What we believe about the world, paradigms of belief, is determined by social context. Acceptable beliefs shift, not as new thinking and discoveries emerge, but rather as old thinking and discoveries die.
To understand our current beliefs about the world, healing and existence, it's helpful to look at a brief history of scientific thought. I've included links if you'd like to explore these periods of belief more thoroughly.
For 800 years, from 400-1200AD, Plato's deductive view dominated world view. Plato said that the perceptual world (that which we can see) consists of imperfect copies of forms or ideas which Plato called intelligible form. In other words, everything that exists is first energy and then is manifest in the physical realm. But some of the energy/information gets lost in the translation and so the physical manifestation is imperfect.
Around the same time, Hippocrates introduced Vitalism/physis - the idea that an innate intelligence animates life and through this the organism naturally maintains homeostasis, i.e. health and well being. Thus the patient/client must be treated as a whole and the goal of healthcare is preventative - diet and general healthy living. More drastic measures should be avoided if possible.
"To do nothing is also a good remedy."
"If we could give every individual
the right amount of nourishment and exercise,
not too little and not too much,
we would have found the safest way to health."
"Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease."
Democritus said that all that exists - including the soul - is matter, and that all matter can be broken down into small physical pieces which he called atoms. Between the atoms is empty space. Atomis means indestructible in Greek.
"Medicine heals
diseases of the body,
wisdom
frees the soul from passions."
Of course, his theories were not accepted immediately, but by the end of the Middle Ages, the start of the Renaissance, this model became predominant in the Western world - what we call scientific thought.
Meanwhile, the East, from 5,000 BC to present day, has understood that everything physical is manifested from energy. Objects, the world, even life is understood on the basis of the overall pattern, from a place of intuitive understanding, and described as qualities rather than quantities.
As western science got better and better at defining 'reality' by quantifiable measurement, the idea of vital energy became less and less important
For an idea to be accepted in today's western scientific world, it must be based on observation which is reproducible and forms a model or pattern. This is the acknowledged rule. Known as Determinism, it was first framed by Sir Isaac Newton.
"I have not been able to discover
the cause of those properties
of gravity from phenomena,
and I frame no hypotheses;
for whatever is not deduced
from the phenomena
is to be called a hypothesis,
and hypotheses,
whether metaphysical or physical,
whether of occult qualities or
mechanical, have no place in
experimental philosophy."
- Sir Isaac Newton
Unfortunately, there is also an unspoken rule - that in order to be accepted, new ideas must follow the current pattern or belief system. If we don't understand a new theory within the framework of what we already believe to be true, than the new idea cannot be true. This is extremely limited thinking. The fact is, we simply lack the means to understand, or measure, the new idea.
"New thinking, new discoveries, are rejected,
'swept under the rug'.
But the truth cannot be denied.
It will continue to emerge,
and keep getting swept under the rug,
until there's a lump in the rug too large to ignore
and we keep tripping over it.
Only then, when the evidence is overwhelming,
is the new thinking accepted
and the paradigm of belief of the culture
begins to shift."
-Charles Krebs
This reactionary way isn't new. You remember Capernius and Galileo. Capernius refrained for years from publishing his findings that the earth revolved around the sun because he knew he would be persecuted for countering current accepted thought. He tried over and over again to disprove his own discovery, but to no avail.
When he finally did go public with this truth, another respected scientist, Galileo, was asked to prove Capernius wrong. But alas, he could not. Galileo was threatened and what do you know! He announced that indeed Capernius' theories were wrong: Capernius described orbits as round. In fact, they are oval. Galileo's life was spared but because he had not completely denounced Capernius and said that the sun revolves around the earth, which was currently accepted thought, he spent the last 17 years of his life a prisoner in his own village.
What does all that have to do with today? The sad truth is we as a society are no different than those fearful naysayers of the 16th century. New ideas must agree with currently accepted beliefs or be denied - and although their presenters may not be jailed or beheaded, they most often lose their jobs and their standing in the scientific community.* Over and over again, 'incorrect' theories are eventually proved true within shorter and shorter periods of time - but sadly the original thinker is already ostracized.
Quantum theory is currently accepted thought:
Along with the Theory of Relative Motion, these revelations by Einstein provide some of the foundation for us to understand how energy medicine heals. The Theory of Relative Motion simply points out that what you 'know' about whether something is happening, and the qualities of the action, depends on your perspective.
Think about this. We know that the earth is hurtling through space at ____ mph, right? And spinning to boot! Are you dizzy? No! Because from your perspective, grounded to the earth, all of this action is unapparent to you. You experience the results of these actions anecdotally - by your observations - that night turns to day, that the seasons change - but you are experiencing the movement itself. Now imagine you are standing on Jupiter looking at the earth. Wow! Look at it fly around its orbit! And spin!!! That's relativity.
