The Essentials of Energy Healing: 10 Techniques

Many energy-based healing therapies – such as acupuncture and reflexology – originate from ancient Eastern traditions and have been increasingly incorporated into Western medicine, despite scepticism. Rachel Markowitz explores 10 popular energy healing techniques that aim to restore balance, reduce stress, and support holistic well-being.

 

Energy healing techniques are based on the principle that physical and mental complications in the body are manifestations of restricted, blocked, or unbalanced energy. Although the Western medical community often shows skepticism towards energy healing, many of these practices originated in ancient times and are still widely accepted and integrated into modern medicine worldwide. 

 

Let’s explore the idea of energy healing and examine some well-established, time-tested energy medicine practices.

 

Energy Healing: Definition

The term energy healing, also known as energy medicine or energy therapy, encompasses a variety of healing techniques that strengthen and balance the energetic body to achieve holistic well-being. According to the U.S. National Institute of Health’s Library of Medicine, energy healing is defined as a “complex intervention” that serves to enhance a patient’s wholeness.

Although we sometimes categorize energy healing as an alternative to allopathic medicine, healthcare options don’t necessarily fall into “either/or” categories. For example, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) defines energy healing not only as alternative medicine, but also as complementary medicine to support well-being alongside conventional medical treatment.

 

Energy medicine helps maintain the body’s natural state, contributing to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Therefore, even without specific health problems, we can include energy healing practices in a proactive, overall wellness plan. 

 

The History of Energy Healing

Energy-based healing practices date back thousands of years, and the first well-documented traditions and practices originate from Eastern traditions – most notably, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda, ancient India’s science of holistic health.

Qigong is an energy healing practice derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine

Although energy points, pathways, and therapies vary between these two systems and other Indigenous traditions, energy medicine practices from around the world suggest that a being’s overall health is strongly linked to a field of vital energy in and around the body.

In fact, most modern-day energy healing practices are rooted in ancient knowledge and integrate the energetic concepts and maps outlined by our ancestors into modalities that feel relevant today.

 

Energy Healing Techniques

The field of energy medicine is vast and growing, and energy healers use techniques ranging from crystal healing and aromatherapy to aura cleansing and quantum healing. That being said, if you’re curious about energy healing, the following list provides an overview of the more traditional and well-known therapies for further research and exploration.

 

Despite energy’s inability to be seen or scientifically measured, medical studies and patient reports suggest that energy therapies can help reduce physical pain and stress while promoting mental and emotional clarity.

 

1. Traditional Chinese Medicine

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), energy – called qi or chi – flows through channels in the body called meridians, and energetic (acupressure) points in the body correspond to different organs and systems. Based on these lines and points, we can move and balance chi for optimal health. Healing techniques originating from TCM include:
 

• Qigong (Chi Gong A variety of practices intended to increase and move energy (qi or chi) in the body. Traditions of qigong are extensive and include medical qigong, martial arts, and spiritual practices.
   
• Acupuncture: Lightly inserting small needles into specific points to balance energy and clear blockages. An accepted healing practice in the West, research at Harvard Medical School links acupuncture’s healing ability to neuroanatomy. 
   
• Reflexology and Massage: Applying pressure to specific points on the hands, feet, and ears, which, according to TCM, contain maps of body parts and internal organs.

 

2. Ayurvedic Therapies

In India, Ayurveda, which translates to the “the science of life,” is still commonly practiced today alongside conventional medicine. Similar to TCM, in Ayurveda, energy (called prana) moves through channels in the body (called nadis).
 

“Energy healing techniques are based on the principle that physical and mental complications in the body are manifestations of restricted, blocked, or unbalanced energy.”

According to Ayurveda, each individual has a unique energetic composition, and ayurvedic practices like marma therapy (stimulating energetic points), Ayurvedic massage, and personalized practices can help provide balance to an individual’s unique constitution.
Acupuncture is one of the most popular energy healing techniques in the West

 

3. Pranic Healing

The term pranic healing can refer to two distinct, but related concepts:

• According to Indian philosophy, we can harness and balance prana through yoga and meditation practices, breathing techniques, and mudras (energetic seals), per traditional yogic teachings. 
   
• Pranic Healing is also the name given to a specific set of no-touch energy healing practices developed in the late 1980s by a Filipino spiritual teacher. These practices promote physical and mental health, along with spiritual growth, and are influenced by in Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan traditions.

