Alternative healing focuses on balancing, cleansing the body
Pranic healing is a form of non-touch energy healing that emphasizes the ability to heal oneself and others using simple techniques. Created by Chinese Filipino grandmaster Choa Kok Sui and brought to the United States by master Stephen Co, healers use their hands to scan for disturbances in the energy body, cleanse the aura of dirty energy and replenish it with fresh energy from nature. For more information, go to www.pranichealing.com or call (888) 470-5656.
Reiki, which translates to “universal life energy,” is a Japanese form of energy healing performed by lightly placing hands on or directly above the body of a person who is lying on a massage table. By focusing on an intent to heal and drawing on cosmic healing symbols, the healer activates a person’s healing energy. For more information, go to the website of St. John’s Hospital Center for Health Enhancement at www.healthenhancement.org or call(310) 315-7900. Or go to the Agape Well-Being Center’s website at www.agapelive.com/wellbeingcenter/index.html or call (310) 242-8020.
Medical qigong is an ancient Chinese form of energy medicine that underpins acupuncture, shiatsu and acupressure. Qigong teaches that a life force called qi, or chi, flows through all living things and along meridians in human bodies. Through body postures, breathing exercises and meditation, people can create a strong flow of chi. For more information, go to the National Qigong Assn.’s website at www.nqa.org.
Theta Healing, created by medical intuitive Vianna Stibal, involves going into a theta brain-wave state by visualizing a ball of light in the heart area moving up to the crown of the head. After asking permission to enter a client’s space, a healer evokes a higher power, commands and then witnesses a specific healing. To find practitioners, go to www.thetahealing.com/practitioners.html.
Power Healing, created by Chinese doctor and qigong master Zhi Gang Sha, involves redirecting energy from disturbed areas of the body to the navel area. Power healing also uses sound vibration from mantra chanting to shake energy loose, visualization of a golden light flowing from the head to a diseased area, and health affirmations that command diseased areas to heal. To find a healer, go to www.drsha.com.
Pulsor Energy Balancing encourages the use of devices containing microcrystals that balance and correct the polarity of the chakras negatively affected by pollution from electromagnetic radiation. Pulsors are placed around the body, while a healer spins a pulsor device over each area. For more information, go to www.subtleenergy1984.com.
Therapeutic Touch is used primarily by nurses who become centered through a brief meditation, assess a patient’s energy field with their hands, sweep away stagnant energy and transmit energy to the patient. For more information, go to www.therapeutic-touch.org.
Johrei is a Japanese form of spiritual energy healing meaning “to purify spirit,” in which healers send divine healing energy and love from one body to another to dispel clouds of negativity, release toxins, relieve pain and raise a person’s spiritual vibration. A healer thanks the divine source and directs energy to the forehead, upper chest and abdomen of the patient. For more information, go to www.johrei-institute.org.
Other prominent energy-based healers include Rosalyn L. Bruyere (www.rosalynlbruyere.org), Barbara Brennan (www.barbarabrennan.com) and Dr. Judith Orloff (www.drjudithorloff.com).
For additional information on energy medicine research, go to:
* The Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science at www.biofield.arizona.edu.
* The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine at www.issseem.org.