The chaos theory probably comes closer than any other scientific finding to defining how energy healing works. The Chaos Theory was born of the thinking of Poinchaire in the 1900s. It was decades before the scientific community recognized the importance of his work.
Chaos Theory says that when we observe apparent chaos, it's simply that we are not seeing the order. Further, the farther we push something toward 'chaos', the more likely it is that order will become apparent.
Today many scientists and thinkers risk their reputations and livelihoods for the truth of new ideas.
In the 1970s, Fritz-Albert Popp published ideas about biophotons and was ostracized for his trouble. Biophotons are weak emissions of light radiated from the cells of all living things which form a coherent web of light. Today he heads a multi-million dollar research think-tank (not funded by the government) with the mandate to disprove what we know. And while Wikepedia labels biophoton theory a dangerous pseudo science rife with new age fanaticism, biophysicists in Europe and Asia are exploring biophotons in cancer research, non-invasive early medical diagnosis, food and water quality testing, and other biotechnology applications.
In 1988, Dr. Jacques Benveniste, head of France's version of NIH, published his findings that water holds information, thus proving homeopathy. The journal wrote extensive rebuttals and hired a magician to try to replicate Benveniste's laboratory findings (he failed). Benveniste was fired from his job and spent years fighting for his ideas.
Robert Jahn, Princeton University, proved that directed thought could affect the outcome an experiment. He rolled balls into a maze of pegs and statistically altered the patterns of movement of the balls by thinking "right" "right" "right" or, "left" "left" "left."
William Tiller, Stanford University, did similar work to show that human intention affects matter. For instance, he showed that thought could alter the PH balance of water.
More importantly,Tiller's theory of positive/negative space/time provides a model for understanding Energy Medicine.
Tiller's model shows that the disintegration of order (entropy, the second law of thermodynamics) is balanced by an equally powerful force towards organization and structure. An example of entropy is an ice cube in a glass sitting on the counter melting. Or an iron object rusting. Sickness and disease are forms of entropy the human body.
Entropy happens in what we call the physical plane - what Tiller calls positive space/time. Tiller postulates that negative entropy, or creation, exists in the energetic or etheric realm. This is metaphysical reality - and is as predictable as physical reality via Einstein's Quantum Mechanics equations which demonstrate the interconnection of energy and matter.
So, the law of entropy - the second law of thermodynamics, that everything in the universe is moving toward energy dispersal and disorder, is balanced by an equally powerful force of creation - movement toward order and organization. Now we're talking about energy healing. It's the opposite force - the movement toward order. It is in this realm that Energy Medicine works.
Tiller and Krebs researched the affects of energy healing on PH. They found the PH balance of water in a controlled environment rose significantly during a session of energy Kinesiology taking place in the laboratory. Their findings were reported in the Journal of Complimentary Medicine - Tiller, Dibble and Krebs, 2005, and are highlighted in Tiller's new book Some Science Adventures with Real Magic.
Today metaphysical reality is a theory only because we lack the instruments to measure it. We are getting closer every day. Every time we create an instrument to measure more of the light spectrum, we realize that even more of the light spectrum exists. Acupuncture points are now accepted fact because we can measure them electrically as null points.
Now that we've taken this little journey through the history of scientific thought, what will the future bring? I believe that energy medicine is that future. What are your stories of experiencing the powerful force of creation? I'd love to hear from you!
Thanks due
This web page was inspired by The Energetic Structure of Man and the Universe by Charles Krebs.
I am indebted to Peter McLellan for introducing me to the wonders of Energy Kinesiology, to Peter, Charles, Adam Lehman and Ron Wayman for their passion for teaching and to Charles Krebs for his ongoing gifts of innovation in Kinesiology to the world. By extension, gratitude to Dr. Goodheart, father of Applied Kinesiology; Dr Thei, founder of Touch for Health; Richard Utt, developer of Applied Physiology; and all other past and current practitioners, teachers and innovators here unnamed and equally appreciated
“Teaching and Healing is the work
of my heart and spirit. My intention is
to co-create a safe and supportive
experience, that “healing place”
which is not so much a physical space
but rather a state of being.”
You can read this research paper on Tiller's web site by clicking on New Papers and then the article on Experimental Ph findings.
Further reading:
The Field
by Lynn McTaggert
*Molecules of Emotion
by Candace Pert
A Revolutionary Way of Thinking
by Charles Krebs
Some Science Adventures with Real Magic
by Tiller
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Energy Medicine
by Donna Eden,
David Feinstein and Carolyn Myss