Can we heal ourselves naturally using the subtle energy field that surrounds our body? In many instances, the answer is yes. Biofield therapies are an exciting discipline using our biofield or aura. Let’s take a deeper look at biofield therapies.
The energy system that surrounds your body is comprised of three elements: chakras, meridians, and the biofield or aura. Meridians are lines of energy that run throughout your body. Acupuncture utilizes meridians for healing. Chakras are spinning wheels or energy located through the center of your body from top to bottom.
In contrast, the biofield is a large field of energy that extends out from the body by approximately 8 feet. It surrounds the entire body. While the biofield is invisible to the human eye it can be felt through temperature or pressure changes. Some practitioners can perceive shapes or colors, but that it not typical.
If you have a session with a biofield practitioner, you will most likely lie comfortably on a massage table, which allows the practitioner to assess the status of your biofield. They will send energy through their hands, sometimes by direct contact with your body or sometimes by putting their hands near you without touching your body.
Biofield therapies address your overall physical, mental, and emotional health. It is often used for stress reduction. Some people use biofield therapy for the prevention of problems. Others will use it to address an issue that is current, and some people will use biofield therapy in conjunction with conventional therapies.
Biofield therapy can be helpful for improving your overall well-being, treatment for physical challenges, support for mental well-being, as a part of spiritual practice, or all of the above. Biofield therapy is dynamic, always in response to your energy field. Thus, it is accessible to a broad array of individuals to meet their specific needs.
The most common forms of biofield therapies are Healing Touch, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch. Other forms include Pranic Healing, Johrei, and EQT. They have many factors in common such as little to no side effects and no invasive procedures. They are typically effective, and economical, and have no “belief system” attached to them. You don’t have to believe in a philosophy to attain the benefits.
Generally, these therapies have less formal research supporting their effectiveness. However, many hospitals and traditional health care settings have adopted biofield therapies as support for conventional medical treatments.
Healing Touch was founded in 1989, and it offers more structure than Reiki. Healing is understood to occur through shifts in the energy and through the process of touch itself. It is a supervised training program that uses manuals for specific hands-on healing positions. These positions vary depending on what the client presents with so practitioners make decisions and use the manual to guide the treatment. A Healing Touch practitioner must complete 5 levels of instruction and complete extensive case practice under supervision to receive certification. Healing Touch has been shown to assist with anxiety, depression, trauma, pain reduction, and cancer, among others.
Most of us recognize Reiki as a common form of biofield therapy. Founded in the early 20th century, Reiki is a gentle healing experience in which practitioners help their clients open up to the universal life force energy for optimal healing. The universal life force energy completes the healing, not the individuals involved. Practitioners use about 13 hand positions on the body, often corresponding to chakra positions. It is considered a spiritual practice although it is not tied to a religion or philosophy.
Reiki training is offered at three levels: Reiki I, II, and Reiki Master training. Training is offered through lineages, much like indigenous healing practices, and is not overseen by one specific body. However, Reiki does have a strong professional association that is an important resource for education and ethics, the International Association of Reiki Professionals. Reiki has become an integral part of hospital care around the country, often used for recovery from procedures or to manage stress around health issues. Reiki has been shown to help with recovery after hospital procedures, stress reduction, and prevention, anxiety, depression, pain reduction, improve resilience and boost immune support, and physical and mental health support for cancer patients.
Therapeutic Touch is a precursor to Healing Touch and Pranic Healing. It was founded in the 1970s, and it was the first biofield therapy to enter conventional healthcare settings. Currently, most people interested in biofield healing seek out Reiki and Healing Touch more than Therapeutic Touch but TT established an important foundation for biofield healing training and practice in the US.
Pranic Healing works with the biofield and the chakras, but it also uses colors and crystals in the healing process. It is a very intensive detoxifying type of biofield healing and the training is highly supervised with a strong oversight process. It also follows the lineage system, similar to Reiki, and currently, there are very few students who oversee the training which is likely why it is less well-known at this time.
Many people who use biofield therapy report that it is beneficial to overall well-being. More research will help provide the scientific basis for its success. An increasing number of mental health care providers are recommending biofield therapies, and many hospitals are incorporating the practice alongside conventional treatments. Biofield therapies are a gentle but powerful form of healing that can be an asset to integrative health and wellness.