy each day is crucial. We instinctively do this in multiple ways, with exercises such as walking, yoga, or dancing, but we can augment this gathering with simple practices. Second, the body must daily be cleared of energy, emotion, and experiences. Since everything is energy, we receive information into the body as energy or vibration, and the body translates this vibrational information into experience, emotion, sensation, or thought (or combinations of these). However, we often pull the energy of good and bad emotions or experiences into the head too quickly, and we think about it rather than feel or experience it as is. This bypass creates an energy or vibration tag that is stored in the body. These tags must be cleared to allow a healthy flow of energy throughout
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the body. Clearing these tags offers us the ability to respond with different actions, thoughts, and realizations. Clearing the body is easy; we do this with movement, breath, meditation, or specific energy practices. As you begin to pay attention to your energy naturally, you will find that you are already clearing your body instinctivelytaking a shower or a run at the end of a difficult day are great examples of ways people naturally clear blocks or vibrational tags from their bodies. We'll learn a powerful exercise to help you to clear your body later in this lesson. Third, our energy is not ours. Everything is made of energy, and what we experience as our energy is actually part of a larger field of energy that is in constant connection and relationship to every aspect of our environment. The exercise we'll learn below will use movement to open your body to the energy field of the earth and everything that surrounds you, bringing energy into your body and restoring vitality. While some of these concepts may seem far out at first, using the energy practices will allow you to experience them for yourself.
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GUIDED EXERCISE: Body-Tapping for Self-Healing The following exercise, which I call "Body-Tapping," is a wonderful practice that will awaken the energy flow throughout your entire body. You might want to watch it all the way through before trying to follow along for the first time. It takes about fifteen minutes to complete and is something you can use each day to cultivate life energy, spreading it throughout your entire body. Body-Tapping by Ann Marie Chiasson
Questions for Reflection What was your experience during the Body-Tapping exercise? How would you describe the general state of your energy? Would you like more energy in your life? In what ways or in what areas? Try Body-Tapping a couple of times a week over the next few weeks and write about your discoveries. What effects do you notice?
Your Homework for the Week We recommend that you set aside twenty minutes each morning (and in late afternoon if possible) to experiment with Body-Tapping. It can take some real practice to make a personal connection with your inner energy system, as most of us were simply not trained to be sensitive in this way. Please be patient with yourself! It will get easier over time, and also more natural the more you are able to practice. Just stick with it and don't be too hard on yourself if you find it challenging in the beginning. If you find it useful, please write about your experiences in a journal. You may find it interesting to note your progress over time.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing Cyndi Dale, renowned energy healer and bestselling author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy, has answered the following frequently asked questions. Q: There are so many different kinds of energy healing. How do I know which one to try first? A: The best approach is to begin by analyzing your own system. Typically, I tell people who are considering energy healingespecially if they havent done it beforeto sit down and spend some time with themselves. Write down your symptoms and carefully note how they affect your life. Then, write down what kind of changes youd like to see, what youd like to be different. For example, lets say you are experiencing chronic pain. First, I would suggest that you look closely at your symptoms and how these affect your day-to-day life. Perhaps the pain makes you depressed, makes you feel bad about yourself. Maybe it inhibits your activities: you cannot play with your kids, or you cry a lot or cannot engage in the hobbies you love. So be as thorough and holistic as you canlook into all areas of your life, including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Whats so beautiful about energy healing is that you can actually tap into different kinds of modalities or practitioners to deal with all of the various components of your life. Next, I would suggest that you prioritize. It would be understandable, staying with our example of chronic pain, if your first priority would be for the pain to decrease. But perhaps the second priority is to be able to spend more time with your kids or your friends, or to concentrate better at work, or to get back to your garden. So once you get a sense of your top two or three priorities, you can then start to search for the right type
of energy medicine for you. For example, pain relief is often effectively treated with acupuncture or with chiropractic care. There is a tremendous amount of statistical evidence showing that these two modalities are highly effective in treating chronic pain. Or, you could try a technique like hands-on healing. So you can start to zoom in on whats going to provide the specific results you seek. Then you might look at the hobbies, the life changes, or the support pieces you need in order to respond to the depression or grief that you are experiencing. This exploration might take you into a second arena, or category. Perhaps you will look for a reiki healer or someone who works energetically as a therapist or a life coach. I think the most important thing to do is to start with your own self-analysis, create a set of priorities, and then match those priorities with the different kinds of energy specialties that are available in your geographic area. Q: I received some energy work, and I didnt feel anything. How do I know its working? A: While some people will feel physical sensations or a shift in energy during or immediately following a healing session, many people feel nothing at all. This is completely normal. Have you ever taken a prescription medicine and found it takes a few days (or longer) for the symptoms to improve? Energy medicine can work the same way. You might feel somethingor nothing. The experience of energy healing is very personal. Some people are highly sensitive to energetic changes; others only feel them when they occur physically. Because of this,
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people report a variety of reactions during and after an energy session. These most frequently include changes in body temperature, emotional release, striking thoughts, memory recall and flashbacks, an abating or activation of symptoms, and sometimes a healing crisis, or a bout of emotional and physical challenges, including illness. This crisis is usually short lived and indicates that the emotions, beliefs, spiritual misperceptions, or physical energy that have caused the problem are being released through the body. Q: Are yoga and meditation forms of energy healing? A: Yes, they are. The various types of yoga are based in knowledge of the energetic anatomyspecifically, the chakra system. And so yoga is just as much an energy-healing or a spiritual-healing process as it is any sort of physical exercise. Many yogic practices work directly to bring about awareness of and transformation within the subtle body. We see similar effects with meditation. Over the last few decades, hundreds of scientific studies have been published that demonstrate the many varied benefits of meditation on the physical, mental, and emotional lives of meditators. As with other forms of energy healing, meditators dont need to believe in a certain set of principles or a certain religion, or a certain way of looking at God or the Divine, to receive the benefits of the practice. Theres substantial proof that meditation alone, especially when conducted over a long time period, has beneficial physical effects, calmative effects, and positive emotional effects as well.
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Session Three: Energy Evaluation for the Morning

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Introduction to Session Three In this session, we will continue our exploration of the various types of energy healing, looking at six of the most prevalent subtle-body modalities practiced throughout the world today. Your instructor for much of the theoretical material in this session is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. This sessions guided exercise, Energy Evaluation for the Morning, will teach you a powerful meditation for evaluating your personal energythe same exercise that Caroline Myss uses in her own daily spiritual practice. By exploring your energy centers (chakras) as you begin each new day, you set the forces in motion for true spiritual transformation and affirm your commitment to living a more conscious life. Your instructor for this sessions guided exercise is Caroline Myss, internationally acclaimed medical intuitive and New York Times bestselling author of Sacred Contracts, Anatomy of the Spirit, and Why People Don't Heal and How They Can. This sessions exercise is adapted from the audio learning program Spiritual Power, Spiritual Practice, by Caroline Myss.
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We continue our exploration of the various types of energy healing here, focusing now on the various subtle-body technologies. Subtle-Body Healing Methodologies There are dozens of methodologies that work directly on the subtle-energy systems within the body (chakras, meridians, and the aura) to bring about transformation and healing. Some of the more well-known of these systems are listed here. Acupuncture Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world and is probably the most common and well-known of the meridian therapies. As part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is based on the concept that disorder, including disease, results from a disruption in the flow of qi (vital life energy) and imbalance in the universal forces of yin and yang. Practices such as acupuncture, meditation, massage, and herbal medicine seek to aid healing by restoring the flow of qi and the yin-yang balance. Acupuncture involves stimulating specific points on the body with a number of techniques, including the insertion of thin metal needles though the skin. It is intended to remove blockages in the flow of qi and restore and maintain health. According to acupuncture theory, the body is a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: yin and yang. Yin represents cold, slow, or passive aspects of the person, while yang represents hot, excited, or active aspects. Accordingly, health is achieved through balancing yin and yang, and disease is caused by an imbalance leading to a blockage in the flow of qi.
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In TCM, the vital energy or life force (qi) is said to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang. The life force is seen to flow along pathways known as meridians. Qi can be unblocked, according to TCM, by using acupuncture at certain points on the body that connect with these meridians. Sources vary on the number of meridians, with numbers ranging from fourteen to twenty. One source describes meridians as fourteen main channels connecting the body in a web-like interconnecting matrix of at least two thousand acupuncture points. Finding a Qualified Acupuncturist Health-care providers can be a resource for referral to acupuncturists, and some conventional medical practitioners, including physicians and dentists, practice acupuncture. In addition, national acupuncture organizations (which can be found through libraries or Web search engines) may provide referrals to acupuncturists. Check a practitioner's credentials. Most states require a license to practice acupuncture; however, education and training standards and requirements for obtaining a license vary from state to state. Although a license does not ensure quality of care, it does indicate that the practitioner meets certain standards regarding the knowledge and use of acupuncture. Do not rely on a diagnosis of disease by an acupuncture practitioner who does not have substantial conventional medical training. If you have received a diagnosis from a doctor, you may wish to ask your doctor whether acupuncture might help. What to Expect from Acupuncture Visits During your first office visit, the practitioner may ask you at length about your health condition, lifestyle, and behavior. He or she will want to obtain a complete picture of your treatment needs and behaviors that may contribute to your condition. Inform the acupuncturist about all treatments or medications you are taking and all medical conditions you have. Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair thin. People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel zero or minimal pain as the needles are inserted. Some people feel energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Improper needle placement, movement by the patient, or a defect in the needle can cause soreness and pain during treatment. This is why it's important to seek treatment from a qualified acupuncture practitioner. Treatment may take place over a period of several weeks or more.
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Chakra Therapy and Healing Some people can readily see chakras, while others can detect them through other means, such as the use of a pendulum. Most chakra authorities agree: a healthy chakra spins clockwise in both spheres; is shaped as a uniform, round circle; and is rhythmic. It should emanate, front and back, about a foot from the body. Its circular shapes should be about one foot in diameter. Chakra Shape The ideal shape of a chakra is round and full. Misshapen or distorted shapes indicate physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual problems. In general, a shift of shape toward the right side of a chakra (from the subject's perspective) indicates issues of a masculine nature, such as domination and power, action and behavior, logic and rationality. If the shape shifts toward the left side of the chakra, the person may be dealing with feminine issues: receiving and responding, learning or healing, creating or feeling. Chakra Spin Ideally, a chakra should hold a solid, even spin. Both the front and back sides should be coordinated and moving in the same direction. Clockwise usually indicates health, and counterclockwise a blockage or a
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misperception. A healthy spin (in the outer sphere) should appear round, even, and about one foot in diameter. However, the outer spheres of the chakras spin counterclockwise when one is clearing or detoxifying. For women, this commonly occurs just before, during, and after menstruation. It is also common during long periods of puberty and menopause and, for both sexes, during times of crisis, such as after an accident, death in the family, job loss, medical surgery, major illness, or during post-traumatic stress recovery. Certain prescribed medicines and natural drugs or herbs will force the outer wheels to spin backward. In some individuals, the outer sphere of the eighth chakra always flows backward. This way, the eighth chakra continually cleanses the subtle-energy bodies of waste products. Some individuals are heyoke, or "counterclockwise," personalities. All of their chakras' outer wheels spin backward all the time. These are shamanic personalities who represent the opposing points of view for the world. In these cases, the outer wheel of the eighth chakra usually spins clockwise. It is difficult to physically evaluate the inner wheel of a chakra. It is easiest to work with it using your intuition. In general, you want to establish the spin of the outer wheel in concert with the inner wheel, not the other way around. Nearly always, the inner wheel is healthy if the outer wheel is moving clockwise; the inner wheel is nearly always healthy in any case, as it reflects the spirit's nature. Using a Pendulum for Evaluation The easiest way to evaluate for general chakra shape, spin, and speed is to use a pendulum, an object on a chain or a string. When held and allowed to swing freely, a pendulum will respond to the electromagnetic frequency from a chakrafrom its back or front side. When holding a pendulum over the chakra area, you are primarily evaluating the outer wheel of the chakra. If the outer wheel is moving counterclockwise, the inner wheel is probably doing the same. The inner wheel nearly always runs clockwise, unless there is an extreme crisis, including at birth and at death. The inner wheel is best analyzed using your intuition. You can make a pendulum assessment of the chakras by having a partner stand over you, holding the pendulum six inches to a foot over the center of a chakra. Then you record information about shape, direction, movement, and apparent speed of the circling pendulum. A lack of pendulum movement could indicate mistrust (by either person) of their partner or of the process; lack of motion could also indicate a completely blocked chakra. Test to see if the other side of the chakra, or a chakra just above or below the problem area, is by way of compensation too open. To test the chakras below and above the head, as well as around the body, have the subject lie down, and then hold the pendulum above the appropriate sites. Healing of imbalances can be done with colors, shape, tone, sound, light, and numbers. Ways to Evaluate for Spin (Using a Pendulum or through Other Intuitive Means) Round, uniform, and even swing, clockwise: Healthy and functioning Round, uniform, and even swing, counterclockwise: Attempting to create health or balance by processing or clearing negative energy Non-uniform or uneven swing, counterclockwise: Chakra is blocked and unable to clear itself Elliptical or straight line in a vertical direction: Developed but impractical spiritual views, closed to real-life perspective or unwilling to take action Elliptical or straight line in a horizontal direction: Practical but lacking spiritual perspective, closed to the big picture or divine assistance Elliptical or straight line, swinging to the right (of the subject): Oriented toward action and the day-to-day, known as the masculine perspective, but lacking the emotional or spiritual, known as the feminine perspective Elliptical or straight line, swinging to the left (of the subject): Geared toward inspirational, feminine, or intuitive influences but lacking practical, grounding action Not moving or nearly still: Indicates a closed chakra with shutdown function. A good place to look for a block or a cause of a presenting issue
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Large swing: Usually very open, healthy, and functioning. If too large and imbalanced in comparison to other chakras, the chakra is overstrained and over-functioning. Determine which other chakra this one is compensating for. Small swing: Under-functioning; must be cleared and opened Evaluating Speed Ideally, a chakra should hold a solid, even spin, and the inner wheel should move about twice as fast but in rhythm with the outer wheel. The lower the chakra, the slower both wheels should be moving. Both the front side and back side ought to move in the same direction, usually clockwise from the point of view of the tested subject. Too fast indicates an anxiety-producing situation. Too slow involves a depression situation. Anxiety is both a psychological and a physical state: it reflects fear of the future and establishes a too-quick rhythm in the physical and subtle systems. Depression reflects an attachment to the past and creates a too-slow rhythm in the physical and subtle systems. Other Chakra Diagnostic Tips: Wheel moving too slowly: Indicates damage from previous overuse, exhaustion, fatigue, blocks, strongholds (unhealthy attachments between beliefs, or between beliefs and feelings), and probably repressed memories or feelings. Wheel moving too quickly: Indicates current overuse; overstrain; acting to compensate for a weaker chakra or chakra wheel; or a desire to escape certain life events, people, feelings, or issues. Could be an attempt to release negative energy. Outer wheel fast, inner wheel slow: Lack of spiritual, emotional, intuitive, or creative drive or perspective; underdeveloped beliefs, feelings, or spiritual sense; over-concern with the physical or with appearance. Outer wheel slow, inner wheel fast: Lacking action, commitment to follow through, physical drive, or energy; over-concern with spiritual or psychic matters; fear of moving into the world; exhaustion in the physical. Wheels out of synch: Inner beliefs and needs do not match outer reality or action.
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Color and Light Healing Color therapy is an aspect of light therapy, which was used for healing among the ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans. Fast-forward to the mid-twentieth century, when Dr. Harry Riley Spitler applied colored-light phototherapy through the eyes. In the 1940s, researcher Dinshah Ghadiali founded Spectro-Chrome, a method that uses colored lights directly on the body; his research showed that the body could be healed by systematically exposing it to colored lights. Ghadiali's work was attacked by the American Medical Association, although he was staunchly defended by medical practitioners, including Dr. Kate Baldwin, senior surgeon at the Women's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Baldwin asserted that Spectro-Chrome had cured gonorrhea, syphilis, cancer, ulcers, and other conditions. Despite the support of Dr. Baldwin and other professionals, the U.S. government destroyed Ghadiali's books and papers in 1947, and the Food and Drug Administration obtained a permanent injunction against his institute in 1958. In the 1980s, Norman Rosenthal, MD, at the National Institute of Mental Health recognized the existence of seasonal affective disorder (SAD): deprivation of full-spectrum light and the resulting depression. Recent research is substantiating the amazing powers of light for healing. Sunlight stimulates the pineal gland to produce melatonin, which is necessary for sleep, ease, and happiness. High-intensity lights are being used to cure cancer and viral conditions and even alleviate the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Gyorgyi has concluded, through studies and research, that light striking the body alters the basic biological functions involved in digestive processing and enzymatic and
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hormonal interactions. Some colors can actually cause bodily enzymes to be five hundred times more effective. Color affects more than our bodies; it also influences our mind. According to Jacob Liberman, OD, PhD, a pioneer in the therapeutic use of color and light, the colors present in the body indicate our state of consciousness, which also means that our state of consciousness reflects how well we use color. The key to achieving a therapeutic effect from light is using the correct color, or wavelength. Infrared light reduces the severity of a heart attack by up to 50 percent, reverses blindness in animals, and heals oral sores. Red light helps wounds heal more quickly and reverses skin aging. Blue light (as well as red light) can kill bacteria. Blue light can also reset the biological clock, treat SAD, and help people with Alzheimer's disease sleep better at night. Ultraviolet light keeps bacteria and viruses from reproducing and can sterilize air and water. Light apparently transfers energy to the mitochondria within the cell and assists the body in healing itself. It also alters the speed of various chemical processes. "We are living photocells," says Liberman. The body gives off light of all colors, takes it in through our physical structures, and emits and receives light through our subtle bodies. Liberman emphasizes the findings of a scientist named Cabal, who in the 1800s linked light with the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates our autonomic nervous system and the master endocrine gland, the pituitary. The pineal serves as the body's light meter, taking in information through the eyes but also from the earth's electromagnetic fields. The correct light used at the appropriate intensity, speed, and color can shift imbalances in the autonomic nervous and endocrine systems. These explanations underscore the discoveries of physicists Fritz-Albert Popp and Hal Puthoff, who have determined that we are bathed in a field of light, inside and out. While our bodies are surrounded in the "zero-point field," our DNA also acts as a biophoton machine. There are dozens if not hundreds of color- and light-based healing modalities. Here are just a few. The Chakra SystemPlaying with Light and Color You can do healing work with the chakras by applying colored light or stones on the chakric locations of the body. Each chakra governs a different part of the nervous and hormone systems, relates to a different age of development, and signifies different gender issues. By knowing which chakric area relates to these three concerns, a practitioner can work to achieve healing through color. Steven Vazquez, PhD, an expert in phototherapy, proposed that the bottom chakras govern the sympathetic nervous system, which is active during stress or danger and regulates the pulse and blood pressure. The top chakras manage the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls involuntary and unconscious body functions (such as the autonomic nervous system). In general, the sympathetic nervous system is the stress producer, and the parasympathetic nervous system maintains and restores the body. Regarding issues relating to time, the lower in the chakras a person works, the more frequently he or she talks about the past. The middle chakras govern the present day, and the higher chakras tap into thoughts about the future or beyond time. The body also subdivides according to gender. The masculine chakras are on the entire right side, while the feminine chakras are located on the left side. We know that the infrared spectrum runs under the lower chakras, and that the ultraviolet spectrum is available over the higher chakras. When working with the color yellow and downward, a practitioner is able to access issues from the past and to activate the sympathetic nervous system. Working the color green upward activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Blue-green to blue and into indigo triggers present-day concerns, while violet and upward relates to issues in the future or beyond time. Masculine issues are most accessible from green up to violet, while feminine issues pertain to the color yellow and downward. The left side of the body governs all feminine functions, and the right side, the masculine. A practitioner using a twelve-chakra system, which recognizes five additional energy centers in addition to the more commonly identified seven, would work with the infrared spectrum to deal with the tenth
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chakra, which lies under the feet and reflects genealogical foundations. The chakras above the head, including the eighth and ninth, transcend time, as do the eleventh and twelfth chakras around the body. These operate in the ultraviolet wavelength or higher. These additional chakras are often accessed through intention and intuition.
