Institute of HeartMath Subtle Energy Research
Subtle energy is used in this context as Einstein used it, that is, to describe a type of energy that is at present not fully understood or measurable with today's equipment. This is similar to how electromagnetism was viewed only 250 years ago. The effects could be seen but not directly measured. The vision of the research team and the results of the studies we have conducted so far have attracted eminent scientists involved in cutting-edge human energy research. For example, Dr. William A. Tiller, Professor Emeritus of Stanford University and a pioneering researcher of subtle energy, will be on the IHM research team as they conduct their ground-breaking studies. Dr. Vladimir Poponin, formerly of the Institute of Biochemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a co-discoverer of the DNA phantom effect, has also joined the IHM research team. For related research that researchers at IHM want to continue, Dr. William A. Tiller and his colleagues at Stanford University developed a subtle energy detector -- an ultra-sensitive Geiger counter-type device -- with which they demonstrated the existence of an energy field that is not in the electromagnetic spectrum. With this special detector, Dr. Tiller demonstrated that this subtle energy field responds to intentional human focus. The combination of the instrument that detects the DNA phantom effect and the ultra-sensitive gas discharge detector represent two of the most advanced technologies known for the scientific study of subtle energy. Much of the basic research and the proofs that these are workable technologies have already been completed. These instruments will provide the tools for careful study of subtle energy that will greatly advance our understanding of ourselves and the world we live in.
IHM is also designing and planning to conduct experiments with a number of other types of detectors as well. A number of studies conducted at IHM have demonstrated the effects of subtle energies on changes in the conformational states of DNA and the structure of water. (References for the published aspects of this work are provided at the end of this section).
Measuring the Human Subtle Energy Fields
To date, we have monitored electrophysiological changes in the body, associated with the progress of an individual's inner self-management, via skin-contact devices like ECG, EEG, etc. This provides some essential information but much is lost, especially for the electrical and magnetic processes going on in the body. The important information of a more subtle field nature is completely lost. The next step is to monitor these important fields in the space adjacent to the body via non-contact devices at distances from inches to many feet. Here, one wishes to detect the field shape, amplitude and the polarization present at a grid of points surrounding the body. To do this properly, for a single field, one needs an array of detectors of the same basic type (ten or more). The ability to discriminate details increases with the number of detectors in the array. Individual Detector Types:
(ΓΈ) A conventional Langmuir type device can be used to measure the electrostatic fields and provides the voltage distribution in space and time.
(E) A new type of dielectric polarization detector that we are developing is capable of giving us both the magnitude and orientation of the electric field in space and time.
(H) Squid detector elements are now available to provide measurements of the magnetic fields as a function of space and time.
(A) The magnetic vector potential fields include both an electrodynamic part and subtle parts which we have reason to believe are associated with the more subtle fields. The Josephson Junctions used in the squid detector have the ability to measure A directly in space and time. Thus, the independent and simultaneous measurement of the magnetic, electric, electrostatic and magnetic vector potentials will allow one to gain a measure of the subtle fields.
Research has shown that humans emit photons in at least the range from the infrared to the ultraviolet. We anticipate that both the flux and frequency spectra of these photons will shift dependent upon the actual internal emotional and mental states of the subject. Solid state photo cells are now available over this entire spectral range.
References
G. Rein, R. McCraty. Structural Changes in Water and DNA Associated with New Physiologically Measurable States. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1994:8(3): 438-39.
