HISTORY OF ENERGY HEALING

By Jan King Garverick

For thousands of years, indigenous cultures have seen the human body as an energy system with the innate ability to heal. It is only in recent decades that modern-day physicists have uncovered scientific evidence that more and more supports these ancient beliefs.

Amidst skeptics and critics, there is an exponentially increasing group of practitioners-physicians, chiropractors, therapists, nurses and nutritionists who espouse these concepts, concepts which have come to he part of the ever-expanding field called integrative medicine.

Much scientific documentation exists supporting the practice of bionetics, and more and more practitioners are seeking answers to questions that can only be answered by widening our concept of healing and preventative medicine.

Scientist Hans Selye, M.D. conducted pioneering research on stress. In his book, The Stress of Life, Selye refers to the "strain response" and its overall effect on the "chemical composition of the body"... resulting in "derailments" of what he calls the "general adaption syndrome mechanism" which produce "stress diseases".

Researcher Paul Martin, PhD., reports on Dr. Selye's findings:

"Hans Selye discovered that when rats were subjected to severe physical stressors there were visible changes in their immune tissues. Prolonged stress made the thymus shrivel up, while the adrenal glands swelled."

OUR LARGEST ORGAN: THE SKIN

Researcher Barbara B. Brown, Ph.D., in her book titled New Mind. New Body states:

... "The skin [is] a body system almost without parallel for its ability to reflect the mental and emotional life of the body. The skin's biofeedback use has been confined to studies of conditioned learning in the laboratory; its extraordinary communication ability is only now beginning to be recognized."

What is more, the electromagnetic properties of the skin have been recognized and documented by ancient masters and teachers as well as modern scientists. Harold Saxton Burr, in his Blueprint for Immortality explains, "...There is unequivocal evidence that wherever there is life, there are electrical properties."

BIONETICS

"If we think in terms of the electrical energy that flows in these skin conversations and liken it to the electromagnetic radiations that lay hidden in uranium ore until man needed to listen, we can have some idea of the potential force of the skin to guide expeditions to the furthermost horizons of man's mind."

By addressing chronic as well as acute conditions, a variety of modalities are incorporated, such as Chinese medicine, homeopathy, herbs, and nutrition. Bionetics is one of the most complete approaches to the healing process, an approach that looks at a myriad of options with the intent of returning the body to homeostasis, where radiant health and vitality reside. Bionetics reaches beyond the scope of western medicine and unites ancient wisdom and practices with modern technology.

What has intrigued scientists in recent years is that, by using devices that measure physiological functions, a definite link is established between the body and the mind. Patients can be taught, for example, to lower their heart rate through various processes of affirmations or visualizations. This practice has come to be known as biofeedback; its official history dates back to the '60's with the groundbreaking work of J. V. Basmajian (Electromyograph Feedback) and Budzynski and Stoyva, known for their studies on feedback induced muscle relaxation. Other pioneers too numerous to mention contributed to the science of biofeedback as it has come to be recognized today.

"By the end of this book, we hope, it will seem obvious (or at least highly plausible) that psychology or parapsychology are part of a more general Psychology, that medicine and spiritual healing can be parts of a more general Medicine, and that physics and psychophysics are literally parts of a more general Physics."

"As we begin to realize that we are not totally the victims of our genetics, conditioning, and accidents, changes begin to happen in our lives, nature begins to respond to us in a new way, and the things that we visualize, even though unlikely, begin to happen with increasing frequency."

If biofeedback is the grandfather of bionetics as we have defined it, then certainly the teachings of Chinese, Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine represent the wisdom of the ancient ones. These beliefs and practices have led to innovative technologies, and, in a stream-of-consciousness flow of discovery, systems such as the Phazx BodyScan 2010 have evolved.

MODERN APPLICATION AND BEYOND

Dr. Reinhold Voll of Germany experimented with the acupuncture meridians in the late '40's and found them to be access points through which the energy of the meridians could be measured. It is upon this foundation and research that the sophisticated computerized electrodermal measuring systems of today base their evolution.

Dr. Bob Kohler, in his paper titled, "Biophysical Information Therapy: The Evolution of Subtle Energy Medicine" emphasizes the link between the meridian system and current biophysical knowledge:

"The information flow in the human body is maintained not only by the vegetative and central nervous system (as well as materially by the blood and lymphatic circulatory systems); rather there is also an informational network, about which orthodox medicine knows little, that is in all likelihood identical with the meridian system."

Many similar devices followed, including Japanese researcher Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama's AMI machine, which obtained physiological information by also measuring the electrical characteristics of the meridians. These pioneers of bioenergetics prepared the way for what was to become a quantum leap in energetic reactivity testing.

