Dorothy Martin-Neville, PhD, DCEP

Although it has been practiced for thousands of years in other parts of the world, energy medicine is only now becoming, albeit gradually, to become a known reality in this country. What is happening as well, and perhaps what is supporting this awakening, is that the field is becoming progressively more diverse. As with main stream medicine, which has a wide variety of approaches to health care such as family medicine, cardiology, pediatrics, endocrinology, and neurology, energy medicine encompasses a broad spectrum as well.

Within the field of energy medicine, there are practitioners who work solely with the Biofield, a non-specific energetic field which exists in and around the body. (It is through the biofield that we experience those electrical charges which can shock us unexpectedly when we touch something.) The biofield is composed of all the means of energy flow that exist in our system, from every time we move, we breathe, or our heart beats, and our organs function. Approaches such as Reiki and Therapeutic Touch are examples of those who deal with this larger, less defined or specific expression of energy.

There are also practitioners who focus solely on the Meridians which are lines of energy similar to garden hoses which run throughout our bodies. Many meridians, although certainly not all, are identified with organs. In China and Japan, for example, meridians are considered traditional points of focus in working with one who is ill and in need of balancing or healing. Within this approach to energy medicine, the elements of Fire, Earth, Metal or Air, Water and Wood are considered the basics elements of life and are considered to be reflected in various body parts. From this perspective, the water element of life, for example, is considered to be reflected in the organ pair of Bladder and Kidney. >From this pair of organs there are energy lines, or Meridians, that are well-defined and which flow from the head to the foot and back. Because these two organs work as a pair, if one is deficient, there other may be excessive. The objective in working with the meridians or other energy channels is to bring balance first within the pair discussed and then directly or indirectly between each of the pairs and the many other energy flows in the system as well. Research has shown that each of the meridians or channels are reflective of not only physical but also emotional stresses that are impacting the body. Consequently, when we receive Acupuncture (with hair-thin needles) or Acupressure (without needles) the intent is to balance our bodies multi-dimensionally supporting a healthy energetic flow on all levels.

In addition, the Chakras, a Hindu word for other energy centers in the body which are cone or wheel shaped, are another focus of energy flow that particular practitioners focus on.

Although there are hundreds of chakras throughout our system, some large and some small, most chakra work focuses on the seven major chakras in our system. They run from the base of the base of the body at the peritoneum, to the crown of the head with pairs that exist between these locations within the abdomen, the solar plexus, the heart, the throat, and in the forehead. Each of these charkras feed the organs or systems they are related to and that exist within their physical scope. As with the meridians, these are multi-dimensional realities. Each has unique physical, emotional, and spiritual implications for your system, in a very healthy way if they are working and in a very unhealthy way if they are not. There are practitioners who work solely with this source of energy flows in the system as well. Barbara Brennan as well as others teaches this approach to the energy field.

There are numerous books on the market which discuss these various flows in great detail. Carolyn Myss has a book entitled Anatomy of the Spirit which describes some of this work. Anodea Judith has a comprehensive book entitled Eastern Body/Western Mind which discusses the blend of each of these levels of the energy field and how they interact. As you read, you will see that they are all distinct and yet they are all one.

Rather than being a new concept, or something unfamiliar, most of us have already experienced in the energy in our body and yet never identified it as such. We already know how the energy in our body is supposed to feel without even realizing it. This is demonstrated when we sense something is not right yet when we go to the doctor, he/she cannot find anything wrong. It is an example of our own intuition (inner knowing), our own awareness of our body on an energetic level, coming into action. On a deeper level than we are usually conscious of, we sense an imbalance in our body, yet it cannot be detected through traditional medical tests. That is because all disease and disorder begins on an energetic level. When this sense of imbalance is still solely on an energetic level and is not yet in the physical body, we are aware of it yet it is not yet physically visible by those who have been trained to see it. It is at this initial point that it is the ideal time to deal with the problem with minimal impact on your life. What cannot be detected by an EEG or an EKG for example, can be detected by a well-trained practitioner.

