Energy cannot be destroyed; it only changes form. E=Mc2. Einstein’s famous formula eloquently explains that the greater the mass of an object, the more energy it possesses. Energy at its purest form is light frequency. Light waves travel at almost 300 kilometers per second. Energy, light and mass - what does this have to do with our wellness? A good question. If energy can only change form, does this mean that the energy in the body is in constant transformation? Let’s look at some of the energy within the body.
Cellular energy, such as the Krebs cycle energy production within the cell, is one type of energy. Cellular energy is often tested through traditional blood work or a saliva test to see how well the cells are expending their energy and performing for the physical body. Then there is the thermal energy of the body. This energy is often tested with Computerized Regulation Thermography, which gives the trained bioregulatory practitioner a concise way to determine if there is proper regulatory capacity, under mild stress, within the organs, tissues and glands - again, based on the thermal energy of the body. Muscular energy plus muscle fatigue with the expenditure of sugars and oxygen can cause a build-up of byproducts from that energy burn, such as lactic acid buildup; this can be understood more as the chemical energy of the body. Then, there is the electrical energy within the body. This energy is easy to access, and can help to evaluate heart and brain function. This energy is typically tested through various bio-feedback devices or muscle response testing in the bioregulatory world. Heart Rate Variability is another quantitative assessment of this energy that allows us to see the compensation ability of the individual through the energy waves produced by the heart, under a mild stress.
Ultimately, we are all spiritual energy. Every move we make, every thought we have is an energy impulse. At the most fundamental level, our sense of touch, smell, taste, sight and sound are energy impulses to the brain giving us feedback from our environment. My favorite explanation of who we are energetically is from Dr. Joe Dispenza: “We are light energy held together by magnetic and gravitational forces.” Everything we do is in some way directly related to maintaining and managing body energy. The parasympathetic (resting, healing and digesting mode - relaxing) and sympathetic (fight or flight mode) fluctuations in the body are the concept of proper regulation and THE gauge of proper energy accumulation and utilization. At the most fundamental level, the body’s goal is the proper management of energy.
Jerry Tennant M.D. in his book Healing is Voltage explains that every cell in the body is designed to run at a voltage of negative (-) 20 to (-) 25 millivolts (mV). At a basic level, we heal by making new cells. Making a new cell requires (-)50 millivolts. We get sick when our voltage drops below the operating voltage of (-)20 millivolts. With this concept, all chronic disease can be defined as having low voltage within the cells. The voltage in my thumb is naturally (-)25 mV. When I hit it with a hammer, however, it jumps to (-)50 mV, so it can make new cells to replace the ones I smashed with the hammer. Our vessels dilate so proteins and other building materials can be deposited into the area to make new cells. The thumb is red, swollen, hot and has a pulsing pain. As soon as it finishes making enough cells to replace the damaged ones, the cell voltage returns back to (-)25 mV and all is fine. However, if I run out of voltage before I finish making enough new cells to replace those I damaged with the hammer, and my voltage drops to say (-)10 mV, I am now stuck in chronic disease because it requires (-)50 mV to make new cells. The only way I can get well is to insert enough electrons (negative ions) to be able to get up to (-)50 mV. Otherwise, my thumb won’t work properly for the rest of my life, and it will hurt all the time. Chronic pain is simply a symptom of low voltage, or the lack of electrical energy available to the body for healing. Dr. Tennant’s book is well worth the read. As part of any restorative program, infusing negative ions back into the body (to facilitate healing and cellular repair) should be considered regardless of the health complaint. Interestingly, soliciting both the spirit of the person and restoring negative ions can be done in the same way. There are several ways to recharge ionically and spiritually.
Lying on the bare ground and/or walking barefoot on the earth will rebalance and replace the body’s negative ions. This generally can be considered “Earthing” and should be part of a person’s health restorative practice. Leaning up against or sitting beneath trees as well as walking through the forest also have a recharging effect on us ionically. Walking through the surf on the beach, standing in moving water (such as when fly fishing) or just wading ankle deep in a stream will allow our body to uptake negative ions from the Earth. Within an office setting, the ionic cleanse detox foot baths also offer the body a way to charge up with needed negative ions as does salt therapy and pulse electromagnetic field therapy (just to name a few).
In our center, we use two A.M.D. Ion Cleanse detox foot baths as well as the Omni magnetic pulse mat to help our clients restore the loss of negative ions. We also use Salt Therapy in a chamber setting to concentrate the ions into a small space. Showers also give the body negative ions. Baths, however, pull negative ions from the body because bath water is stagnant. That is why showers often make us feel energized while baths tend to make us tired and relaxed. People also give and receive negative ions from each other. So, it is important as practitioners to understand that you are giving negative ions to your clients who need them all day long every time you touch them. That is why there is no complete healing without touch.
(That is also one of the reasons we may feel drained at the end of a full day at the office working with sick people. Be sure to recharge yourself by following a program that will give you negative ions yourself.)