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Homeopathy Homeopathy is a vibrational, or energetic-based, system of medicine developed in the late eighteenth century by Samuel Hahnemann, MD. It operates under "the law of similars": the idea that the same substance that produces symptoms in a healthy person can cure them in a sick person. Hahnemann created a systematic procedure for testing substances that called forth problematic symptoms on all levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. He then matched these symptoms with illnesses to learn which substance to give for which illness. Hahnemann also experimented with dilutions for these homeopathicor "similar to the pathology" remedies. He discovered a process called potentizing: when he mixed a remedy with water and shook it appropriately, its effectiveness increased. He eventually reduced the solution until no molecules remained from the original substance. Yet it still worked. Currently, hundreds of solutions created from minerals, plants, and diseased tissues have been studied and proven beneficialand thousands more have been at least partially proven. Homeopathy works with constructive resonance, as Richard Gerber, MD, explains in his book A Practical Guide to Vibrational Medicine. Gerber paints the portrait of someone whose healthy body usually vibrates at 300 cycles per second. When sick, the body might leap to 350 cycles per second, the higher vibration stimulating the production of white blood cells as an immune response to bacteria. As Gerber points out, the resulting fever or symptom is actually a goodnot a badresponse. Now, we could put energy "in" that vibrates at only 300 cycles per second, and the body will absorb it. But will this lower vibration do what needs to be donethe marshalling of the body's defenses? No. We need to bolster the body's healing mechanisms with medicine that vibrates at 350 cycles a secondthe job of a homeopathic remedy. By adding to a symptom, you support the body in responding to the symptoms underlying cause. Some individuals make their own homeopathic preparations by holding a vial of water and simply praying or meditating "into" the water. If strong enough, this intention can alter the crystal structure of the water molecules and deliver a homeopathic remedy. Scientific evidence of this approach has been published using the research on water done by Dr. Masaru Emoto of Japan. Constitutional Prescribing of Homeopathy In this approach, a practitioner is trained to select homeopathic remedies based on the entire life history of the patient. A meridian therapist might decide that one of the five basic constitutions fits a particular client, and then use this information as part of a decision about treatment. There are several meridian therapies that employ homeopathic remedies. Below is a brief description of a few of these. Neural Meridian Therapy Neural therapy involves the injection of homeopathic remedies into the body's acupuncture points. Through this process, remedies are mainstreamed into the autonomic nervous system, which governs involuntary body functions. The remedies integrate easily and smoothly into the system through sensors in the skin, which deliver the vibration to organs and tissues via the nerves. Qualified practitioners often mix a mild anesthetic into the injection along with one or more homeopathic ingredients or other natural remedies. The injection points are the acupoints that run on the imbalanced
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meridian. Electropuncture/Electrodermal Screening
A solution is created based on the patient's electronic-resonance reaction to the remedy. In other words, the patient's reaction to a remedy is tested after the diagnosis. The possible curative is placed in the electrical circuit, and the practitioner checks if its vibration shifts the meridian from under- or over-functioning to normal. Some devices can actually "create" the homeopathic remedy with electrical or magnetic vibrations that "program" water or alcohol. Kinesiology The practitioner uses "muscle testing" to determine if a homeopathic remedy corrects a meridian imbalance.
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Magnets and Meridian Therapy In light of research revealing the acupoints as electrical in nature, we can understand the efficacy of electricity-based therapies. But magnetics? Electrical currents produce magnetic fields. We can alter an electrical current or charge and affect its magnetic counterpartand vice versa. The meridian system produces magnetic fields that are measurable, using the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). For example, the SQUID reveals a magnetic corona around the head. The field magnified by the SQUID apparently outlines the Governor vessel, a particularly important acupuncture point in Traditional Chinese Medicine that divides the scalp into two symmetrical parts. The area reflecting one particular acupoint (GV20) appears to sink into the surface of the corona to mirror the meridian system but not the anatomical mappings of the body. Working these or other related points can theoretically affect the electrical conductivity of a meridian or the field as a whole. We know that magnetism can have a healing effect. Certain fast-growing tissues, particularly tumors, are electrically negative. Their growth is significantly slowed or even regressed upon application of currents from a positive pole. Magnetism has been known to reduce pain and inflammation, improve circulation, stimulate the immune system, assist with sleep, accelerate healing, and alleviate nervous-system disorders. The proper use of magnets helps the body align its own electromagnetic field and connect correctly with the earth's field. Physically, pain is caused by the transmission of electrical signals along a pathway of nerves. The signal starts at the injury site and travels the central nervous system to reach the brain. Damaged tissue emits a positive electrical charge, which depolarizes the nerve cells and throws them out of balance. Bioenergetically, electrical charges are active and positive; magnetic charges are considered negative and receptive. The receptive quality of magnets balances the meridian points that are overstimulated, thereby relieving pain, reducing swelling, and soothing the nervous system. Recently, magnetism has been added to the repertoire of healing techniques for meridian-based therapies. Therapeutic magnetic devices are licensed in a number of countries, especially Japan, as they claim to be effective in the treatment of bone and muscular conditions, migraines, and especially pain-related problems. A growing body of research is showing that the body responds with analgesic effects when a magnetic field is used on appropriate acupoints. In one study, a DC magnetic field with less than 500 gauss produced local pain relief, while a mild magnetic field (20 gauss) applied continuously produced an effect along the entire meridian. This result has been duplicated in numerous scientific studies and in anecdotal evidence from patients around the worldand is one of the reasons that meridian therapists are turning
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to magnets to assist in their healing practices.
A number of well-respected doctors use magnetic therapy and acupuncture in their practices, including William Pawluk, MD, formerly an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Gary Null, PhD, who has conducted extensive research on magnet therapy, recommends using magnets in combination with other healing modalities, including acupressure, therapeutic touch, and deep-tissue massage.
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Shiatsu Shiatsu is a hands-on therapy originating in Japan that uses the palms, thumbs, and fingers to deliver healing through pressure, a process effectively described by its name; in Japanese, shi means "finger" and atsu means "pressure." Shiatsu focuses on particular sections of the body to correct bodily imbalances and promote health. It is also considered a viable way to heal specific illnesses. Shiatsu is similar to TCM in that it focuses on specific bodily locations. Unlike TCM, however, the most strategic of these points are based at anatomically functional sites rather than energetically based areas. These acupoints are called tsubo, meaning "vital point" or "important place." Many of these points, however, do interface with the traditional meridian points. The Practice of Shiatsu Shiatsu is usually conducted with the patient fully clothed and either lying down or sitting up. The practitioner diagnoses and immediately begins treatment through his or her thumbs, adding palm- and hand-based pressures in the process. Shiatsu combines many techniques, including shaking, rotating, pressing, hooking, vibrating, patting, plucking, lifting, pinching, brushing, and more. One school employs walking on a person's back, legs, and feet. A session usually concentrates on the basic shiatsu points (BSP) and secondarily on the Keiketsu shiatsu points (KSP). In general, shiatsu is based on the same anatomical and physiological principles as chiropractic and many types of Western massage. Unlike these modalities, however, shiatsu uses only the thumbs, palms, and fingers. In traditional Eastern care, including acupuncture and herbal medicine, practitioners first diagnose and then conduct therapy. In Shiatsu, instead of first performing a diagnosis, the practitioner uses his or her thumbs to gather salient information about the patient, such as general condition and specifics about the skin, muscles, organs, and body temperature. The practitioner then immediately adjusts his or her actions in order to deliver treatment through the tsubo points. The idea is to call forth the body's natural healing powers by adjusting biofunctions. The basis of shiatsu lies in knowing which tsubo points to employ, how much pressure to use, and what type of pressure is beneficial. There are many different types of pressure, each of which can be used to identify problems and deliver healing. The Shiatsu Points There are two types of tsubo points: basic and Keiketsu. Basic shiatsu points (BSP): These 660 points cover the entire body. These do not have names, and a practitioner often works with many or all of them to restore balance to the body. Keiketsu shiatsu points (KSP): These points are also referred to as pathological reflex points and are connected to the cutaneovisceral reflexes of the sensory nerves. The KSP are located in the same places as the meridian points; they therefore have names derived from their Chinese parent points. These points are worked on for specific symptoms and problems. Some KSP interface with the BSP. Practitioners usually spend about 80 percent of their time on the BSP and 20 percent on the KSP. In
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addition to the tsubo points, a shiatsu practitioner also refers to dermatomes, subsections of the body controlled by specific spinal nerves, the dorsal roots. The History of Shiatsu The young Japanese boy Tokujiro Namikoshi invented shiatsu in 1912: only seven years old, he cured his mother of rheumatism using just his thumbs, fingers, palms, and the application of pressure. As Namikoshi matured, he discovered the 660 basic points, which he linked to bodily parts and functions through his studies in anatomy and physiology. In 1957, shiatsu was accepted as a healing modality by the Japanese medical department of the Ministry of Welfare. There are also several versions of shiatsu collectively called "derivative shiatsu." One popular style, Meridian Shiatsu, incorporates the meridian therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Zen Shiatsu encompasses Zen philosophies. Tao Shiatsu involves mental concentration and supplications to the Buddha. How Shiatsu Works The basis of shiatsu is to prevent and heal illnesses or imbalances by stimulating the immune system and accessing the patient's natural healing powers. Shiatsu practitioners usually treat the entire body. As the "whole" heals, independent bodily systems are then restored. Shiatsu professionals are knowledgeable about the effects of stimulating tsubo points on such physical systems as the circulatory or nervous systems. Because it works systemically, a treatment provides the following benefits: Invigorates the skin Flexes the muscles Circulates bodily fluids Entrains (or coordinates) the nervous system with other bodily systems Regulates the operation of the ductless endocrine glands Balances the skeletal system Soothes the digestive system Why does shiatsu emphasize the thumb, which "reads" the body to diagnose and also deliver healing? The thumb is replete with Meissner's corpuscles (light-touch receptors), Pacinian corpuscles (deeppressure receptors), Krause's end bulbs and Ruffini's endings (crude-touch receptors), and thermoreceptors that detect warmth and cold. The thumb is a highly sensitive organ and an ending point for certain meridians and brain receptors. The hands themselves are effective diagnostic and healing instruments because the palms contain a high concentration of negative ions, which partner with the blood's positive ions. The most positively charged element in blood is calcium. The negative ions from the practitioner's hands increase the calcium level in the blood, decreasing the compounds that lead to illness. Shiatsu is also considered an effective way to achieve pain relief, as is explained by the "gate control theory," which can be illustrated this way: An area is injured. Messages about the injury are transferred through "thin fibers" to a "pain center" in the central nervous system. This pain center is located at the dorsal vertebra, which is fed by thin and thick nervous fibers. This site serves as a "gateway" to the brain. The thin fibers open the gateway, telling the brain there is an injury. When the brain "hears" there is an injury, it produces pain. The thick fibers close the gateway, so the brain does not "hear" about the injuryor respond with messages that create pain. Shiatsu, done accurately, stimulates the thick fibers, thus closing the gateway and alleviating pain. Shiatsu also reduces pain through its effect on the ductless endocrine glands, stimulating endorphins.
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TEACHING: Energy Evaluation for the Morning According to medical intuitive and New York Times bestselling author Caroline Myss, most people want the rewards of consciousness without doing the work of consciousness. But without a certain amount of discipline, the full blessings of a spiritual life may never arrive. We must actually go further and do the work required to open to deeper dimensions of purpose and awareness. Here, you will learn a meditation for evaluating your personal energythe same meditation Caroline Myss uses in her own spiritual practice. By exploring your energy centers (chakras) as you begin each new day, you set the forces in motion for true spiritual transformation and affirm your commitment to living a more conscious life. The Discipline of Daily Practice Most people want the rewards of consciousness without the hard work of consciousness. The hard work of consciousness requires that we develop a daily spiritual practice which allows us to review where we are investing our energy each day. Each morning and each evening, we have a choice: do we invest our energy into fears and anxieties, or do we invest our energy into aligning with spiritual truth? I believe that one of the most effective ways to monitor how we invest our energy is through the daily practice of energetic self-evaluation. Think of your "energy body" as a vast, interconnected database of stored experience. Every thought, every feeling, and every memory is encoded and stored in one of your seven chakras, the energy centers of the body. Each of your chakras records and manages a specific category of information. The work of daily practice is to take a personal inventory of the health of your chakras in order to determine how you are using the energy associated with each energy center. The highest function of each chakra is expressed as a "sacred truth" that points the way to physical health and spiritual integration. Working in meditation with these seven sacred truths can help you align your energetic being with the highest spiritual values.
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Morning Energy Exercise: Preparation for the Day Every day is a new beginning. Your task each morning is to learn the practice of entering your body and your day consciously. Begin by focusing attention on your entire day, from morning to evening. Review your plans for the day. Think about where you need to be and whom you need to be with. Sense your comfort level. Do you feel stressed about this day or do you feel comfortable? Do you feel prepared for the day's events? And most importantly, are you projecting fears and expectations onto the day? Remind yourself that we lose power with fears and expectations. Please read through the following basic instructions before you begin the guided audio exercise.
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Your First Chakra Drop your attention to your first chakra, to the base of your body, the root of your spine. This is your connection to Mother Earth. Feel yourself connected to earth energy. Picture yourself sitting on wet earth. Picture yourself smelling the fragrance of newly cut grass. Feel yourself embraced by the soft wind of early morning. Feel sun on you and sound around you. There is only you and the earth now. You and
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Gaia. This is your connection to your own life, to the experience of being alive. Your first chakra contains the truth that "all is one." As you focus on this part of your body, you can feel that truth. You can feel yourself connected to every part of life: the fragrance of the earth, the aquatic system, the oceans, the air, nature, your family, your friends, the planet. All of life is connected to you in this moment. As you prepare for your day, consciously walk into these thoughts. Allow the truth that "all is one" to penetrate through your body, and feel that truth and its force moving down your legs. Feel that, because your first chakra is connected to your legs. Feel that powerthat when you walk on this earth, you're walking in that truth. No matter where you walk, you're going to be connected to that electrical guidance that met you the day you were born. You have a circuit, and that circuit connects you to every form of magnetic life on this planet. Take a moment to turn your attention to your first chakra and think about your day. Do you feel unsafe or insecure on this day in your life? Is there something that scares you about this day in your life? Is there some place you're afraid to walk? Feel your fears. Pull them into your consciousness, because you're going to need to deal with them today. What strengths can you feel from this part of your body? Your first chakra is your area of physical strength. This is the part of your body that pulls from that deep sense you have of trusting in your own strength to stand tall, to handle whatever weight is put on your shoulders. You've got tremendous strength. Feel that.
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Your Second Chakra Now move your attention gradually up your spine to your second chakra. You're in your lower back. You're in your hips. You're in your sexual genital area. Feel your attention there. This energy is vibrant. This energy is red. This energy is hot. The energy of this part of the body is alive, magnetically powerful. This is the part of your body where the truth resides to "honor one another." Feel that energy. Now, review your day. Whom are you supposed to be with today? This is the part of your body that records that. This is the part of your body that records all of your relationships every dayhow you interact with your relationships. This is the part of your body that contains your fight-or-flight instinct. Feel that. Are you prepared for a battle today, or are you calm? If you're meeting someone today whom you feel uncomfortable with, put that person in front of you now, put that person's face there. Imagine yourself sitting opposite him or her. Pull up all of your anger toward this person, all of your resentment; pull up all of your fear. Put it into your conscious mind right now. Then ask yourself, "What is it about this person that I don't like? I need to know that." Imagine that the gods sent this person into your life to bring you a message. Now focus your attention on looking directly into this person's eyes. Keep your eyes focused on this person and say, "Tell me why you're in my life. What message do you have for me?" Then reverse it and say to this person, "Look into my eyes. What message do I have for you?" Then look at this person and imagine that you are dying, and that this is the last person who will hold you in his or her arms. This is the person who is going to hold you in that last moment of your life. And now feel that feeling. And let it go. Focus your attention now on your work. Your second chakra relates to your work in the world. What are you going to do today? How do you feel about your work? Are there projects that you're afraid of? Are
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there projects that you're excited about? Feel your relationship to your work. Sense your security level. Do you feel yourself losing power when you think about your work? Does it frighten you? Feel that in your body. Turn your attention to money, finances. As you do this, focus your attention on your lower back. Are you dealing with any financial fears? Do you feel financially threatened or instead comfortable? Are you losing power over your relationship with money? Why are you doing that? Bring into your conscious mind the illusion you need to deal with when you think about money. Now reverse it. Think of all the positive energy you're generating from this part of your body. Think about all of the people in your life whom you love and whom you support. You're connected to them through this part of your body. This is the center through which you send them love and support in their physical life. Think of those people and send them the messages you want to send them. Focus your attention now on creativity. Your second chakra is the part of your body where creativity thrives. This is your birth center. This is where you give life to your ideas. You bring them into the earth through your second chakra. Visualize the ideas you want to create today. Bring your creative ideas into this part of your body.
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Your Third Chakra Now, take a deep breath and move your attention to your third chakra. You're now in your solar plexus, where the truth resides to "honor yourself." Focus your attention on how you feel about yourself today. Do you feel strong? Do you feel frightened? If you're feeling frightened, what is it that's scaring you? Identify it. Call that fear by name and have it face you now. Look directly into it. Converse with it. Say to that fear, "Let's work together. I want you out of my system. I want you to become a strength. Work with me." Think about your self-esteem. Do you need anybody's approval today? And if so, ask yourself why. Why do you need that person's approval? What about approving of yourself? Are you facing a situation that challenges you, one in which you need to be courageous and strong? Your third chakra is your center of honor and integrity. This is your center of endurance and dignity. Remind yourself of your honor codeyour integritywhat you've promised yourself spiritually in terms of how you want to live your life each day.
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Your Fourth Chakra Now, raise your attention and move up to your fourth chakra. You're in the center of your body. You're in your heart, your center of love. This is the heart of your life. Focus on the truth that "love is divine power." Remember that love is the only true power that makes any difference in the human experience. Begin your day by asking yourself how you feel about yourself today. Do you care enough about yourself to protect yourself from anger, to protect yourself from stressful situations that could best be handled with love or compassion? Do you care for yourself enough not to hold negative energies toward another person, to protect the quality of energy in your heart? Now, look ahead toward your day and think of the people you're scheduled to meet. Ask yourself with each person, one at a time, "How do I feel?" Where you feel love for these people, send more love.
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Greet them in your meditation. Greet them with the feeling that your heart has enormous room for them and that they are deeply welcomed in your heart. Focus your attention on those you don't love. Ask yourself, "Why do I feel this way?" Say the prayer, "Show me why. Tell me why I feel this way. I need to know this because this is becoming conscious. Let me learn more about this today in my life." Focus your attention on whom you need to forgive today or whom you should have forgiven yesterday. Put this person in front of you and ask yourself, "What is it I really would like to say to this person before I will forgive?" Let the rage come out. Let your hurt feelings come out. Let your bitterness come out. Don't let it stay in your heart. Let it out. And then look at that person. And imagine that this person feels those same things, that someone hurt him or her that much. And then release the prayer: "We need to learn this forgiveness together. I'm grateful for this companion. This companion is a difficult one, therefore I need to learn strength. I may be a very difficult companion for this person, therefore he or she needs to learn strength." Be kind to yourself and tell yourself, "Forgiveness is not easy, but today I ask for one more step toward that goal." Finally, as you're preparing to leave your fourth chakra, program it. Tell it how much love you want to share that day. Tell yourself to be open to receiving love. Tell yourself that you want to appreciate this day, that you want to find something beautiful in every moment of the day. Release the prayer that you want to look at the day through your heart and not through your fears, that you want to feel gratitude for the events that happen, and even the events that don't happen but which you thought should happen. Remind yourself that if certain things don't happen, they weren't supposed to be there in your life that day. Prepare with strength for the day you are about to live. Keep your attention on the right way to walk into this day. Remember, you're not the only one creating this day.
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Your Fifth Chakra Move your attention to your fifth chakra, your throat. Focus on the truth: "I surrender my personal will to divine will." As you remind yourself of this truth, remember that in saying this prayer, an answer toward that prayer will be contained in today. Something will come up today that will cause you to have to release your will. Remind yourself of that. You might find yourselfin a work situation or in a relationship or in a business discussion or even while trying to get a seat on an airplanehaving to release your will. Your fifth chakra is your center of choices. It is the part of your energetic system that contains the central cord of your power, because this is where you make your choices. Every day, you make choices to direct your soul into attitudes, into memories, into creative acts, into positive feelings about yourselfand into negative feelings about yourself or others. You make these choices. You make the choice to fear your day, or to love your day. So make a commitment to yourself as to what types of choices you want to make today. How do you want to direct your will? Make a commitment to yourself that you will make choices that empower you, and bring more and more clarity into your mind and into your heart as to who you are and what your life is really about here in the physical world. Make a commitment to yourself to make choices that reflect the learning of your spirit instead of the empowerment of illusion.
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Your Sixth Chakra Let's move your attention to your sixth chakra. You're now residing in your mind, your cerebral territory. Your mind is a powerful instrument. It feels good. It generates ideas. It generates creativity. It generates perceptions. Roll around in your mind. Fall in love with your mind this morning. Feel its power.
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Now let your mind talk to you. What does it think about today? Is your mind preparing to enter the day feeling good or is it generating illusions? Imagine that your mind is sitting opposite you now and ask your mind, "Show me what illusions we are going to work through today." Imagine that your mind says, "Today we're going to work through the illusion that the external world has more power over you than your internal world. This is a strong illusion, and today you're going to work on that." And so you look at that and realize, "I'll have several experiences today that are supposed to teach me again and again that it is my inner world that has power over my outer world. My strength comes from within, not from without. I need to remind my mind of that." Take a moment. Feel the illusions that your mind conjures. Identify them. Put words to your illusions. Focus your attention now on your beliefs, on your attitudes, and on your memories. How much time do you spend focusing your attention on your history and on your past? How much of your attention is given to negative attitudes and to pessimism? Do you spend a lot of energy feeling depressed? Think about this. And ask yourself, do you want to stay in that thought energy today? If not, ask your mind to generate greater truths that you know are true and ask them to reside in your mind, that everything in your life be there for a reason. All things work out for the best. Life moves in cycles. Power will always be returned. Just when you fear the worst, the best happens. Let go. Give your will to the divine. You know deep in your mind that heaven is watching you and watching over you. You know that. You know that no matter what happens, you are blessed, and it's always for the right reason. You know that. And remind yourself, most of all, that everyone you meet has the same fears you do. You do not stand alone in this. So as you enter the day, enter it with absolute delight, knowing that everyone is just like you. Everyone. As you prepare to leave the sixth chakra, remind yourself that the purpose of every day of our lives is to "seek only truth," the central theme of the sixth chakra. Everything in our livesevery experience, every relationshipis designed fundamentally to teach us truth. Seek only truth.
