Acupuncture: An ancient Chinese medical system over 5000 years old, recently revived in China and becoming popular in the West. It deals with subtle energy flows (chi) in the body related to the cosmic principles of Yin and Yang. The balance of these energies in the human body affects health and disease. Acupuncture therapy alters these energy flows by inserting fine needles at key pressure points, for varying periods of time.
Alternative medicine: Any form of medicine or healing other than the type approved by allopathic medical doctors and hospitals. Some other names you may hear are: alternative-complementary healthcare [ACH], alternative healing, alternative healing therapies, alternative health, alternative therapies, alt-med, complementary and alternative medicine [CAM], complementary and alternative medicine, holistic healing, holistic health, integrative and complimentary therapies, Mind-Body-Spirit medicine, or natural healing. Related expressions include “innovative medicine,” “integrated healthcare,” “integrative medicine,” or “mind-body medicine.”
Aura, Auric Field: The electromagnetic field surrounding the human body, as well as any living thing. Measurements of this field are often used in conventional medicine to diagnose illness and disease. Examples of these measurements include Electroencephalograms (EEGs), Electrocardiograms (EKGs) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An imbalance in the auric field can eventually lead to physical disease, emotional stress, or spiritual imbalance. A healer or intuitive can often detect the aura and balance the energy field.
Biofield therapies: Definition given to energy healing by the US Government National Institutes of Health. Biofield or energy therapies are intended to affect energy fields that surround and penetrate the human body. Some forms of energy therapy manipulate biofields by applying pressure and/or manipulating the body by placing the hands in, or through, these fields. Examples include healing touch, reiki, crystal therapy, etc.
Chakras: Energy centers within our bodies that are the openings for life energy to flow into and out of our aura. Too much or too little energy in one chakra can be the cause health problems or frustrations in everyday life. (2) The seven vital energy centers of the body. The chakras extend from the base of spine to the crown of head. Each chakra corresponds to certain colors, emotions, organs, nerve networks, and energies.
Cranio-sacral Therapy, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Cranial Somatic Therapy, CST:
A gentle, manual procedure for remedying distortions in the structure and function of the craniosacral mechanism – the brain and spinal cord, the bones of the skull, the sacrum, and interconnected membranes. It is used to treat chronic pain, migraine headaches, TMJ, and a range of other conditions in adults and children.
Crystal Healing: Use of crystals, minerals or gemstones to facilitate balance and healing. The earliest records of crystal healing come from ancient Egypt and references can be found which refer to the medicinal uses of many different gems and crystals. The ancient Hebrews also used crystals and gemstones for health and healing, and crystals and precious stones are mentioned throughout the Bible and other sacred scriptures.
The Biblical account of the Breastplate of Aaron is of interest to gem lovers because it is an early accounting of the use of gemstones as both decoration and symbol. Aaron is the brother of Moses and the leader of the tribe which is appointed as high priests. The breastplate is described in the book of Exodus and is adorned with twelve gems — one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. We get our modern day system of birthstones from these 12 gems.
EMDR: EMDR is an acronym for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a form of psychotherapy that assists in healing from traumatic events, depression, anxiety, negative messaging, and other issues that are life-disturbing. EMDR has gotten worldwide attention for helping millions of people heal from PTSD caused from traumatic events, such as rape, sexual abuse, auto accidents and combat. EMDR can also help people who feel distress in their lives to heal and feel more whole after events that have been disturbing such as divorce, life transitions, grief, anxiety and much more.
EMDR works to heal the mind much the same way a body works to heal a wound by giving the brain a chance to process disturbing memories and information and remove painful blocks. Once blocks are removed, the mind begins the healing process and actually transforms previously held negative beliefs, emotions, and sensations to more adaptive ones. The transformation process is a psychological as well as physiological one. While EMDR was originally developed for use in trauma clients, it has been very effective for use in more everyday issues that people suffer from, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, negative messaging, or other concerns.
EMDR is an integrative therapy that helps people heal from traumatic and life-disturbing events. By accessing the amygdala and the limbic system, EMDR works with the traumatic image, emotions, body sensations, and negative thoughts to desensitize the person from the emotional charge that remains after the trauma.
Emotional Release Work: Often used with abuse survivors, chronic illnesses, or when a person is feeling “stuck,” the practitioner assists the person in releasing old traumas or emotions from the physical body. A very useful adjunct treatment when one is doing traditional talk therapy or counseling.
Energy Work, Energy Healing, Energy Balancing: Healing technique that involves working in the body’s energy field to promote mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual healing.
