The Energy in Medicine

By Kristina Benson

Western medicine, as well as the often ineffective and profit-oriented nature of the American medical and pharmaceutical industries, has driven many to seek alternative forms of treatment for a variety of illnesses and maladaptive behaviors.

Additionally, Eastern and alternative ways of thinking about health and energy can be a part of anybody’s daily health and fitness routine, and can lead to new and eye-opening ways to think about total body wellness. This book includes an overview on the ways in which energy can be manipulated and
maintained for maximal psychological and physical health according to ancient Eastern philosophical systems, including healing with Chakras, Reiki, crystals, yoga, nadis, color, and meditation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Equity Press
• Release date: Sep 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781603322522

Book preview

Introduction

Energy is a powerful force. It surrounds us and it IS us. There is energy in the food we eat and the air we breathe. We give and take energy from those around us, and we absorb energy from our environments. The correct use of this energy can have considerable power to heal, both ourselves and others. In using the word healing in this book, the concept takes into consideration the connection of mind, body, and spirit to achieve an effective and comprehensive strategy of healing and diagnosis. It is both immersed in a holistic tradition, and is a relatively secular approach to health.

This book, therefore, endeavors to expose the reader to the concepts of aura, light, chakra, body, mind, Chinese approaches to healing, Indian approaches to healing, and the complex connection of all the above. It is an introduction to a holistic conception of the self and how to keep the self in optimal health using the energy of the universe.

Benefits of Developing Your Awareness

When in a state of spiritual awareness, you are both a participant and an observer of in the ways and cycles of the universe.

In reaching for a higher state of awareness and spirituality you come to a more profound sense of yourself and understanding of what has manifest in your life. This can bring about a lot of peace.

A vital aspect of this awareness is what some would call the sixth sense. It is the way of connecting to the universal consciousness, and an essential channel for receiving and giving to the universe around you.

The world of your sixth sense opens the energy centers in your body and you will feel as though you are radiating light. Others will feel that you are radiating positive energy. You will open to your inner power and the all-knowing and despite the vastness of the energies of the universe; you will be in tune with their subtleties.

Developing your sixth sense will help awaken you from your state of sleep. Opening your psychic senses will allow more life experiences to come to you because you will exist within a heightened state of awareness, a state of complete and total oneness with the world. With higher awareness, you will achieve a state of completeness, almost as if you have found a piece of yourself that you never realized was lost.

It does take some disciple to develop one’s natural sixth sense and become more in tune with the vibrations of the universe. It takes discipline and patience to be able to observe the harmonious ways of nature and be able to work with them instead of against them.

Everything from the electron to the Universe is in a vibratory motion. Energy is manifested in all the varying degrees of vibration. Everything is Energy, everything vibrates.

Rates of vibration are called ‘frequencies’ and the higher the frequency, the more potent the force. ‘Thought’ is one of the highest frequencies of vibration and is very potent in nature. Vibrations are not something that is new to us. Most everyone has an awareness of them in some way. However, most people are not aware of the connection between their vibrations and the results in their life.

How to Begin

All healing must start by getting to the emotional cause of the ailment. It could be manifesting itself in a discolored aura, a blocked chakra, physical pain, or muscular tension. Once established, with forethought that the patient is ready to accept the energy you will channel to them, you are both ready to begin.

Healing, when using the palms of the hands, is almost instinctual. This instinct is difficult, if not impossible, to teach. But hopefully, after becoming exposed to some of the ideas herewith, you will learn to fine-tune all your senses towards the perception of ill health.

What Are the Chakras?

The word chakra is a Sanskrit term meaning wheel. In most models, the chakras fit within systems that link the human body and mind into a single unit, referred to occasionally as the body mind. The philosophical models of chakras as centers of energy were first identified through the practice of yoga in India where they were first written and codified.

Another way to describe chakras is to say that they are energy centers in the body. They are located at major intersections of the human nervous system, beginning with the base of the spinal column and moving upward. Chakras are considered to be a nexus of metaphysical and/or biophysical energy of the human body.

There are a few different theories and models regarding the chakra system. In Chinese medicine, they are often conceptualized in relation to acupuncture points. In some Eastern thought, chakras are considered to be the reflection of various states of the soul. In the Western depiction of chakras, the chakras are a model for an internal and external experience, and speaking of the chakras as 'energy centers', may be referring to electromagnetic hubs which connect to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of a person.

In Hinduism, the concept of chakras is described in a class of texts that are called Āgamas or Tantras. This is a large body of scripture, most of which is rejected by orthodox Brahmins, and deals with properties of esoteric anatomy and physiology, among other things.

In early Sanskrit texts there are descriptions of chakras and nadis (pathways for energy), and list a total of 5, 6, 7, or 8 chakras. Over time, one system of 6 or 7 chakras along the body's axis became the dominant model, and it is this model that most westerners are exposed to. This particular system may have originated in about the 11th century AD, and it is in this model that Kundalini is described as rising upward through the chakras until reaching the top of the head, and allowing the person to thereby connect with the divine.

n the tantric model, the chakras are described as emanations of consciousness from Brahman that begins as spiritual vortices of energy but eventually turns concrete, and creates these levels of chakras. The energy that was unleashed in creation, called the Kundalini, originates at the base of the spine. It is the purpose of the tantric or kundalini forms of yoga to awaken and channel this energy, and cause it to rise back up to the crown of the head to eventually touch the divine.

The first western reference on chakra appears in the book Theosophia Practica, published in 1696. It directly refers to inner force centers and details the shakta theory of 7 main chakra. This is the model that most Westerners are familiar with, mostly because of two translated Indian texts--the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, and the Padaka-Pancaka, by Sir John Woodroffe.

Many New Age writers have also described one or more Transpersonal chakras above the crown chakra, and an Earth star chakra below the feet. They also occasionally describe minor chakras that appear between the major chakras.

In Hinduism and its spiritual systems of yoga, and in some branches of the New Age movement, a chakra is described as an energy node in the human body. The pronunciation of this work is 'chuhkruh', though it is usually errantly pronounced 'shockrah'.

The seven main chakras are primarily the ones we will be concerning ourselves with in this book. You will recall that they are, in this model, described as being aligned in an ascending column from the base of the spine to the top of the head. Each chakra is associated with a certain color, specific functions, an aspect of consciousness, a classical element, sounds, smells, and other aspects of experience.

The chakras are thought to invigorate the body, and the body mind, and indeed be the life force of the physical body. They are a large determinant of the way the body and mind interact to form the experience of an individual. They are considered loci of life energy, or prana, which is thought to flow among them along pathways called nadis.

The seven chakras are said by some to reflect how the unified consciousness of humankind is divided to respond to different aspects of life in an earthly body.

What Are Nadis?

A nadi is an energy channel in which prana energy flows and connects the chakras. The main nadis include Shushumna, Ida and Pingala. The concept of the nadi, and indeed the chakra, is not embraced by western medicine or science, however, practitioners of New Age medicine, and Eastern Medicine often claim that working with the chakras produces excellent results, and can be among the best pathways to total wellness.

Nadis are thought to carry a life force energy known as prana in Sanskrit, or Qi in Chinese. They are also said to have an extrasensory function, and are sometimes