G. Rein, R, McCraty. Local and non-local effects of coherent heart frequencies on conformational changes of DNA. Proc. Joint USPA/IAPR Conference, Milwaukee, WI 1993
G. Rein, R, McCraty. Modulation of DNA by coherent heart frequencies. Proc. 3rd annual ISSSEEM conference, Monterey CA. 1993
R, McCraty. ECG Spectra: The measurement of coherent and incoherent frequencies and their relationship to mental and emotional states. Proc. 3rd annual ISSSEEM conference, Monterey CA. 1993
New Technology Provides Scientific Evidence of Water's Capacity to Store and Amplify Weak Electromagnetic and Subtle Energy Fields: A growing body of recent scientific evidence is now confirming traditional intuitive understandings of water's role as mediator between the energetic and material worlds and its function as an accumulator, transmitter and transducer of energy patterns and information.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Russian Scientist Studies Human Energy Field
Konstantin Korotkov
Konstantin Korotkov, PhD, director, St. Petersburg Research Center on Medical and Biological Engineering, editor, Journal of Consciousness and Physical Reality, inventor, Gas Discharge Visualization instrument, professor, Academy of Natural Medicine, researcher, Leningrad Polytechnical Institute, author, Light After Life and Aura and Consciousness
Dr. Korotkov is a leading scientist internationally renowned for his pioneering research on the human energy field. Professor Korotkov developed the Gas Discharge Visualization technique (GDV) to study the human energy field. This technique, based on the Kirlian effect, goes far beyond traditional Kirlian photography in many ways. The GDV system allows for direct, real-time photos and videos of the energy field of humans, other organisms, and material samples such as water and gems. Measurement of the size, brightness, fractality, and other parameters of the energy field are analyzed by software. The results have extraordinary implications for many fields including health assessment, consciousness studies, education, and spirituality. Research with the GDV device is currently underway at universities and research institutes worldwide, in medicine, consciousness studies, athlete training, biophysics, parapsychology, and other areas.
Dr. Korotkov is Professor of Physics at St. Petersburg State University of Informational Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, in Russia, and has published over 200 papers in leading Russian and international journals on physics and biology, and he holds 15 patents. He is editor of the Journal of Consciousness and Physical Reality. He is the author of 6 books, published in Russian, English, Italian and Spanish, including Light After Life: Experiments and Ideas on After-Death Changes of Kirlian Pictures, Aura and Consciousness: New stage of scientific understanding, Kultura, and Human Energy Field.
Dr. Korotkov is President of the Union of Medical and Applied Bioelectrography and is President of Kirlionics Technology International. He is the inventor of the BEO GDV Technique. His technique, known as the Gas Discharge Visualization technique (GDV), uses state-of -the- art computer, electronic and optic technology in the analysis of the energy field of living organisms, including plants, seeds, blood samples, and microbiological cultures. www.korotkov.org
Electromyographs Measure Human Energy Fields
Biology and Medicine
Author: A London Practitioner
[PureInsight.org] In his well-known book The Holographic Universe (1991, Harper Collins, publisher), theoretical physicist Michael Talbot discusses the work of Valerie Hunt on energy fields. He writes:
"Over the past twenty years Valerie Hunt, a physical therapist and professor of kinesiology at UCLA, has developed a way to confirm experimentally the existence of the human energy field. Medical science has long known that humans are electromagnetic beings. Doctors routinely use
electrocardiographs to make electrocardiograms (EKGs), records of the electrical activity of the heart, and electroencephalographs to make electroencelophalograms (EEGs) of the human brain's electrical activity. Hunt discovered that an electromyograph, a device used to measure the electrical activity in the muscles, can also pick up the electrical presence of the human energy field." (Page 175)
From this, Hunt came up with the idea to make electromyograms (EMGs) of people's energy fields. Hunt confirmed the existence of the energy fields with this apparatus.
This ties in with what is said in Zhuan Falun:
"A qigong master has gong, I have participated in an experiment, and many other qigong masters have also undergone this experiment to measure their energy. The material elements in gong can be detected by many present-day apparatus." (Lecture Two) Perhaps EMGs are one of the devices used in our present day scientific and technological community that can measure the material elements in gong.
Talbot goes on to describe more of Hunt's findings with respect to energy frequencies found among different people. One example supports the hypothesis that thinking primarily about topics from the mundane world specifically lowers one's energy. He writes:
"One of Hunt's most startling findings is that certain talents and abilities seem to be related to the presence of specific frequencies in a person's energy field. She has found that when the main focus of a person's consciousness is on the material world, the frequencies of their energy field tend to be in the lower range and are not too far removed from the 250 cps [-cycles per second] of the body's biological frequencies. In addition to these, people who are psychic or who have
healing abilities also have frequencies of roughly 400 to 800 cps in their field." (Page 176)
Thus in cultivation we are asked to not be too attached to things in the changing temporary world such as pay raises, xinxing frictions, and so on, because it occupies us with the mundane world and has a literal and demonstrable adverse affect on the level of our energy and our energy level. In this way, mind intent and topics of thought are shown to be intrinsically linked to one's energy and thus one's level. People with lower level supernormal abilities are said here to have frequencies between 400-800 cps. However, higher level folks have an even higher frequency, as Talbot relates:
"People who have frequencies above 900 cps are what Hunt calls mystical personalities."