Kohler continues:

"Until the quantum-physical foundations were clarified, the apparent stability of matter had for centuries (mis) led scientists into assuming that the entire universe was subject to absolute mechanical (Newtonian) laws. Regrettably, these linear/mechanical laws were then applied to man as well.... It was not until Einstein that this dogma began to waiver."

Such enhanced understanding of matter led to additional studies. In the late 80's, the Brugeman Institute in Germany coined the phrase "bioresonance therapy", a therapy which works with biological signals stored in the body. The prior work of Voll and Morell were coming full circle; BIT and bioresonance therapy were but enhancements in a continuum of knowledge, all pointing in the same direction. Hans Brugeman concluded:

"The view imposed on us by the Age of Newton, that the human organism is put together Out of parts like a machine which perform their work independently of each other is no longer tenable."

He continues: "The idea can be quickly outlined: all diseases and their preconditions are accompanied, or to be more correct, caused by electromagnetic oscillations. There is no pathological phenomenon without the presence of pathological oscillations in or around the body."

The bold claims of Brugeman only served to confirm what was also being proposed by his counterparts in the Western hemisphere. Researchers and scientists around the world began to agree: The Age of Newton was history and promising new frontiers of healing were emerging.

The message was clear: the body is complex in its intricacies, yet its process of communication is direct and simple. We have moved beyond the brink of finding ways to extract the body's wisdom, which it willingly gives if we are but open to employing effective mechanisms and tools and also to developing new ways of understanding these techniques.

CLINICAL USE IN MEDICINE

Sophisticated and comprehensive computer systems have evolved, including the Phazx BodyScan 2010, which, using a multi-channel scanning process, tests for more than 3,000 substances in less than eight minutes, or 10,000 in 30 minutes.

Moreover, sophisticated electrodermal devices now provide valuable applications in medical diagnosis. The clinical studies of Michael J. Aminoff, M.D. and Douglas S. Goodin, M.D. on Event-Related (Endogenous) Potentials clearly demonstrate the role of computerized scanning devices in both the diagnosis and prognosis for patients with neurological diseases.

Through a process which compares "stimulus related" or "exogenous" responses versus "event-related" or "endogenous" potentials (ERP's), valuable clinical information is obtained.

For example:

"By recording ERP's [Event-Related Potentials] in a group of patients with clinically definite Huntington's disease, ...Goodin and Aminoff were able to demonstrate clear electrophysiologic differences not only between the cortical and subcortical dementias but within the subcortical group as well."

"These findings provide direct evidence that different subtypes of dementia exist, and that electrophysiologic techniques may, in the future, prove useful both for diagnostic purposes and for selecting homogenous patient populations for clinical trials."

The potential for these applications is astonishing! According to Goodin and Aminoff, "ERP's. . .may also be useful in identifying individuals with HIV infection who are at risk of developing more serious manifestations of HIV infection and perhaps in need of special treatments."  In other words, electrophysiologic equipment acts as a prognosticator, and, in a sense, using certain markers given by the body, actually allows us to look into the future for that particular patient.

The future for electrophysiologic devices is indeed very bright. Aminoff and Goodin conclude:

"...the recording of ERP's in clinical contexts has generally been rewarding and it seems likely that these potentials will continue to be used in the evaluation of patients who have or are at risk of having dementia disorders-both as an aid in the diagnosis and management of patients and as a guide to prognosis."

Dr. Richard Gerber's (Vibrational Medicine) predictions of 1988 are well into the process of fulfillment:

"The ability to change the mechanistic viewpoint of present and future physicians will depend upon the development of instrumentation which can extend our physical senses to perceive the subtle energies of this invisible realm."

Current research has begun to acknowledge these subtle energies, and the instrumentation of which Gerber speaks now exists that goes beyond the scope of Newtonian law. Split-second microprocessors and sophisticated electronics provide the technology that, when applied to the concepts of our forefathers, offer unlimited capabilities to explore and mark the human body without surgery or x-ray. The works and visions of Albert Einstein and his understanding of physics and energy have provided a blueprint for infinite options. We are indeed on the threshold of interpreting the true potential of the body's innate ability to heal itself. The wisdom and genius of those that preceded and those that follow will, no doubt, serve to facilitate this potential if we are but willing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Green, Elmer, PhD., and Green, Alyce, MA., Beyond Biofeedback, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, 1977.

Martin, Paul, PhD., The Healing Mind: The Vital Links Between Brain and Behavior. Immunity and Disease, New York, 1997.

Selye, Hans, M.D., The Stress of Life, New York, 1984.

Jan King Garverick, C.N., is the author of Self-Healing Dynamics: For Cancer and Other Illnesses. She offers workshops and seminars on preventive medicine and has a nutrition practice in Colorado Springs.

Ms. Garverick is a free lance writer of health-related topics and has studied the human healing process for the past twenty years.

Reprinted with permission from Phazx Inc.

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Updated 07/02/2006