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With such an extensive categories as “energy” and “medicine” it’s not surprising the Wikipedia definition has two different meanings: energy medicine that’s proven to humankind – “veritable” (with this they mean souped up that science has verified) and medicine containing not been confirmed by science – “putative”. Energy for example electromagnetism would fall in the former category while Reiki energy and people of other complementary alternative medicines (CAM as defined with the National Institutes of Health) fall inside latter. There’s no doubt that science defines our everyday life for us so it helps us to create a feeling of the seemingly inexplicable in our lives. We need science as well as smarts to stay discovering the as-yet-undiscoverable once we continue to evolve as being a species in the world. At the same time frame, among my personal favorite quotes by one of the world’s most well-known scientists leads me to trust that humankind needs to require a leap of faith where as-yet-unverifiable energy is worried:

“It is better to trust than disbelieve; in doing so you bring everything for the whole world of possibility.” – Albert Einstein

Before science laid bare the intricate workings from the body we treated ourselves in manners for example leeches (still used today) and blood-letting (thankfully something from the past). We used plants and their properties to deal with our illnesses and injuries: honey for burns, birch bark for salicylic acid, compresses of arnica for healing list really is limitless. Although some of those are still used today their use was subjugated through the emerging pharmaceutical industry and traditional medicine – on that later. The amount of knowledge we’ve today regarding how the physical body works is staggering and yet organic beef be moving our very own selves towards extinction as being a species due to things like obesity. The World Health Organization offers these facts:

*Key facts

Worldwide obesity has greater than doubled since 1980.

In 2008, 1.5 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.

65% in the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

Nearly 43 million children under the age of five were overweight this season.

Obesity is preventable.

How one thing were much smarter than our ancestors yet so dumb simultaneously?! It seems as though the plethora of choices we’ve has succeeded in removing and insulating/isolating us in the very essence of ourselves. This essence as well as the wisdom with the physical body continues to be taken from us when these things need most to get kept near and nearby.

At one time we had been exploring and exploding certain myths regarding the human body – how can reproduction occur, what purpose does the brain serve should it be one’s heart that keeps blood circulating and our bodies physically functioning, how come we now have a couple of something (kidneys, lungs, ovaries, testes) simply certainly one of other activities (stomach, heart, liver) I possess a hunch we had been moving further away from the essence of the physical body. That as-yet-unverified type of energy where the body depends to heal itself after an accident or illness remained elusive from your most probing scientists and tests although that may be changing. Depending upon what culture you want this essence or life force energy has different names: ki, chi, or prana to name a few.

I think it’s fascinating how the more something is invisible to humankind the greater we resist its existence. We are so based mostly on our personal five senses and science to clarify to us via those five senses what we simply cannot see, hear, smell, feel, or taste inside our world. Heaven help something which isn’t perceived through those senses – for example ki – because we doubt its existence. Moreover, when something profound and easy is discovered there’s a rush to “technologize” whatever it is and earn it complex. When science surely could unlock the mysteries of why certain plants worked to assist the physical body in recovery from illness or injury there were a rush to isolate an extremely small piece – sometimes a couple of cells – with the active part in the plant and artificially replicate that part. The result being we began treating our the signs of disease via non-organic means along with drugs that is made in huge amounts having a large profit for drug companies together with unintended unwanted effects. This is the not-so-nice part of science – whether or not this works in this small way let’s make it bigger then it can work in a larger way – better isn’t just section of this equation.

Fortunately, we’re coming full circle however, not quite back to blood-letting when it comes to science and medicine. **A 2007 study through the National Institutes of Health Complementary and Alternative Medicine states that more than 38% of adults in the US had tried some way of CAM. That equals 1.2 million individuals who have awakened on the idea how the physical body’s effective at assisting traditional medicine while using self-healing process and in fact, the self-healing process begins and ends with all the physical body. We would be foolish to neglect the level of knowledge gathered on the centuries about science and medicine and what works/what doesn’t. That being said, it’s time for science to once again train it’s microscope about the most elusive of most physical traits – life force energy – to confirm for humankind what we’ve already sensed and experienced: this self-healing energy is as real and valid just like any medicine given having a syringe and a lot times, much less painful. Certainly, energy medicine techniques including acupuncture have been in existence for hundreds of years though haven’t made it into Western medicine like a viable treatment modality. Again, because from the allegedly invisible energy pathways – meridians – which are the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) many scientists choose – yes, choose – to dismiss both substance and effect of acupuncture on the physical body. Those times are gonna alternation in a huge way, gentle reader.

There’s much research going on on this area it’s impossible to read everything here. Suffice it to say where Reiki specifically can be involved the US Army has made it section of its Warriors Resilience Program at Fort Bliss. Yale studied the consequences of Reiki on heart attack patients and discovered that Reiki improved heart rate variability -time between heart beats. Reiki is employed in over 800 US hospitals today and the International Society to the Study of Subtle Energy and Energy Medicine is promoting entire academic programs around the study of life force energy.

These advances in the use of and research of “energy medicine”will bring us full circle and back to our own essence and wisdom with the body. It’s just a couple of time before “ki”is verified by science then one more as-yet-undiscoverable item continues to be believed and moved to the an entire world of possibility. I fear that after science gets their hands on this effervescent spring of one’s it may make an effort to clone it, develop alternatives and/or drugs that replicate its effects. Is it truly impossible for science to simply look for a lynchpin of humankind as well as leaving or not it’s?

I can’t help but wonder, though, if we’ll use a harder time relocating the trust that we once suffered from in our own bodies and its inherent wisdom. We are so taught to seeking the answer beyond ourselves and through less than authentic means most of us stopped searching inward for your answers we as individuals seek in addition to healing paths for the cultures and world. I do have hope that through individual Reiki sessions this trust will surface yet again. As many the best way to get the life tool that is Reiki I have hope that rising tide of energetic body-centered medicine will swell and gently sweep away everything does not serve our highest purpose. In its place will probably be peace, love and compassion for ourselves and to the rest in the world.

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