The Biofield and Emotion: The Science Behind Energy Healing

Taken from here.

Now this is not an article I ever expected to write, but there is scientific backing to energy healing. That's pretty fucking crazy. It's just backed in a very different way than most spiritual energy healers market it as. Or maybe they are also right, I don't know.

The biofield is the electric, magnetic, and infrared fields that emanate from the body, principally the heart and the brain. It's an emerging field of science that is just starting to be able to measure this and test it by use of EEGs and EKGs. My other post on this is so significant to explaining this one that I'm just going to copy and paste most of it here:

1. The heart is stronger than the brain in terms of influence. "The neural connections that transmit information from the emotional centers to the cognitive centers in the brain are stronger and more numerous than those that convey information from the cognitive to the emotional centers. This fundamental asymmetry accounts for the powerful influence of input from the emotional system on cognitive functions such as attention, perception and memory as well as higher-order thought processes. Conversely, the comparatively limited influence of input from the cognitive system on emotional processing helps explain why it is generally difficult to willfully modulate emotions through thought alone." The heart is often referred to as the heart brain for this reason.

2. The heart produces hormones including oxytocin, the love chemical, equally as much as the brain does. Emotions, besides being stronger than thought, are tied physiologically to the biological processes of energy. "Emotions and resilience are closely related because emotions are the primary drivers of many key physiological processes involved in energy regulation." Negative emotions literally influence energy regulatory functions in the body negatively.

3. Coherence is when two wave states become synchronized albeit at different frequencies. In other words, they become more symmetrically and harmonically patterned. Coherence has overwhelmingly positive effects including enhanced cognitive functioning such as clearer thinking and better decision making, emotional resilience and stress management, and increased physical and emotional well-being. All of the top 5 positive emotions (peace, joy, hope, love, and gratitude) enhance heart-brain coherence with peace being the only one that significantly impacts it which you read about here. I still don't think peace should be the focus of the theory because for myself I feel much more energy when I'm joyful than when I'm peaceful. True peace would be an attainment of a homeostatic state of joy.

   

   What coherences looks like.

4. It's scientifically verified that heart and brain rhythms synchronize among groups of people. This is generally triggered by synchronized activity such as choir or drum circles, emotional closeness and connection, having a shared focus or experience, and experiencing positive emotions. In other words, whoever you are around quite literally changes your physiology based on their electromagnetic output and group synchronization. This can also account for automatic magnetic and repulsive responses to people.

5. Here is a list of how emotion based interventions have impacted health and well-being:

So basically, energy healing techniques such as Reiki, Qigong, and Prana have scientific backing to work solely on the principle that operating at higher emotional states impacts heart regulatory properties that can then be passed on to someone within three feet of them due to the magnetic waves emitted by the heart and group synchronization. Group synchronization occurs during these sessions by either synchronized movement like Qigong or shared focus such as listening to the same music. As long as the healer has a regulated heart state (based on their physiological healing) then they can pass that on through group synchronization, which leads the client to the improved brain functioning, which leads to heart-brain coherence for the client. The amount of internal heart regulation based on physiological healing within the healer (the body stores trauma which is released when healed) allows for a client to borrow their heart-brain functioning for a limited time, leading to actual healing.

Another factor is that of the physiological impact of touch on psychology and well being. A quick google search said that touch has a profound impact on physiology and mental health. In all of my searches, the word profound has never been used in describing impact... so this shit means business. Another factor at play with energy healing techniques is the healing impact of touch.

Both Google AI and ChatGPT say that biofield healing is effective for these things: "reduced pain, anxiety, and stress, along with enhanced well-being and psychological health." ChatGPT pointed out that although the evidence is mixed, there is a modestly positive effect for these studies, but more studies need to be done as the current studies have small sample sizes and are prone to bias. Regardless, turns out having a big heart is literally healing, and moreover, is a requirement of effective healing. No energy healer will be created equal as their potential impact is dependent on their own level of emotional healing. Science sure is neat!

I recognize that this makes energy healing basically inconsequential and for now that is the science that backs what I know. This isn't to say there isn't more to energy healing because I believe there is as I have felt it and experienced it. I currently don't have any knowledge that would scientifically show how that would work. One day though.