A Brief History of Energy Healing

I have paid only casual attention to the other energy healers because most of their supporting evidence -- as presented in books and seminars -- is anecdotal, whereas my own obsession is with the underlying fundamentals of healing.

Many of these healers trace their lineage back to a single revered teacher. Reiki (Japanese for "life force") was founded by Mikao Usui, who reportedly received his healing powers in 1922 after three weeks of fasting and meditation on Japan's Mount Kurama. Reiki healers, possibly numbering in the millions worldwide, channel universal energy, which is said to be infinite and intelligent. They channel this energy through their palms, which are placed on or near their clients to stimulate the client's own self-healing. Some Reiki masters say they can not only heal at a distance, but also backward and forward in time.

Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a Western-based healing system that has been taught to an estimated seventy thousand professional caregivers and is offered to patients in some North American hospitals. It evolved from experiments that Dolores Krieger, a professor of nursing at New York University, did with psychic Oskar Estebany, demonstrating that hands-on healing significantly increased hemoglobin in the blood of sick people, suggesting an immunological response. As with Reiki, TT practitioners hold or move their hands a few inches from their patients, with the intent of activating their immune system.

In the West, the most popular hands-on healing tradition is founded in the miracles of Jesus Christ, as written in the New Testament in John 14:12. After restoring sight and curing the lame, Jesus told his followers: "He that believeth in me, the works I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do."

Among early Christian cults, healing was an ordinary part of preaching, often utilizing oil and water. European kings like England's Edward the Confessor, who claimed to rule by divine right, exercised the royal touch to heal their subjects. Even Napoleon was said to have tried his skills, to little avail.

Today, faith healing remains a popular part of the Christian Evangelical movement. It's also endorsed, with caution, by the Roman Catholic Church, which expects miracles from those traveling the path to sainthood. I have sometimes thought of how convenient it would be for me to reclassify myself as a faith healer, especially when I'm asked in a doubting voice, "If you can do what you say you can, why haven't you won a Nobel Prize?"

The practice of hands-on healing as a medical rather than a religious or magical rite goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks. Hippocrates (circa 460 BCE) was known as the father of Western medicine because of his reliance on keen observation and the principle of cause and effect. He summed up his extensive healing experience this way: "It has often appeared, while I have been soothing my patients, as if there were some strange property in my hands to pull and draw from the afflicted parts aches and diverse impurities."

In the sixteenth century, Dr. Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim -- known historically as "Paracelsus" -- spoke of a magnetic, healing, solar force that swept in waves throughout the Universe. "Munia," as he called it, radiated around the human body in a luminous shield, and could be transmitted at a distance. Despite the many healings attributed to him, Paracelsus was not only derided by his peers, but also negatively immortalized in the epithet "bombastic," based on his birth name Bombastus.

Inspired by Paracelsus, Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) was also credited with many startling cures, such as ridding a Munich scientist of paralysis and a professor of blindness, simply by passing his hands over them. When his disciples discovered hypnotism through experimenting with his techniques, Mesmer's cures were dismissed as the power of suggestion. In the spirit of scientific Enlightenment, Mesmer's name came into derogatory usage through the word "mesmerize" with its connotation of undue influence.

After European medicine moved into the laboratory, a universal energy, often with magnetic properties, was rediscovered many times.

In 1791, Italian anatomy professor Luigi Galvani, an early experimenter in electricity, wrote of a life force similar to electricity and magnetism, which seemed to radiate from the sun. It had an affinity for metal, water, and wood. It permeated everything, pulsated through the human body by means of the breath and streamed from the fingertips.

In the nineteenth century, German scientist and industrialist Karl von Reichenbach risked his reputation as the discoverer of creosote and several other chemicals when he declared evidence for a new universal energy, which he called "od" after the Viking thunder god Odin. Od was in free circulation throughout the Universe, and it permeated everything. It radiated in a luminous glow from the human body and was vital to health. It was concentrated in iron, sulfur, magnets, and crystals, and conducted by metal, silk, and water. Though confirmed by researchers in Britain, France, and Calcutta, od was eventually dismissed by orthodox science as a blemish on von Reichenbach's otherwise outstanding reputation.

In 1903, French physicist René Blondlot claimed to have discovered a vital force, both biological and universal, which he called "N-rays." This finding was also confirmed experimentally by other French researchers, who noted its many similarities to od. Like his forerunners, Blondlot was ridiculed by his peers.

