The awareness of the importance of energy as a factor in human health goes back to ancient tradition. The healers of old knew that the body was the true healer and that they were only facilitators. They used available herbs and, together with their knowledge of human energy and the psyche, were able to provide comfort, facilitate healing, and prevent illness. They deeply understood that the body lives within and responds to the psyche. Although this way of healing has been practiced throughout history, in recent times it has all but been suppressed.
With the advent of science and technology, our relationship with the natural order of life has been greatly altered. Horses have given way to cars, natural remedies to synthetic pharmaceuticals. In our eagerness to embrace these new developments, we have unwittingly exposed ourselves to a multitude of risks. While we used to move around at six kilometers an hour, occasionally bumping into a tree, we now encase ourselves in metal containers and propel ourselves at 100 kilometers an hour. We may still bump into the same tree, but instead of just getting bruises, our entire skeletons get re-arranged. To add insult to injury, our bodies now have to cope with toxic substances like pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and other unhealthy food additives.
Once upon a time, when we became ill, the healer would examine the state of our body energies as well as our minds in searching for the root of our illness. Treatment with herbs and energy therapies would play equally important roles. Today, because we view ourselves as primarily physical beings, we rely solely on the tools of modern medicine to alleviate our suffering. Our primary concern is to repair the body as quickly as possible, so that we can get on with our lives, even when the repair involves suppressing the symptoms. We may even resort to removing the part of the body that is misbehaving. Our treatments are confined to the body, even though it may be the psyche that requires our attention.
If we start with the premise that we are first and foremost a psyche or energy being and that the body lives within us, we can begin to understand the relationship between illness and energy, and can learn how to facilitate our own healing and protect our health.
Whether the doctor sets our broken limb, or gives us antibiotics to fight a bacterial infection, the state of our energy will ultimately determine how quickly we are able to heal. The body has innate healing mechanisms. However, the quality of our energy flow will either enhance or inhibit these. There are many illnesses that are much less straightforward than broken limbs or infectious disease. For these, the quality of our energy takes on much greater importance. What eventually manifests as a physical symptom may have originated in a troubling thought that was left unresolved. Persistent worry and internalization may have then led to the development of an energy block within the body, impeding the healthy flow of energy the body needed to repair itself.
If we want to take an active part in helping our body to heal and in protecting our future health, we need to have knowledge of our energy body.
Bernard “Ben” Willemsen, is a spiritual teacher and personal counselor. He is the author of Don’t Water the Stick: The Path of the Psyche, The Spirit and I: The Evolution of Soul, and Water Your Roots: Walking a Spiritual Path (May, 2009). Ben can be reached at the Centre for Human Energy Studies in Glen Haven, Nova Scotia by email to ben@humanenergy.net, or by visiting his website humanenergy.net.