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Your Seventh Chakra Come up to your seventh chakra. This is the center of the truth: "live in present time." Present time is all we have. Yesterday is gone; tomorrow isn't here. All we have is now. Everything in your life can be changed by holding on to the truth to "live in present time," because then nothing in your history has authority over what you're doing now. Look back at your history. Look back at your past and bless it, and say, "Thank you." It's been a blessing. Think of all the wonderful things that have happened to you in your history. Don't just focus on the negative. Don't do that. Send yourself back now, just for a moment, and focus only on the positiveonly on all the wonderment of your life, all the coincidences, all the surprisesand bring them back to the present moment. Remind yourself of all the marvelous changes in your life that came and that you didn't see coming. What caused that? It's a signal of the divine. Remind yourself that your spirit is a present-time creature. It knows only the now. Practice this discipline several times in the day ahead of you. When you sit with someone, when you're talking with someone, when you're reading something, when you're having lunch, when you're walking home, tell yourself, "This is all I have. This is the present moment. This is all there is to my life right now." Study every part of that moment. Listen to its sound. Sense its fragrance. Feel it. Feel your comfort in that moment. Appreciate everything about that moment. It is the only point of your life. Promise yourself that you'll return to that perception a thousand times a day, because it keeps your attention in present time. It's the most powerful perception you can hold. Maintaining the truth that there is only the now, that there is only present time, makes forgiveness very easy, because there's nothing to
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forgive.
The past doesn't exist in this moment. It makes loving everyone very easy because they haven't done anything to you, because yesterday what they did doesn't exist anymore, and you're looking at a new person. And you're a new person. Every day then contains a thousand new opportunities that could not have been there yesterday, because you were looking through your life through yesterday. Look only through now. So as you glance at the day ahead, release the prayer: "I only want to see the day ahead. My attention will not go backward into my history, and my attention will not go forward into my future. I am committed to staying only in present time, to remaining grounded in my world, to feeling a bond with each person I meet, to respecting my own integrity and my own honor, to living within the energy of love and compassion this day and returning to that energy when I don't feel it, to making wise and blessed choices with my will, to maintaining perceptions of wisdom and nonjudgment, to releasing the need to know why things happen as they do, and to not projecting expectations over how I want this day to be, and how I want others to be. And finally, my last prayer, to trust God. And with that I bless my day with gratitude and with love."
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GUIDED EXERCISE ON AUDIO: Please begin the audio exercise now. You'll want to set aside forty minutes or so during which you'll be undisturbed and be able to go deeply inside, without interruption. Energy Evaluation for the Morning by Caroline Myss
Questions for Reflection What was your experience during the morning energy exercise? How did you feel just after the exercise? One hour later? Three hours later? See if you can practice this exercise on your own one or two more times during this course. Note how your experience changes with the practice over time.
Your Homework for the Week For this week, we recommend that you practice the energy-evaluation exercise each morning, as a way to start your day. Pay particular attention to the effects on your body, mind, and spirit as you move through your day with this increased level of intention and consciousness. If you find it useful, please write about your experience in a journal. You may find it interesting to note your progress over time.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing The energy healer and bestselling author Cyndi Dale, author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy (Sounds True, 2009), has answered the following frequently asked questions. For more information about this groundbreaking book and the work of Cyndi Dale, visit cyndidale.com.
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Q: Should I tell my doctor I am also seeing an energy healer? A: I feel its very important that we are able to communicate genuinely and honestly with any health-care practitioner in our lives, energy-based or otherwise. If were embarrassed or ashamed about what were doing in our lives, thats really not the best sign. If were embarrassed to tell our doctor, for example, that were taking vitamins or supplements or getting an acupuncture treatment, we need to look inward to see if we ourselves believe in what were doing. If we do, and if this is not workable in relationship with your primary medical caregiver, it is worth considering a change. I have personally found that more and more allopathic (traditional Western medical) professionals are quite open to at least some types of energy healing, or holistic practice. Give it a try; you might be surprised. Another reason its important to have a doctor with whom you can speak openly is that some sorts of holistic care can compromise traditional care. For example, lets say you are scheduled for surgery and youre currently working with a naturopath or a nutritionist. It is imperative that your doctor knows this. You may be taking certain vitamins or supplements, or be on a certain type of diet, that could potentially affect the surgery. For your own safety, it is best that you have the kind of doctor with whom you can be completely honest. Q: Will my insurance pay for energy healing? A: It depends and varies state by state. Some states, such as Washington, the home of Bastyr University, are really open. Some states do in fact have plans that provide various forms of reimbursement for some types of energy healing. In general, the more you can work within the mainstream process, the more likely you are to have energy healing covered as part of your care. For example, if you work through a mainstream medical doctor in the treatment of chronic pain or for an accident or for something like alcoholism, you can often get certain types of alternative care covered. Physical therapy, biofeedback, acupuncture, bodywork, or even naturopathy may be covered if they come as a referral from your primary physician. Whats interesting is that approximately one-third more monies are now spent annually, in the US, on holistic, un-reimbursed expenses than are on traditional expenses. So the trend is to pay for what we need rather than worry about whether were going to get paid back for what we need. Q: Must I subscribe to the worldviews of traditional cultures to benefit from their energy-healing techniques? A: No, absolutely not. Even though most energy modalities are organized around a certain set of principles or philosophies, this is one of the cases where you can truly save the baby while throwing out the bath water. You can go to an acupuncturist, for example, and receive the many benefits without believing in all the principles which that acupuncturist or practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine subscribes to.
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Session Four: Positive Energy Practices

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Introduction to Session Four In this session, we will continue our exploration of the various types of energy healing, focusing on seven additional subtle-body healing methodologies. Your instructor for much of the theoretical material in this session is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. This sessions teaching and practice will help you to nurture and to protect your personal energy, the most precious commodity in our lives. You'll learn a series of tools and techniques to harness the power of positive energy and combat the influences that drain and deplete you. As you learn and practice these techniques, you will transform fatigue, stress, and fear into vibrancy, strength, and love. Your instructor for Session Fours guided exercise is Judith Orloff, MD. Dr. Orloff is a leading voice in the fields of medicine, energy healing, and intuitive development. An assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA, she is author of the New York Times bestseller Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life (Three Rivers Press, 2011). Her books Emotional Freedom and her previous bestseller Positive Energy elucidate the information contained in this session. This sessions exercise is adapted from the audio learning program Positive Energy Practices, by Dr. Judith Orloff.
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We continue our exploration of the various types of energy healing below, noting another group of subtle-body methodologies. Qigong: Chinese Energy Medicine Qigong, also spelled chi kung, qi gong, chi gung, or quigong, accesses the subtle energies in your body for physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Qi (pronounced chi) means "life energy"; gong means "benefits from persistent efforts." These two terms aptly apply to the practice and art of qigong, which accomplishes change through a series of exercises that move the qi throughout the body. While qigong is physical in nature, its focus is often mental: the exercises help you move your mind through the body's blocks and stagnation. Qigong has been shown to positively enhance nervous-system activity and reduce stress-hormone levels. A Swedish study showed that qigong helped women in their forties who worked challenging computer-based jobs to slow their heart rate and to lower their blood pressure during the day. A study at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University revealed that qigong might be more effective at easing depression than drugs. Participants reported a 70 percent drop in depression symptoms after two months of practice. The Chinese practice may also boost immunity, deepen sleep, and ease headaches. In another fascinating study, reported in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine in 1991, researchers used infrared detectors to measure the output of energy from the palms of advanced qigong
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practitioners. The scientists concluded that at least a part of the emitted energy, or qi, was in the infrared band of the electromagnetic spectrum. They also detected measurable and positive changes on human fibroblasts (connective-tissue cells) in reaction to this energy. The emanating energy increased DNA and protein synthesis and cell growth in all human cells. This energy was more specifically measured in a study led by Dr. Akira Seto, who found an extremely large magnetic field (a thousandth of a gauss) emanating from the palms of three qigong practitioners. This is a thousand times stronger than the naturally occurring human biomagnetic field (a millionth of a gauss). The emitted qi created significant changes in infrasound, electromagnetism, static electricity, infrared radiation, gamma rays, particle and wave flows, organic ion flows, and light. Qigong arose about four thousand years ago in China. It is currently a national Chinese phenomenon: at least sixty million people in China alone practice the art, which has spread throughout the world. Qigong employs the meridians, chakras, and auric fields. It also relies upon many elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For example, some qigong practices follow the cycle of qi in certain exercises. Qigong is similar to both t'ai chi and yoga, except that t'ai chi primarily involves identifying the qi within one's own body, and yoga concentrates on holding poses. In comparison, qigong involves mentally generating and directing qi through movements that often imitate the natural motions of animals, such as the crane, deer, or monkey. These exercises are accompanied by breathing techniques. Types of Qigong There are two basic types of qigong: Wai Dan (also called Wei Dan): Wai Dan is considered yang, or male, because it involves physical exercise to create yang qi. Beginners often start with Wai Dan because it quickly stimulates the flow of qi. There are two kinds of Wai Dan practices: Still Wai Dan (also called Zhan Zhuang), which focuses on improving physical health. It involves freezing in particular positions while relaxing the muscles. Moving Wai Dan, which involves tensing and relaxing different muscle groups while shifting position. Nei Dan: Nei Dan is more yin because it uses mental exercises to form yin qi. Participants often combine mental concentration with activity, imagery, and breathing techniques to circulate qi to the bodily channels and organs. There are also several styles of qigong. Some employ the practices of Taoism or Buddhism to produce spiritual effects, while others are strictly physical in nature. In general, these are the basic styles: Mental qigong: Focuses on managing and directing the mind to reduce stress. Because approximately 80 percent of all diseases are stress related, mind control can certainly make a difference in your physical health. Mental qigong requires regulation of the mind and emotions, and also helps practitioners gain better control of their minds and feelings. Medical qigong: Used for both self-healing and healing others, medical qigong has been fruitfully employed for arthritis, asthma, anxiety, neck pain, postpartum depression, stress, bowel complaints, and other maladies. Martial qigong: The key focus is learning how to fight and defend oneself. Spiritual qigong: Aims at controlling emotions and increasing spirituality. This has been a favored process for the Taoist monks of China for centuries; they also use it for developing psychic ability.
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Reflexology Reflexology is a time-honored method of healing that has been clinically substantiated. It involves using methods including acupuncture needling, acupressure, colorpuncture, or electroacupuncture on specific points and zones on the feet, hands, scalp, or ears. These points influence the organs, glands, and
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systems of the body, as well as aiding in diagnosis and treatment of the teeth. Reflexology has descended from early Chinese, Japanese, Russian, East Indian, and Egyptian cultures and is based on the idea that zones of energy run throughout the body and can most easily be accessed through the feet, hands, and scalp. In 1917, physician William Fitzgerald divided the body into ten longitudinal zones running from the head to the toes. These formed the foundation of zone-based reflexology. In addition, he theorized three latitudinal cross-zones. Working through the skin has a basis in early research by British neurologist Sir Henry Head, who lived in the early 1900s. He outlined skin zones (or head zones) that represent specific organs. An organ-based illness can cause the associated skin zone to react by becoming more sensitive or painful. By working on the skin site, you can alleviate the illness. The skin is replete with blood vessels and nerves. They connect to the muscles, organs, and all parts of the body. If you work on the right area of the body, you can therefore assist its related areas. Foot and Hand Reflexology In the 1930s, a physiotherapist named Eunice Ingham concluded that the feet were the most sensitive access points to the meridians. Her "genesis system" is the most widely accepted one, and is used around the world with only minor alterations. Our hands are unique tools, providing us with the ability to grasp, work, and manipulate objects. They are also highly sensitive organs, with thousands of capillaries and nerve endings that enable us to sense and touch our world. Hand reflexology involves working with the hand zones and analyzing the basic condition of the hands. Well-cared-for hands hint at the ability for self-care. Rough, callused hands reveal a hardworking character. Bitten nails shout "nervousness." In some ways, a hand reflexologist is a "hand therapist." Head Reflexology and Acupuncture Head reflexology has evolved from scalp acupuncture and is considered an effective way to treat pain as well as functional disturbances, especially those that are stress related or involve nervous-system disorders. Head reflexology can involve the use of needling and massage. Dr. Toshikatsu Yamamoto, who went to medical school in Japan, Germany, and the United States, developed the best-known contemporary version of scalp acupuncture, which is the basis for head massage. He systematically uncovered the scalp's energy points and found that they formed a microsystema sort of independent body. Yamamoto named the head zones in an alphabetical fashion. Auricular (Ear) Reflexology and Acupuncture Ear massage and acupuncture are primary treatment sites in various Easternand now Western practices. The process was discussed in the classic Chinese textbook the Huang Di Nei Jing, and was used by followers of the Greek physician Hippocrates around 400 BC. The Chinese outlined twenty therapeutic points on the ear during the Tang Dynasty, between 618 and 907 AD. We owe our modern system to French physician Paul Nogier, who in the 1950s observed small burn zones in specific areas of the ear on patients who had seen a folk healer for back pain, one of the ailments most typically treated by auricular therapy. Nogier experimented to discover a reflex map of the ear, comparing it with an upside-down embryo. His system has become the most accepted in recent times. It is frequently used for chronic pain, dyslexia, and a variety of addictions.
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Reiki: Channeling Universal Life Energy Reiki is an energy practice involving the channeling and delivery of universal life energy, an animate
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energy found everywhere within and around us. The term reiki literally means "spiritually guided life energy." There are many forms and founders of reiki. One of the originators is Dr. Mikao Usui, who developed the practice in the beginning of the twentieth century in Japan. Other key leaders include Dr. Hayashi and Mrs. Hawayo Takata. Currently, reiki training involves passing three or four stages of teaching. Accredited reiki masters are now often employed as energy therapists in hospitals and clinics in the West. The reiki system draws on chakra knowledge as well as specific symbols. A practitioner is initiated into the use of these symbols, which are considered sacred: the keys that open the doors to the higher mind, triggering an intention or belief that brings about specific results. By using these symbols in a process called attunement, a reiki master can perform hands-on or distant healing. Whole-Body Treatment In a typical whole-body reiki treatment, the practitioner asks the recipient to lie down, usually on a massage table, and relax. The recipient usually wears loose, comfortable clothing during the treatment. The practitioner might take a few moments to enter a calm or meditative state of mind and mentally prepare for the treatment, which is usually carried out without any unnecessary talking. The treatment proceeds with the practitioner placing his hands on the recipient in various positions. However, practitioners may use a non-touching technique, where the hands are held a few centimeters away from the recipient's body, for some or all of the positions. The hands are usually kept still for three to five minutes before moving to the next position. Overall, the hand positions usually give a general coverage of the head, the front and back of the torso, the knees, and the feet. Between twelve and twenty positions are used, with the whole treatment lasting forty-five to ninety minutes. Some practitioners use a fixed set of hand positions. Others use their intuition to guide them as to where treatment is needed, sometimes starting the treatment with a "scan" of the recipient to find such areas. The intuitive approach might also lead to individual positions being treated for much shorter or longer periods of time. It is reported that the recipient often feels warmth or tingling in the area being treated, even when a non-touching approach is used. A state of deep relaxation, combined with a general feeling of well-being, is usually the most noticeable immediate effect of the treatment, although emotional releases can also occur. As the Reiki treatment is said to be stimulating natural healing processes, instantaneous "cures" of specific health problems are not usually observed. A series of three or more treatments, typically at intervals of one to seven days, is usually recommended to address a chronic condition. Regular treatments, on an ongoing basis, can be used with the aim of maintaining well-being. The interval between such treatments is typically in the range of one to four weeks, except in the case of self-treatment, when a daily practice is common. Localized Treatment Localized reiki treatments involve the practitioner's hands being held on or near a specific part of the body. Recent injuries are usually treated in this way, with the site of injury being targeted. There is great variation in the duration of such treatments, though twenty minutes might be typical. Some practitioners use localized treatments for certain ailments, and some publications have tabulated appropriate hand positions. However, other practitioners prefer to use the whole-body treatment for all chronic conditions, on the grounds that it has a more holistic effect. Another approach is to give a whole-body treatment first, followed by a localized treatment.
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Sound Healing
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Raise your hand. Though inaudible to your everyday senses, the invisible energy of this movement sounds a note. Certain notes or tones can be harmful. Very low infrasonic frequencies can collapse internal organs; ultrasonic energy can decalcify and soften bones. But sound can also heal. In the 1970s, researcher Fabion Mamon sounded a tuning fork on a cancer cell. The cell dissolved. Sound healing employs sound to create balance and healing. As an energy medicine, it is a vibrational therapy that impacts all levels of the human selfas well as all living organisms. Since water conducts sound four times faster than air, it can be a useful toolespecially for our bodies, which are 70 percent water. Sound delivers healing vibrations faster than many other methods. It is frequently employed in chakra and auric field therapy, but has also been used by allopathic practitioners for autism, insomnia, and other conditions, and is now introduced in varieties of acupuncture. This is the science behind sound therapy: constructed of electrons, protons, neutrons, and subatomic particles, each atom is surrounded by electrons that move faster than six hundred miles per second. Motion creates frequency, which creates vibration, which in turn generates sound (whether audible or not). Vibration is one-half of our energy quotient, and therefore it is information. However, sound information forms patterns out of matter. Therefore, the vibration must contain the information needed to form these patterns. Sound moves in waves, and in turn creates fields. Particular sounds are passed into, out of, and through the body via molecules, which act as transfer points for information. A molecule can literally take on the vibration of an initial pulse and pass this vibration on to its neighbors, which is why sound can shape and change the body and its fields. Water molecules, formed from crystals, will actually shape and reshape according to the vibration of a sound or the information coded into itfor better or worse. As demonstrated in a variety of studies, negative thoughts form ugly and harmful crystalline shapes, and positive thoughts form beautiful and sustaining ones. One of the most important issues in relation to sound is that of resonance, which occurs when one object, vibrating at its own unique frequency, begins to vibrate at the same frequency as another object. When multiple systems vibrate or resonate together, the result is called entrainment. When the body entrains to positive thoughtssuch as faith, hope, and lovestudies show that overall health improves. When the body resonates to negative thoughts, parts of the system might either entrain to this negativity (and result in dis-ease or "lack of ease") or enter discord, which also creates a lack of ease. Not every object can entrain to a presenting vibration. If a tuning fork is attuned at 100 Hz, an ordinary table fork will create a resonance with it. Strike a 440 Hz tuning fork, however, and the 100 Hz tuning fork will not respond. Tissue, wood, and boneall sorts of matter will resonate if struck by a vibration within their frequency range. This is important information for healers. Every single person generates his or her own personal harmonic, or vibratory, range that is particular to the self. Living beings will "pick up" and respond to the people, ideas, or even medicines that vibrate within their personal range, and will resist the ones that do not. If a stronger vibration, such as a pathogen or a negative opinion from someone else, "overrules" our personal one, disease can set in. A sympathetic vibration is one that suits the living being within its range. Its effect is not produced by intensitysuch as loudnessbut by pitch. The inaudible humming of a fluorescent light or the thought of a person sitting nearbyor even a thousand miles away, but connected through the quantum fieldcan disturb a living being's vibratory rates and therefore, individual energetic fields. This is part of the reason that artificial electromagnetic fields and other forms of geopathic stress are so dangerous: the bombarding energies actually create dissonance within living beings. Geopathic stress is a natural phenomenon that affects certain places and can be damaging to our health. It relates to irregularities in the earth's magnetic field, which can be disturbed by streams of underground water, geological fractures, quarries, mine workings, and other features. Depending on its source, geopathic stress may be found either as a line passing through an area, or as an irregular zone or pool.
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Appropriate music or sounds can help restore the natural vibrations of a living being and therefore health, as long as these vibrations resonate with the natural vibration of that being. Classical music that beats at forty to sixty beats a minute, for instance, calms the heart and, through entrainment, soothes the entire body. There are dozens of energetically based sound therapies. This list by Jonathan Goldman, a respected sound therapist and author, outlines a few of them: Bioacoustics (missing frequencies of a client's voice are found and played back via synthesized sounds) Cymatic therapy Electronic Ear (special music filtered through headphones to treat a variety of conditions) Harmonic resonance Hemi-Sync (balances the hemispheres of the brain and induces altered states) Mantric chanting Music in imagery Music therapy Tapes with specifically designed frequencies Toning and overtoning Tuning forks (applied directly or indirectly to the physical body) Vibro-Acoustic beds and chairs (specially designed equipment projects music into a client's body) Everything in the world functions at an optimal frequency or has its own soundeven a virus. When a person is operating at optimal health, his or her "tones" are attuned with each other and aligned with the external world. Any stress-related conditionan emotion, negative belief or event, or pathogencan be labeled as an "invading sound" or frequency that can disrupt the body's natural frequencies or vibrations. If the body or those parts of the body (including the energetic structures) are unable to attune the "out-of-tune" frequency to its personal frequency, the invading frequency "takes over" and eventually causes disease. Sound therapists work in a number of ways, but they ultimately must diagnose or determine the invading frequency. They must then determine which frequencies will eliminate the invading force, strengthen the person's natural frequencies, or compel the two forces (the invading and the individual's frequencies) to work together in a healthy way. Besides paying attention to pitch or harmonics, a sound therapist also addresses tempo or rhythm, which is measured in beats per minute (bpm). Generally, a tempo of 40 to 60 bpm is calming, while a tempo of 80 to 120 bpm is stimulating. One of the most important ways music and sounds affect the body is by altering brain waves. The brain has four basic waves: beta (14 Hz and above; normal waking state), alpha (813 Hz; dreaming and light meditation), theta (47 Hz; inward focus and transitions), and delta (0.53 Hz; deep sleep). The brain is particularly responsive to certain sounds, depending on pitch and tempo, among other factors. Different frequencies of sound entrain the brain to different brain waves. For instance, a drumbeat, frequently used by shamans during healing, typically operates at 240 to 270 bpm and shifts brain waves from beta to theta. In the early 1970s, Gerald Oster discovered a binaural beat or rhythm. When a different sound frequency is played in each ear through stereo headphones, such as 100 Hz and 109 Hz, the brain perceives a 9 Hz frequency, which provides pain relief, stress reduction, and visioning, among other benefits.