"Using a modified electromyogram (an electromyogram can normally only detect frequencies up to 20,000 cps), Hunt has encountered individuals who have frequencies as high as 200,000 cps in their energy fields."
(Page 176)
Author: A London Practitioner
[PureInsight.org] In his well-known book The Holographic Universe (1991, Harper Collins, publisher), theoretical physicist Michael Talbot discusses the work of Valerie Hunt on energy fields. He writes:
"Over the past twenty years Valerie Hunt, a physical therapist and professor of kinesiology at UCLA, has developed a way to confirm experimentally the existence of the human energy field. Medical science has long known that humans are electromagnetic beings. Doctors routinely use
electrocardiographs to make electrocardiograms (EKGs), records of the electrical activity of the heart, and electroencephalographs to make electroencelophalograms (EEGs) of the human brain's electrical activity. Hunt discovered that an electromyograph, a device used to measure the electrical activity in the muscles, can also pick up the electrical presence of the human energy field." (Page 175)
From this, Hunt came up with the idea to make electromyograms (EMGs) of people's energy fields. Hunt confirmed the existence of the energy fields with this apparatus.
This ties in with what is said in Zhuan Falun:
"A qigong master has gong, I have participated in an experiment, and many other qigong masters have also undergone this experiment to measure their energy. The material elements in gong can be detected by many present-day apparatus." (Lecture Two) Perhaps EMGs are one of the devices used in our present day scientific and technological community that can measure the material elements in gong.
Talbot goes on to describe more of Hunt's findings with respect to energy frequencies found among different people. One example supports the hypothesis that thinking primarily about topics from the mundane world specifically lowers one's energy. He writes:
"One of Hunt's most startling findings is that certain talents and abilities seem to be related to the presence of specific frequencies in a person's energy field. She has found that when the main focus of a person's consciousness is on the material world, the frequencies of their energy field tend to be in the lower range and are not too far removed from the 250 cps [-cycles per second] of the body's biological frequencies. In addition to these, people who are psychic or who have
healing abilities also have frequencies of roughly 400 to 800 cps in their field." (Page 176)
Thus in cultivation we are asked to not be too attached to things in the changing temporary world such as pay raises, xinxing frictions, and so on, because it occupies us with the mundane world and has a literal and demonstrable adverse affect on the level of our energy and our energy level. In this way, mind intent and topics of thought are shown to be intrinsically linked to one's energy and thus one's level. People with lower level supernormal abilities are said here to have frequencies between 400-800 cps. However, higher level folks have an even higher frequency, as Talbot relates:
"People who have frequencies above 900 cps are what Hunt calls mystical personalities."
"Using a modified electromyogram (an electromyogram can normally only detect frequencies up to 20,000 cps), Hunt has encountered individuals who have frequencies as high as 200,000 cps in their energy fields."
(Page 176)
SQUID Device measures human magnetic field
SQUID Magnetometer
The superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) consists of two superconductors separated by thin insulating layers to form two parallel Josephson junctions. The device may be configured as a magnetometer to detect incredibly small magnetic fields -- small enough to measure the magnetic fields in living organisms. Squids have been used to measure the magnetic fields in mouse brains to test whether there might be enough magnetism to attribute their navigational ability to an internal compass.
Threshold for SQUID: 10-14 T
Magnetic field of heart: 10-10 T
Magnetic field of brain: 10-13 T
The great sensitivity of the SQUID devices is associated with measuring changes in magnetic field associated with one flux quantum. One of the discoveries associated with Josephson junctions was tha flux is quantized in units
If a constant biasing current is maintained in the SQUID device, the measured voltage oscillates with the changes in phase at the two junctions, which depends upon the change in the magnetic flux. Counting the oscillations allows you to evaluate the flux change which has occurred.
