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Energy Fields: You're Not Just Imagining Them

Sometimes it's hard being an energy worker. You feel or see things that most other people aren’t aware of. I've definitely taken some flack for my views and my work.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's painful. People who are skeptical or even hostile to the idea of subtle energy are usually at least marginally polite in person. But when skeptics aren't face to face with you, for example when they're expressing their views in writing or on the Internet, they can be painfully caustic.

So it always warms my heart to remember that science is beginning to be on our side.

In his book Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, cellular biologist James Oschman says:

"In the current era of rapid scientific progress, many of the concepts we were absolutely certain about 20 years ago are no longer true at all. But of all the tales of exploration and discovery that could be told, none is more fascinating than the story of the human energy field. In a few decades, scientists have gone from a conviction that there is no such thing as energy fields in and around the human body to an absolute certainty that they exist."

He goes on to describe in detail the discovery of the electro-magnetic field that emanates from the human heart. New technology now allows scientists to measure this field as far away from the physical body as 15 feet.

Scientists next found that the brain emitted an electro-magnetic field as well, although not nearly as strong as the heart's. More research led to the discovery that all of the organs, including the muscles, have "biomagnetic" fields that spread throughout the body and into the space around the body. These biomagnetic fields, it turned out, are often better indicators of events taking place within the body than traditional electrical measurements on the skin's surface.

That's hard science, folks.

Germ Theory Didn’t Prevail Without A Struggle, Either

When I’m feeling beleaguered by skeptics, I also like to think of the story of germ theory, which, of course, is the current prevailing theory of how illnesses are caused. In 2015, no one questions that micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses cause illness. In fact, there are few people who are even aware that in past centuries, both science and the public had a different theory of how illnesses were caused, and they believed it just as thoroughly and unquestioningly as we believe in the germ theory. But as Wikipedia’s entry for germ theory tells us, “ . . .germ theory was proposed in the mid-16th century and gained widespread credence when substantiated by scientific discoveries of the 17th through the late 19th century. It supplanted earlier explanations for disease, such as Galen's miasma theory.”

The miasma theory of illness held that sickness was caused by bad or poisonous air. Until the 19th century it was the main theory of how illnesses were transmitted. The medical establishment of the time held to this explanation and rejected germ theory for a long time — centuries.

William James has said, "...By far the most usual way of handling phenomena so novel that they would make for a serious rearrangement of our preconceptions is to ignore them altogether, or to abuse those who bear witness for them."

And this is what happened to scientists who were pioneers of germ theory. They were ignored and even ridiculed, until finally the scientific establishment and the general public caught up with them.

Sounds to me a lot like how proponents of energy healing and the concept of subtle energy in general are treated today. But the history of the evolution of scientific thought gives me hope that someday this mysterious stuff we call “energy” will be widely accepted and practiced, allowing us to abandon some of our more barbaric medical practices and advance more quickly in using energy healing to relieve human suffering. So next time you're feeling self-doubt about the work you do, the sensations your feeling when you work with someone's field, or the alternate theory of reality that these imply, remember:

Science supports you. And the history of science holds great hope for the broader acceptance of the work that we do.

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