 

4. Shamanic Healing

Shamanism, typically associated with Indigenous cultures, facilitates healing by inducing a trance state that allows a person to connect to spiritual realms and guides. Shamanic healing often takes place through ceremonies or guided journeys, which could include drumming, breathwork, song, or plant medicine. Shamanic healing, like other energy medicine traditions, sees spiritual health and physical health as deeply integrated.
 

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5. Reiki

Reiki, which translates to “universal life force energy,” originated in Japan in the early 1900s and is amongst the most popular energy healing methods practised today. A Reiki healer becomes attuned to Reiki energy passed down through direct lineage. In a session the healer uses their hands, on or off a patient’s body, to encourage an inherent self-healing ability. 

Reiki is a popular energy medicine, despite uncertainty about its benefits

 

Different lineages of Reiki offer slightly different healing protocols that may utilize symbols, mantras, meditations, or other practices to offer healing. This can be facilitated directly or from a distance. Despite criticism over patients’ reported benefits of Reiki, it has become a complementary therapy in health clinics and hospitals.   

 

6. Healing Touch

Like Reiki, Healing Touch is a hands-based energy healing practice, rooted in the idea that each individual has the power to naturally restore a healthy state. It was developed by a Western nurse in the 1980s based on various energy medicine traditions and her professional experience.

 

“Energy-based healing practices date back thousands of years, and the first well-documented traditions and practices originate from Eastern traditions.”

In Healing Touch therapy, energy healers use intention, visualization of chakras and auras, and specific procedures to work with a patient’s energy field. Healing Touch is used within the medical community as complementary therapy for physical and psychological treatments, including PTSD.

 

7. Craniosacral Therapy

In craniosacral therapy, practitioners use gentle touch around a patient’s head, neck, and spinal column to balance the energy of the central nervous system. By working with a spinal membranes and fluids, along with subtle rhythms, craniosacral therapy relaxes fascia (connective tissue) and releases tightness around the head, spine, and pelvis. Craniosacral therapy has been demonstrated to relieve pain, as well as enhance the emotional, mental, and overall well-being of patients.

 

8. Sound Healing

The ability to heal ourselves through sound frequency is based on the principle of entrainment – essentially, that we can use sound vibration to alter the length of our brainwaves. Modern-day sound healing sessions often take the form of private or group sound baths using singing bowls, gongs, and/or tuning forks.

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Unlike many of the techniques listed, experiencing healing through sound doesn’t necessarily require an energy healer. To experiment with self-healing through sound, an online search for binaural beats or isochronic tones will provide a variety of brainwave-altering frequencies to calm the mind, heal the body, or alter states of consciousness.

Sound healing employs vibrations to alter brainwave length

 

9. Emotional Freedom Techniques

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a tapping therapy that uses gentle pressure on points from TCM while focusing on emotions. EFT practitioners help patients in this process, but EFT can also be used for self-healing. Clinical studies have found that EFT positively affects emotional and psychological conditions and also relieves stress and burnout. 
 

10. Chakra Healing 

Chakra healing includes all practices that work with chakras, a system of concentrated energetic vortexes in the body, to cleanse and balance energy. Since each chakra serves to distribute energy to certain aspects of our physical body, mental attributes, and spiritual pursuits, chakras can serve as gateways to working with practical and intuitive healing methods.

 

Chakra-based healing techniques may include visualization, meditation, and yoga exercises. However, healing based on the chakra system is often incorporated into other energy healing practices such as Reiki and sound healing.

 

Takeaway: Energy Healing Techniques

Energy healing methods from across time and space can enhance our inherent ability to restore balance to the body and mind. Although science is not yet able to explain the efficacy of energy medicine, these practices are slowly being integrated into our healthcare system alongside medical healing plans because of their apparent benefits. 

 

If you’re curious about utilizing your own life force energy to improve an existing condition or your overall health, learning more about energy medicine or experimenting with the methods above may offer the healing you’re seeking with minimal risk. ●
Images antoniodiaz, Microgen, Ulza, People Images

Written by Rachel Markowitz

Rachel recently found herself over a decade deep in a worldwide wander guided by what she feels to be true. She’s been facilitating classes and workshops on yoga, meditation, self-exploration, and alternative ways of living since 2012, mostly in Latin America and Asia. These days, she spends most of her time looking at, walking around, or singing to a sacred mountain in southern India. Read more of her words at her to those who wonder blog.