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Flower Essence Therapy Flower essences consist of plant blossoms prepared from a sun infusion in a bowl of water; the preparations are then further diluted, potentized, and preserved with brandy. These preparations are said to embody the distinct imprint, or energetic pattern, of each flower species.
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As with other modalities of energy healing, flower essence therapy is based upon the principle that dis-ease is the result of an imbalance or disrupted flow of energy in the body. The living forces of nature collected from the blooms of the flowering plants are said to re-balance the energy in the various levels of our energetic anatomyat subtle levels. The founder of flower essence therapy was an English surgeon named Edward Bach, a pioneer in understanding the connection between our emotional bodies and physical health. The thirty-eight original flower remedies, known as Bach Healing Herbs, were used to treat the underlying emotional causes of diseases. How to Use Flower Essences Flower essences are very safe to use and rarely involve unwanted side effects. They are generally taken as drops under the tongue or mixed with a small quantity of water and sipped throughout the day. Deciding which essence to use, as with many energy-healing modalities, often involves an intuitive process. By quieting down and turning inward, you may be guided to the right essence for you at any particular time. You may also use kinesiology ("muscle testing") to help you to determine what is best for you in working with a particular issue or symptom in your life. Two popular flower essences are the Five Flowers Rescue Remedy and yarrow. Five Flowers is a combination of essences taken in challenging situations to ease fear and restore calm and confidence. Yarrow is commonly used to strengthen and protect against toxic environmental influences, stress, and other hazards of our technology-dominated modern life. Although people occasionally notice immediate shifts when taking flower essences, others may not notice any obvious changes due to the subtle nature of the remedies. Like any healing methodology, use your intuition, knowing that energy healing can take time and can accumulate over regular use. Experiment with a number of flower remedies and use your own intelligence to guide you.
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Aromatherapy Aromatherapy is the practice of using volatile plant oils, including essential oils, for psychological and physical well-being. Essential oils (also known as volatile oils) are the basic materials of aromatherapy. They are made from fragrant essences found in many plants. These essences are made in special plant cells, often under the surface of leaves, bark, or peel, using energy from the sun and elements from the air, soil, and water. If the plant material is crushed, the essence and its unique fragrance are released. When essences are extracted from plants in natural ways, they become essential oils. They may be distilled with steam and/or water, or mechanically pressed. Oils that are made through chemical processes are not considered true essential oils. There are many essential oils used in aromatherapy, including Roman chamomile, geranium, lavender, tea tree, lemon, cedarwood, and bergamot. Each type of essential oil has a different chemical structure that affects how it smells, how it is absorbed, and how it is used by the body. Even varieties of plants within the same species may have chemical structures different from each other because they are grown or harvested in different ways or locations. Essential oils are very concentrated. For example, it takes about 220 pounds of lavender flowers to make about one pound of essential oil. Essential oils evaporate quickly when they come into contact with air. How Does Aromatherapy Work? There are different theories about how aromatherapy and essential oils work. One theory is that smell
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receptors in the nose may respond to the essential-oil scents by sending chemical messages along nerve pathways to the brain's limbic system, which affects moods and emotions. Imaging studies in humans help show the effects of smells on the limbic system and its emotional pathways. Another theory suggests that because essential oils are extracted from whole aromatic plants, they have a life force or vitality that can affect the body in unique ways. Aromatherapy is rarely taken by mouth, but is most often used in one of two ways: Inhalation (taken into the body by breathing). This can be done by using a diffuser or placing drops of essential oils near the patient. Topical treatment (applied to the skin), usually in a diluted form. This can be done by massaging with essential oils diluted in a carrier oil, or by using essential oils in bathwater, lotions, or dressings.
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TEACHING: Positive Energy Practices I'd like to talk a bit about one of the most relevant topics to my patients: energy vampires. It's amazing how many people are being drained by others and have absolutely no idea what to do about it. In this article and corresponding exercises, I'll introduce you to what an energy vampire is, how to recognize one, and how to combat one. Once you have these skills, you won't be so prone to being drained by others' energy. Many of my patients go years allowing themselves to be drained by energy vampires, including relatives, bosses, or peripheral people in their lives, and they tolerate it as normal. I define an energy vampire as somebody who sucks your energy dry. You need to use your body's intuition to sense this; it's not something you can get with your mind. For example, you're talking to someone at a party who looks perfectly nice, yet as you chat, your energy bottoms out and you start feeling seasick or tired. This person is draining your energy, even though there might not be an obvious cause. In situations like this, the rational mind tries to talk you out of your realization that you're being drained by another person's energy. Your mind makes excuses: "I'm getting the flu, or, I'm not feeling well, or, I'm so neurotic." As a psychiatrist and a physician, I'm here to say that this energy-vampire phenomenon is real, and I'm asking you to trust your intuition whenever you feel your energy being drained by other people. What my patients report, unfortunately, is that when they encounter an energy vampire, they're afraid to excuse themselves, to flee the situation, because they're afraid of being impolite. This is a big hindrance to self-care because as you're being drained, your mind is having a dialogue convincing you why this isn't happening and why you should stay there. You need to use your intuition to gauge your energy level around somebody who's draining your energy, and then take appropriate action. I want you to trust yourself with people on the deepest level. We'll talk about the different kinds of energy vampires and specific techniques to deal with them. But to begin, look at your life and begin to analyze people who give you energy versus people who drain your energy. Make a list, and be absolutely honest about who the drainers are. This is your private list, so don't worry about hurting other people's feelings. It may be hard to really take a look: Are your vampires family? Is it your mother, father, sister, brother? Could it be your cousins or your coworkers, your boss or your friends? It could be someone you love very much, but he or she still drains your energy. Take a total inventory of your life and write down the names of these people in your journal so that you can honestly assess where your energy is going. As we go through this exercise, you'll be able to see what type of energy vampire they are and what to do about them.
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Many of us experienced energy vampires when we were children, and sometimes these vampires came in the form of loving parents who didn't mean to be vampires, yet they were. My mother was a very large, "movie-star"-type energy. She was flamboyant, expressive, and loving, but she also had opinions that used to decimate me when I was a girl, so she was an energy vampire in that sense. She would get me with zingers such as, "You have such wild hair," or, "Why do you wear those clothes?" or, "If you only wore different clothes, you'd be so beautiful." Zinger comments like that make you feel about two inches tall and drain your energy, proving that words have energy. My mother didn't mean to hurt me; in fact, she loved me with all her heart. Yet the unconscious part of her, or the tape that was in her head, would say hurtful things. In fact, I felt so damaged that it's taken me years to feel comfortable going shopping and buying clothes that I like without hearing my mother's voice. Energy vampires have the propensity to say things that drain your energy and take a really long time to get over. So as you're taking inventory of the energy vampires in your life, reflect back on your childhood and ask yourself, "Now what did my mother say? What did my father say?" Try to remember words, behavior, or any kind of activity that might have drained your energy. Our energy is very sensitive. A child is especially open to the body's subtle-energy fields, so having an energy vampire in your life at a very young age can damage your energy field. That damage can come from simple things a parent says or from more extreme energy vampires, such as alcoholic or abusive parents. You carry this damage with you all your life until you begin to heal it. And you can heal it if you're conscious of how childhood experiences with energy vampires affect your energy level as an adult. As you take stock, also look back on the people who gave you energy. This gives you a clear sense of the origins of both the positive and negative energy so that you can become attuned to areas in yourself that need healing or repair. This way you can have the maximum amount of energy now in your life. On the following practices, we explore some common varieties of energy vampires: the sob sister, the blamer, the drama queen, and the constant talker. You'll learn to recognize these energies in your life and as well as practical techniques for combating them, to keep your energy strong, grounded, and balanced.
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GUIDED PRACTICES: Protection against Energy Vampires I'm excited to share with you some positive energy practices to deal with energy vampires. There are separate practices for each type of vampire, but you can use each practice with any vampire you choose. You must use your intuition and common sense to determine which practice fits which vampire. I'll first walk you through the practices in written form, and will then guide you through each on audio. Energy Vampire Number One: The Sob Sister This practice protects your energy by helping you set clear boundaries with a sob sister, the chronic complainer, so that he or she won't continually run over your energy. Settle into a comfortable seated position, close your eyes, and breathe deeply in the moment. Begin to center yourself and let all the tension release. Relax and open to this visualization. When a sob sister is complaining, take a breath, center yourself, and tell yourself you can handle this. And then gently, lovingly, sensitively you begin to set boundaries. If this is a friend calling you on the phone, visualize yourself saying, "You know, I love you, but I can only listen for five or ten minutes, until you get into solutions."
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The sob sister might get angry or resist, so you'll have to be very consistent every time this happens and keep saying, "I love you, but I can only listen for five or ten minutes. When you're interested in talking about solutions to this problem, I'm here for you." I'd like you to visualize being able to open your mouth, speak up, and set boundaries for this sob sister, so you don't feel victimized by this energy vampire's complaints.
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Energy Vampire Number Two: The Blamer Now here's a practice you can try for the energy vampire who's a blamer. Again, settle into a comfortable position, close your eyes, center yourself, and breathe deeply in the moment. To deflect a blamer's vibes and words, you can use your own energy as a shield. I'd like you to visualize yourself being around a blamer, at a dinner table, at workanywhere you might encounter him or her. Now imagine yourself enveloped by a cocoon of white light. Picture it as a shield that totally surrounds you. Then when you're at the dinner table and the blamer starts up, you'll take a breath, tell yourself you can deal with this, and visualize white light all around your body, a protective shield covering every single inch of you. This covering lets positive energy in but keeps negative energy out. When you've erected this shield, you may hear the blamer's words and see his mouth moving, but the energy doesn't affect you. In the visualization, I'd like you to feel this shield strengthening. This shield isn't meant to numb you out. What you're doing with this visualization is building a buffer zone where these negative vibes cannot get to you and that you can erect anytime, to protect you from an energy vampire's drain.
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Energy Vampire Number Three: The Drama Queen In this positive energy practice, you again deal with the drama queen, or any vampire, from a centered, calm place. Settle into a comfortable position, close your eyes, center yourself, and breathe deeply. The moment you sense the drama queen revving up, take a slow, deep breath to ground yourself before he or she has the power to throw you off. Breathing is a wonderful way to quickly connect with your life force that gives you the strength to know that you have the wherewithal to deal with a drama queen. It's critical not to give person's dramas any mileage, so when he or she starts revving up, tell yourself you know what you're dealing with, and that you can handle it. Practice saying to the drama queen, "I'm so sorry all of this is happening to you, but I have to get back to work now." The idea is to set limits quickly,and then continue with the next activity. The point of the visualization is to practice denying the drama queen any mileage so that she or he goes to somebody else. You need to do this from a calm, centered place, and you need to practice it over and over again.
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Energy Vampire Number Four: The Constant Talker Here's a positive energy practice to deal with the constant talker or joke-teller. As before, I'd like you to close your eyes, center yourself, and breathe deeply in the moment. Visualize that you're in the presence of a vampire who won't stop bombarding you with words. Imagine you're at a party, and he or she has you cornered and is going on and on about something without pausing for a breath, when you could interrupt. Constant talkers don't respond to nonverbal cues, so when dealing with a constant talker, you must visualize yourself being ready to interrupt them. As you hear the constant rant, tell yourself, "As hard as this may be, I will interrupt this person." Then practice saying, "Excuse me, I'm so sorry to have to interrupt you, but I'm really going to have to go on and talk to this other person. It was nice talking to you; goodbye." This might feel awkward at first, but with the constant talker there are no other options. You must open your mouth and speak up, but with a kind, sensitive, loving tone. Interrupting the constant talker with anger or irritability will only keep them talking. The key is protecting your energy by staying neutral, interrupting in a kind way, and then excusing yourself so you can escape the barrage of their energy drain. Practice this over and over again. It's typically very hard to interrupt someone, and we're not taught to do that in our society. Inwardly tell yourself, "This is irritating, but I want to treat this constant talker respectfully." The constant talker will go on to someone else and immediately start up again. So the idea is to gracefully express yourself and remove yourself from the situation.
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GUIDED EXERCISES ON AUDIO Please take some time to listen to and put into practice the following guided exercises for increasing positive energy. Combating Energy Vampires by Judith Orloff
Questions for Reflection What was your experience during each of the four positive energy practices? Which of the four energy-draining scenarios do you most often encounter in your life? Do you have any sense as to why you might attract this type of energy drain into your experience? Do you feel that you have the tools you need to begin to work more consciously with this energy?
Your Homework for the Week Over the course of the next week, pay particular attention to situations and scenarios that drain your energy. Notice how you respond to these situations and begin to apply what you've learned in this lesson as a way to begin to generate greater positive energy. Look carefully at patterns that may be established which govern, at an unconscious level, how you react to manifestations of the sob sister, the blamer, the drama queen, and the constant talker. Write about your discoveries in your journal.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing Energy healer and bestselling author Cyndi Dale, author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy (Sounds True, 2009), has answered the following frequently asked questions. For more information about this groundbreaking book and the work of Cyndi Dale, visit cyndidale.com. Q: Can I take my child to see an energy healer? What about my pet? A: Absolutely. In fact, many practitioners, including myself, have found that children and animals are often more receptive and shift more quickly and more gently than adults, as their issues arent so entrenched. In Minneapolis, where I live, we have several holistic vets, and I know a lot of mainstream people who take their animals there. What they are discovering is that the animals are able to receive an expanded version of care rather than just surgery or a pill. Childrens issues are not as entrenched as our adult issues. Many symptoms (and there is science to substantiate this) are caused by or locked into the physical body by emotions, especially long-held emotions. There are studies which show that emotions can get trapped in the body and create an actual, physical block because of the tension that results. As a result, the part of the body housing this blockage is more inclined to develop cancer, muscle strain, bone problems, arthritis, or other various conditions. What has been discovered is that these conditions can in fact be healed or at least positively shifted by getting more energy, both physical and subtle, moving through the part of the body in question. Children, because their emotional issues havent gestated as long, are better able than adults, in many cases, to process and heal stuck energy that is causing unwanted symptoms. In sum, both children and animals respond quite well to energy healing.
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Q: When should I see a regular doctor instead of an energy healer? A: I believe that if you have any concern that is affecting the vital components of your body and life, you should see a mainstream doctor. If you believe you may have a core illness or diseasepain related, heart related, cancer, or autoimmuneits very important that you work with a mainstream specialist. They are very good at diagnosing, which is helpful even if youre going to springboard into and/or supplement with energy healing. Also, there are techniques and methods that mainstream medicine can provide which energy healing cannot, for example surgery. Along with core physical concerns, mainstream medicine can be very helpful even when it comes to emotional and mental conditions. Sometimes emotional issues or so-called mental issues are really biochemical in nature, and the only way we can really effect a change is to use mainstream methods. All this being said, I usually recommend that people use energy healing as at least an adjunct to the mainstream care they receive, even in more serious situations. Energy healing can help you to look at the underlying causes of your condition, which are not usually addressed in mainstream care. For example, certain beliefs may be contributing to your situation, or emotional or spiritual factors may be involved. There are studies that show, for instance, with cancer, that patients who join support groups, who look at their beliefs, who unlock their long-held memories, live longer and have a higher success rate when using conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Q: Is there proof that energy healing works? A: There is an increasing amount of statistically viable evidence that energy healing works, both in terms of cures and healing as well as providing emotional support so that were better able to cope with the diseases and conditions that we do have. NOTE: Well be looking more carefully at what science has to say about energy healing in subsequent sessions. Q: How do I know that energy fields, which cannot be measured, really exist? A: Theres an ever-expanding wealth of statistical evidence which proves that energy fields existnot only relative to human beings, but for animals, plants, and all living objects. Decades ago, science first took pictures of energy fields around plants that could be disturbed if, for instance, the plant was cut. Scientists have been exploring these fields ever since.
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Session Five: Sound HealingAligning Your Energy Body

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Introduction to Session 5 In this session, we will we finish our introduction to the primary types of energy healing, noting five additional subtle-body methodologies, and will explore briefly the various benefits of energy healing. Your instructor for much of the theoretical material in this session is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. This sessions teaching and practice will introduce you to the field of sound healing, and how sound can be used to stimulate health, well-being, and personal transformation at the deepest levels. As part of this week's session, you will be taken on a twenty-five-minute sound journey through your energetic body. Your instructor for the guided exercise in Session Five is David Ison, renowned sound healer and meditation teacher, and creator of The Musical Body Program.
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We'll now wrap up our discussion of the most common types of energy healing. Healing Touch Healing touch is an energy-based therapy that utilizes a variety of hands-on techniques to rebalance an individual's energy, supporting physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. Healing touch is a complementary (or integrative) energy therapy that can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies. The goal of healing touch is to restore harmony and balance in the human energy system by creating an optimal environment to enable the body's innate tendency for healing to occur. The benefits of healing touch have been demonstrated in rigorous scientific study for more than two decades. The following benefits have been documented in at least one research study: Pain relief or decrease in pain level Acceleration of post-operative recovery Symptom relief during or after chemotherapy Development or deepening of a spiritual connection Calming those with dementia Decreased depression Decreased anxiety Improved quality of life Assistance with the dying process (through relaxation, peace, acceptance) Improved mood Decreased stress Improved mobility after surgery Decreased use of pain medications post-operatively Decreased negative effects of trauma/chronic pain and post-traumatic stress
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Improved symptoms in autoimmune disorders Support for withdrawal from addictive substances Immune-system strengthening and support How Does Healing Touch Work?
Practitioners use their hands with light or near-body touch to help clear, balance, and energize the human energy system, thus promoting healing for the mind, body, and/or spirit. Because of the effective results seen over recent years, healing touch is now part of patient-care systems in more than thirty U.S. hospitals. Healing touch skills are becoming increasingly validated in health-care systems around the country. Hospitals that support the practice of healing touch as part of their integrative health-care system have found that it facilitates the return of compassion to the forefront of patient care. Hospitals, nursing and medical schools, and allied health professions throughout the world are increasingly embracing integrative medicine as consumer demand multiplies and as research supports its use. Healing touch has had an active research program for more than ten years. It is considered one of the worlds leading energy-medicine modalities.
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CranioSacral Therapy CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on approach that releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance. It was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger after years of clinical testing and research at Michigan State University, where he served as professor of biomechanics. Using a soft touch generally no greater than five gramsabout the weight of a nickelpractitioners release restrictions in the soft tissues that surround the central nervous system. CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease; it's effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction. How Does CranioSacral Therapy Work? Few structures have as much influence over the body's ability to function properly as the brain and spinal cord. Moreover, the central nervous system is heavily influenced by the craniosacral systemthe membranes and fluid that surround, protect, and nourish the brain and spinal cord. Every day, your body endures stresses and strains that it must work to compensate for. Unfortunately, these changes often cause bodily tissues to tighten and distort the craniosacral system. These distortions can then cause tension around the brain and spinal cord, resulting in restrictions. This can create a barrier to the central nervous system's healthy performance and potentially every other system it interacts with. Fortunately, such restrictions can be detected and corrected using simple methods of touch. With a light touch, the CST practitioner uses his or her hands to evaluate the craniosacral system; he or she does so by gently feeling various locations of the body to test for the ease of motion and rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid pulsing around the brain and spinal cord. Soft-touch techniques are then used to release restrictions in any tissues influencing the craniosacral system. By normalizing the environment around the brain and spinal cord and enhancing the body's ability to self-correct, CST alleviates dysfunctions ranging from chronic pain and sports injuries, to stroke and neurological impairment. What Conditions Does CranioSacral Therapy Address?
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Migraines and headaches Chronic neck and back pain Stress and tension-related disorders Motor-coordination impairments Infant and childhood disorders Brain and spinal-cord injuries Chronic fatigue Fibromyalgia TMJ (temporomandibular joint of the jaw) syndrome Scoliosis Disorders of the central nervous system Learning disabilities Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Orthopedic Problems
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Matrix Energetics Matrix Energetics is a complete system of healing, self-care, and transformation. It is a transferable, teachable phenomenonpowered by intentthat has a physical and observable effect. Complete beginners as well as seasoned health-care practitioners are able to perform and utilize this work to effect changewith no waiting and no use of energy. Matrix Energetics starts with a gentle, light touch and the power of focused intent and builds into a new, joy-filled state that can create life changes. It's very much about transforming your beliefs concerning healing, disease, and the structure of reality. Matrix Energetics sometimes appears magical in its expression, but it's based on the laws and expression of subtle-energy physics and the concepts and laws of quantum physics, superstring theory, and Sheldrake's Morphic Resonance. A person being worked on experiences a smooth wave of transformation, and the body quickly drops into a completely relaxed wave. This can happen while the person is standing up, sitting down, or lying on a table. Participants learn specific methods of using a powerful, focused intent. This is combined with application of a light-touch method for identifying the parts of the body where the Matrix Energetics "wave" will yield optimum results. What seems to be happening is that unconsciousness and the biological physical fields are interacting.
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Gemstone and Crystal Therapy Gemstones, including crystals, have been used for thousands of years to clear, infuse, and balance the chakras (energy centers within the subtle body). Crystals and other stones each represent a unique molecular structure through which a practitioner can program or channel intentional energy for healing or to obtain information. Gemstone healing is often used in conjunction with the chakras or to create specific effects in the auric or other biofields. Every gemstone operates at a certain frequency, as do the chakras. Using intention, a practitioner working to balance the subtle-energy body can "program" a gemstone for many purposes, including healing, purifying, and adding energy to the physical body. There are many ways to work with gemstones. In general, it is important to remember that energy
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follows intention. You can simply hold a stone in your hands and meditate or pray over it, visualizing or sensing the task you want it to perform. Then you can clear a gemstone the same way, or set it in the sun so that nature can purify it for you. As mentioned, certain gemstones are associated with specific chakras, which allow the stone to work in particular ways or on specific life issues. For example, rose quartz is associated with the fourth chakra, the heart center. Known as the "love crystal," it is said to heal the heart, relationships, and bonding issues. It promotes self-love and the healing of "inner child" issues or problems from youth. As another example, one of the most important gemstones associated with the seventh chakra (linked with the spiritual) is the amethyst. It is seen to assist in meditation, through balancing the various bodies within your energetic anatomy.
