Practitioners of energy work have daily and remarkable encounters with its therapeutic effects. But what is it? Energy work, or energy "medicine" is a phrase you may hear from family, friends or in the office of your massage therapist or chiropractor. It refers to kinds of therapy that impact energy fields thought to surround and penetrate the human body. Reiki, qigong, tai chi, yoga, acupuncture, Polarity Therapy and Therapeutic Touch are some better known energy work techniques.
 
Energy moves through and around the body
 
The idea of energy moving through and around the body is not as strange as it may sound. For example, researchers discovered years ago that organs in the body produce electrical fields that can be detected on the skin, leading to the development of clinical tools such as the electrocardiogram (EKG) and the electroencephalogram (EEG) which doctors commonly use to diagnose conditions of the heart and brain. In another example, we know that the nervous system works by the transmission of nerve impulses, and this process is observed by measuring the electrical fields associated with it.
 
Relieves stress, calms the mind
 
Practitioners and recipients of energy work feel that it encourages the body and mind toward relaxation, allowing our marvelous self-healing abilities to come into play. Put simply, reducing stress and calming the mind enhance the healing process.
 
Energy work techniques rarely, if ever, cause any harm, and the body of evidence for the effectiveness of the work is growing. Because of these things, an increasing number of hospitals and their staff members are integrating energy work into patient care, in addition to offering classes in energy work to patients and community members.
 
While we're living, we share the energy that makes everything, from a blade of grass to an elephant, grow and live and then inevitably wear out and die. This energy, this life force, creates the whole world.
--Pema Chodron,
author of Start Where You Are