To fully understand this work, the work of Energy Medicine, it is important to know that everything that exists, that we see, sense or feel, is made up of energy. Our physical bodies are simply energy slowed down to a state that creates physical mass. The unique blend of that mass is what creates our individuality. In its natural state, energy is fluid, flowing, and vibrant, the way we feel when we are healthy and well-rested. When it is not, something has gone wrong, minimally or in a major way. When we are sick or have a disease, an energetic block has developed somewhere in the physical body, or the energy flow is minimized or deficient thus, the body is not able to function as it is meant to. Often the energy simply needs to be balanced or a block may need to be released.

Every thought you have ever had is an energetic reality. Every feeling you have ever had is an energetic reality. When you do not deal these, when you decide that you are not supposed to think or feel “that way” and block it, hold it in, you literally stagnate that energy flow thus creating something similar to an energetic cyst in your system. That cyst can be dissolved with the energy re-assimilated into your system so that things flow freely again. This can be done in working in working as a generalist with the biofield, or as a specialist in working with the meridians or the chakras. Whether you learn how to release that block yourself or see a practitioner to do it for you, it is extremely beneficial to see someone who can help you understand your own energy patterns and the ways in which you, specifically, hold or utilize your energy.

this level. It works with these flows to support health in your body on all levels. The degree to which a practitioner can impact these flows as well as educate you to your own process depends, however, on how well he or she is trained, the depth of their knowledge of the energy flows, their intent, and their ability to see, sense, or intuit what most needs to be done during any particular session.

An Energy Medicine Practitioner assesses the energy flow within and around a person’s physical body to determine where there are any blocks, deficiencies, excesses or stagnations in their energy field. Based on this assessment, a practitioner uses specific techniques to realign and balance the energy field to help restore health and well-being on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. Depending upon their training they will work with any of the particular flows listed above. Usually practitioners are trained in only one of the approaches listed above.

However some have trained in one, two, three, or more approaches to the energy field. As stated above, some work with the general energy flows alone, trusting that you will innately know specifically where it needs to be balanced. Others work very specifically following the flows to see the extent to which there is imbalance and will work throughout the level of the system they are trained in, following as your body leads them.

Others, such as those trained in the W.I.S.E. Method™ are trained to work with all levels of energy flow, the biofield, the meridians, and he chakras, and to support you in understanding what is happening for you during those times of onset of a disease or disorder or at the times in which there is an exacerbation, or worsening, of the symptoms. We each have our own vulnerabilities, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, and we each have our own patterns of illness, chronic and acute. Understanding how your body responds to stress, allows you to see the patterns you have developed over the years, based on how you hold your energy, how it flows within your body, and how you react or respond to the events of your life. That understanding has an amazing ability to support you in taking your life back and in seeing that your life and your health is far more under your control than you realize. Learning to listen to your body, to be aware of your energy, supports you in going to be tired rather than exhausted. That level of awareness, allows you to notice immediately when something doesn’t feel well. Developing the tools, the life skills, necessary to support your own health, gives you a far greater chance of dealing with issues when they are beginning rather than when you are too weak, frightened, or vulnerable to do so. A comprehensive approach to energy medicine can heal as well as educate. As a form of wholistic health, it deals with the whole person, intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Also, as a form of wholistic health, and a wholistic approach to health, it is an aspect of integrative health working in partnership, rather than competition, with main stream medicine, helping to provide a full approach to health care and education for patients as well as medical practitioners, whatever their training.

Finally, amazingly, this form of healing is a skill we all possess naturally, as embodied souls. Don’t you instinctively, energetically, want to help someone who looks stressed or overwhelmed? Don’t you want to offer tea or a drink to someone who is distraught? If someone is hurt, don’t you instinctively want to touch the wound and sooth it? Isn’t it naturally, to wish you could take the pain from someone you love? For some, they have followed that urge, that instinct and taken it to the next level through energy medicine. They have spent a period of time, varying from one day to four years or more in which they have studied to truly understand this work and to have the ability to work in-depth in the healing as well as the education of a client/patient. They recognize the importance of energy medicine in supporting or recreating a natural free-flowing energy pattern within a client/patient’s body that best supports them living their life, fully alive, passionately and vibrantly. It supports living rather than surviving. At its best, it deals with the deepest and most natural connection to the self, making it possible for you to be all that you are called to be.

Contact: 860-461-7569 or dorothymartin-neville.llc@comcast.net