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What Are the Benefits of Energy Healing? Many people have become frustrated with a one-size-fits-all approach to physical and emotional care and treatment. Others have been stuck with unwanted symptoms for years, receiving little or no relief from conventional treatments. Some use energy healing as an initial response to unwanted conditions of body and mind, while others first seek conventional medical treatment and then supplement with energy healing. The choice is yours. We recommend that you experiment with the various energy-healing techniquesalong with a trusted health-care professional if you choose.* Use your own intuition and feelings as a guide, and see which methods work and feel right for you. *This information is not intended to replace the advice of a qualified health-care professional. Four Reasons People Seek Out Energy Healing 1. It works. Very simply, as millions around the world have experienced, you may find benefit or relief through energy healing even when conventional treatment has failed or was less effective than you'd like. Many diseases and conditions have not been healed through conventional methodologies, despite medicine's best efforts. 2. It offers non-invasive, low-impact treatment. Energy healing does not involve invasive or painful surgeries, expensive ongoing medication that may or may not have side effects, or the stress and emotional challenges that often accompany doctor and hospital visits. 3. It effects change at a deeper level than conventional treatment. Rather than treating the symptom of a particular disease, ailment, or discomfort, energy healing seeks to find the core cause underlying the symptom. Thus, when you undergo an energy healing, the root of your issue is responded to directly and the treatment often sticks or is long lasting. A common analogy is gardening. If you chop the tops off the weeds, you'll make your garden look nice temporarily, but the weeds will grow back even stronger. To get rid of weeds once and for all, you must uproot them. This is the goal of energy healing. 4. It provides integrative care. Many people are convinced that in order to ultimately heal, all dimensions of your being must come into the healing process. Rather than merely taking prescription drugs or otherwise passively participating in the transformation process, these people want to bring in body, mind, emotions, and spiritfor a true integral response.
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The Scope of Energy Treatment
Energy healing has broad application. It can treat just about any physical or emotional condition or problem treatable by conventional medicineand many that aren't. Whether it's used for headaches, asthma, insomnia, depression, or menopause, energy healing focuses on the core imbalance in the body's energy field to bring about relief from symptoms and the ultimate re-establishing of the body's innate wholeness. Some energy healers specialize in a particular symptom or family of symptoms (e.g., allergies, women's health, psycho-emotional issues), whereas others are skilled at diagnosing and healing a wide array of conditions (similar to a general practitioner). As with any health-care professional, it's important to ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable about any proposed treatment plan.
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GUIDED EXERCISE: Sound Healing and Aligning Your Energy Body On this guided exercise with sound-healing pioneer David Ison, you'll explore your essential self as it unfolds through the various energy centers (chakras) of your physical and subtle body. This twentyfive-minute sound journey will take you into transformative realms of deep relaxation, insight, and healing, as you release energetic blockages throughout your entire being. Listen as a guided meditation with your full attention or play in the background for relaxation and quiet inspiration. The Musical Body: Climbing the Ladder to the Essential Self Before we get started on the journey through your energetic system and toward the essential self, I'd like to tell you a bit of my own transformational story. Many years ago, I broke my back in a car accident and lost the ability to walk. I was in a great deal of pain and very, very scared. Something had to be done, and it didn't look good. Of course, the medical establishment's approach was to perform surgery right away and to pump me full of addictive, numbing drugs. What they didn't know was that I had been practicing a type of energy-based meditation for about ten years by that point. I refused the surgery and the drugs and began to use meditation techniques to direct the body's vital forceour natural healing energyto the area where the injury was most pronounced. Slowly over a period of weeks, I was able to create a deep state of relaxation and reduce my levels of pain. Gradually, I regained my ability to use my legs and walked out of the hospital. Happily, I wasn't addicted to drugs and was relatively pain free. I began a long recovery process, an effort that eventually led me to compose some very powerful new music. The music mimicked the breathing patterns of the meditation techniques I used to recover from the accident, and created what I call the breath effect." Amazingly, listening to the music was also able to bring others into a deep state of relaxation, through this breath effect. Even more interestingly, the music also resonated with the body's energy systemthe seven chakras. It stimulated these centers, awakening them and releasing the storehouse of creative vital force that was waiting there to be discovered, giving listeners glimpses into the deepest aspects of themselves. Over time, this music evolved into dozens of transformational programs including The Musical Body Program. Besides creating the music, I also discovered a powerful method for clearing out the layers of emotional, personal, and spiritual baggage within the consciousness, creating pathways to my Essential Self. In time, the very medical establishment that had offered me surgery and drugs embraced this new music and methodas highlighted by its use at the National Institutes of Health. At the NIH, studies were performed showing that the music does create a deep state of relaxation and brings about profound positive emotional, psychological, and physical changes in the people who use it. About the Musical Body Program
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The Musical Body Program (MBP) is a music-based, transformational system designed to create a deep state of relaxation, release your creative life energy, and to communicate a practice that brings you closer to your Essential Self. The MBP contains seven transformational programs that are one hour in length. The eighth and final programthe Harmonizeris right around thirty minutes in length and will be the focus of our work together in this lesson. Each of the programs helps to awaken and then bring forward the energy waiting within each of the body's seven energy centers, the seven chakras. Each program offers a unique verbal meditation that targets a particular energy center, followed by a long period of beautiful and highly effective music. These powerful compositions will help to enhance your breathing, create a deep state of relaxation, release the vital force held in that chakra, and then bring you closer to the experience of the essential, spiritual self that is waiting there to be received. The MBP starts with the idea of listeninglistening to the music and the guided meditationsand then listening to the Essential Self coming forward as you use the method and the music. Going deeper: listening, when you think about it, is the essence of receiving. You listen with your ears, and they receive sound. The Musical Body Program helps you to experience the energy of receiving: receiving your vital force, receiving your self, and receiving the world around you. There is another type of listening and receiving that you should also become familiar withlistening with your inner ear, with your mind. Turning your ears inward and tuning into your interior universe, you can receive your vital force as a heightened sense of creative energy, and your Essential Self as words and ideas; as pictures in your mind and as feelings of self-love and self-awareness. I encourage you to continue to develop the capacity to experience listening and receiving from within as well as without.
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Breathing with the Music Consistent, slow, and deep breathing typically reduces your pulse and blood pressure and creates a calm, receptive state of mind. When your body and mind are relaxed, your vital force finds it easier to move and thought, emotion, and consciousness flow more freely. This unimpeded flow of energy promotes and sustains healthful balance within the body and mind, and supports the continual reception of the Essential Self. Each aspect of the program uses its own distinctive harmonic pattern to entrain the breath so that it mimics the slow, deep patterns of meditative breathing and helps you to create a state of deep relaxation and emotional receptivitythe breath effect. You'll see how easy it is soon, as we go on a journey together. Climbing the Ladder: The Seven Chakras I have been working with the energetic systemthe chakrasat both a personal and a professional level for more than thirty years now, and I have learned quite a few things along the way. I'd like to share some of those things with you in an effort to make your journey a little easier and help make the roadway a little clearer. The seven chakras are your body's energetic superhighway and are part of an integrated, interactive system. Your emotions, your thoughts, your ideas, indeed, the essence of who you areyour creative vital forceall flow through this aspect of the mind and body. The energetic body can be seen as a ladder. There have been many references to this vision of the chakras, from Jacob's Ladder, the Kabala, and the Tree of Life of the Hebrews, to the meridians in Chinese acupuncture, to the mapping of the chakras in Ayurvedic medicine and so on. I like to think of each chakra as a rung on the ladder. Each chakra is the embodiment of particular essences, concepts, and functions and is a step toward coming into resonance with the Essential Self.
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These essences are then distributed to the body and the mind of both individuals and the collective consciousness of all human beings through the activity of each Energy Center. For example, the root chakra, located at the base of the spine, resonates with the genitals and all of their creative, life-giving potential. Here, we see how the essence of creation as energy has come into the body; has become embodied at the root chakra. When you see this clearly, it's a profound understanding. Take a few moments and meditate on this incredible example of how the universe and each and every one of us are in deep harmony, in resonance, in union. This action of embodiment is present within each energy center. Like the root chakra, each chakra resonates with a particular essence. What follows is a brief outline of the chakras, where they are located in the body, and the essence that is associated with each particular center.
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A Brief Outline of the Chakras The Key of C, the Root Chakra, Red The root chakra is the seat of the essence of creation, your vital force, your purpose and the essence of who you are, your essential nature. When the root chakra is open, you experience a feeling of calm self-confidence, along with the energy of your creative vital force moving throughout the mind and body. When the root chakra is blocked or bound by your emotions, memories, and desires, you often experience feelings of self-doubt and a lack of purpose, along with the never-ending list of questions concerning Who am I? and What is my purpose in life?, leaving you feeling empty and not present, not grounded. Learning to stay grounded and in the body is a very important first step in doing the work of bringing forward the Essential Self and experiencing the flow of your creative vital force. Opening the root chakra is the first step on this journey. The Key of D, the Second Chakra, Orange The second chakra is the seat of the essence of relationship, duality, and the beginnings of self-awareness. When the second chakra is open and unblocked by your emotions, memories, and desires, you experience a deep sense of self-awareness, a feeling of knowing who you are, of being present within yourself and for yourself. When this center is blocked, you may experience sensations of separation both within yourself and from your closest family members. You feel disconnected, not in relationship, agitated and alone. You are not present. Learning to be present and to welcome your relationship with yourself and others is the next step in creating the conditions that allow the Essential Self to come forward. Opening the second chakra is an important step on this journey. The Key of E, the Third Chakra, Yellow The third chakra is the seat of the essence of reception, unification, and centering, aspects of the Essential Self that are deeply empowered by your ability to choose. When the third chakra is open and free-flowing, you will experience a sense of being centered and a deep knowing of who and where you truly are. A sense of confident calm often accompanies these feelings. When the third chakra is blocked and bound, you may experience shortness of breath and a tendency toward panic attacks and feelings of anxiety. You may be faced with the inability to define your position within or relationship to the external world, and may experience chronic discontent with the details of your life. Learning to let go of these preconceptions is the next step in creating the conditions that allows the Essential Self to come forward. By allowing yourself to let go of these desires and the preconceptions and expectations that accompany them, you are beginning the work of opening the third chakra. The Key of F, the Fourth Chakra, Green The heart chakra is the seat of the essence of interconnection, transformation, and the beauty of unconditional love, aspects of our Essential Self and its pure heart. The opened and free-flowing heart chakra resonates with the energy of this transformation. Embodied in the heart itself, this center naturally
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performs the function of giving and receiving, giving and receiving, all in one motion, all at the same time, taking nothing, giving and sustaining life. When the heart chakra is blocked, feelings of loneliness and sadness are present; at a deeper level, emotions and feelings are present that interfere with the experience of unconditional love, the understanding of wholeness, and the nature of interconnection. Learning to be present with our feelings and transcending our possessive, demanding natures seems to be a never-ending story, born of our inability to simply accept all things for what they are and to stop trying to make them into what we want them to be. Opening the heart creates the opportunity to transcend this ancient human pattern, and to embrace the beauty of giving and receiving. The Key of G, the Fifth Chakra, Dark Blue The fifth chakra is the seat of the essence of expression, communication, and speaking your truth, aspects of the Essential Self that are deeply empowered by the harmonization of these energies in the heart chakra. When the fifth chakra is open and free-flowing, your ability to express the essence of who you are truly becomes possible. The Essential Self finally feels recognized, validated, and receivedyou feel comfortable with who you are, and your expression reflects this. When the fifth chakra is blocked, issues stemming from low self-esteem and the inability to express one's self clearly are present. "Holding back" the truth and an inability or reluctance to bring forth into language the qualities that were revealed in the transformation of the heart are also pervasive issues. Opening the fifth chakra encourages the expression of the next step in fulfilling your purposebeing present with what your Essential Self thinks, believes, and feels and developing the ability to speak from this place of unity and truth. The Key of A, the Sixth Chakra, Light purple The sixth chakra is the seat of the essence of clarity, open-mindedness, and seeing the truth. It is no coincidence that this center is located in the brow, in the "place between the eyes" Indeed, the sixth center is the most famous of all chakrasthe Third Eye. When the sixth chakra is open and free-flowing, you experience a sense of clarity and let go of the judgmental attitudes that produce anger, fear, and resentment. Appreciation born of the ability to see things as they truly are tailors your outlook on life. When the sixth chakra is blocked, you will often experience feelings of anger, doubt, and fear. Judgmental bias or dogmatic attitudes are usually present, states of mind that generally lead to an inability to make commitments. The need for clarification and reassurance is very present when this center is blocked. Working to open the sixth chakra will bring forward an understanding of what it means to see clearly, without the energies of bias and judgment clouding your perspective and influencing your thinking and thus your actions. The Key of B, the Seventh Chakra, Almost White with a Little Pink The seventh chakra (crown chakra) is the seat of the essence of integration, unification, and completion. When the Crown chakra is opening and flowing, the experience is profound. Feelings of completion and wholeness arrive, along with a deep sense of fulfillment, the type of comfortable satisfaction that comes when you are happy and secure with who you are. When the seventh chakra is blocked and bound, a sense of mental agitation stemming from not being able to "see the forest for the trees" can overwhelm you. Confusion and doubt are often present, stemming from an inability to focus on the task at hand. An open crown chakra will give you the understanding of how to integrate your diverse experiences and perceptions into a unified whole. You'll find yourself easily able to focus simultaneously on the whole and its constituent parts. And most of all, the work of opening the seventh chakra creates the experience of oneness and clarifies your understanding of surrender and acceptance, the last steps toward becoming your Essential Self.
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The essence in each chakra influences our behaviors, our way of seeing the world, and particularly how we make the choices we make. The presence of this influence is why we need to discover and then embrace the power of each energy center. It's time to create the conditions that will bring the Essential Self forward.
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Awakening Your Energy Body: Creating Pathways to the Essential Self Working with the chakras and the energetic body is something everyone should learn how to do. Accessing this part of the body-mind system and unblocking the body's primary energy centers is an activity that helps you come to know the deepest aspectsthe essenceof yourself. These fundamental essences have been kept at bay by certain parts of your identity for a very long time, and these particular aspects of your nature have a vested interest in keeping these truths hidden at all costs. By entering into a practice designed to unblock the chakras and create a free flow of the body's vital force, you can come much closer to your essential nature and become a happier, healthier, and more fulfilled human being. You come to know why you choose what you choose, and in so doing come closer to fulfilling your purpose in life. By clearing out the energetic impediments that surround each energy center, you can come to a deeper understanding of who you are as an individual and why you behave the ways that you do. These insights can then lead you into the realm of self-love and appreciation for who you truly are, because in the end, you are a thinking, choosing human being. Through the practice of opening the energy centers, something amazing can happen: you can become a stronger, more aware persona person who is full of the understanding of how you choose what you choose and why you have made those choices. Arriving at this state of clarity of choice is the gateway to true self-love; it begins with the understanding of several aspects of the mechanics of the mind and several aspects of how the body functions, especially in relationship to the mind's level of self-awareness. Lastly, by learning this practice and using it at home, you create the opportunity to work through profound emotional and spiritual issues. By doing this as a daily practice, you gain the insights necessary to create changes in your thinking and then in the way you interact with the world around you. You learn to apply what you discovered during your meditations to everyday situations. You can bring your inner work into your everyday life. Over time, you will find yourself less angry with yourself and others, and more adaptable to the changing situations in which you find yourself. You'll develop a less judgmental approach to living and be more calm, relaxed, and peaceful in your self, and ultimately more present, confident, and happy. You'll be choosing rather than reacting. Discovering the Essential Self When I was in recovery and starting my own personal journey toward myself, I discovered the energy of vital force and began to get glimmers of what I now call the Essential Self. There are many names for this aspect of consciousness: the true self, the higher self, the divine presence, the God withinthese are just a few. The best way I can describe this aspect of consciousness is that the Essential Self is who you truly arethe real you. It turns out that the real you is covered over with layers and layers of emotional, physical, and spiritual baggage. This baggage is born of your desires, your attachments to those desires, and then to the expectation that you will always and forever have those desires fulfilled. An important aspect of your consciousness and your basic identity is born within these layers of baggage. This piece of yourself is the "you" that is filled with craving and desire, and is not who you truly are. Yet for the most part this is the piece of your identity that moves you, that is driving the bus so to
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speak. Without entering a process of personal transformation and spiritual growth, this unfulfilled, attached, and judgmental part of you is determining all of your actions and then creating the results. Your Essential Self is the aspect of your consciousness that is free of these perceptions and acts without having the energy of craving interfere with its way of thinking and doing. There are many schools of thought about how to clear away the layers of craving and desire so that the Essential Self can find a clear pathway through your heart and mind, into your body and soul. Meditation practices, New Age perspectives, and spiritual schools of thought all address this universal human journey. No matter which practice you end up using to release your storehouse of vital force and move closer to your Essential Self, it's important for you to become intimately familiar with your body's energetic system. Lets spend some time getting know this aspect of the body, mind, and spirit. Everything Is Vibration Today, everyone knows that all matter is vibration or frequency. It took modern physics a long time to be comfortable with this idea, but its here at last. Suffice it to say that everything is vibrating: the chair you are sitting on, the stereo signal coming out of your CD player, the glass in your hand, and yesyour bodyare vibrating, moving, moving. Like all vibrating things, the body and its organs and its emotions have optimal rates of vibration, and, like all vibrating things, the body can "fall out of tune." Each chakra can fall out of tune in response to stress and trauma, creating a blockage and a binding of the creative life energy that should flow freely within the energetic system. When an Energy Center falls out of tune, it is possible to re-tune it by exposing it to its healthy, natural frequency. When a chakra comes into resonance with an external sound source that is "tuned" to its optimum frequency, it begins to respond to that frequency, bringing itself back to its "healthy" rate of vibration. The interesting thing is that when this realignment happens, the chakra becomes unbound and releases a flow of life force, carrying with it a flood of deeply held suppressed emotions and repressed memories. This action of resonating the energy centers is what the Musical Body does. Each key is harmonizing a different chakra, unbinding, opening it, and helping to release the blockage you are holding there.
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Blockages in the Energetic Body: The Binding Effect The chakra system will develop blockages and become bound up, so to speak. There are lots of reasons for this binding and blocking to occur, and in order to practice awakening the Energy Centers, you should understand what a blockage is, how it got there, and what the process we use for resolving the issues that created the blockage is. Emotional and physical trauma, the difficulties of everyday life, and spiritual questions and crisis create tension in the body and the mind. We hold this tension, and this holding blocks the flow of vital force and creative energy, making us tired, confused, and cranky. This holding also keeps us from knowing who we truly are: rather than receiving the gifts that the world and our Essential Selves have to offer, we are always in reactionary mode, blocking the energy of our own vital force and submerging the Essential Self. There are many aspects to a blockage in the energetic body and many factors behind how such a blockage is created. According to the way I look at things, energetic blockages have two components: expending energy to keep information from coming into one's awareness, and creating an acceptable fiction and then feeding it back to oneself. When a person receives information from the external world, something the human body/mind system is doing constantly, the individual processes that information in many ways. One of the procedures that the mind goes through is that of qualifying, categorizing, and judging all of its experiences and incoming sensory information.
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If a person finds an experience unpleasant or undesirableif the mind says, "I really don't like this and I don't want to know about that"the individual will spend a great deal of mental energy suppressing, burying, and denying this event. This expenditure of mental energy creates a physical blockage that is located somewhere in the body as well as in the mind. Despite the fact that this event or this information is true, and that the person is involved one way or another, the mind throws a lot of mental energy at what is now a "memory" in an effort to maintain a suppression of this information and a state of denial. This suppressed information becomes embedded and "inhabits" an area of the person's body. You encounter indications of this locational aspect in phrases like "It all goes right to my back," or, "It breaks my heart," or, "Every time I think about that I get a headache." Ulcers, high blood pressure, and neck and shoulder pain are examples of this locational phenomenon. This aspect of expending energy to keep information from coming into one's awareness, and the maintenance of this state of unawareness, is the first aspect of an energetic blockage. At the same time a person is suppressing and blocking a truth as outlined above, he or she is also creating a version of the event that the mind finds acceptable, and will then feed this distorted version back to him or herself. This aspect of creating an acceptable fiction and then feeding it back to oneself is the second aspect of a blockage. This is where large amounts of creative vital force will be expendedin the service of maintaining the blockage. This aspect of the blockage drains a great deal more vital force than the first stage, largely due to the fact that the effort to maintain the blockage is continuous. In the end it's like this: something happens to you, and somewhere within your emotional makeup, you decide that you don't like what happened and don't want to remember it you don't want it in your life. So what do you do? You block it out. You hide it from yourself. Let's be clear about this: you may think you are hiding it, but you are really just covering it over, burying the experience beneath layers of fiction and denial. In truth, that memory is in there somewhere and it is exerting its hold on the body/mind every minute of every day until you set about to bring that painful information forward into your primary field of awareness. So we've got to go about the business of unblocking and unbinding, of releasing and receiving. Now imagine the amount of vital force and creative energy that is being expended to create and then maintain these types of blockages. It's a lot, and these blockages are in fact depleting you of this vital force, running you down, and making you tired and cranky. There is a way to deal with these debilitating conditions: use the Musical Body Program!!! Use the music and the meditations to create the opportunity for these blockages to be resolved. By breathing into the blockage and focusing your awareness on that area, and by being surrounded by this incredible music, you will release the tension and release the blocked energy. The energy that was being used to maintain the blockage is now available for you to receiveto use creatively, emotionally, and physically. OK, let's do some work. I've created a special version of the Harmonizer here for you to download and experience.