In 1936, Otto Rahn, a bacteriologist at Cornell University, noted a biochemical radiation from living cells that played a significant role in growth, cell division, and wound healing. As he stated, "It may be surprising that radiations have not been recognized and proven conclusively before this. The reason may be sought in their very low intensity. The best detector is still the living organism."

Around the same time, biologist Harold Burr of Yale demonstrated that all living systems -- from trees to mice to men -- are molded and controlled by invisible electro-dynamic force fields that can be measured and mapped with standard voltmeters. He called them "fields of life," or "L-fields," and believed their voltage could be used to diagnose physical and mental conditions before symptoms developed. Burr validated his theory by comparing the L-fields of mice injected with cancer to control groups of healthy mice.

Burr's colleague, Dr. L.J. Ravitz, extended these findings to demonstrate that emotion was energy in motion. He described this energy as electrical, and found a connection between low-energy states and diseases such as cancer, asthma, arthritis, and ulcers.

In the seventies, Fritz-Albert Popp, a German physicist, discovered that all living organisms constantly send out tiny currents of light, which he called "biophoton emissions." These were stable in their intensity unless the organism was sick. Cancer patients, for example, emitted fewer photons, as if their batteries were going dead. He also found that organisms used these light emissions as a form of communication.

After Konstantin Korotkov, a Russian physicist, developed sophisticated equipment for measuring Popp's bioenergy fields, Russian doctors began using his tests to diagnose illnesses such as cancer. When Korotkov measured the coronas of healers while they transmitted energy, he discovered remarkable changes in the intensity of their emissions, consistent with what Ben Mayrick and I discovered while working with a crudely constructed Kirlian photography device.

Copyright ©2010 by William Bengston, Ph.D., and Sylvia Fraser. All Rights Reserved. Please feel free to duplicate or distribute this file as long as the excerpt has not been changed and this copyright notice is intact. Thank You!

WILLIAM BENGSTON, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at St. Joseph's College in New York, has been involved in energy medicine research for more than 30 years. He lives in New York. With his book "The Energy Cure," Dr. William Bengston invites you to take a journey with him into the mystery and power of hands-on healing.

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The Benefits of Reiki During Pregnancy

While I cherish all my clients, I hold a particularly special place in my heart for prenatal and pediatric. Babies, inside or outside the womb, love Reiki. They respond immediately to the touch of the Reiki practitioner's warm hand. It is an incredible feeling to be administering Reiki and feel the baby moving and kicking as if to say, 'Give me more, please'. Each time, I'm like a kid in a candy store on Christmas morning. Reiki is safe throughout pregnancy and the delivery process. Its' benefits extend to both mom and baby. While working all seven chakras during a Reiki session, there are a couple of chakras I give particular attention:

Third Eye-Between the brown. Governs the pineal gland, brain,eyes, ears and nose. Intuition, extrasensory perception and psychic abilities.

Solar Plexus-Below the rib cage. Stomach, liver, pancreas. Willpower,self respect, self confidence

Sacral-Sits below the belly button (navel). Regulates our reproductive organs, kidneys,adrenals, bladder and lymphatic system. Emotions are also seated in the sacral.

It has been my experience that imbalanced energy tends to sit in the above mentioned chakras. During the treatment process, administering additional Reiki along with other tools such as crystals, sound and guided imagery allow the client to have a more complete healing experience.

Women who are pregnant for the first time often display new pregnancy jitters. They are both ecstatic yet at times, feel they are traveling into the unknown. In the first trimester of pregnancy, the most common complaints are morning sickness and fatigue. The stress this places on the body can cause imbalance to mom and baby. Reiki can provide assistance in calming feelings of nausea and tiredness. During the second trimester is when women report that any morning sickness has subsided, and they are noticing an upsurge in their energy levels. Once they move into the third trimester, some of the aches and discomforts along with fatigue may return. I find that administering Reiki to areas such as low back, hips, knees and ankles provide extra relief. Swelling can occur, and the joints overall seem to take on more with the ever changing pregnancy body. Releasing the energy that has pooled reduces swelling and allows more flexibility and ease of movement. One client came in with swelling in her ankles. She was unable to wear shoes and was quite uncomfortable ( she used the word miserable).

As part of her Reiki session, I placed extra focus on her joints. I followed up with her 2 days later, and she reported that her swelling had all but gone, and was back to wearing her favorite shoes. As we near 'D day', women will come in more frequently for Reiki sessions. They are becoming anxious about delivering, and are ready to meet their bundle of joy.