Discussion of SQUID sensitivity
A bit of history
Index
Superconductivity concepts
References
Rohlf,
Ch 15
Clarke
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Josephson Devices
Devices based upon the characteristics of a Josephson junction are valuable in high speed circuits. Josephson junctions can be designed to switch in times of a few picoseconds. Their low power dissipation makes them useful in high-density computer circuits where resistive heating limits the applicability of conventional switches.
Parallel Josephson junctions are used in SQUID devices for the detection of minute magnetic fields.
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Batlogg
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Josephson Junction
Two superconductors separated by a thin insulating layer can experience tunneling of Cooper pairs of electrons through the junction. The Cooper pairs on each side of the junction can be represented by a wavefunction similar to a free particle wavefunction. In the DC Josephson effect, a current proportional to the phase difference of the wavefunctions can flow in the junction in the absence of a voltage. In the AC Josephson effect, a Josephson junction will oscillate with a characteristic frequency which is proportional to the voltage across the junction. Since frequencies can be measured with great accuracy, a Josephson junction device has become the standard measure of voltage.
The wavefunction which describes a Cooper pair of electrons in a superconductor is an exponential like the free particle wavefunction. In fact, all the Cooper pairs in a superconductor can be described by a single wavefunction in the absence of a current because all the pairs have the same phase - they are said to be "phase coherent" (Clarke). If two superconductors are separated by a thin insulating layer, then quantum mechanical tunneling can occur for the Cooper pairs without breaking up the pairs. Clarke envisions this condition as the wavefuntions for Cooper pairs on each side of the junction penetrating into the insulating region and "locking together" in phase. Under these conditions, a current will flow through the junction in the absence of an applied voltage (the DC Josephson effect).
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Ohanian
Clarke
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Josephson Voltage Standard
When a DC voltage is applied to a Josephson junction, an oscillation of frequency
occurs at the junction. Since this relationship of voltage to frequency involves only fundamental constants and since frequency can be measured with extreme accuracy, the Josephson junction has become the standard voltage measurement.
Josephson junction standards can yield voltages with accuracies of one part in 10^10. NIST has produced a chip with 19000 series junctions to measure voltages on the order of 10 volts with this accuracy.
Definition of the standard volt
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Ohanian Interlude 8, pg VIII-8
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
The Standard Volt
The standard volt is now defined in terms of a Josephson junction oscillator. The oscillation frequency of a Josephson junction is given by
so the relationship between frequency and voltage across the junction depends only upon the fundamental constants e and h. For one microvolt applied to the junction the frequency is
The standard volt is now defined as the voltage required to produce a frequency of 483,597.9 GHz.
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Ohanian
Horowitz & Hill
pg 1025
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
The superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) consists of two superconductors separated by thin insulating layers to form two parallel Josephson junctions. The device may be configured as a magnetometer to detect incredibly small magnetic fields -- small enough to measure the magnetic fields in living organisms. Squids have been used to measure the magnetic fields in mouse brains to test whether there might be enough magnetism to attribute their navigational ability to an internal compass.
Threshold for SQUID: 10-14 T
Magnetic field of heart: 10-10 T
Magnetic field of brain: 10-13 T
The great sensitivity of the SQUID devices is associated with measuring changes in magnetic field associated with one flux quantum. One of the discoveries associated with Josephson junctions was tha flux is quantized in units
If a constant biasing current is maintained in the SQUID device, the measured voltage oscillates with the changes in phase at the two junctions, which depends upon the change in the magnetic flux. Counting the oscillations allows you to evaluate the flux change which has occurred.
Discussion of SQUID sensitivity
A bit of history
Index
Superconductivity concepts
References
Rohlf,
Ch 15
Clarke
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Josephson Devices
Devices based upon the characteristics of a Josephson junction are valuable in high speed circuits. Josephson junctions can be designed to switch in times of a few picoseconds. Their low power dissipation makes them useful in high-density computer circuits where resistive heating limits the applicability of conventional switches.
Parallel Josephson junctions are used in SQUID devices for the detection of minute magnetic fields.