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The Harmonizer: Aligning Your Energy Body The Harmonizer program is the eighth program in the Musical Body Program and is a great way to get started with the work of unbinding your energy centers. Twenty-five minutes in length, the Harmonizer was designed to resonate with and stimulate the Energy Centers, unblocking the pathways that the body's vital force flows through and stimulating the free flow of that energy. This program features threeminute segments of each program in the Musical Body. These sections are complemented by one-minute guided interludes that hold the entire piece together, creating a seamless journey through your energy body.
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You can use the Harmonizer as a chakra-alignment experience or as a way of identifying where particular blockages are in your energy body. I recommend that you start your journey through the Musical Body with a few sessions with the Harmonizer. It's a perfect way to get to know your energy body, and you'll feel great after each session. Final Guidelines The Musical Body is a tool you can use to move your self farther along on the path of self-knowledge and well-being. However, like using all powerful tools, you need to do work in order to achieve results. This is why I call the Musical Body a "personal participation program." I encourage you to understand that the continued practice of creating a state of relaxation and receptivity, and the development of a critical perspective on how your body and mind function when they are in that state, has great emotional, physical, and spiritual value. Try to develop what is called "The Continuity of Practice." By doing this work every day, you grow stronger in the practice and ever closer to your true natureyour Essential Self. Lastly, emotional, spiritual, and physical stuff will come up while you use the program. This is the point! You are learning a practice that has been designed to bring these experiences forward in such a way that you can handle them, process them, and then integrate your experience. Learn to be comfortable with this aspect of the program. Practice observing these emotional and spiritual storms and make a commitment to stay with the work. This is how you create the opportunity for the Essential Self to come forward in all the aspects of your life. Thanks for choosing to spend this time with me. I wish you the best on your journey to yourself. Make a commitment to stay with this workyou'll be glad you did!
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GUIDED EXERCISE: THE HARMONIZER MEDITATION Please get as comfortable as you can, and then listen to the following guided exercise. Harmonizer Meditation by David Ison
Questions for Reflection What was your experience during the harmonizer meditation? What aftereffects, if any, did you notice after doing the exercise? Over the next few hours?
Your Homework for the Week Over the course of the next week, use the Harmonizer exercise each day. Pay close attention to the subtle (or not-so-subtle) effects of the practice on your body, mind, and spirit. What are you noticing? How does the practice deepen over time? It's often a good idea to record your experiences in a journal, noting how your experience shifts and any insights that arise during the practice.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing Energy healer and bestselling author Cyndi Dale, author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An
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Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy (Sounds True, 2009), has answered the following frequently asked questions. For more information about this groundbreaking book and the work of Cyndi Dale, visit cyndidale.com. Q: Are there any problematic side effects of energy healing that I should be aware of before I start treatment? A: Yes. First and foremost there is the side effect that I would call a healing crisis. When we engage in energy-healing work, we will often go through a detoxification process where toxins on all levels physical, mental, emotional, and spiritualwill be released into our awareness. During such processes, some people report feeling worse. For a time, they may experience very strong or even unpleasant emotions or remember painful childhood memorieswhats in the way has to come out. And so its not atypical to experience a healing crisis as we engage with energy work. The other major side effect is the simple fact that energy healing can bring about real change in our lives, and, while many of us want change, change can also be painful and disruptive. Somebody getting energetically treated for alcoholism, for example, may initially experience some physical detoxification certain emotions and long-held memories might come up. But all of a sudden, that person looks around and sees whats not working in his life, and that requires change in response. Perhaps he is being called to relate to people differently or to look at his life purpose and work in a different way. Were often called to action as a result of the healing process, and that can be stressful. But the positive and the upside is that energy healing ultimately leads to positive change. As stressful as it can be to do the internal and the external work, our lives will improve. So thats the ultimate side effect. Q: Are energy healers regulated and licensed? How do I know if Ive found a good one? A: There are some types of energy healing that require licensure and are somewhat regulated, if not fully regulated. But many branches are not. For example, chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage therapy all involve institutions that regulate, grant licensure, and provide an ongoing training process in the form of Continuing Education Units. However, many types of energy healing and energy healers operate at a completely unlicensed level. And then many function at some level in between. For example, reiki practitioners follow a certain protocol and are trained in an organized, systemized way, but they are not, however, regulated, per se, or licensed by the state or federal government. Other modalities, such as chakra or aura healing, are not licensed at all. The key here is to use your common sense and your own intuition when choosing a modality and/or practitioner. This goes for choosing an energy healer or a conventional doctor. Ask your friends and colleagues for recommendations. If you see a practitioner of any kind and you feel funny about that person, they may not be the right person for you to work with. Q: Is all of energy medicine really just the placebo effect? A: Studying the placebo effect is very interesting. Oftentimes, someone is given a placebo, a benign substance with no known healing properties, but genuinely believes that the substance is going to help her. In these situations, we sometimes see better results than if the patient simply took a course of conventional pharmaceutical drugs. We are all made of energy. In my experience, I would say that even allopathic (conventional Western) medicine is a form of energy healing. Surgery tends to work whether somebody believes the surgery is going to work or not. And that logic carries over into energy healing. If we are in fact made of energy, both physical and subtle, then certain procedures just will work, because they work. In sum, the data shows, through numerous studies, that energy healing makes a positive difference in our well-being and in our physical condition. Q: Whats the difference between energy healing and spiritual healing such as prayer or the laying on of hands?
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A: Spiritual healing is one type of energy healing. Energy healing is an umbrella: it substantiates itself with the belief that everything is made out of energy, and that you need to work at the subtle level of an energetic disturbance as well as at the physical or the apparent level in order to bring about true healing. Spiritual healing, in particular, concentrates on whats happening inside of our spirit, or our soul, and how we work energetically through spiritual issues, through issues of self-love or our connection to the Divine. Prayer, for instance, is concerned with recognizing and establishing, or re-establishing, a connection between the self and our higher powerthe Divine, or God. Different types of energy-healing specialists may not look at these types of issues at all.
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Session Six: Healing and the Chakras

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Introduction to Session Six Over the remaining three sessions in our course, we will survey what science has discovered about the field of energy healing. For more than a century, researchers have been conducting scientific studies to evaluate the effectiveness of energy healing in bringing about real, measurable changes in the physical and emotional lives of recipients. To date, a large body of data has been collected, much of it suggesting numerous benefits of energy healing. In this session specifically, we will look at a summary of research in the field, as well as take an in-depth look at what science has come to know and hypothesize about the chakra system. In this sessions teaching and practice, you'll learn a guided meditation that will bring you into direct contact with your energy centers (chakras), one by one. As you discover the dynamic properties inherent in each chakra, you will learn to tap the wisdom of your subtle body to catalyze healing on the deepest levels. Your instructor for Session Six is Cyndi Dale, renowned energy healer and bestselling author of The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy. This lesson's exercise is adapted from the audio learning program Advanced Chakra Wisdom, by Cyndi Dale.
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What Does Science Say about Energy Healing? For more than a century, researchers have been conducting scientific studies to evaluate the effectiveness of energy healing in bringing about real, measurable changes in the physical and emotional lives of recipients. To date, a large body of data has been collected, much of it suggesting numerous benefits to energy healing. Science and the Energy Field Energy healing assumes that all illness and unwanted physical and mental/emotional symptoms are a result of blockages or imbalance within an individual's energy field. Thus, much of the effort on the part of scientists and researchers has been to study the existence of this fieldand how a given energy-healing methodology might influence it. Scientists recognize two types of energy fields: veritable (fields that can be clearly measured by current scientific equipment such as gamma rays and X-rays, and ultraviolet and visible light) and putative (fields that have not yet been conclusively measured but that many believe to exist). The research presented here explores these putative fields, including the various subtle fields such as the aura or the flow of qi (in China) or prana (in India). All of these studies involve healing methodologies that assume all living matter is infused with a subtle form of energy. By working with this subtle energy, healers effect changes in the physical body that influence health and wellness. In the material to follow, well explore what science has to say about energy healing, specifically looking at scientific research on the three primary energy systems of the chakras, the meridians, and the aura. Well also examine studies done on specific types of energy healing, like acupuncture, homeopathy, reiki, guided imagery, and qigong.
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Your Energetic Anatomy: A Summary of the Research Energy healers work with the energetic anatomy (chakras, meridians, and the aura) to re-balance the body and mind and to otherwise create a shift toward harmony in the individual. Scientists have been investigating the existence and function of the energetic anatomy for more than a century now. Heres a brief summary of energetic-anatomy research, followed by a more comprehensive review later in this and subsequent lessons.
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The Chakras: Research at a Glance
The most detailed scientific research into the existence and functioning of the chakras was performed in the 1970s and 80s by Valerie V. Hunt, PhD, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Using modern equipment that measures the electrical activity of muscles, Hunt discovered that the physical body emanates radiation at sites typically associated with the chakras. Another of Hunts studies found changes in coloration emanating from the chakras during stimulation of the areas associated with them. While the points were stimulated, frequency-recording equipment showed changes in coloration from chakra to chakra. The colors were observed to be the same as those described in metaphysical literature. Hunt and other researchers point to the fact that the physical body is more than a conglomerate of physical systems (endocrine, neuromuscular, cardiovascular). Instead, all systems and tissues are organized by energyspecifically, bioenergy. A number of studies suggest the existence of the chakras and recognize them as involved with the physical, emotional, and energetic natures of our being. The Meridians: Research at a Glance Meridians are pathways for many different types of physical and subtle energies. There are said to be four hundred to five hundred meridian points used in acupuncture (a healing process in which needles are inserted into the meridians through energetic gateways). Researchers have discovered that these points display unique and scientifically measurable electrical characteristics that distinguish them from the surrounding skin. Electromagnetic in nature, acupuncture points can be found by hand, through testing with microelectrical voltage meters, and through the use of applied kinesiology, or muscle testing, which tests the bodys reactions to concepts or substances. Current scientific research supports five different but interrelated theories about meridians. These theories (discussed below) show that the meridians are part of the bodys mechanical framework and interact with the anatomical system. The sum of this research is that the meridians might in fact organize our physical bodies. Etheric in nature, they are also physical, composed of a complex interweaving of chemicals, electricity, and electromagnetic forces that carry chiphysical and etheric life energywhich feeds our bodies, minds, and souls. The Auric Field: Research at a Glance Scientists have been investigating the existence of the aurathe energy field that surrounds our entire bodyfor a century. Research from the 1800s saw the aura as an energetic fluid, magnetic in nature, that permeates all life and through which material bodies can exert influence over one another, even at a distance. In the early 1900s, Dr. Wilhelm Reich presented a theory of universal energy, which he named orgone. He observed this field of energy pulsing in the sky and surrounding all animate and inanimate objects and beings. Reich saw that areas of congestion within this energy could be cleared to release negative mental and emotional patterns and thus effect change. This emphasized the connections between the subtle and the physical, emotional, and mental energies. In the 1930s, a special form of photography was discovered that, for the first time, took pictures of the auric field. Kirlian photography involves directing a high-frequency electrical field at an object. The objects pattern of luminescenceits auric fieldcan then be captured on film. Contemporary energy healers and researchers use Kirlian photography to show how the aura responds to different emotional and mental states and to diagnose illness. Even medical science now measures the bodys electromagnetics through the heat aura and other imaging processes.
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Science and the Chakras Each chakra influences the body in unique physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual ways. This is because each energy organ vibrates at its own frequency and spins at its own particular velocity. Keep in mind this definition of energy: information that moves. Therefore, information has speed and frequency. Varying speeds and frequencies change the information in each tiny piece of energy. Information with a speed faster than light is received as subtle energy, and can be interpreted via the chakra. Information that moves at the speed of light or slower is received by the chakra as sensory, and will impact physical reality. A chakra can accept and transform both types of energy, turning them back into information useful to the individual. A chakra vibrates from inside the physical body to the outside, radiating the information through the skin. It also pulls information from outside into the body, transforming it for reception. Every out-of-body chakra connects into the physical body. This in-and-out streaming of energy means that the chakras actually look more like bands of non-ending energy
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rather than the conical vortices theyre often depicted as.
Chakra energy flows like a never-ending river, and this energy flow attracts other energies in the universe. Some of these interact to form a mini-universe of the self, including the auric fieldlayers of energy that surround the human bodyand other energy channels, bodies, and fields that flow within and outside the self. Each chakra vibrates at a different frequency. The lower in the body is the chakra, the slower the vibration; the higher in the body, the faster the vibration. People who are attuned to these frequencies see them as light and color. The in-body chakras occupy visible light, with the lowest touching into the infrared portion of the color spectrum, and the higher-body chakras touching into the ultraviolet portion. The lower a chakra is within, or in relation to, the body, the closer it is to the infrared spectrum of light. The higher the chakra is within, or in relation to, the body, the more it stretches into the ultraviolet frequencies of light. Red is the first visible color we see after we pass the infrared and non-visible band of light. It is associated with the first chakra, in the groin. Violet is the last color that we can see before we shift into ultraviolet frequencies, and its the color we associate with the sixth chakra, in the forehead. This illustration of the chakra color spectrum poses questions about the visibility of the chakras. One of the foremost questions is: if the chakras are there and vibrating in these color frequencies, why are we unable to perceive the colors with our physical eyes? The answer: our brain waves oscillate between 0 and 100 cycles per second (or Hz). Chakras, however, vibrate in a band between 100 and 1,600 Hz. This means that our brains are simply not trained to perceive oscillations or frequencies as high as those that the chakras regulate. Intuitive people through the ages, however, have recurrently discerned six, if not seven, chakras. The primary six (the first through the sixth chakras) have frequencies associated with the physically visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet). Intuition often discerns only that which the brain allows it to discern. If the brain says, I cannot see infrared or violet, our intuition will not distinguish colorsor chakrasin the lower or higher spectrums. This might account for the reason that so many esoteric practitioners locate the seventh chakra, which has the frequency of white light, above rather than within the human body. It is otherworldly, or outside of the norm. It might also explain why some psychic individuals identify chakras lower and higher than the body. They might simply be able to distinguish shades of gray for which others do not know how to look.
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Scientific Research on Chakras Considerable research validates the existence of the chakras, thanks to Valerie V. Hunt, PhD. For twenty years, Hunt, a professor of kinesiology (the study of human movement) at the University of California, Los Angeles, measured human electromagnetic output under different conditions. Using an electromyograph, an instrument that measures the electrical activity of the muscles, Hunt discovered that the physical body emanated radiation at sites typically associated with the chakras. In addition, she discovered that certain levels of consciousness were linked to specific frequencies. When people in her studies were thinking of daily situations, their energy fields measured frequencies in the range of 250 Hzthe same frequency as the heart. When psychic individuals had their energy fields tested on the electromyograph, their frequency ranged in a band from 400 to 800 Hz. Trance specialists and channelers fell into the 800 to 900 Hz range, and mysticswho are connected continuously to their higher selfhad an energy field, or etheric body, above 900 Hz. Hunts findings correlate with traditional chakra lore: the chakras can be stepping-stones to enlightenment, each inviting a different spiritual awareness and increasing the frequency of the subtle body. In fact, the manufacturer of the equipment adapted the machine to measure higher frequencies, and it was found that one mystic had an average subtle-energy-field frequency of 200,000 Hz. Hunt also found changes in coloration emanating from the chakra points when subjects were being Rolfed, as she
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discusses in an abstract co-written with Dr. Wayne Massey and others. Rolfing is a form of massage that achieves structural integration by means of manipulating the myofascia. While a subject was Rolfed, measurements were recorded with Fourier analysis and asonogram-frequency analysis. As the subjects were monitored with equipment, noted healer Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere recorded the colors she saw through psychic vision. The registered frequencies were measurable by color and sound. Both Bruyeres psychic vision and the frequencyrecording equipment reported the same changes in coloration, chakra to chakra. The colors were observed to be the same as in metaphysical literature: the root, or first, chakra was red; hypogastric, or second, chakra was orange; spleen, or third, was yellow; heart, or fourth, was green; the throat, or fifth, was blue; the third eye, or sixth chakra, was violet; and the crown, or seventh, chakra was white. One of Hunts concepts is that, from a quantum perspective, the body is more than a conglomerate of systems (such as endocrine, neuromuscular, or cardiovascular). Instead, all systems and tissues are organized by energyspecifically, bioenergy. The study suggests the existence of the chakras and recognizes them as involved with the physical, emotional, and energetic natures of our being. Yet another study, conducted on an extremely clairvoyant individual, Dora van Gelder Kunz, suggests the existence of the chakras. Kunz observed two hundred people with various diseases and described their illnesses in terms of alterations in the nonphysical bodies and the chakras. Shafica Karagulla, MD, researcher and author of the book The Chakras and Human Energy Fields, compared Kunzs reports with standard medical diagnosis. Researchers in this study discovered that diseases do alter the behavior of chakras and nonphysical bodies in terms of color, luminosity, rhythm, rate, size, form, elasticity, and texture. One exciting outcome of this research was a detailed correlation between the chakras and the endocrine glands. The researchers discovered that a problem with a particular gland would show up in the chakra. If the pineal gland were disturbed, for example, the crown chakra would be as well. The correlation between the chakras and the endocrine glands is shown in the figure below. As is apparent from this illustration, the researchers found eight main chakras (adding the spleen), rather than the more traditional seven chakras. They also noticed the existence of minor chakras in the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
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The Work of Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama Shinto priest Hiroshi Motoyama, PhD, also investigated the science of the chakras. He has conducted numerous studies to verify the energy system, many of which have become the basis of his more than twenty books. Motoyama created a device to detect minute electrical, magnetic, and optical changes in the vicinity of a subject. It is called the apparatus for measuring the functioning of the meridians and corresponding internal organs, or AMI. During one test, Motoyama found that increased activity of the heart-chakra area actually produced a weak but measurable physical light. Study subjects pressed a button whenever they thought they were experiencing psi-energy, or psychic sensations such as inexplicable feelings, pictures, or sounds. These internal feelings correlated to objectively measured periods of heart activity. Experiments similar to this one led Motoyama to conclude that mental concentration on a chakra is the key to activating it. These and other studies led Motoyama to deduce that certain individuals can project their energy through the chakras, a statement supported by Itzhak Bentov, a researcher of physiological changes associated with meditation. Bentov has duplicated Motoyamas findings regarding electrostatic energy emission from the chakras. Motoyama suggests that the chakras are represented in the central nervous system by the brain and nerve plexuses, as well as in the meridian acupuncture points. Though chakras are separate from the central nervous system and the meridians, Motoyama considers the chakras as superimposed upon these other two systems, rather than occupying the same physical space. As Motoyama explains, the chakras supply the physical body with outside energy through the nadi system, a circuitry that spreads subtle energy throughout the body. Motoyama states that the gross nadi equate with the meridian system, and together they represent a physical but invisible system of physiological control located within connective tissue. These are some of the ways that science is closing in on ancient knowledge. We are beginning to see that all cosmologiesthe mundane, the physical, and the mysticalmight very well be the same.
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TEACHING: Healing and the Energy Centers Many of us are familiar with the seven primary chakras and their role in maintaining good health. Cyndi Dale's experience as both a healer and a scholar has led her to significantly expand this picture of the chakras and their greater function in healing. Through her revolutionary twelve-chakra system, you will explore the deeper potentials of healing through your inner energy field. There are many definitions of the word chakra, but they all evolve from its Sanskrit meaning: "wheel of light." Most authorities agree that chakras are subtle-energy centers that are located at the main branchings of the nervous system. They serve as collection and transmission centers both for subtle, or metaphysical, energy and concrete, or biophysical, energy.
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Chakras are envisioned as either circular or conical vortices. According to various Sanskrit sources, a circle holds many meanings. For example, it describes a rotation of shakti, or feminine life energy, denotes yantras (mystical symbols) that direct reality, and references the different nerve centers in the body. These and other analyses of the word reduce to a simple definition of the word chakra: a circle-shaped energy body that directs life energy for physical and spiritual well-being. Each chakra is often affiliated with an aspect of consciousness or a major theme: a color; an element; a sound; a lotus (with differing numbers of petals); and interactions with the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of being human. Each chakra is also frequently associated with a gland of the endocrine system and a nervous-system nexus (plexus or ganglia). Nearly every cultural chakra system considers the chakras to be a vital part of an enlightenment or spiritualization process. Most systems place the chakras at the same basic locations: First chakra: groin Second chakra: abdomen Third chakra: solar plexus Fourth chakra: heart Fifth chakra: throat Sixth chakra: forehead Seventh chakra: top of the head
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The Twelve-Chakra System A contemporary chakra system that we'll be looking at here is the Twelve-Chakra System, which I developed and describe in detail in several books. It is based on the classical Hindu chakra system of seven chakras, but it includes an additional five chakras that lie outside the physical body. While these additional chakras have yet to be measured or recorded, I discovered them through my work as an energy healer. Having developed an understanding of these additional energy centers, I now make frequent use of them. The additional chakras are found above the head, below the feet, and around the body. Many other chakra systems include chakras beyond the seven that are traditionally observed. Many esoteric practitioners locate chakras beyond the physical body, as do some of the more traditional systems. In yogic tradition, it's important to remember that the seventh chakra is located above the top of the head, not at the top of the head. Other traditions place a chakra underneath the feet. The Twelve-Chakra System features the traditional seven, plus these additional chakras. What makes the Twelve-Chakra System different? I will briefly describe these "extra" five chakras here. Eighth Chakra: Just above the Head This chakra is seen as housing several additional energy bodies, including the Akashic Records, which is everything ever seen and done; the Shadow Records, that which was unseen as pertaining to the Akashic Records; and the Book of Life, which reflects the positive aspect of all events. The eighth chakra is the place of karma through which individuals can connect with all planes, dimensions, and time periods, including alternative or parallel realities. Ninth Chakra: One-and-a-Half-Feet above the Head This chakra contains the "seat of the soul," the spiritual genetics that generate physical reality, such as the physical genes. It also carries the souls purpose and the symbols that sustain the uniqueness of a soul. Through it, a practitioner can: Customize energetic healing so as to exactly fit the individual Obtain information explaining someone's life path, and upcoming decisions Conduct energy healing to make genetic repair by using symbology. Tenth Chakra: A Foot and a Half under the Feet This is the "grounding chakra," which opens to elemental energy and passes it into the body through the feet. It holds personal soul history as well as stories and energies from one's heritage. It connects a person thoroughly into nature and the natural world. This chakra is extraordinarily useful for anchoring individuals into everyday reality, for addressing and
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healing legacy issues (including genetic disease), and for opening to the elemental energies necessary for health. Eleventh Chakra: Surrounding the Body and Concentrated around the Hands and the Feet This energy center helps individuals command and transmute physical and supernatural forces. Through it, one can seize command of external energies and direct them for good. It is extraordinary for producing instant change inside and outside of the body. Twelfth Chakra: Surrounding the Eleventh Chakra and the Entirety of the Body This energy center represents the outer bounds of the human self. It connects to the body through thirty secondary chakras. It channels spiritual energies found outside the total auric field. Just outside the twelfth chakra is the "energy egg," a three-layer film that regulates the linkage between the spiritual realms and the physical body.
