Fast forward to today.  Science and medicine in the US have taken quantum leaps forward in surgical procedures and diagnostic technology, but with a few exceptions like in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, it still treats the physical body as a stand-alone, mechanistic entity.  Doctors today routinely go from one patient to another, without getting the full picture about each, because they are only looking at the physical half the information.  This is particularly relevant in cases of chronic illness, immune system aliments, functional disorders and idiopathic disease, which is defined as “a disorder with no known cause.”

Most medical doctors today have no idea that the physical body is surrounded, covered and interpenetrated by “invisible” energy fields, and that these energy fields act as the template for the physical body.  When the energy body is out of balance, the ultimate result is disease in the physical body.  Likewise, when the energy body is clean and  balanced, the physical body molds to this template as well, and this translates to healing of the physical body.  

 "Miracles are not contrary to the laws of nature,

but only contrary to what we

understand about the laws of nature."

- Saint Augustine (354-430) Theologian.

Just as there are many medical conditions “with no known cause,” many examples of unusual and amazing healing, such as spontaneous healing, exist in modern medicine that defy allopathic medical explanations.  Almost every practicing medical doctor has observed at least one patient with some hopeless condition, as far as modern science is concerned, that suddenly and miraculously recovered.  When analyzed from an energy medicine perspective, when both aspects of the person are considered, this type of healing is easy to understand.

“All truth goes through three stages. 

First it is ridiculed.  Then it is violently opposed.

Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."                                –Schopenhauer

Currently, medical doctors use energetic technology such as an MRI, as well as an EKG and EEG, which measure the energetic or electrical qualities of the heart and the brain.  Unfortunately, the medical perspective is that this energetic information is just some sort of by-product of life, like taking a urine sample to see what is going on upstream.  

Medical doctors also use therapeutic energetic tools, such as ultrasound or laser therapy.  In his book, Energy Medicine, the Scientific Basis, James L. Oschman, Ph.D. describes how modern research science is validating and explaining the beneficial effects of a wide range of energy therapies, both those used in conventional medicine and those used in alternative therapy settings. He describes how modern technology has allowed us to measure the energy coming from a healer's hands, and compare it to that of a mechanical theraputic tool.

Dr. Oschman's theory is that living systems have naturally developed an ability to project and respond to healing energy, and that no medical device, regardless of its sophistication, is likely to match the efficacy and safety of a naturally generated signal to living tissue.  You could say it is like comparing a massage from a trained, intuitive therapist to that of a Shiatsu Massage Machine.

It was the recent technological advancements (just like the advancement in microscope technology in the late 1800’s), that have allowed modern researchers to see into this invisible world.  Just like when the germ theory was introduced, there currently is resistance to the paradigm of energy healing.  Eventually, I hope that all medical providers will learn that a simple thing like good energy hygiene on themselves, their patients and the hospital environment could save lives.   The optimum application of Energy Medicine is in a comprehensive package together with allopathic medicine.

Of course, traditional cultures and eastern medicine have known about and have been healing patients using this subtle energy field theory for thousands of years.  They have developed the human technology of careful observation of extremely subtle variations in presentation, like tongue or pulse diagnosis.  Their holistic healing model sees symptoms -- not as the enemy to be exterminated -- but as “information” regarding an underlying imbalance in the energy fields.  Rather than suppress the symptoms, their process is to correct the underlying imbalance, and the symptoms resolve themselves naturally when their “message” is no longer necessary.

To be fair, there are some physicians and nurses in this country today who do incorporate subtle energy medicine in their practice.  These men and women are the true pioneers, who had to suffer through the funny looks and ridicule of their colleagues.   Energy Healing has been taught to doctors and nurses in such forward thinking hospitals such as Kaiser Permanente and Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Organizations like:

• The American Holistic Medical Association
  
• The American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine 
  
• American Holistic Nurses Association
• American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association 

educate and support their members in a holistic healing practice.  I applaud these professionals for their determination and perseverance.