Merging Modern Medicine with Ancient Wisdom: Energy Healing Has Potential to Transform Healthcare

Conventional medicine may soon be integrating long-lost ancient healing wisdom from the 18th century Age of Enlightenment. 

As the practice of Western medicine evolved over the years, practitioners sought science-based treatments, leaving behind healing modalities embedded in religious, spiritual, indigenous, and philosophical systems.  This exclusion led to a reliance on pharmacological, surgical, and physical manipulation to treat patients. As a result, very little attention was paid to treating the person as a whole, and important aspects of healthcare, such as indigenous medicine, mind-body relationship, holistic nutrients, and subtle energy/biofields were overlooked.

At a time when chronic disease is running rampant across the globe, obesity is at an all-time high, human behavior is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity, and pain management has led to an opioid addiction epidemic on a scale never seen before, there is a growing need for exploring the possibility of a return to ancient healing practices. 

The good news is that researchers are working to collect science-based evidence to support the addition of age-old healing modalities into the modern medical model.  A recent report by the Consciousness and Healing Initiative looks at the current status of energy healing. The team’s year-long, in-depth analysis focuses on two approaches to healing: subtle energy, a life force that permeates all things; and the biofield, the field of energy and information that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body. These critical elements foster physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being.   

The medical community thrives on systematic solutions and scientific evidence, so when the authors of the Subtle Energy and Biofield Healing project set out to create their report, they included a database of over 6,000 supporting articles for reference. Researchers also laid out a suggested roadmap for advancing the field of subtle energy and biofield healing.

So how does working with subtle energy and biofields help a person heal?  Biofield therapy manipulates the energy in and around the body to heal and balance energy, which works by addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being of the whole person.  According to the National Alliance of Energy Practitioners, there are currently 174,000 professional subtle energy and/or biofield healing practitioners in the United States who are using their specialty to help heal chronic pain, cancer symptoms, post-cancer-treatment recovery, as well as a myriad of mental health issues. 

Incorporating energy healing into modern medical practice is seen as one solution to the growing health crisis.  The Consciousness and Healing Initiative’s report is an initial step towards merging ancient healing wisdom with modern medicine.  The authors of the report are seeking medical practitioners to join them in a collaborative systems-change endeavor.  The report is available to anyone wanting to learn more about the impact life energy has on healing the body and mind. 

The authors believe that incorporating subtle energy and biofield science into conventional medicine offers the opportunity to enable individuals to heal and the global community to thrive.