The Philosophy . . .

In many ancient cultures, it was understood that health and disease are related to a vital energy force that moves through a complex system of channels and meridians throughout the human body, mind, and spirit. It is known as Prana in Indian culture. The Japanese call it Ki, and in China it is called Qi. Without this energy force there is no life. Poor eating habits, stress, toxins in our environment, drugs, and surgery all impede the flow of energy. But strong emotions we hold inside us do the most damage, as they cause our meridian channels to become blocked. Eventually the body develops disease from a lack of vital life-giving energy. Remove the blockages, and the flow is restored allowing the body and mind to heal itself naturally.

Acupuncture and Yoga are two widely accepted forms of healing based on this principle. One uses needles to release blocked energy, helping it move and flow properly again; the other focuses on physical postures and breathing to stimulate the internal organs and flush them with positive energy. The positive effects of these methods, both “energy medicines,” are easily seen.

For the past 5,000 years in the Far East, people have been sensitive to their subtle internal energy, and have developed ways to accumulate it, use it for strength in martial arts, and to send it externally to others for healing. In India, the art of distance therapy developed is called Pranic Healing. In China, Qigong healers, extremely sensitive to energy, detect the areas that are blocked and direct Qi to their patients to restore its healthy flow. Qigong actually translates to “the art of moving energy.” Today in China, the practice is so widely accepted, it can hardly be considered alternative healing. It’s taught in hospitals and prescribed by physicians to patients for maintaining maximum health and wellbeing.

In fact, every culture has some form of distance healing. After World War II, distance healing became popularized by the amazing work of an Englishman named Harry Edwards. He was the first of many, but by far the most documented healer in modern times. In his 40-year career he gave healing to around 14 million people from around the world, including members of the royal family. Edwards conducted many public demonstrations, and in 1954, over 5,000 people came to see him at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Although he worked with the subtle energy within the body to bring about healing, as a Spiritualist he attributed much of the miraculous healings to help from the realm of angels and healers in the spirit world. Edwards fought hard to win recognition for distance healing by the medical profession. He did not consider this healing as a substitute for conventional medicine, but rather worked towards unifying doctors and distance healers to work together for a common cause. It is widely held that he began the alternative healing movement, as this approach has continued ever since.

Modern distance healing has been the focus of many studies and clinical trials. While it is not entirely understood why it works, science has some very intriguing theories. Scientific ideas that sound a lot like the very same thing mystics and sages from every culture around the world have been saying for many thousands of years.

The Science . . .

Until recently, the study of distance, or alternative healing only existed in the realm of fringe scientists. The branch of science known as quantum physics may just have found the answer that explains why and how distance energy healing works. In the world of Quantum Physics, everything in the universe is made of subatomic particles of energy, not “solid” matter as previous believed. In the early part of the 1980’s, scientists at the University of Paris made an incredible discovery, considered one of the most important findings of modern science. They proved that under certain circumstances subatomic particles of energy are able to communicate instantaneously with each other no matter how far apart. Whether separated by a few inches, or many thousands of miles, the results were the same. In subsequent studies, when the phenomenon was duplicated, one group of scientists concluded the energy particles communicated at a rate thousands of times faster than the speed of light. According to Einstein, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, otherwise the laws of time and space as we understand them are incorrect.

Some quantum physicists have reached the conclusion that the reason subatomic particles can stay in contact with each other despite vast distances is not because they are transmitting a signal back and forth faster than the speed of light, but because the separateness of the particles is an illusion. They have put forth the theory that on a much deeper level of reality the particles are not individual entities but are extensions of the same fundamental something, and everything in the universe is infinitely interconnected.

These theories in the field seem to mirror what mystics have been saying for thousands of years. We are all part of a continuous whole. They suggest the reason distance healing works is because we are all one in some fundamental (spiritual) way. This theory gives science something to work with. There have been many double blind clinical studies in China and the US over the past 20 years that show tremendous evidence that some alternative healing practices - the movement of subtle energy healing, prayer therapy and other distance energy modalities - are effective at improving overall health and wellbeing. We say in the field of distance healing that we are “sending” energy. The deeper reality may be that just like the subatomic particles in the lab, there is no energy going back and forth because the healer and the one being healed are connected… the healing energy simply manifests itself within the recipient as a result of mindful intent.

With all that is occurring in our changing world today, it is important that everyone have access to affordable, effective and safe holistic treatments regardless of their location. There is growing hope that distance energy medicine may become a vital part of our holistic health care in the future, and as in China, alternative healing becomes the standard rather than exception.