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GUIDED PRACTICE: Chakra Healing Please set aside thirty minutes or so when you can go inward, when you'll not be disturbed. Listen to the following guided meditation, which will take you into and through your energy centers, opening you to limitless healing and well-being. A written copy of the meditation will follow. Chakra Healing by Cyndi Dale
Questions for Reflection What was your experience of the meditation on healing and your energy centers? Which chakra did you find was drawing your attention the most? What did you discover when working with it?
Your Homework for the Week Over the course of the next few days, go through the guided meditation each day and pay particular attention to which chakra seems to be presenting itself for healing. Then spend a few days and go deeply into that particular chakra, or chakras if it is more than one. See if you can uncover the deep healing that is possible with this work. Be sure to write about your experiences over the course of the week.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing Energy healer and bestselling author Cyndi Dale, author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy (Sounds True, 2009), has answered the following frequently asked questions. For more information about this groundbreaking book and the work of Cyndi Dale, visit cyndidale.com. Q: Has anyone actually seen the chakras, or is this just religious mythology? And why do some systems identify seven chakras, while others work with eight, nine, or twelve? A: In terms of the scientific validity of the chakras, I refer most people to research conducted by Dr. Valerie Hunt at UCLA, and additionally to studies done by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama in Japan. Through this and other pioneering research, we have recordings of the chakras, which point to different vibratory bands existing at the various parts of the body. When stimulated, these centers of energy have been shown to have the same kind of effects on the body, mind, and emotions that have been recorded by practitioners around the world for thousands of years. In terms of the number of chakras, it is important to note that there are hundreds of chakra systems, reported crossculturally over thousands of years. Each culture has its own way of understanding subtle energy and presenting the details of the various energetic systems. The Hindu tradition is probably the most well known when it comes to identifying and discussing the chakras; it is from this culture that we get the word chakra, literally meaning wheel. Even within the Hindu culture there is much debate as to the number of energy centers. Im a proponent of a Twelve-Chakra System, along with various other practitioners, which allows for working with not only
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chakras within the physical body, but also outside it. One of the most exciting discoveries in science is the proof that were not just closed systems, i.e., we dont end at the skin. Our energy, our being, and our personality in fact extend beyond the skin into the electromagnetic fields that surround the body. And so these energy centers called the chakras, which are just prisms able to convert fast energy to slow energy and vice versa, also extend beyond the body. So, in my view, the question really isnt: how many chakras are there? But is instead: is a practitioner desiring to or willing to work with the energy centers that are outside the physical body as well as those inside? Q: I listen to really good music all the time, and in many ways it makes me feel better and more relaxed. Is this the same thing as sound healing? A: It is! It absolutely is. Healing in the broadest sense simply means to be whole, or to recognize the wholeness that we already have. So feeling betterisnt that what healing ends up being all about? There are two basic kinds of energies that affect us: electromagnetic (some of which is measurable and some of which is not) and mechanical energy, such as sound. We are just as affectedphysically, mentally, emotionally, and spirituallyby mechanical energy, as in sound or sonic waves, as we are by light, which is what electromagnetic energy is all about. Of course, the converse is also true. Music thats jarring to someone, or doesnt suit their own personal energetic makeup, can be harmful or disturbing to their sense of well-being. Q: Ive heard that energy healers can see an aura around my body, which can tell them how healthy I am. Is there any scientific proof for this? A: There actually is. There is some statistical evidence and research, as well as visual research, that show, for instance, that a disease actually starts to penetrate this auric field before it hits the body. And in somebody whos sick, there is a different set of vibrations or colors that are coming off the body. Q: What training opportunities are available for me to learn energy healing? A: There are many opportunities, and it really depends on which type of energy-healing practice interests you. Something as regulated as acupuncture or chiropractic is going to take, frankly, as much study as going to medical school. Similarly, becoming a certain type of therapeutic practitionerfor example, an emotional therapeutic practitionermight take as long as becoming a traditional psychologist. On the other hand, there are many shorter courses that you can take to learn various types of energy healing, such as therapeutic touch, homeopathy, hands-on healing, and many others. The most important thing is to figure out what you want to learn and then see if thats really possible for you, given your time and resources. GUIDED PRACTICE: Written Version There is a healing potential that lies within your own body. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie. Ask that your guides be in attendance. Even directly connect to the Divine, the main source of all information, love, and healing. Take a few deep breaths. If at any time during the healing process you get scared or confused, return to your breath. It will always guide you back into yourself and into reconnection with your guides and the Divine. In this subtle state, think of a probleman illness, an issuethat you would truly like solved. Define it for yourself. Reflect for a moment on how its impacting your current life. Are you willing to be loved in a way different than that provided by the issue? Now, thinking about the issue, begin by just asking yourself intuitively: which chakra holds the cause of the problem? You may hear an answer or think it. You might actually visualize this chakra or feel it in your body. You may feel a twitch or a pain or a thud somewhere in your body. Which chakra is saying or showing you, "It's me"? If you're not getting the message at this point, reflect for a minute. Think about it. What's the nature of the issue? What type of problem is it? Is it really physical or emotional? Spiritual? Which chakra seems to be most correlated with the presenting problem? You can't make a mistake. All the chakras are interconnected. If you accidentally work in the heart instead of the third chakra, the third chakra will provide information to the heart for you. Select a chakra. And breathe yourself into the center of it.
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Your guides are present. They're helping you. They'll even give answers to you if you need them. When did this problem start? How old were you? If you don't get an age connected to this lifetime, ask if it occurred in a different lifetime or even in between lives. Once you're clear about the "when," it's important to sort your own energy from that of others. You might even want to visualize a bubble, like a cartoon bubble, in front of you. And project the problem into the bubble, so that you're looking at it or able to reach out and touch it. And now ask what percentage of the problem is yours versus somebody else's. Some people actually hear a response. Others notice that within this bubble the energy separates. Others just know the answer. Ask your guides and the Divine to separate out the energy that belongs to something or someone else and to literally remove it, to take it to the heavens, to perhaps bring it back to the higher self of the person who at first held the energy. Or to just do that which is of highest order, with that which is not yours. Confident that what's remaining is yours to deal with, you can either continue to work with the problem projected out or you can bring that energy back into the chakra you're working in. We're now going to figure out the program: what belief or set of beliefs underpins this issue? Sometimes people actually experience a flashback into the past. They actually re-create the scene or the drama that they first experienced and that caused the program or caused them to believe something that's not true. Sometimes an answer just pops in. Sometimes you just get a sense or a feeling or a knowing. Get clear on the program. You can ask yourself, too, what patterns have sprung from that particular program: Are there behaviors that have resulted from that idea or those sets of ideas? Or maybe even from an emotional stronghold, which is a feeling paired with an idea? And how has this belief shaped your life? By now, you may or may not perceive that you have gotten to the bottom of the issue. There are other issues that we can examine, other energetic causes of problems. We're going to look at bindings, those energetis contracts that keep us constricted and imprisoned. First, check to see if there are any cords. These are contracts that connect you to another being and that keep you trapped in a certain way of believing and behaving. Ask to perceive if you are afflicted with a curse. Psychically, it will appear like an energetic net that's been thrown around you or stuck inside of the presenting chakra. It will feel sticky and malignant. It may create a sense of fear in you, an apprehension. Are there any entities posing problems? Any ancestral spirits that are haunting you or members of your family? That are creating negative thought forms or ideas which hold the problems in place? That are forcing you into unhappiness or physical illnesses? Check the chakra for a marker. It will look or feel like a big Xan X that contains a code, a message, a proclamation, telling people to treat you in a way that you don't deserve to be treated. And then finally in regard to bindings, are you under the spell of a codependent contract? At some point, did you make an agreementIf I do X, you will give me Ywith somebody? There are a couple more causative issues we're going to look for. In general, would you say that this condition is a depressive versus an anxiety-producing one? Think about the problem. Does it make you feel heavy, slow, stuck, downwords related to depression? And does it make you feel repressed, oppressed, or obsessed? If it does, ask to see or hear the part of you that has literally been depressed, hidden away as if stuck in a box, not able to see the light of day. This is the self who's going to need to be freed. Conversely, do you feel anxious when you think about this particular issue? Kind of riled up, knotted up, scared, nervous, powerless, unable to figure out what to do and how to do it? Do you feel stressed? At some level, you're not believing in yourself. You're scared about what you can't controlother people, the future. There's a part of you that lacks either trust in yourself and perhaps even in the Divine. And now if you need this clarification, ask wherein what part of youthis issue is held. We know it's managed within the chakra that you're identifying within. But is this originally a spirit issue? A soul issue? A mind-related problem? Or a body problem?
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Finally, ask if there are any additional insights you need from the Divine or from your guides that would help you narrow the diagnostic focus down to one sentence. Create that sentence for yourself. Decide if you're ready to solve it. Would you like it healed? You deserve to heal it. You're worth it. You get to value yourself that much. If you've been working with the projected issue, it's been in the bubble; now draw all that energy fully back into the chakra housing the issue and, as you'll find out, the healing as well. And re-think that sentence: This issue was caused by__________. Knowingly or not knowingly, you've been playing on the outer wheel of the chakra. You've been diagnosing; you've been examining the beliefs that don't work. You've been looking at whose energy has caused the problem, and which patterns have been causing havoc in your life. Are there strongholds or bindings? Is this an issue creating depression or caused by depression, or by anxiety? Which part of you originated it? The simplest way to perform healing is to open the energy in the innermost sanctuary of the chakra. Now you might imagine yourself just jumping into this wellspring of beautiful, white spiritual energy, just wholly jumping in. You may peer over the rim into this innermost well and ask for the energy, the truth, the message, the construct, the guidance that will heal the issue. You might want to throw the sentence into the center. Invite transformation and receive the truth back, in glimmering, shimmering light. You will know how to open to the healing. Is there anything else that you need to know or do right now to invite full healing for the recognition of wholeness? Simply ask and you shall receive. You can ask for information. Ask your guides: How will this healing appear in my life? What might I expect when done with the meditation and living my real life? Ask if there's anything you need to do on a daily basis. Are there different foods to eat? If so, for how long? Are there some activities that will promote and encourage the healing? Is there a phrase that will help lock in your new awarenesses? Are there people, situations, or places to avoid for a while? Are there groups to join? Is there a guide who can help you through this integration period? Oftentimes, we receive different guides on an as-needed basis. Is there one that now presents itself to help you with the rest of this healing, the actualization of it, into 3-D reality? And from your own heart, is there a message that you can give of gratitude for what you've already received? Just as life provides continual learning and opportunities for joy, so will this healing continue to open doors, to open wisdom, and to invite more healing. Thank yourself for giving yourself the opportunity to be so honest, to embrace truth. Thank yourself for your willingness to change. Even as the healing continues, so will the awarenesses it provides. And so it is with calm and assurance that you can now begin to return to your everyday state, to your acknowledgment of the excitement and the opportunities of life. Breathe. And shift your focus from the chakra that you've been placed in back to your heart. The heart is a good place to center yourself when living, when sleeping, when being. Allow your breath to bring you back into your full faculties and your everyday consciousness. As you open your eyes, take a moment and stretch. Feel your body, the blood coursing through. Feel your aliveness. You are healing.
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Session Seven: QigongChinese Energy Healing

Introduction to Session Seven
In this session, well continue our exploration of what science has to say about energy healing and, in particular, well be learning about the various discoveries and research concerning the meridian system, and the flow of subtle energy throughout the body. Your instructor for much of the theoretical material in this session is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. This sessions teaching and practice will introduce you to the ancient art of qigong, a very powerful form of energy healing that comes to us from China. You will learn the basic principles of qigong, as well as a qigong meditation practice that you can do daily to cultivate health and well-being. Your instructor for this session is Ken Cohen, world-renowned Qigong Master and Taoist initiate with more than forty years experience. The first person to teach qigong in medical schools, Cohen has had his work sponsored by the Mayo Clinic, the American Cancer Society, the Canadian Ministry of Health, and many universities. This sessions video exercise is adapted from the DVD Qigong: Traditional Chinese Exercises for Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit, by Ken Cohen.
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Session Eight: Your Daily Energy Routine

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Introduction to Session Eight In our final session, well conclude our exploration of what science has to say about energy healing and, in particular, take a look at the various discoveries and research concerning the aura, hands-on, and distant healing. Your instructor for much of the theoretical material in this session is Cyndi Dale, recognized expert in the field of energy healing and bestselling author of the award-winning The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energy Anatomy. This sessions teaching and practice, Your Daily Energy Routine, provides an easy-to-follow series of energy healing exercises that you can do daily, in only ten minutes. Doing this practice each day will bring a wave of health and vitality to your body and mind, and begin to open you up to your energetic being, catalyzing new levels of transformation in your life. Your instructor for this lesson is renowned energy healer Donna Eden. Donna is bestselling author of Energy Medicine and Energy Medicine for Women. This sessions exercise is adapted from the multimedia learning program The Energy Medicine Kit, by Donna Eden.
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Science and the Aura For more than a century, scientists have been investigatingand substantiatingthe existence of the aura, the field that surrounds our body, adding to the knowledge our ancestors already possessed. This field consists of multiple bands of energy called auric layers or auric fields that encompass the body, connecting us to the outside world. The aura has been known by many names in many cultures. The Jewish Qabalists called it an astral light. Christian artists depicted Jesus and other figures as surrounded by coronas of light. The Vedic scriptures of India and teachings of the Rosicrucians, Tibetan and Indian Buddhists, and many Native American tribes describe the field in detail. Even Pythagoras discussed the field, which was perceived as a luminous body. In fact, John White and Stanley Krippner, coauthors of Future Science, list ninety-seven different cultures that reference the human aura, each culture calling it by a different name. Science has been actively involved in penetrating the mystery of the aura since the early 1800s. During that time, Belgian mystic and physician Jan Baptist van Helmont visualized it as a universal fluid that permeates everything. The idea of the aura acting like a fluid as well as being permeable has remained consistent throughout history. Franz Mesmer, for whom the term mesmerism was coined, suggested that both animate and inanimate objects were charged with a fluid, which he perceived as magnetic and through which material bodies could exert influence over each other, even at a distance. Baron Wilhelm von Reichenbach discovered several properties unique to this field, which he called the odic force. He determined that it shared similar properties to the electromagnetic field, which had previously been investigated by James Clerk
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Maxwell, one of the fathers of electricity.
The odic field was composed of polarities or opposites, as is the electromagnetic field. In electromagnetism, however, opposites attract. Not so in the odic field, where like attracts like. Reichenbach also found that the field related to different colors and that it could also carry a charge and flow around objects. He described the field on the bodys left side as a negative pole, and the right side as a positive polesimilar to the ideas of Chinese medicine. These and other theories have revealed the aura to have a fluid or flowing state; to be comprised of different colors, and therefore frequencies; to be permeable and penetrable; and to be magnetic in nature, although it also has electromagnetic properties. Other research has underscored these theories and expanded one additional element of the auric field: its connection to the human inner sanctum. For example, in 1911 Dr. Walter Kilner examined the aura with colored filters and a special kind of coal tar. He discovered three zones: a dark layer next to the skin, a more ethereal layer flowing at a perpendicular angle to the body, and a delicate exterior with contours about six inches across. Most importantly, the conditions of this aura, as he called it, shifted in reaction to a subjects state of mind and health. In the early 1900s, Wilhelm Reich furthered our knowledge of the human field and its qualities through experiments studying a universal energy that he named orgone. During his studies, he observed energy pulsing in the sky and surrounding all animate and inanimate objects and beings. Many metaphysicians believe that orgone is equivalent to qi or prana. He also noticed that areas of congestion could be cleared to release negative mental and emotional patterns and thus effect change. This emphasized the connections between the subtle and the physical energies as well as emotional and mental energies. Then in the 1930s, Dr. Laurence Bendit and Phoebe Bendit observed the human energy field and linked it to soul development, showing that the subtle forces are the foundation of health. Their observations are mirrored and expanded by those of Dora van Gelder Kunz, a theosophist and intuitive, who saw that every organ has its own fieldas does the overall bodywhich pulses with its own rhythm when healthy. When someone is ill, these rhythms alter, and problems can be intuitively seen in the field. When Dr. Zheng Rongliang of Chinas Lanzhou University measured the flow of qi from a human body with a unique biological detector, he showed that the aura pulsesyet not everyones field pulses at the same rate or intensity. This study was repeated by researchers at the Shanghai Atomic Nuclear Institute of Academia Sinica. Soviet scientists from the Bioinformation Institute, headed by A.S. Popov, actually measured the human field, or more specifically, the biocurrents manifested in the surrounding energy body. They discovered that living organisms emanate vibrations at a frequency between 300 and 2,000 nanometers. They called this the biofield and discovered that people with a strong and widespread belief can transfer energy more successfully. This research was later confirmed by the Medical Science Academy in Moscow. A special form of photography is actually able to take pictures of the auric field. In the 1930s, Russian scientist Semyon Kirlian and his wife, Valentina, invented a new photographic process that involves directing a high-frequency electrical field at an object. The objects pattern of luminescencethe auric fieldcan then be captured on film. Contemporary practitioners are using Kirlian photography to show how the aura responds to different emotional and mental states, and even to diagnose illness and other problems. Medical science is now using a heat aura, as well as other imaging processes, to show the different aspects of the bodys electromagnetics. One of the more compelling sets of studies in this area was conducted by Valerie V. Hunt, PhD. In the Study of Structural Integration from Neuromuscular, Energy Field, and Emotional Approaches, Hunt recorded the frequency of low-millivoltage signals emanating from the body during Rolfing sessions. She made these recordings using electrodes of silver and silver chloride on the skin. Scientists then analyzed the wave patterns recorded with a Fourier analysis and a sonogram-frequency analysis. The field did, indeed, consist of a number of different color bands, which correlated to the chakras.
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The following results, taken from the February 1988 study, showed color-frequency correlations in hertz (Hz) or cycles per second: Blue: 250275 Hz plus 1,200 Hz Green: 250475 Hz Yellow: 500700 Hz Orange: 9501,050 Hz Red: 1,0001,200 Hz Violet: 1,0002,000 Hz, plus 300400 Hz; 600800 Hz White: 1,1002,000 Hz While Hunt mechanically measured the study subjects, healer and aura reader Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere provided her own input, separately recording the colors she intuitively perceived. In all cases, her renderings were the same as those demonstrated mechanically. Hunt repeated this experiment with other psychics with the same results. But What Is the Auric Field? We know it existsbut what is the auric field? Scientists including James L. Oschman, PhD, author of Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, consider it a biomagnetic field that surrounds the body. As Oschman says, It is a fact of physics that energy fields are unbounded. This means that our biomagnetic fields extend indefinitely. Modern equipment can now measure the hearts fieldsthe strongest of those originating from an organup to fifteen feet away. As for the auras job, science has determined that this magnetic field conveys information about events taking place inside the body rather than on the skin. Its purpose is therefore vitally linked to our internal health. Electrical currents determine its shape, as the heart is the bodys strongest electrical producer. The primary electrical flow is therefore established by the circulatory system. As well, the nervous system interacts with the circulatory system and creates distinct flows, seen as whirling patterns, within the field. We cannot fully understand the function of the aura without knowing what it is made ofand were still working on that. Barbara Brennan, PhD, summarizes scientific research to suggest that it is made of plasma, tinyperhaps subatomicparticles that move in clouds. Scientists propose that plasmas exist in a state between energy and matter. Brennan says this bioplasma is a fifth state of matter. Rudolph Steiner, a brilliant author and philosopher, suggested that the human energy field is made of ether, an element comparable to a negative mass, or a hollowed-out space. We can only surmise, but perhaps the field is actually made of both electromagnetic radiation (specifically magnetism) and an antimatter that allows a shift of energy between this world and others. Thus the propensity of healers to deliver healing energy based on intention is a matter of creating enough intensity in the here and now energies to access an equivalency in the anti-worlds. What we accomplish within our own field can be delivered like an instant message on the Internet to another individuals energy field.
