Amanda Cochrane - Vibrational Healing - The only introduction you’ll ever need

The shamans of the Altai people living in Siberia refer to vital energy or life force as chula. They see chula as one of nine souls, and as important for health and normal development. It is thought that a person with a predisposition to openness is vulnerable to evil spirits or negative energies which may ‘steal their chula’. When this happens the life force is weakened and the person becomes sick. The shaman can perform soul retrieval rites which rekindle the life force and restore the patient’s health and wellbeing.

INDIA

Over 5,000 years ago wise men or yogis living in the remote Himalayan mountains spoke of a universal energy. Known as prana, this energy is still seen by yogis as the basic constituent of all life. Prana, the breath of life, moves through all things and brings vitality to them. The yogis were aware that this energy is affected by different forms of vibrations. Their ancient Sanskrit language is actually comprised of words which set up a sympathetic vibration in the body. The word for tiger, for example, houses the essential energy of the tiger. When they spoke this word, people would be calling upon the spirit or energy of the animal.

The yogis developed a system of natural medicine known as Ayurveda, whose principles have spread throughout Asia and has been handed down from generation to generation. It is still alive today and has recently kindled much interest in the Western world.

One of the oldest Ayurvedic practices is chanting and reciting silent mantras. The repetition of sacred sounds maintains and promotes wellbeing in mind, body and spirit, because of the effect on the body’s energy systems.

The ancient texts of Indian yogic literature describe various energy systems associated with the body. According to the sages the physical body is energized and coordinated by an energetic subtle body called the etheric body. Within this etheric body are vital energy centres known as chakras, which are linked with each other and the nervous system by lines of life force. The chakras gather and hold different forms of energy, and can alter their vibrations so that they can be used for different healing purposes.

Chanting conditions the chakras so that energy flows smoothly throughout the body. When the body’s energies are balanced and free-flowing, the mind is still. When the mind is free of distracting thoughts and the disruptive effects of emotions such as anxiety, fear and guilt, it is possible to enjoy greater access to the soul or higher self. In other words, meditative techniques for bringing peace of mind also revitalize and rebalance the body’s energies. The yogis also discovered that certain movements and body positions encourage prana to flow through the body. Yoga is the classical example of this ancient form of energizing exercise.

FAR EASTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Common to Eastern medical and mystical tradition is the idea that the universe is a living organism, a rhythmic vibrational field, infused and permeated with life force. During the third millennium BC the Ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism emerged which holds that every living organism, as well as the universe itself, is infused and permeated with a rhythmic vibrational energy known as qi or chi. The Japanese call this energy ki, and in India it is referred to as prana.

Taoism teaches that if man lives in harmony with the laws of nature, his whole system will be balanced mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually, because qi will flow freely and evenly through the body.

Problems arise when we consider ourselves to be separate and superior to nature. Nowadays processed and over-refined foods, polluted air and a lack of healthy exercise often distance us from the natural way of life and stifle qi. Emotional stress, an over-indulgent or frenetic lifestyle, injury and illness also block the flow of vital energy. The Taoists suggest that energy imbalances are responsible for us becoming susceptible to emotional upsets such as anger, irritability, sadness and fear. These negative feelings can weaken bodily systems and make us vulnerable to disease.

The early Eastern philosophers devised ways of promoting the free-flow of energy to preserve wellbeing and instil peace of mind. Exercise regimes based on slow, rhythmic movements such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong were devised to balance qi. Today millions of people in China and Japan perform these slow moving, free-flowing movements as part of their daily routine. Various types of massage to encourage the swift and even movement of qi have also been developed. As in India, meditative techniques such as chanting were found to affect qi. In Japan there is also an ancient tradition of drumming which opens up the chakras and stimulates the flow of ki energy.

To understand how vibrational healing works we have to acknowledge the existence of an energy or life force that permeates all living beings. We cannot see or touch this energy, but like the air we breathe, it is essential to life.

For many people living in the West, the idea that there is more to human beings than meets the eye is hard to imagine. In other regions of the world however, especially the Far East and Asia, this view is widely accepted. The traditional medical systems of the Chinese, Japanese, Tibetans, Indonesians, Australian Aborigines and Native Americans all regard this energy as something tangible that can be influenced for better or worse.

SCIENCE SUPPORTS THE ENERGY THEORY

The idea that all things are infused with energy is not as mystical as it may seem. Modern physics is beginning to add credibility to what wise men believed all those years ago. In this century it has become old-fashioned to think of things as solid objects, as Newton and his colleagues in the late 17th and early 18th centuries did.

Scientists now believe that our world is composed of energy fields and vibrational wave forms that constantly interact with one another. Indeed, some view the universe as a vast web of inseparable energy patterns.

There is scientific evidence that human beings possess their own energy fields. Dr Saxton Burr, an American researcher and Professor of Anatomy at Yale University Medical School in the mid-1940s, shattered conventional belief when he put forward what he called the electrodynamic theory of life. He suggested that all physical forms, be they human, animal, vegetable or mineral, are held together and governed by electro-magnetic fields of energy which he called life-fields. Although these fields are invisible, their effect can be reproduced by placing a magnet under a card and sprinkling iron filings over it. The filings form a pattern which reflects the magnetic force field.

The life-field, as Dr Burr called the energy field, is like a flexible jelly mould which produces a shape, and the physical body is akin to the jelly. Although physical forms are separate entities, they are linked in terms of energy to all other bodies.

The human electromagnetic energy field can be measured with sensitive instruments such as vacuum tube voltmeters. It responds to the energetic impulses associated with different kinds of thoughts: positive thinking strengthens the energy field, and negative thoughts weaken it. Certain vibrational wave forms in the environment also influence our energy field. Fluctuations in the Earth’s electromagnetic field, for example, have a direct effect on our vitality and health.

Western medical science has made extensive studies of the Earth’s electromagnetic field. Careful monitoring has shown that there is a link between field flow (the strength of intensity of the electromagnetic currents or waves) and the occurrence of viral and bacterial epidemics. In short we are locked into a life-field which links and affects us all.