Why Energy Work? When Physical Therapies, Psychotherapy, and Nutrition fall short...

Why Energy Work?

When Physical Therapies, Psychotherapy, and Nutrition fall short...

© Victoria Anisman-Reiner

Feb 19, 2007

What do therapies like Energy Medicine, Brain Gym, reiki, dowsing, chakra healing or Touch for Health have to offer that makes them so worthwhile?

Energy healing is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds, from well-known types like reiki and acupuncture to the less-known dowsing, chakra healing, Brain Gym, Touch for Health, Energy Medicine, and Energy Psychology. But despite the mounting evidence both clinical and testimonial that energy techniques work, most medical professionals remain skeptical of their value, even in alternative communities. In a “scientific” world which doubts the reasoning behind how energy work works, why are healing tools that balance our subtle energies even necessary?

Most holistic practitioners have trained in dozens of techniques that they can draw on to help patients. From herbal and homeopathic remedies to the often miraculous results of nutritional counseling, to every type of massage and structural corrections, we have many tools to stabilize the body and encourage healing. With so much to offer, energy work might seem redundant at best or, at worst, a foolish indulgence.

There are times, however, when energy work can provide an opportunity for healing that would have been impossible or unbelievably difficult with more conventional treatments.

1. Terminal cases; when nothing else works.

We’ve all heard of those extraordinary cases in which a cancer patient or an accident victim is told that their situation is hopeless - and then survives thanks to the power of heartfelt prayer or the intervention of a medicine man or energy healer.

Doctors may dismiss these success stories as “spontaneous remission,” but, to energy healers, it seems even more unlikely that a serious disease such as cancer, MS, or fibromyalgia would go into remission without any cause than it is that energy work can return sick people to a state of health. Sometimes, the power of our minds and our energy is all that it takes to heal, when nothing else will do.

2. Illness caused by deep-seated trauma or family/genetic problems.

For those who believe that physical symptoms often have an emotional component or cause, it is a small step to a position supporting ways of healing that address both body and mind. Energy work techniques are especially efficient at reaching and healing buried emotional dis-ease - in some cases, relieving pain from trauma that is years or even generations old. Family trauma, passed down from parents to children, is the focus of many aspects of energy healing work.

Some healers believe that any trauma that is buried instead of dealt with becomes incorporated into our DNA. We can heal harmful pieces of hereditary genetic “programming” using energy work.

3. A simpler alternative to years of physio- or psychotherapy.

Some problems can be treated effectively with conventional tools - but not as efficiently or easily as might be done using energy techniques. Energy work can make repair after injury or trauma simpler and easier, and is an alternative to suffering through the healing process.

In many cases, a couple of Energy Medicine sessions will release back and neck tension that could require years of chiropractic and massage treatment to fully heal.

Energy psychology can help shift emotional patterns of self-sabotage and denial that one might spend years exploring with only conventional talk therapy.

Massage, chiropractics, and psychology are each responsible for amazing healing work. Each of these approaches, however, can be enhanced and complimented by elements of energy work.

4. Something we can all do for ourselves.

A big part of the popularity of energy healing modalities is certainly due to the ease with which anyone can learn enough to help themselves, their friends and their family to feel better with simple energy tools.

It is possible to take an introductory course and begin using the techniques at home immediately to pick up your energy and your mood, to help your spouse sleep better, your father’s sore knees hurt less, or your children get better grades in their least favorite classes. Energy work can be used to shift emotional and physical problems that seem stuck, in unprecedented ways, and although some people “take” to energy work more easily than others, almost anyone can learn to do it.