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Batlogg
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Josephson Junction
Two superconductors separated by a thin insulating layer can experience tunneling of Cooper pairs of electrons through the junction. The Cooper pairs on each side of the junction can be represented by a wavefunction similar to a free particle wavefunction. In the DC Josephson effect, a current proportional to the phase difference of the wavefunctions can flow in the junction in the absence of a voltage. In the AC Josephson effect, a Josephson junction will oscillate with a characteristic frequency which is proportional to the voltage across the junction. Since frequencies can be measured with great accuracy, a Josephson junction device has become the standard measure of voltage.
The wavefunction which describes a Cooper pair of electrons in a superconductor is an exponential like the free particle wavefunction. In fact, all the Cooper pairs in a superconductor can be described by a single wavefunction in the absence of a current because all the pairs have the same phase - they are said to be "phase coherent" (Clarke). If two superconductors are separated by a thin insulating layer, then quantum mechanical tunneling can occur for the Cooper pairs without breaking up the pairs. Clarke envisions this condition as the wavefuntions for Cooper pairs on each side of the junction penetrating into the insulating region and "locking together" in phase. Under these conditions, a current will flow through the junction in the absence of an applied voltage (the DC Josephson effect).
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Ohanian
Clarke
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Josephson Voltage Standard
When a DC voltage is applied to a Josephson junction, an oscillation of frequency
occurs at the junction. Since this relationship of voltage to frequency involves only fundamental constants and since frequency can be measured with extreme accuracy, the Josephson junction has become the standard voltage measurement.
Josephson junction standards can yield voltages with accuracies of one part in 10^10. NIST has produced a chip with 19000 series junctions to measure voltages on the order of 10 volts with this accuracy.
Definition of the standard volt
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Ohanian Interlude 8, pg VIII-8
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
The Standard Volt
The standard volt is now defined in terms of a Josephson junction oscillator. The oscillation frequency of a Josephson junction is given by
so the relationship between frequency and voltage across the junction depends only upon the fundamental constants e and h. For one microvolt applied to the junction the frequency is
The standard volt is now defined as the voltage required to produce a frequency of 483,597.9 GHz.
Index
Superconductivity concepts
Reference Ohanian
Horowitz & Hill
pg 1025
HyperPhysics***** Condensed Matter R Nave
Go Back
Science Measures the Human Energy Field
Energy is a theme that permeates many areas of complementary health care, including Reiki. For historic and emotional reasons, two key words have not been mentionable in polite academic research society: "energy" and "touch." Hence it is not surprising that Reiki therapy has been neglected by mainstream biomedical science.
This picture is changing rapidly because of exciting research from around the world. The tale of how concepts of "healing energy" have swung from suspicion and ridicule to respectability is one of the most fascinating and clinically significant stories that can be told.
As in many other areas of investigation, what we were absolutely certain about 20 years ago has changed dramatically. For example, in a few decades scientists have gone from a conviction that there is no such thing as an energy field around the human body, to an absolute certainty that it exists. Moreover, we have begun to understand the roles of energy fields in health and disease. Most people are simply not aware of this research, and persist in the attitude that there is no logical basis for energy healing.
The main reason for the change in outlook is that sensitive instruments have been developed that can detect the minute energy fields around the human body. Of particular importance is the SQUID magnetometer (1) which is capable of detecting tiny biomagnetic fields associated with physiological activities in the body. (Figure 1) This is the same field that sensitive individuals have been describing for thousands of years, but that scientists have ignored because there was no objective way to measure it.
SQUIDB.tif (17914 bytes)
To summarize the discoveries that have been made, the editors of a new international journal commissioned a review of the concept of "healing energy" (2). While we have been researching this topic for some 15 years, the preparation of an in-depth review led to a thorough reexamination of the subject, with some unexpected conclusions.
For the most part, key discoveries are not being made by scientists studying methods such as Reiki, TT and HT. Instead, traditional scientists, following customary logic and scientific methods, have begun to clarify the roles of various kinds of energy in the healing process. Hence the picture that is emerging has the same scientific foundations that underlie modern clinical medicine. For details, see our published articles (3).
The human energy field.
It has long been known that activities of cells and tissues generate electrical fields that can be detected on the skin surface. But the laws of physics demand that any electrical current generates a corresponding magnetic field in the surrounding space. Since these fields were too tiny to detect, biologists assumed they could have no physiological significance.
