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Natural Awakenings Atlanta

The Science of Energy Healing

by Janet Raftis

Hands-on healing and energy healing modalities like Reiki have long been relegated to the supernatural and, until recently, have often been tossed aside as witchcraft, sorcery or other dark arts sometimes punishable by death. After centuries of getting such a bad rap, energy healing has made a profound and significant comeback—and is even backed by science.

Reiki is arguably the most common form of touch healing therapies, of which there are many. Practitioners of touch healing therapies channel life force energy into another person, and by doing so, rebalance the energies within the field of the client. Energy healing can be done both in-person—with the practitioners’ hands touching or just above the body—or remotely across any distance.

The process works within the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual planes of the recipient’s energy field and can create anything from subtle to profound shifts in the person’s well-being.

As energy healing practices have become more mainstream, people have wanted to both prove and disprove their efficacy, and research has begun to emerge that demonstrates how science supports what occurs during an energy healing session. James Oschman, Ph.D., a leading authority on the scientific understanding of hands-on healing and author of the book, Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, says, “all medicine is energy medicine.” Further, he explains, “any intervention with a living organism involves energy in one form or another.”

Oschman describes the science of energy medicine as the way in which the body creates and responds to energies such as electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields—including light and sound—as well as heat, pressure, chemical and elastic energy, and gravity.

Much of the standard medical equipment in hospitals and research centers uses electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields to measure and diagnose, including X-ray and MRI machines, electroencephalograms, electroretinograms, and electromyograms. Their biomagnetic counterparts— those that involve the interaction of living organisms with magnetic fields—include magnetocardiograms, magnetoencephalograms, magnetoretinograms, and magnetomyograms. Other machines that use energy for treatment include the magnetic biopsy, the electrical biopsy, the optical biopsy, transcutaneous nerve stimulators, cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, lasers and more.

Research by Dr. John Zimmerman in 1990, validated by Kusaka Seto in 1992, found that the energy emitted from a healer’s hands is simply another type of energy medicine, emitting frequencies within the same range as the equipment mentioned above. “Healing energy, whether produced by a medical device or projected from the human body, is energy of a particular frequency or set of frequencies that stimulates the repair of one or more tissues,” notes Oschman.

Zimmerman found that the frequencies generated through energy healing therapies fall between the ranges of 0.3 and 30 Hz, mostly between 7 and 8 Hz. Research done by Andrew Bassett and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in N.Y. found that these frequencies also could jumpstart the healing of soft and hard tissue injuries. They worked to bring what they called pulsing electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF) for bone healing into modern medicine, which was approved by the FDA in 1979. They later expanded the study beyond just bone healing and found the range of frequencies responsible for other types of healing: two cycles per second (Hz) works for nerve regeneration, 7 Hz for bone growth, 10 Hz for ligament repair and higher frequencies for regeneration of the skin and capillaries—all frequencies found within the same range as those emitted through the hands of energy healers.

While the science shows that placing hands on the body of another person can generate frequencies that have a healing effect, can similar results be achieved when practitioner and recipient aren’t in physical proximity to each other? “Remote energy healing”—when the practitioner and the receiver are not physically near each other— still yields the same healing results despite the distance. To more clearly understand how this works, it is helpful to set aside the Newtonian model of physics and take the perspective of quantum physics.

Within the quantum model, energy is considered non-local and non-linear. This means the transfer of energy is not limited to time or place. Through the holographic model, what is “here” is also “there” and even “way over there.” Because of this, we can access this energy in any location at any time through our intention alone. Einstein referred to this as “spooky action at a distance.”

This concept has been the subject of quite a few studies, ranging from the healing effects of prayer to energy healing modalities. In two studies conducted by Targ/Sitcher and MAHI (Mid-America Heart Institute) and cited by Lynne McTaggart in her book, The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, groups that received healing energy remotely recovered at significantly higher rates than the control groups who received no healing. Moreover, significant positive results were observed in physical healing as well as emotional and psychological healing.

In the Targ/Sitcher study, which worked with subjects suffering from AIDS-defining illnesses—illnesses that the CDC has determined to be directly and almost solely associated with advanced HIV infection—those who were treated had significantly fewer doctor visits and hospitalizations, fewer days in the hospital when they did go, fewer new AIDS-defining illnesses and significantly lower severity of the disease compared to the control group. They also registered significantly better results on psychological tests than the control group. The results suggest that the frequencies that promote healing need not actually be transmitted from a hand placed over a body, but can also traverse space and time to achieve the same results from a distance.

As energy healing becomes more popular in the United States, it is gaining acceptance in mainstream medicine, with greater presence in hospitals around the country. Whichever energy healing modality you choose, the results are best measured by your personal experience.

Janet Raftis is a Master Energy Healer and divine channel whose work focuses on helping people achieve a greater sense of wellness and a stronger sense of connection with Spirit. For more information, visit JanetRaftis.com.

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