As a healer in the field of energy medicine, people sometimes ask me what the differences are between all the types of energy work that are available. For example, people often ask if energy medicine is the same as Reiki. Reiki is a popular form of energy work that more people are becoming familiar with, which I think is great. I usually explain that Reiki is one type of energy work, but it isn’t the only one available. Not all energy work is Reiki, as there are many kinds of energy work. Since I use several different energy methods in my work (including Reiki), I prefer to use the global term of “energy medicine” to describe what I do, rather than limiting myself to a specific technique.

Since people often have questions about different energy work, I decided to write a post with my thoughts on this. Perhaps this may help people better understand the different approaches in energy work, when they are looking for a practitioner.

(Click here for a post on different kinds of energy work for cancer; and here for another post on different types of energy work in general.)

In organizing my thoughts around this topic, I took a look into my energetic toolbox and thought about all the modalities that I use in my work. I noticed that I can divide these techniques into roughly two groups: chi-based methods of energy work and non-chi based methods of energy work. The following are my notes about the similarities/differences between these two groups.

Chi-based Energy Healing
Some forms of energy work are what I call “chi-based energy healing,” meaning they work directly with the body’s bio-energetic field. Everybody has an aura which surrounds their body, which extends out about 4 feet around them. When there is an illness or an issue in the body, there is usually a distortion or disturbance in the body’s energy field. Chronic pain, for example, always appears to me as a blue-ish grey, dense or mottled looking blob in the aura. Chi-based healing methods strive to clear those imbalances so that the body can heal itself more easily. Chi-based approaches seem to fall into two subcategories: chakra based approaches and meridian-based approaches. Both are ways of working with the body’s energy fields to restore balance.

Chakra Based Approaches
Chakra based healing addresses the chakras, or the 7 main power centers in the body. I won’t go too much into a description of chakras here, as there is plenty of information available on them already. Suffice to say that the energy of the body’s chakras is something that scientists are just now beginning to be able to measure, and I think that is really exciting. When chakras are blocked or not in alignment, people can experience feelings of discomfort. One chakra may be overcompensating for another less developed one, for example. Chakra based methods are ways chi energy can be channeled to release blockages or clear stagnant energies in the chakras. Sometimes this can bring about a deep release of energies and emotions which have been held in the body for a long time.

Examples of chakra-based healing methods include: Reiki, qi-gong, therapeutic touch, healing touch, quantum touch, energetic unwinding, Emotrance, cranio sacral therapy, and others. Each of these modalities has its unique ways of working, to help balance the body’s energetic field. They may have some similarities, but each may be experienced differently.

Reiki in particular is one form of chakra based energy work that has become popular in recent years. Reiki is a way of working with energy that involves no specific intent. (In Reiki, the practitioner channels universal energy through the hands into the client.) In other words, the energy is non-directed. In contrast, energetic unwinding, another way of working with chi energy, is a more directed approach. It is an excellent way to relieve blockages from places like the back. To do this, the healer must follow the body’s natural energetic movement with a lot of focus.

Qi gong involves gentle physical movement and mindful breath work. Crystal healing, another form of chakra based work, involves the use of specific stones with the chakras. The practitioner does not expend any energy themselves. Some forms of yoga incorporate chakra consciousness into pose movements, which can be beneficial. Meditations that include chakra awareness can be very helpful, and are a good way to work with chakras for healing.

Chakra based systems are often very helpful when people are unable to express what they are feeling in their body or their heart. Since the body never lies, by having a silent conversation and engagement with the client’s chakras, shifting can happen without the client needing to consciously revisit a trauma. After a session, people often report feeling clearer, more comfortable in their bodies, and better able to deal with life’s challenges. “Brain fog” often lifts, pain is reduced, and concentration improves.

Chi-based healing is often profoundly relaxing and calming for the body. Many of my clients fall asleep during this process. Sometimes they feel warmth, other times tingling, and some report having vivid dreams on the table. Chi-based healing is very helpful for people healing from injuries and/or recovering from surgeries.

Meridian Based Approaches

Meridian-based approaches focus on energy meridians of the body, rather than chakras. Meridian methods focus on balancing the energy meridians of the body so that healing expedited. (One can think of energy meridians as rivers of energy running in the body. An illness in the body might be seen as a rock in the river that needs to be removed.) Since many of these methods are based on the ancient science of acupuncture, they tend to be a bit more technical than chakra-based methods. The directional flow of meridian energy becomes an important consideration.

Examples of meridian-based methods include EFT, Touch For Health kinesiology and, of course, acupuncture. All are helpful for helping the body reset its natural patterns. Sometimes it is as if one meridian gets overtaxed while other meridians are weak or stagnant. For example, stress can cause causes people to have a hyper active Liver or Triple Warmer meridians (fight or flight response), and a correspondingly stagnant Kidney meridian. As a result, people experience adrenal fatigue and feeling of being exhausted and “wired” at the same time. It’s as if the body has trouble resetting itself back to its optimal state, and is in a feedback loop. By doing some balancing work, the body is put back in its natural state, and fatigue is diminished.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is one of my favorite tools in this group of methods because it often goes the extra step to address the emotional distress of why issues occurred to begin with. I have found EFT to be very helpful in supporting peoples’ true healing. (For more information, see my previous blog entry “EFT is a Great Option for Treating Anxiety.”) Through this process, people seem to evolve and grow, in terms of better understanding themselves. It’s more than just providing temporary relief to a stress. The results of EFT tend to “stick”.

