Making the Energy Connection
By Jean West Rudnicki
To many in our Western world the idea of a relationship between "energy" and health seems strange and mysterious. Yet cultures, which developed long ago in India, China, and North America, have long understood the connection between energy and the overall health and well being of the whole individual - body, mind, and soul. Our western culture is beginning to take notice.
"Essentially, everything in the universe as we understand it is energy," explains neurosurgeon Norman Shealy, in his book Soul Medicine. "Every atom in the body vibrates at a certain energy level. Collectively, each of us has a unique individual "energy signature." We are all electromagnetic entities."
Energy comes to us in many ways, both internally and externally. Each of our five senses is a different form of energy vibrations. Sight is light energy detected by the eyes, and hearing is sound energy detected by the ears. Our senses of smell and taste are chemical energies, while touch is pressure energy. All food is "energy" we consume to generate energy for the body's cells to consume.
Becoming mindful of energy and how it affects us can be an important part of a wellness program. Getting in touch with our bodies and especially our emotions is essential, because emotions are energy signals, which surge through our body causing changes at cellular and molecular levels. Research from the '70s by Dr. Candace Pert and documented in her book, Molecules of Emotions, shows that positive emotions like love and joy can help stimulate the body's immune system, while negative emotions such as fear and anger suppress its development. Holding onto, or suppressing negative emotions traps energy inside us, which can later resurface as pain or illness.
Energy can be strong or subtle. Anger might be experienced as pounding in the chest, while the light energy absorbed watching a sunrise flows gently through our eyes into our body. To become sensitive to the multitude of energy sensations that abound, and to better understand how to utilize them for our health and well being, we must first become mindful of our bodies and the world around us.
This can be a challenging task in our modern society as Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, a Stanford-trained physician, learned when he gathered a group of traditional Native American healers together to discuss their worldviews and biomedicine. The group lamented how our modern society teaches its members to ignore their bodies and emotions. They pointed out that children are taught to ignore their bodies' need for elimination until it is convenient for the teacher, and also that children are taught to ignore their wish to play until scheduled recess time. As adults we readily continue this practice by foregoing work breaks, skipping lunch and not allowing our body adequate rest.
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