Energy Medicine
Energy medicine is an acknowledgment that we are made of energy and that our health and vitality depend on the balance and flow of these energies. One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein proclaimed that energy is all there is. He showed that the physical matter we could readily sense and energy that most of us could not, were really forms of the same thing. Our thoughts, emotions, and our dense physical bodies are all made of energy. The energies of our bodies are dynamic and communicate with each other, weaving through the physical, emotional, and mental planes with an anatomy that has been charted for thousands of years.
According to Nobel laureate in medicine Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, “In every culture and every medical tradition before ours, healing was accomplished by moving energy.” 50 The word “medicine” in “energy medicine” refers to the restoration of balance, flow, and vitality in the energy body, as well as the upkeep necessary to encourage the body to use its innate wisdom and heal itself.
Energy medicine, like Kabbalah, dates back thousands of years. Also like Kabbalah, it is enjoying a modern renaissance, becoming more and more popular as an alternative and complement to Western medicine. Western medicine focuses on alleviating disease symptoms in an already unbalanced system and pharmaceuticals, with their ever-present side effects, are often the treatment of choice. In contrast, energy medicine is a holistic approach, focused on maintaining wellness and resilience. Energy medicine takes advantage of the body’s innate healing ability, and when disease occurs, encourages this ability by restoring disrupted energy balance and flow.
I had studied energy healing in several programs before I met Donna Eden. I was attracted to Eden Energy Medicine because as a scientist by training, it provided me with a more logical way of dealing with a subject that is nonlinear and intuitive. I appreciated that there were textbooks for reference. Like Kabbalah, teachers can impart the basics but it is up to the student to deepen the teachings through practice and experience. Although skeptical by nature, I was immediately convinced of its value.
Donna Eden was born with the ability to see energy clearly. Some people can see auras. Donna can see every detail of energy anatomy including meridians, chakras, and their colors. Although it’s a bit unnerving to know that your deepest secrets may be revealed when she looks at you, it feels very safe because of her enormously open heart. Many people who see energy do not know how to interpret what they see. Donna worked with thousands of clients and studied extensively to be able to use her gift to teach others. Touch for Health gave her the tools of applied kinesiology, sometimes referred to as muscle testing or energy testing, that allows energy to be assessed even without seeing it.51
Eden Energy Medicine (EEM)52 empowers individuals to balance and care for their own energy bodies. Energy Medicine, a textbook of wellness practices by Eden and her husband, Dr. David Feinstein, was first published in 1997. Since then, the field of energy medicine has grown enormously. There are trained EEM practitioners and students all over the world. YouTube brims with Eden Energy exercise videos. Eden Energy medicine includes the great traditions of Chinese medicine and the yogic chakras as well as other healing practices. It is very inclusive. Practitioners continue to add to the effectiveness of exercises and treatments based on their own experiences. We teach each other and everyone benefits.
The mission of Eden Energy Medicine is to empower the individual to balance and care for their own energy body thus raising the vibration of the planet one person at a time. There are many forms of energy work available today: Reiki, zero-balancing, and polarity therapy to name a few. Most rely on trained practitioners in contrast to self-care and empowerment. For lasting changes, self-care is essential.
Students, clients, and practitioners alike work with their own energies regularly. Eden exercises help to activate the body’s innate healing power through a series of simple exercises called the daily routine. The daily routine helps to keep energies humming, enabling maximum vitality no matter what stresses an individual is coping with. The exercises also create a foundation for deeper work. Simple activities such as stretching and moving the body help by creating space for energy to flow. Hands move energy powerfully and can restore balance by connecting specific areas or points. The body then can do what it innately knows how to do, heal and stay healthy.
An EEM practitioner learns to assess imbalances and blockages in a client’s energy body. After working to correct these, the practitioner helps determine which additional exercises will be the most beneficial for lasting change. It is then up to the client to work with the energies themselves between sessions. With regular practice the body becomes healthier and more resilient.
Most of the practices in Part 2 have Eden or Eden-inspired exercises as their foundation.
Energy Anatomy
Eden Energy Medicine recognizes nine different systems that make up our energy anatomy. These include chakras, meridians, an electric system, an underlying grid of support, an aura that surrounds the body like a cocoon of light, and a special group of energies called the radiant circuits. These systems are all in continual movement and constant communication and each affects the others. All are addressed by EEM, but for our purposes we will focus on four of them:53
- The chakras
- The meridians
- The aura
- The radiant circuits
The Chakras
Because the practice of yoga has become widespread, many people are familiar with its concept of chakras. From the Sanskrit word for “wheel,” chakras are energy patterns, centers of spinning energy that occur all over the body. The major chakras are seven vortexes of energy that run up the center of the body from the base of the torso to the crown of the head. There are chakras over the root/womb (sacrum)/solar plexus/heart/throat/third eye (between the eyebrows) and crown of the head. They influence bodily functions and emotions. Like an energy memory database, chakras contain imprints, records of every significant thought or experience you have ever had.
The Meridians
The meridians are fourteen interconnected channels of energy that flow like a river through the body. They are the basis of Oriental medicine and acupuncture. The meridians connect all of the body’s organs and systems providing instant communication and feedback with both the internal and external environment. Except for the central channel and governing channel which run respectively up the front and up the back, the meridians are bilateral.
The Aura
The aura is a field of light energy that surrounds living beings. Like a cell membrane, its primary function is as a filter, protecting the body from toxic or disruptive energies, and bringing in beneficial energies.
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The Radiant Circuits
The radiant circuits are the energies of joy and miracles that literally “light you up.” They can travel anywhere they are needed in the body. Some say these subtle energies of light connect directly to the soul. Because they are light, they can be thought of as our direct connection to the divine, the realm of Infinite Light.
Radiant circuits are activated when you laugh with abandon, are in the “zone,” experience the majesty of nature, or are captivated by beautiful music. You are in a state of awe or bliss and may experience goosebumps or chills. You may feel yourself as part of an expanded reality, even a state of Oneness with the universe where time stands still. In addition, radiant circuit energy is contagious. When someone’s lights are turned on they activate the lights in others and everyone benefits. We are naturally attracted to these higher vibrations like iron filings being drawn by a magnet. Because radiant circuit exercises are a natural bridge between the physical and the spiritual they are the foundation of several practices in Part 2.
We will look at these four aspects of energy anatomy in more detail in the next chapter, specifically how they relate to Kabbalah.
50 http://www.azquotes.com/quote/997585.
51 www.touch4health.com.
52 www.innersource.net.
53 There is an additional energy pattern Donna Eden observes which she calls the diamond inlay. Connecting to both heaven and earth, it is strangely similar to the geometric shape of the Tree of Life. This may be the topic of future inquiry.