Because I'm based in a chiropractic setting, we've had many moms come in for their adjustment, a Reiki session and soon after labor begins. Reiki can help smooth over any anxieties and provide a reduction in low back and pelvic pains. Also, labor time is reduced. For women who have had multiple pregnancies, Reiki provides relief at home when dealing with other family members. They are not as stressed or irritable.

One of my clients came to see me for Reiki during her pregnancy with her sixth child. A military wife, her husband was serving overseas. Her consistent Reiki sessions gave her increased inner peace. She was also able to manage things at home with more focus and patience. I often say that if you are on your second or more pregnancy, your connection to that child will be different. The bond between mom and baby is extra special and unique. Now, I am not stating that the mother is going to favor this child over the others. In my experience, I find that when babies receive Reiki in the womb, it's as if both share a special, little secret. Once baby arrives, and the mother experiences first hand what I meant, she wishes she knew about Reiki sooner!

I'd like to point out that Reiki is also beneficial for expectant fathers. Having Mom, Dad & Baby absorbing all the Love & Light is surely a winning combination!

Blessed Be!

Amy Barilla is a Usui Reiki Master Educator, Author & Intuitive. Her practice focuses on pregnancy, pediatrics and women with reproductive health issues. For more information on "The Reiki Gal", visit: http://www.TheReikiGal.com Sign up for the monthly newsletter to receive Reiki tips and insights.

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Is Reiki Helpful When Trying To Help Infertility for Women

Infertility for women can be devastating to deal with, both emotionally and physically. Because it can be so tough on a woman wanting children, many alternative methods are springing up right and left. While some alternative methods treating infertility are unsuccessful, some alternative choices can be greatly effective. Reiki has been shown to help some women deal with infertility.

Most alternative treatments for infertility for women are quite effective in relieving the stress associated with being unable to conceive and sometimes may even be helpful in reinstating a sense of balance in the body. It is worth mentioning that deeper medical issues such as ineffective fallopian tubes may require the help of medical professionals.

In some cases, infertility is best treated through a combination of Western medicine and alternative treatments such as Reiki. But, how is Reiki used in dealing with infertility? First of all, Reiki is an ancient Japanese therapy that is used to encourage the body's energy to flow. It is non invasive and has been used for centuries to help the body heal itself.

In traditional therapy, the practitioner does not really touch the patient. Instead, energy is channeled from the practitioner's hands into the patient's body. When the practitioner senses a congestion of energy in the body they will focus on that area. If Reiki is used to treat infertility for women, it is assumed that there is an imbalance between the mental, emotional, and physical.

Though there have been very few, if any, studies examining the effectiveness of this Japanese therapy in dealing with infertility for women, there are plenty of women that claim it has worked for them. The main goal of this ancient Japanese therapy is to alleviate stress, boost the immune system, and detoxify the body. All of these things can improve the overall functionality of the body which may result in easier conception as well as healthier pregnancies and deliveries.

Many women that opt for Reiki treatments in an attempt to conceive a baby also use massage therapy. Massage therapy has also been used in dealing with infertility. A good massage can boost the immune system, lower blood pressure, as well as reduce stress. Used in conjunction with Reiki, the woman may experience an increased sense of well-being and therefore make her body more susceptible to conception.

Overall, Reiki treatments can improve general health through energy and the mind. While infertility is often not just mental, a good emotional and mental status can't hurt your chances of getting pregnant. Minimizing health problems can most definitely help deal with infertility for women.

Once a woman becomes pregnant, many stick with this ancient Japanese therapy to improve the chances of a good pregnancy and safe delivery. Pregnancy can take its toll on the body, so anything that can help reduce stress throughout the experience is always welcome.

If you have ever struggled to get pregnant this information Will most certainly help infertility for women. For a completely FREE infertility for women pregnancy guide go immediately too Infertility For Women Pregnancy Guide.

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Reiki and Miracle Pregnancies

Reiki is quite popular and most people commonly experience during Reiki treatment a sense of peace and relaxation, often combined with a pleasant sense of security and of being enveloped by a faint wave of energy. But even this is not experienced at all times. Therefore, this might be used for those wanting miracle pregnancies.