This picture began to change in 1963. Gerhard Baule and Richard McFee of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY detected the biomagnetic field projected from the human heart. They used two coils, each with 2 million turns of wire, connected to a sensitive amplifier.
In 1970, David Cohen of MIT, using a SQUID magnetometer, confirmed the heart measurements. By 1972, Cohen had improved the sensitivity of his instrument, enabling him to measure magnetic fields around the head produced by brain activities.
Subsequently, it has been discovered that all tissues and organs produce specific magnetic pulsations, which have come to be known as biomagnetic fields. The traditional electrical recordings, such as the electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram, are now being complemented by biomagnetic recordings, called magnetocardiograms and magnetoencephalograms. For various reasons, mapping the magnetic fields in the space around the body often provides a more accurate indication of physiology and pathology than traditional electrical measurements.
Pathology alters the biomagnetic field
In the 1920’s and 1930’s, a distinguished researcher at Yale University School of Medicine, Harold Saxon Burr, suggested that diseases could be detected in the energy field of the body before physical symptoms appear. Moreover, Burr was convinced that diseases could be prevented by altering the energy field.
These concepts were ahead of their time, but are now being confirmed in medical research laboratories around the world. Scientists are using SQUID instruments to map the ways diseases alter biomagnetic fields around the body. Others are applying pulsating magnetic fields to stimulate healing. Again, sensitive individuals have been describing these phenomena for a long time, but there was no logical explanation of how it could happen.
Projection of energy from the hands of healers.
In the early 1980’s, Dr. John Zimmerman began a series of important studies on therapeutic touch, using a SQUID magnetometer at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. Zimmerman discovered that a huge pulsating biomagnetic field emanated from the hands of a TT practitioner. The frequency of the pulsations is not steady, but "sweeps" up and down, from 0.3 to 30 Hz (cycles per second), with most of the activity in the range of 7-8 Hz (Figure 2). The biomagnetic pulsations from the hands are in the same frequency range as brain waves and scientific studies of the frequencies necessary for healing indicate that they naturally sweep back and forth through the full range of therapeutic frequencies, thus being able to stimulate healing in any part of the body.
Confirmation of Zimmerman’s findings came in 1992, when Seto and colleagues, in Japan, studied practitioners of various martial arts and other healing methods. The "Qi emission" from the hands is so strong that they can be detected with a simple magnetometer consisting of two coils, of 80,000 turns of wire. Since then, a number of studies of QiGong practitioners have extended these investigations to the sound, light, and thermal fields emitted by healers. What is particularly interesting is that the pulsation frequency varies from moment to moment. Moreover, medical researchers developing pulsating magnetic field therapies are finding that these same frequencies are effective for ‘ jump starting’ healing in a variety of soft and hard tissues, even in patients unhealed for as long as 40 years. Specific frequencies stimulate the growth of nerves, bones, skin, capillaries, and ligaments. Of course Reiki practitioners and their patients have daily experiences of the healing process being "jump started," and academic medicine is now beginning to accept this therapy as logical and beneficial because of these new scientific findings. In Figure 2 we have bracketed portions of the signal that correspond to the frequencies used in medical devices that stimulate the healing of particular tissues. Individual differences in energy projection and detection.
To study the projection of energy from the hands of therapists, scientists must first recognize that there are huge individual differences between people. Repeated practice of various techniques can enhance the effect.
There are logical neurophysiological and biophysical explanations for the roles of practice and intention. [Editors note: It would be interesting to use these detection techniques to measure the effect of a Reiki attunement on the strength and frequency of biomagnetic energies coming from the hands and also to measure how therapeutic frequencies may change when treating various conditions in the body.]
It is not widely understood that "brain waves" are not confined to the brain, but actually spread throughout the body via the perineural system, the connective tissue sheathes surrounding all of the nerves. Dr. Robert O. Becker has described how this system, more than any other, regulates injury repair processes throughout the body. Hence the entire nervous system acts as an "antenna" for projecting the biomagnetic pulsations that begin in the brain, specifically in the thalamus.
Moreover, waves that begin as relatively weak pulsations in the brain appear to gather strength as they flow along the peripheral nerves and into the hands. The mechanism of this amplification probably involves the perineural system and the other connective tissue systems, such as the fascia that are intimately associated with it.
