Have you ever wondered how and why energetic ‘healing’ practices do work? This piece aims to give everyone a bit of a refresher on the science behind my two favourite tools for energetic balance – reiki and aromatherapy.
Everything is energy
It comes down to understanding that everything is energy. This is basic physics and the stuff that Einstein ‘discovered’. It can be hard to get our heads around the fact that even those things that we think of as ‘solid’ are in fact all made up of minute and constantly moving particles of energy. That includes us human beings! When becoming a reiki practitioner I was trained and attuned to tap into the energy that is all around us all of the time.
It makes total sense that if you can tap into more of the stuff that we are all made of and direct it to where you are lacking in energy, wellness or balance, you will feel better! Think of it like any other ‘gap filler’ – when you have to mend some plaster or when potholes in the road get repaired – but in this case we are filling the gap with the stuff that is missing: energy.
Although everything is made up of the same energy, in different ‘matter’ this energy vibrates at different levels and appears to human senses differently. The beginnings of scientific investigation into energy healing are showing that the energy we work with in this practice is very low hertz (the unit of the frequency of energy where one is equal to one cycle per second) – between 2 and 20 hertz. To put this in perspective the musical note Middle C is 262 Hz.
Experimentation with energetic healing
As my learned colleague, Eugenio Lepine, states on his fabulous Human Frequencies website:
“So far we know that biofields, or electromagnetic energy human fields, are a strong and vital part of ourselves. But the specific and exact characteristics or physiology remain still unclear.
First, we must shift some paradigms about basic human physiology and study and integrate some concepts like semiconduction, tensegrity and the electromagnetic frequencies of the body.”
I like to talk about the science of Reiki as being a results-based field, rather than an evidence-based field, and even prestigious medical facilities such as Harvard have found numerous, very positive benefits to using reiki in healthcare settings. ‘Scientific’ studies on energetic healing are growing in number and validity but in the mean time I am more than happy to continue to provide my clients with ‘treatment’ that time and time again produces fabulous results for them.
Aromatherapy
Essential oils are volatile aromatic compounds that naturally occur in plants. There will be different oils produced by the same plant in its roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, resins and bark. These oils are produced by plants for their own protection against predators, including bacteria, and also for propagation purposes, ie. Helping the plants to reproduce via attracting insects for pollination.
Essential oils have been used by many human cultures for thousands of years. They are used for their aromatic compounds in perfumes as well as for their medicinal properties in healing many ailments. Many of the oldest and most common medications used in western medicine– such as aspirin – are derived from plants. Essential oils are no different and should be treated with the same level of respect. The effects of essential oils on the human body are complex and subtle due to their complex structure and chemical properties.
How do essential oils work?
In their aromatic form, essential oils work through stimulation of the receptor cells in the nose which in turn send messages to the brain via the olfactory bulb. In response, the brain releases neurotransmitters such as our feel-good hormone serotonin, bringing about change.
When using essential oils topically, their very small molecular weights and the fact that they are lipid (ie.fat) soluble, mean that they easily penetrate the skin, where they will remain in the area they have been applied in for localized benefit. Some properties of the oils will also move further into the system. In order to increase rates of absorption and broader distribution oils can be massaged in, or simply applied using a carrier like coconut oil or sorbolene.
This article was originally published on www.evenstarwellbeing.com.