It is a form of Japanese or Asian medicine. When someone is treated with Reiki, they are taken back to a state of unification with the harmony of the universe. This harmony, which is capable of reaching the smallest of its cells allows it to become full and healthy again, thus enhancing the woman's natural ability to heal itself. Thus, it is beneficial to couples with infertility problems looking for miracle pregnancies. Reiki is both powerful and gentle. Often, when energy levels are low or blocked, the immune system is weakened and more susceptible to disease.

Reiki energizes women preparing for miracle pregnancies on several levels simultaneously:

-In the physical plane through the warmth of hands
-On the mental plane through the thoughts
-On the emotional level through love

Reiki can be used by those hoping to conceive as it can help relieve pain and illness. Not only may it help in achieving miracle pregnancies, but it can also help in skin problems, flu, fatigue, backache and headaches. This form of Japanese medicine is based on allowing the body to correct itself, heal itself, and provide strength to the immune system to help the body fight disease. Reiki helps the body to help restore physical balance by removing blockages. Some women may fail to get pregnant or achieve miracle pregnancies because of a blockage in their fallopian tubes. Reiki can also rid the body of toxins that have been stored.

Reiki encourages the examination of the woman's emotional life, releasing negative emotions while collecting positive and love, and self-confidence. Reiki flows to where it is needed in a healthy, balanced and natural way. Imbalances in the body can affect the health and can be caused by many situations that occur in our lives, such as emotional or physical trauma, negative thoughts and feelings such as fear, anxiety, worry, doubt or anger, nutritional depletion, destructive lifestyle behavior, bad relationships, and self-neglect. Many doctors who are not naturopathic will also tell you how important your emotional and mental health can be for your physical health.

When women are hoping to achieve miracle pregnancies and receive Reiki during pregnancy, she will find this is beneficial for herself and the baby who will develop when it is conceived. The steps within this form of Asian medicine can help women receive the strength and health as they continue to try for miracle pregnancies. Thus, it can also be used when it is time to give birth, as it helps develop labor more naturally and stress-free.

If you are struggling to get pregnant there are some very important points to follow to help you along your way. All of these tips can be seen here at infertility for women.

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Linking Reiki and Bipolar Disorder

How can reiki treatment actually be considered as a good alternative medication for bipolar disorder? Many people under such condition or who might know someone close to be having such would surely delve into this upon hearing that reiki can be a really good healing technique. First, let us try to look at bipolar disorder and see how it can actually be alleviated by reiki.

Bipolar is basically a disorder by which one person experiences a variation of moods but all in a very extreme state. Most people refer to it as manic depression because a deep depression usually follows high elation and again, all in an extremely alternating process. Manic episodes following depressive episodes are a common thing for a bipolar. Oftentimes, family members and other people around a bipolar struggle with the appropriate actions or treatments and reiki treatment might just do the trick.

As bipolar disorder affects every aspect of the human behavior and with the reiki as a means of channeling positive universal energy, there just might be a spark that could create the link in reiki bipolar disorder treatment. In most cases of bipolar disorders, the medications given can be quite uncomfortable hence patients are being referred to alternative forms of treatment and even therapies. Since bipolar is what you can refer to as a manic depressive state, reiki could very well work in the relaxation and keeping at peace of the manic stage.

Reiki treatment relaxes and rejuvenates the inner state of the bipolar. This is the same as eliminating or washing out all the negative forces and energies that are concealed within the manic depressive person and ultimately pushes itself to burst out in proportions that are not adequate. As bipolar disorder affects significantly the whole human behavior meaning thoughts, feelings, perception and all the rest, so shall the universal energy generated by reiki as channeled through the practitioner be proportionately distributed throughout the areas with particular need to be soothed.

For many who have experienced and witnessed reiki bipolar disorder treatment, it may be deemed that the spiritual healing is able to tame down the surge of uncontrolled negative emotions of the bipolar. Several treatments along the area and line of spirituality is deemed in fact to be more effective than those synthetic medications and even psychotherapies. This is because most bipolar patients need to have an expressive outlet to be heard and at the same time have the assurance that calmness and peace of mind may be very well at hand.

Linking reiki with bipolar disorder can be quite far-fetched for those who have no deeper understanding and first-hand experience of this alternative healing. All it would take for one to consequently benefit from its healing power is for one to understand and learn to properly practice or become recipient of reiki treatment.

Find out about Reiki Bipolar Disorder treatment by getting the latest updates on Reiki treatment. Check on the links provided for details.

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