Conclusion
In this brief summary, I have shown how some of the experiences of energy therapists have a basis in biology and physics. After centuries of neglect, energetic therapies can take their appropriate place in clinical medicine. The great discoveries of biologists and of sensitive body workers are being integrated to give us a deeper understanding of life, disease, and healing. Science cannot take away the ultimate mystery of life, nor can it detract from the spiritual component of healing. We believe that research on the energy therapies can lead to much a more complete understanding of life, disease, and healing.
References:
(1) SQUID is an acronym for Superconducting Quantum Interference Device.
(2) Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, Harcourt Brace & Co., Ltd., Edinburgh.
(3) A list of our articles may be obtained from Nature’s Own Research Association, P.O. Box 5101, Dover, NH 03821, USA, Phone, 603-742-3789, Fax 603-742- 2592,
e-mail: JOschman@aol.com
Jim and Nora Oschman are directors of Nature’s Own Research Association in Dover, New Hampshire. Jim is one of the few academic scientists who has focused on the scientific basis for various complementary or alternative medicines. Jim and Nora have written dozens of articles describing the physiological and biophysical mechanisms involved in a wide variety of therapeutic approaches.
This picture is changing rapidly because of exciting research from around the world. The tale of how concepts of "healing energy" have swung from suspicion and ridicule to respectability is one of the most fascinating and clinically significant stories that can be told.
As in many other areas of investigation, what we were absolutely certain about 20 years ago has changed dramatically. For example, in a few decades scientists have gone from a conviction that there is no such thing as an energy field around the human body, to an absolute certainty that it exists. Moreover, we have begun to understand the roles of energy fields in health and disease. Most people are simply not aware of this research, and persist in the attitude that there is no logical basis for energy healing.
The main reason for the change in outlook is that sensitive instruments have been developed that can detect the minute energy fields around the human body. Of particular importance is the SQUID magnetometer (1) which is capable of detecting tiny biomagnetic fields associated with physiological activities in the body. (Figure 1) This is the same field that sensitive individuals have been describing for thousands of years, but that scientists have ignored because there was no objective way to measure it.
SQUIDB.tif (17914 bytes)
To summarize the discoveries that have been made, the editors of a new international journal commissioned a review of the concept of "healing energy" (2). While we have been researching this topic for some 15 years, the preparation of an in-depth review led to a thorough reexamination of the subject, with some unexpected conclusions.
For the most part, key discoveries are not being made by scientists studying methods such as Reiki, TT and HT. Instead, traditional scientists, following customary logic and scientific methods, have begun to clarify the roles of various kinds of energy in the healing process. Hence the picture that is emerging has the same scientific foundations that underlie modern clinical medicine. For details, see our published articles (3).
The human energy field.
It has long been known that activities of cells and tissues generate electrical fields that can be detected on the skin surface. But the laws of physics demand that any electrical current generates a corresponding magnetic field in the surrounding space. Since these fields were too tiny to detect, biologists assumed they could have no physiological significance.
This picture began to change in 1963. Gerhard Baule and Richard McFee of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY detected the biomagnetic field projected from the human heart. They used two coils, each with 2 million turns of wire, connected to a sensitive amplifier.
In 1970, David Cohen of MIT, using a SQUID magnetometer, confirmed the heart measurements. By 1972, Cohen had improved the sensitivity of his instrument, enabling him to measure magnetic fields around the head produced by brain activities.
Subsequently, it has been discovered that all tissues and organs produce specific magnetic pulsations, which have come to be known as biomagnetic fields. The traditional electrical recordings, such as the electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram, are now being complemented by biomagnetic recordings, called magnetocardiograms and magnetoencephalograms. For various reasons, mapping the magnetic fields in the space around the body often provides a more accurate indication of physiology and pathology than traditional electrical measurements.
Pathology alters the biomagnetic field
In the 1920’s and 1930’s, a distinguished researcher at Yale University School of Medicine, Harold Saxon Burr, suggested that diseases could be detected in the energy field of the body before physical symptoms appear. Moreover, Burr was convinced that diseases could be prevented by altering the energy field.
