Alternative
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The human body is full of pulsing, life-giving and life-enhancing energy. Traditional western medicine and even health insurance companies are gradually acknowledging this through the increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine (known as CAM therapies). Energy healing is one of the modalities within the CAM therapies and is known by different names, including: Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, Energy Medicine, acupuncture, kinesiology. They use different techniques yet have the same objectives. But what are they referring to? And why should it matter to you?

There is growing research documenting the health-promoting benefits of energetic healing, including stress relief; increased wound healing and illness recovery; pain reduction and alleviation of side effects associated with anesthesia, radiation treatment and chemotherapy. In fact, touch therapies such as Healing Touch, Reiki and Therapeutic Touch are some of the most widely used energy based therapies being incorporated into hospitals and clinics, especially in the field of oncology. There are even energetic healing techniques that you can choose to receive when facing surgery which can reduce anxiety, stimulate relaxation, stabilize blood pressure, and normalize respiration.

In traditional western medicine, various forms of energy produced by the body (heat, electricity, magnetism, light, and sound) are routinely measured by medical devices. They reveal information about how well your body regulates itself and maintains health. Most of us are familiar with equipment such as CAT scans, MRIs, EKGs, EEGs, lasers and x-rays which emit one form of energy while measuring another form of energy. Standard medical treatment is then based, to a large degree, on the findings of these machines, and involves the use of drugs, surgery or other medical devices which involve stimulation of the affected area with pulsed electrical or magnetic fields.

Energetic healing takes a different approach. First, the practitioner uses his or her hands to assess your energy system. Then, energy is transmitted directly by the practitioner?s hands to your body (rather than using machines) to stimulate the healing process. In fact, the frequency of electromagnetic energy which emanates from the practitioner?s hands has been measured to be comparable to the Pulsed Electromagnetic Frequency Device (PEMFs) used by modern medicine to jump-start healing in bone and soft tissue.

Instead of focusing on biological forms of energy, energy healing focuses on the flow of energy through the energetic ?anatomy? of your body. There are energy centers (known as chakras), energy lines (called meridians) and energy fields (the ?biofield? or aura). They form the network through which your body receives, processes and reveals the information with which it functions on all levels ? physical, mental, emotional - even spiritual. Once an assessment of the energy flow has been made, an energy healing session focuses on removing any blockages and encouraging a return to health. Energetic healing complements traditional medical care. It is safe, non-invasive, drug free and has no side effects. It has the potential to provide you with relief when more conventional approaches come up short. And for those of you who currently enjoy good health, energy healing can help you maintain wellness simply and naturally.