Other forms of meridian-based work include acupressure, shin jin jitsu, and energy medicine, as coined by Donna Eden. Meridian work is painfree, fairly quick, and often works when chakra work has reached its limit. (And vice versa as well – the two are complementary approaches). People often report feeling a big sense of relief, and the body relaxes and reduces its stress hormone levels. I have found meridian work very helpful for people healing from OCD, trauma, and anxiety. It is also helpful for creating new belief systems so that people can move ahead in their lives to create something new.

Regardless of whether a practitioner uses a chakra-based or a meridian-based system, the goal is the same: to restore balance to the energy systems of the body. In doing so, the body is better able to heal itself. Often emotional stress and pain are greatly is reduced, and as a result, the body is able to optimize its natural healing ability.

A common thing I’ve noticed is that people are often able to get better sleep after their energy sessions. Good sleep is so important to good health. Many of my clients come to me with chronic issues with sleep, on top of other issues. Thus, their bodies are always chronically deprived, in addition to dealing with whatever else is going on. In many cases it has become rather “normal” for them to not get a good night’s rest. After some solid EFT work, along with other energy work, I notice that their sleep is often greatly improved, and along with that, their overall health.

Non-Chi Based Energy Healing

The other important group of energy approaches are what I call “non-chi based”. These modalities do not focus on the meridian or chakra system of the body directly. They are often less well-known, but quite powerful in affecting change. Some of them are focused on consciousness, while others are more generally vibrational in nature. Examples of non-chi based methods include shamanic work, Matrix Energetics, flower essences, angelic healing, dream work, and spiritual inquiry.

This body of work often draws upon the assistance from unseen realms, and focuses on opening up possibilities for personal transformation. This involves consciousness development on the soul level, as well as support for the physical issues that are up for healing, since the two are often related. Issues that I’ve worked on with this type of work include depression, anxiety and peoples’ sense of feeling cut off from the flow of life.

This is the realm of the angels and the Divine. Some methods, such as Matrix Energetics, are specific ways of finding, inviting and connecting new possibilities into the current reality. This type of work approaches what has been described in the quantum physics literature, as it involves the accessing of unseen states and possibilities, to help manifest a change from what is currently showing itself.

It is also why healing can often occur much faster than expected by conventional medicine. In quantum time, there is no concept of how long healing from an illness “should” take. By opening up the possibilities of what can happen through an energetic bridge, often some very pleasing results can occur. It is not always predictable, but it is possible.

For example, I recently had a client who had undergone knee replacement surgery. When she first came in, she could barely walk. Her pain level was very high, and she had to take pain killer medications just to get by. The knee was very hot and swollen. Her physicians had told her to expect a recovery time of several months. I decided to see what could be done to create a different reality for her than what was expected by allopathic medicine. Since quantum physics dictates that all time and reality is rather elastic, this means that the realm of possibilities for her was actually quite wide. In the quantum world of possibilities, there are no hard and fast rules. It is not written in down anywhere in the cosmos how long a recovery from a knee surgery “should” take. So I simply looked to find a route and possibility for healing that was much faster than what was already here. Immediately after we started working together, her recovery rate began to accelerate markedly. I mixed in some chi-based work to address the heat in the knee. Each time, at the end of our sessions, she noticed more improvement. Pain was reduced, and her sleep improved because she needed less drugs. Meanwhile, the physical therapy she was doing started to pay off handsomely, because she had less pain. She’s now doing very well.

Non-chi based methods are also very helpful at clearing what I call psychic clutter from peoples’ fields. As sensitive beings, we are all prone to picking up energetic debris from our environment that does not benefit us. The cumulative affect of this can leave one rather drained and irritable, for no particular reason. Simple shamanic techniques can clean people off so they can feel more themselves again. Because I have a music background, I particularly like the use of sound for this purpose, since sound amplifies intent. It’s fast, and for many people, it is preferable to taking drugs.

I hope this helps explain, at a very high level, the different kinds of energy work that are available. I use a combination of all the methods I’ve mentioned here. They all have value. There’s no one approach that is better than all others. It’s just a matter of where each client is, in terms of which approach would work for them. There is also no way to say one way works the same guaranteed way for everyone. This is because each person is so uniquely and amazingly different.

For me, it’s about finding what works best with each individual. What is the best way to optimize physical healing and/or help people find a stronger connection to feeling alive? I’ve found that a combination of all of different energetic approaches yields more satisfying results than using only one alone. Since people fascinate me and energy fascinates me also, I’m forever fascinated. And that makes my work so much fun!