These concepts were ahead of their time, but are now being confirmed in medical research laboratories around the world. Scientists are using SQUID instruments to map the ways diseases alter biomagnetic fields around the body. Others are applying pulsating magnetic fields to stimulate healing. Again, sensitive individuals have been describing these phenomena for a long time, but there was no logical explanation of how it could happen.
Projection of energy from the hands of healers.
In the early 1980’s, Dr. John Zimmerman began a series of important studies on therapeutic touch, using a SQUID magnetometer at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. Zimmerman discovered that a huge pulsating biomagnetic field emanated from the hands of a TT practitioner. The frequency of the pulsations is not steady, but "sweeps" up and down, from 0.3 to 30 Hz (cycles per second), with most of the activity in the range of 7-8 Hz (Figure 2). The biomagnetic pulsations from the hands are in the same frequency range as brain waves and scientific studies of the frequencies necessary for healing indicate that they naturally sweep back and forth through the full range of therapeutic frequencies, thus being able to stimulate healing in any part of the body.
Confirmation of Zimmerman’s findings came in 1992, when Seto and colleagues, in Japan, studied practitioners of various martial arts and other healing methods. The "Qi emission" from the hands is so strong that they can be detected with a simple magnetometer consisting of two coils, of 80,000 turns of wire. Since then, a number of studies of QiGong practitioners have extended these investigations to the sound, light, and thermal fields emitted by healers. What is particularly interesting is that the pulsation frequency varies from moment to moment. Moreover, medical researchers developing pulsating magnetic field therapies are finding that these same frequencies are effective for ‘ jump starting’ healing in a variety of soft and hard tissues, even in patients unhealed for as long as 40 years. Specific frequencies stimulate the growth of nerves, bones, skin, capillaries, and ligaments. Of course Reiki practitioners and their patients have daily experiences of the healing process being "jump started," and academic medicine is now beginning to accept this therapy as logical and beneficial because of these new scientific findings. In Figure 2 we have bracketed portions of the signal that correspond to the frequencies used in medical devices that stimulate the healing of particular tissues. Individual differences in energy projection and detection.
To study the projection of energy from the hands of therapists, scientists must first recognize that there are huge individual differences between people. Repeated practice of various techniques can enhance the effect.
There are logical neurophysiological and biophysical explanations for the roles of practice and intention. [Editors note: It would be interesting to use these detection techniques to measure the effect of a Reiki attunement on the strength and frequency of biomagnetic energies coming from the hands and also to measure how therapeutic frequencies may change when treating various conditions in the body.]
It is not widely understood that "brain waves" are not confined to the brain, but actually spread throughout the body via the perineural system, the connective tissue sheathes surrounding all of the nerves. Dr. Robert O. Becker has described how this system, more than any other, regulates injury repair processes throughout the body. Hence the entire nervous system acts as an "antenna" for projecting the biomagnetic pulsations that begin in the brain, specifically in the thalamus.
Moreover, waves that begin as relatively weak pulsations in the brain appear to gather strength as they flow along the peripheral nerves and into the hands. The mechanism of this amplification probably involves the perineural system and the other connective tissue systems, such as the fascia that are intimately associated with it.
Conclusion
In this brief summary, I have shown how some of the experiences of energy therapists have a basis in biology and physics. After centuries of neglect, energetic therapies can take their appropriate place in clinical medicine. The great discoveries of biologists and of sensitive body workers are being integrated to give us a deeper understanding of life, disease, and healing. Science cannot take away the ultimate mystery of life, nor can it detract from the spiritual component of healing. We believe that research on the energy therapies can lead to much a more complete understanding of life, disease, and healing.
References:
(1) SQUID is an acronym for Superconducting Quantum Interference Device.
(2) Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, Harcourt Brace & Co., Ltd., Edinburgh.
(3) A list of our articles may be obtained from Nature’s Own Research Association, P.O. Box 5101, Dover, NH 03821, USA, Phone, 603-742-3789, Fax 603-742- 2592,
e-mail: JOschman@aol.com
Jim and Nora Oschman are directors of Nature’s Own Research Association in Dover, New Hampshire. Jim is one of the few academic scientists who has focused on the scientific basis for various complementary or alternative medicines. Jim and Nora have written dozens of articles describing the physiological and biophysical mechanisms involved in a wide variety of therapeutic approaches.
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