Energy healing is based on the belief that our “life force” (also called chi, qi, prana, and many other names) creates energy fields that are unbalanced during emotional or physical disease. Because our energy fields are part of an interconnected whole, the use of focused intention by one individual can aid in the health and well being of another. Many individuals use their own individual means of directing their intention to heal. Others practice according to schools such as Reiki. In the West, a common form of energy healing is Therapeutic Touch, which has been taught to thousands of nurses across the United States.
An interesting feature of energy healing is that it may be performed over distances of thousands of miles. A comparable practice to energy healing that is used frequently in the West is prayer. A 1996 survey showed that 82 percent of Americans believed in the healing power of prayer. A survey of patients in American Cancer Society support groups for breast cancer found that 88 percent experienced beneficial effects of spiritual and religious practice.
Etheric levels: Some healers see things in terms of the etheric levels, and note that just above the skin’s surface, the human energy field is divided into etheric levels. Each of these levels is three-dimensional and envelops the body like a sheath or shell. The levels closest to the body are the physical, emotional, and mental. The physical level is linked to vitality and is the one most easily seen in a person’s aura. The emotional level contains the energy associated with both positive and negative emotions. Because physical and emotional energies are interconnected, emotions can have a profound effect on how the body functions. The third level is the mental field and contains energy associated with thought, conceptualization, rationalization, and interpretation of events. Energy from this layer surrounds and interfaces with the emotional level, intensifying the relationship between thoughts and feelings.
Holistic Healing: A view of health care focusing on the “whole self” (body, mind and spirit) and natural or spiritual cures. At Blessings Enterprises, we embrace both traditional and natural systems of healing, as well as allopathic or newer forms of healing. We want to work with your system, not at it.
Life Coaching: a practice with the aim of helping clients determine and achieve personal, professional, and/or spiritual goals. Life coaches use multiple methods that will help clients with the process of setting and reaching their established goals. Coaching is not targeted at psychological illness, and is not the same as therapy. Please see Affirmative Life Coaching for more details on the unique way in which we practice coaching at Blessings Enterprises.
Meridians: According to traditional Chinese medicine, shiatsu, and other acupressure systems, energy flows through a person’s body via various acupoints that are organized into channels, or meridians. The meridian system contains several hundred points that can be manipulated to promote energy balance in parts of the body that experience discomfort or disease. An imbalance in these meridians or certain points can refer pain and create other health issues. This explains why you may have aches and pains that plague you, yet a MD or western scan cannot find “anything wrong.”
Reiki: (pronounced Ray-key) is a Japanese name consisting of 2 words Rei and Ki meaning spiritually guided life energy (commonly known as Universal Life Energy), an energy which animates us all and is found all around us. Reiki is a form of spiritual healing using “universal life energy” channeled through the practitioner to the recipient. Reiki helps to harmonize body, mind and spirit for yourself or anyone you want to help. The Reiki practitioner uses the hands and intention to free blockages in the energetic system, nervous system and main chakra points.
Shaman: (1) A person who communes with the Spirit world to facilitate healing, or to help the community in which s/he lives. The shaman traditionally is able to leave his or her body and go on “spirit journeys” in order to eliminate illness in the patient or to bring back needed information for the community. (2) Among tribal peoples, a healer who owes his powers to mystical communion with the spirit world. This ancient form of healing can be used for a range of emotional and physical illnesses.
Trauma: Trauma is any past experience that one perceives as negative and that negatively impacts your present life. It creates extreme stress, making you feel helpless and vulnerable, as if the world is always dangerous. Traumas can be perceived as horrific, helpless to prevent, and threatening to either your survival or the survival of others or it can be when something happens to you large or small, that leaves you feeling distress and you are unable to process it for some reason. It’s not the objective facts that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective response to the event that matters. The effects can be long lasting and create distressing symptoms. All trauma manifests in physical, sexual, and/or psychological symptoms, which create a “fight or flight” response in the body.
Vibrational medicine: The expressions “energy healing,” “energy work,” and “energetic healing work” appear to be synonymous with “vibrational medicine.” It is a healing philosophy whose main tenet is that humans are “dynamic energy systems” (“body/mind/spirit” complexes) and reflect evolutionary patterns of soul growth. Its postulates include the following.
(1) Health and illness originate in subtle energy systems.
(2) These systems coordinate the life-force and the physical body.
(3) Emotions, spirituality, and nutritional and environmental factors affect the subtle energy systems. Vibrational medicine embraces acupuncture, aromatherapy, Bach flower therapy, chakra rebalancing, channeling, color therapy, crystal healing, absent or distance healing, healing touch, electro acupuncture, flower essence therapy, homeopathy, crystal healing, the laying on of hands, meridian therapy, Past-life Regression, Polarity Therapy, psychic healing, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch.