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Hands-On and Distant Healing: Proving Subtle Fields and a Nonlocal Reality Distant or absentee healing is a well-known concept and a reality among subtle-energy healers and those who use prayer and positive thinking to invite healing for people who are not geographically present. Considerable evidence underscores distant healings effectiveness. It can be explained by energetic connectivity, which assumes the presence of fields that can generate these connections through what has been called a nonlocal reality. Studies on therapeutic-touch professionals have demonstrated positive results in areas including pain
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relief. In his paper reviewing sixty-one such studies, Daniel J. Benor, MD, a respected medical doctor and author on bioenergy, states that distance, even thousands of miles, does not appear to limit the effects of healing. Healing touch is another hands-on energy practice that works with the energy field to support the bodys natural ability to heal. It is currently used in hospitals and clinics worldwide, and is taught in universities, medical and nursing schools, and other settings. Research on its effectiveness in more than sixteen areas suggests that physical healing is possible through accessing the biofields. One particular study measured the effect of healing touch on the properties of pH, oxidation-reduction balance, and electric resistance in body fluids. These factors were linked to biological age. Before a treatment, the mathematically determined age of the touch-treated group was sixty-two; after treatment, it was forty-nine. How do these and other such methods work? Its hard to know exactly, but one likely explanation is that energy fields can overlap and interconnect from one person to another. Its known that biofields exist because they have been imaged with newer technology, including Kirlian photography, aura imaging, and gas-discharge visualization. Moreover, this equipment shows dramatic differences in the fields before and after energy treatments. Other research establishes the ability of one person to affect another through these fields. For instance, studies at the Institute of HeartMath in California have shown that one persons electrocardiograph (heart) signal can be registered in another persons electroencephalogram (EEG, measuring brain activity) and elsewhere on the other persons body. An individuals cardiac signal can also be registered in anothers EEG recording when two people sit quietly opposite one another. This interconnectivity of fields and intention is a marriage of subtle-energy theory and quantum physics. As Benor points out, Albert Einstein has already proven that matter and energy are interchangeable. For centuries, healers have been reporting the existence of interpenetrating subtle-energy fields around the physical body. Hierarchical in organization (and vibration), these fields affect every aspect of the human being. Studies show that healing states invoke at least the subtle biomagnetic fields. For example, one study employed a magnetometer to quantify biomagnetic fields coming from the hands of meditators and yoga and qigong practitioners. These fields were a thousand times stronger than the strongest human biomagnetic field and were located in the same range as those used in medical-research labs for speeding the healing of biological tissueseven wounds that had not healed in forty years. Yet another study involving a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) showcased large frequency-pulsing biomagnetic fields emanating from the hands of therapeutic-touch professionals during treatments. While these fields extend far beyond the physical body, quantum physics explains how one persons field can interact with someone elses thousands of miles away. As research in Field Theory has demonstrated, all living beings are interconnected in a nonlocal reality. Having touched, two particles can affect each other across time and space. Through intention, our personal field can interact with someone elses field and instantly transfer information. Research in resonance and sound shows that if living beings operate or resonate on similar vibrations, one can affect the other. Yet another set of studies hints that there is sharing of energy and intention through the upper range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Replicated studies indicate a significant decrease in gamma rays from patients during alternative-healing practices. This suggests that the bodys gamma emitter, a form of potassium, regulates the surrounding electromagnetic field. Gamma rays materialize when matter (such as an electron) and its antimatter counterpart (a positron) annihilate on impact. As we have seen, antimatter has the opposite charge and spin of matter. When electrons and positrons collide, they release specific types of gamma rays. Years ago, Nikola Tesla suggested that the gamma rays found on Earth emanate from the zero-point field. Though it appears as a vacuum, this field is actually quite full, serving as a crossroads for virtual and subatomic particles and fields. When we perform healing, it is possible that we are actually tapping into this zero-point, or universal, field, shifting its power through intention.
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Still another theory is that we are accessing torsion fields, which travel at 109 times the speed of light. These fields are hypothesized as conveying information without transmitting energy and with no time lapse. Part of this suggested effect is based on the definition of time as a vector of the magnetic field. When torsion and gravitational fields function in opposing directions, the torsion field can conceivably alter the magnetic functionsand therefore the vector of time. When superimposed on a specific area in a gravitational field, it might also reduce the effect of gravity in that spot. These torsion fields have been researched by Peter Gariaev and Vladimir Poponin, Russian scientists who discovered that photons travel along the DNA molecule in spirals rather than along a linear pathway, which shows that DNA has the ability to bend light around itself. Some physicists believe that this twisting or torsion-shaped energy is an intelligent light, emanating from higher dimensions and different forms of electromagnetic radiation, giving rise to DNA. Many researchers now believe that these torsion waves are consciousness, composing the soul and serving as the precursor to DNA.
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TEACHING: Your Daily Energy Routine, by Donna Eden Your body is incredibly intelligent, teaches Donna Eden. Guided correctly, it can vitalize and heal itself almost immediately. In this article and guided exercise, healer and energy-medicine expert Donna Eden invites you to learn the unspoken language of your body to boost your energy levels, address many specific health problems, and foster overall health. The daily energy practice you will learn here combines simple movements, pressure-point massage, and breathwork to create a reservoir of vital life force that you can draw upon throughout the day. With regular practice, you will learn to strengthen your immune system, alleviate fatigue and chronic pain, focus and sharpen your mind, and stabilize your emotions. The Essential Principles of Energy Medicine Energy medicine recognizes energy as a vital, living, moving force that determines much about our health and happiness. In energy medicine, energy is the medicine and also the patient. You heal the body by activating its natural healing energies; you also heal the body by restoring energies that have become weak, disturbed, or out of balance. Energy medicine is both a complement to other approaches of medical care and a complete system for self-care and self-help. It can address physical illness and emotional or mental disorders, and it can also promote wellness and peak performance. The essential principles of energy medicine include: Energiesboth electromagnetic energies and more subtle energiesform the dynamic infrastructure of the physical body. The health of those energiesin terms of flow, balance, and harmonyis reflected in the health of the body. Conversely, when the body is not healthy, corresponding disturbances in its energies can be identified and treated. To overcome illness and maintain vibrant health, the body needs its energies to: Move (and have space to continue to move). Energies may become blocked due to toxins, muscular constriction, prolonged stress, or interference from other energies. Move in specific patterns. The meridians, chakras, aura, and other energy systems each have its own structure. Cross over. At all levels, the bodys energies must crossfrom the microlevel of DNAs double helix to the macrolevel in which the brains left side controls the bodys right side and the right brain controls the bodys left. Maintain a balance with other energies. The energies may lose their natural balance due to prolonged stress or other conditions that keep specific energy systems in a survival mode. Using a technique called muscle testing or energy testing, it is possible to determine with precision where and how the bodys energies are disturbed. This technique, adapted from the
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field of applied kinesiology, involves applying pressure to a muscle thats fed by a specific type of energy. The relative strength of that muscle provides information about the state of the energy associated with it. Flow, balance, and harmony can be noninvasively restored and maintained within the energy system by: Tapping, massaging, pinching, twisting, or connecting specific energy points on the skin. Tracing or swirling the hand over the skin along specific energy pathways, or using exercises or postures designed for specific energetic effects. Focused use of the mind to move specific energies. Surrounding an area with healing energies (one persons energies impact anothers). These statements are generalizations based on my own experiences and the observations of many practitioners. They will give you a context for introducing yourself to energy medicine and its procedures. In brief, energy is the invisible foundation of your bodys cells, organs, and tissue, and you can move these energies to bring about desired changes in your health and well-being.
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Your Bodys Energy Systems If energy is the subtle blueprint of your bodys billions of communicating cells, sophisticated immune system, and awesome braintruly, as Shakespeare put it, What a piece of work is a man!you would expect your energy system to be relatively complex as well. And it is. The energies I see have been mapped by many cultures. I see eight interacting systems, and each has been identified by at least one tradition, ancient or modern. Three are recognized in virtually every culture that has stayed close to its roots in nature. These widely recognized energy systems have entered our language as the meridians, the chakras, and the aura.
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Meridians The meridians are pathways that carry energy to every part of your bodyyour bodys energytransportation system. They include fourteen tangible channels that carry energy into, through, and out of your body. They are vitally important to your health. These energy pathways connect the dots through hundreds of tiny reservoirs of heat and electromagnetic energy along the surface of the skin. Known in Chinese medicine as acupuncture points, these energy dots, or hot spots, can be stimulated with needles or physical pressure to release or redistribute energy. They are electromagnetically distinct, with less resistance than other areas of the skin. At least 360 such acupuncture points have been identified. Meridians affect every organ and every physiological system, including the immune, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, muscular, and lymphatic systems. Each system is fed by at least one meridian. In the way that an artery carries blood, a meridian carries energy. As the bodys energy bloodstream, the meridians bring vitality and balance, remove blockages, adjust metabolism, and even determine the speed and form of cellular change. Their flow is as critical as the flow of blood; your life and health depend on both. No energy, no life. If a meridians energy is obstructed or unregulated, the system it feeds is jeopardized. Acupuncture points are on the surface of the skin, but the meridians they open into travel deep into the body and through each of the organs and muscle groups. Like a river that swells and ebbs, the flow of the meridians is ever changing, and its fluctuations can be detected by sensitive individuals as well as by
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mechanical instruments.
There is actually only one meridian, but it surfaces twelve times, appearing as twelve segments. A meridian is actually a segment of this single energy pathway that runs throughout the body, and each meridian segment is named for the primary organ or system that it services. Two additional energy pathwaysthe central and governing meridiansstand separate from the other twelve. The other twelve meridians form a chain from one meridian to the next, while the central and governing meridians create their own loop. All the other meridians connect to this loop, and it also opens directly to the environment. The energies that surround you enter and exit, to a large extent, through the central and governing meridians. The meridians emit light that can be recorded by infrared photography. While the ancient Chinese maps of the meridian system were at first discounted in the West because they had no known anatomical correlate, radioactive isotopes injected into the acupuncture points have demonstrated the existence of a fine duct-like tubule system approximately 0.51.5 microns in diameter that follows the ancient descriptions of the meridian pathways. In subsequent studies, the pathways revealed by infrared photography also suggest that the maps described in the ancient texts were indeed accurate. If you think of the meridians as an energy-transportation system or a complex traffic network, you have a model of how meridian energies interact. When a freeway becomes congested, it may be necessary to divert some of the traffic onto another highway. An off-ramp may need to be cleared or widened. Likewise, if a meridian becomes clogged with too much energy, as occurs in the hubbub of daily life, a bottleneck forms, and the energy resources needed to support the community or the body are also blocked. It becomes difficult to provide food and remove waste products. Likewise, if a highway is damaged in an earthquake, even the critical support services that form the communitys "immune system"like police, fire, and ambulance unitscannot function properly. Because your body is in use twenty-four hours every day, day in and day out, and because it has frequent stress-induced earthquakes, its pathways need regular maintenance and repair as well as an occasional major renovation.
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Chakras The chakras are concentrated centers of energy. The word chakra means disk, vortex, or wheel. Where meridians are an energy-transportation system, the chakras are energy stations. Each major chakra in the human body is a center of swirling energy positioned at one of seven points, from the base of your spine to the top of your head. Memory is energetically encoded in your chakras just as it is chemically encoded in your neurons. An imprint of every emotionally significant event you have experienced is recorded in your chakra energy. If I know your chakras, I know your history, the obstacles to your growth, your vulnerabilities to illness, and your souls longings. A sensitive practitioners hand held over a chakra may resonate with pain in a related organ, congestion in a lymph node, subtle abnormalities in heat or pulsing, or areas of emotional turmoil. The hand can vibrate so intimately with a chakras energies that the practitioner has an experience that mirrors the clients or reveals the condition of one of the clients organs. Such sensations have specific meanings. If I think I am going to have only one session with a person and want to provide the best information I can, I will focus the session on the chakras. I know that as I delve deeper and experience the successive levels of each of the chakras, information will emerge that I could not initially access. Each chakra regulates distinct aspects of your personality, has specific tasks, and dedicates its energies to those tasks. The organs in closest proximity to each of the primary chakras are related to that chakras functions, and each chakra is named after the part of the body over which its energy spins. They are,
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from the bottom up, called: the root chakra (base of spine), the womb chakra (between the pelvis and the solar plexus), the solar plexus chakra, the heart chakra, the throat chakra, the pituitary chakra (third eye), and the crown chakra (top of the head). The chakras reveal how your history affects current symptoms. Each encodes a slice of your story. While your chakras tell your story, they can also hold your story back. When two chakras are energetically cut off from one another, the aspects of the personality governed by each may become warring sub-personalities, as is seen, for instance, in the classic conflict between head and heart. Once a chakra that has been energetically blocked is released, your life is again able to unfold freely. Each chakra is a conduit for a particular form of energy within the universe, the microcosm of a universal principle, expressed within your body. The seven chakras resonate, respectively, with the principles of survival (root), creativity (womb), power (solar plexus), love (heart), expression (throat), transcendence (third eye), and unity (crown). By clearing chakras that are still caught in the energies of your past, you can give your entire energy system a boost, and depending on the chakra, this will also enhance your life force, creativity, personal power, love and compassion, expressiveness, ability to transcend your own story, or flow with your connectedness to the universe.
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The Aura The aura is a multilayered sphere of energy that emanates from your body and interacts with the energies of your environment. While everyones aura is unique and ever changing, the aura consists of many colored layers of energy that surround another energy system, the multiple crisscrossing forces that I call the Celtic weave. It is itself a protective atmosphere that surrounds you, filters out many of the energies you encounter, and draws in other energies that you need. Whereas each chakra is an energy station attuned to larger energies in the universe, the aura serves as a two-way antenna that brings energy from the environment into your chakras and sends energy from your chakras outward. The aura is a bridge. Your root chakra, for instance, tends to be energetically responsive to other root chakras, and your heart chakra to other heart chakras. Some peoples auras reach out and embrace you. Others keep you out like an electric fence. The human aura has been scientifically investigated by Valerie V. Hunt, a neurophysiologist. Over a twenty-year period, she conducted a series of meticulous studies at UCLAs Energy Fields Laboratory that compared aura readings with neurophysiological measures. The colors seen by eight aura readers not only corresponded with one another, but they correlated exactly with EMG (electromyograph) wave patterns picked up by electrodes on the skin at the spot that was being observed. When you feel happy, magnetic, and spirited, your aura may fill an entire room. When you are sad, despondent, and somber, your aura crashes in on you, forming an energetic shell that isolates you from the world. Sometimes, if I feel closed in by too many intruding energies, I perform an exercise that you can try yourself when youre having difficulty claiming your space in the world, feeling sad, small, or squashed. Imagine yourself surrounded by an eggshell-like energy and exhale slowly as you push it away from you, beginning at about two inches from your body. If you go slowly enough, you can even feel the pressure of the field as you push against it. It is easier to do than you might think. You may be able to feel an energetic force against your hands. In any case, it will give you more breathing room, energetically and psychologically.
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GUIDED EXERCISE: Your Daily Energy Routine
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I will introduce you now to what I call the Five-Minute Daily Energy Routine. This is a series of exercises that you can do any time you need an extra boost of energy or to come into balance and in tune with the life force. If you make use of these simple, powerful exercises at those times of day when you feel drained, you will be able to rejuvenate yourself and bring a new flow of energy into the rest of your day. For a lot of people, loss of energy seems to occur around three oclock in the afternoon. If you find yourself losing energy in the afternoon but do these exercises then, you will change that habit. Your body wont, after a time, drain during the time of day when you tend to lose it. If you have more than one time of day when you notice that you lose energy, you can certainly do these exercises then as well. Please watch the following video in which I guide you through the daily energy routine. After the video presentation, youll be asked a couple of questions and given your homework for the week. Then Ill describe in writing the various components of the energy routine. VIDEO TEACHING: Your Daily Energy Routine Please watch and follow along with the following video demonstration of the Five-Minute Daily Energy Routine. The Five-Minute Energy Routine by Donna Eden
Questions for Reflection What was your experience with the Five-Minute Daily Energy Routine? Try the energy exercise each day for a few days in a row. What do you notice during the exercise itself? Do you notice any increase in energy, or any other effects, throughout the day on days where you practice the exercise?
Your Homework for the Week Over the course of the next week, try to practice the energy exercise once in the morning and then again during the day, especially when you feel like you may be losing energy, for whatever reason. Pay particular attention to how the practice affects your energy levels, your ability to concentrate and stay focused, and your overall feeling of aliveness. Note how you feel after five to seven days of doing the practice. What effects do you notice, in your mind, body, and spirit? Consider writing about your experiences with the energy exercise in your journal.
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YOUR DAILY ENERGY ROUTINE: Written instructions Heres the six-stage, five-minute routine: 1. The Three Thumps (on the K-27 Acupuncture Point, Thymus, and Spleen) As you breathe deeply, simply thump the K-27 acupuncture points, the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone. (You can also massage K-27. Some people find that they get better help from massaging, and some people from thumping.) Thump your thymus. Thump the spleen lymphatic points. 2. The Cross Crawl
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Do a Cross Crawl, which is opposite arm to opposite leg. 3. The Wayne Cook Posture (Crossing Your Legs over Your Knees) Next, youre going to do the Wayne Cook posture. Very simply, you clasp your hands together; if your left thumb is on top, put your left foot over your right knee. If your right thumb is on top of the left, put your right foot over your left knee. Now, if your right foot is over your left knee, place your left hand around your ankle and your right hand around the bottom of your feet. If your left foot is over your right knee, place your right hand around your left ankle and your left hand around the bottom of your feet and your toes. Take a deep breath in and lift your body up...and then release and let go. Repeat the breath. Keep breathing while I drive home this point: this is such a good exercise to do if youre feeling like youre not centered, like youre scrambled, like you could sit and cry for a while. Or, try this if youre having problems in school where youre not absorbing and learning. Now put your legs down, put your hands in your lap and do the same breathing. 4. The Crown Pull Pull your fingers across your forehead. Next cup your fingers with your pinky finger at the hairline, and then push in and pull apart. Push in and pull apart. This will create space so that more oxygen, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid can come to the scalp. Some people need the same motion across the back of their head and/or all the way down their neck. If it feels right, then its an excellent thing to do. 5. The Lymphatic Points Next, massage your neuro-lymphatic points, especially your central points and the sides of your legs. I would always go across, underneath the clavicle up here, to massage the heart, governing, and central points. If you have a partner, massage the points on the spine and clear the lymphatics in the back, which often needs clearing. This massage tends to feel better the more you do it. If youre having difficulties with your partner, ask him or her to clear your back. Youll suddenly be able to deal with him or her much better. Instead of letting an argument escalate, my husband and I simply work the points down each others backs. Its a loving thing to do, and any toxins that might be coming into your body as a result of getting mad at one another will clear. 6. Zip Yourself Up Finally, make sure youre zipped up. First breathe out, and then take a deep breath and zip yourself up. Now is a very good time to say affirmations to yourself. Zip them up through all of your chakras, and lock it at the top. I would add one more thing: if youre feeling fabulous, if its one of those times when life feels so good, make it a habit to tap it in, right when youre feeling your best, right between the eyebrows at a point called the third eye point. Thats the first point on the bladder meridian that governs your thirty-seven-mile-long nervous system. By tapping right there, youre sending those positive feelings right into your nervous system, and you can retrain it so youll be a happier person. Youll be able to react to life without so much fear, and feel more joyful. And youre ready to go on having a great day.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Energy Healing Energy healer and bestselling author Cyndi Dale, author of the landmark The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy (Sounds True, 2009), has answered the following frequently asked questions. For more information about this groundbreaking book and the work of Cyndi Dale, visit cyndidale.com. Q: Does energy healing work at a distance or must I be physically present with the healer to receive benefit? A: Statistically and anecdotally, it has been seen and demonstrated that many types of energy healing can be just as effective on an absentee or distant basis as when the practitioner is present with the patient or the client. Q: Can energy healing help me to relieve stress and to relax? A: Yes, absolutely. The ability of energy healing to reduce stress is probably the most supported and statistically evidenced benefit that it has to offer. Its terrific in encouraging what Dr. Herbert Benson termed the Relaxation Response. The truth is that we will heal more quickly and experience more joy in our lives the more relaxed we are. Q: How does the field of energy healing define health? How is this definition different, if at all, from more conventional understandings as to what it means to be healthy? A: The field of energy healing defines health using the word whole. So in energy healing, youre considered healthy if youre able to embrace and believe in your own essential wholeness. Somebody can be whole and have a body part thats not working, or have cancer or have heart disease and still be whole, because the essence of who we are is that were whole human beings. And therefore an energy healer approaches the body holistically, meaning that he or she is going to look at the variety of components that create a good and a solid lifenot only one arena, such as the physical. Traditional, or Western, allopathic medicine tends to be very mechanistic and will look primarily, if not exclusively, at the physical conditionphysical symptoms and physical cures. Here, health is defined as the decrease or the disappearance of certain symptoms. But, according to energy healers, you can have the disappearance of a particular set of symptoms without a resultant state of health. For example, say you injured your knee and underwent surgery in response to the pain you were experiencing. As a result, the pain has gone away. Are you now whole? Are you now healthy? Western medicine may say yes. But Eastern medicine, or an energy healer, may not be so quick to say. They may ask: Okay, are you now able to walk more? Are you now able to play with your grandkids and have more joy in your life? etc. Q: How about food, nutrition, and exercise? Are these forms of energy healing? A: Yes, absolutely. In fact, food/nutrition and exercise are really two of the main medicines in all holistic practices. Most energy healers, from all disciplines of energy practice, will tend to recommend healthy eating and some form of movement. Eating properly and exercising the physical body is perhaps the most practical and functional way to receive energy healing. Anyone can do this. COURSE CONCLUSION We hope you have enjoyed The Power of Energy Healing and have learned some tools and teachings that you can begin to apply right away, to catalyze profound new levels of health, healing, and well-being in your life and the lives of those around you. Healing and spiritual transformation are lifelong adventures, ones that offer a continuous journey into the deepest parts of who and what we are. We wish you the very best in your exploration.
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For more resources on energy healingand other tools for the inner lifewe invite you to visit us at soundstrue.com. Sounds True. Many Voices, One Journey.
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The Power of Energy Healing

The Power of Energy Healing presented by Sounds True