When I met my wife she had been in a serious car accident and was suffering from back pain. When she came to see me she explained that she had been to six specialists without relief. I stood up and went to the exam table she was sitting on and gently touched her back asking where exactly the pain was. She began to cry. I stood back and apologized for touching her back and increasing her pain. She said that I had not caused pain and that the tears were because not one of those pain specialists had ever actually touched her back to see where the pain was. They only ever talked with her about the pain, looked at X-rays and M.R.I’s and prescribed painkillers. I was the first person to touch her back since the accident. There is no healing without touch. There is no healing without voltage, no healing without connection to spirit. Within a few months of working with her, her pain was gone. And it has stayed that way for over 2 decades.
The energy that continues to elude us is the energy that makes up the spirit or soul of a person. Upon death, only energy appears to leave the body. For instance, if I go to bed one night and my heart stops, I die. Regardless of the physiological or anatomical reasons for the death, the only real difference in the morning between my living and dying is the absence of energy that powered my organs and made me, me. Death is the absence of a flow of life energy. That energy has transformed into some other form that is no longer attached to or manifested by the physical body. Remember, energy cannot be destroyed - it only changes form. So, my life energy has transformed and no longer powers this body. Is that energy the spirit? Does that energy hold my conscious mind? Is that the energy that contains my memories and my sense of self? The most cutting-edge theory regarding this is that our brain and nervous system function as a broadcasting/receiving antenna that accesses information being held in a universal energy matrix (morphic field) or energy field that holds all information. A kind of universal iCloud that all information is uploaded to and downloaded from.
A while back, I was asked by a young client of mine, “What happens when we die?” He was deeply upset by the death of his grandfather. I thought about it a moment, and offered this as an explanation: we are electrical creatures and everything within us is run by electricity of the body. Just like the overhead lights in my office run on electrical energy. I went to the light switch connected to the ceiling lights and put my finger on the switch. I said, “Let’s say that when the lightbulb is on and is giving us light, this represents life.” I then switched the lights off. “When I turn the light off, the energy is gone from the bulb and there is no light, though nothing is different for the bulb itself, there is no more energy and it cannot express its light. Let’s say that is death.” With the light switched off, I asked him where did the light or energy go? I flicked the light on and off several times for effect. “Well, where does the energy go when the light is turned off?” The simple answer is that It goes back to its source. Its connection has been interrupted at the switch and cannot flow to the bulb. The energy source, however, is still intact, the bulb is still intact. It is the flow that has been interrupted. I flicked the switch on once again and there was light. This young man said to me, “Then when my grandfather died, his energy just went back to its source.” I agreed.
Our energy goes back to its source. Energy can’t be destroyed - it only changes form - and/or returns back to its source. So, when we have electrical flow, energy flow, we have life. When the energy flow stops or is interrupted then we have what we call death. When we die, the energy that animated us goes back to its source. So, the question becomes where is the source of this energy? Does it come from mom and dad at conception? Is it supplied by the cosmos or is it, as the Bible suggests, the breath of God?
Conventional medicine has relegated the spirit to the clergy much the same way it has compartmentalized the body. The dentist focuses on the teeth, the cardiologist on the heart, and all the other specialized “ologists” on isolated pieces of a most complex jigsaw puzzle. It has not always been that way. Healers in the past did not separate energy from function and function from spirit. Medicine men, mystics, witchdoctors, voodoo healers, shamans, herbalists, spiritual healers and traditional healers from all cultures did not separate the spirit from the body. Healing was a whole person experience and the spirit was addressed as much - if not more than - the presentation of the physical health issue.
At this point, many conventionally minded persons might say that addressing the spirit is nothing more than a placebo effect and placebos have no place in contemporary medicine. I think placebo has gotten a bad rap when it comes to modern medicine. For me, placebo helps to engage and direct the super-conscious (I prefer that terminology to sub-conscious) mind of the person in addressing their health issue. It solicits that power to direct the body into healing. There is no doubt that a person who has complete faith in their chosen path to regain their health will do far better than the person who lacks confidence in the medicine or in the person administering the therapies.
The mind/spirit of a person is the most powerful healing tool that can be employed - and yet, is often ignored. Directing one’s thoughts, focused mindfulness, super-conscious visualization and emotional congruency are all powerful remedies. As a bioregulatory practitioner, the energy that is the spirit of a person should be addressed as much as their IBS, headaches, skin issues, allergies, chronic back pain or whatever other symptoms they are experiencing. Spirit can be addressed without breaching the ideologies of religion. Another way of looking at spirit is that it is the integration of all energies possessed by a person. We must also understand that one’s personality is a part of spirit as well. Our personality has a lot to do with our reality.
I don’t know that a definitive answer will ever be revealed to us regarding the energy that is spirit. For me in my practice, spirit is the undefinable energy that is the essence of a person blending their constitution, life experience, faith, fortitude, beliefs, expectations, willpower, personality and much more. More than just electrical impulses and negative ions, spirit is the totality of the person and when that can be engaged and directed to focus on healing the mind and body, there is no illness that can’t be overcome, no state that can’t be altered, no pain that can’t be alleviated.
We as practitioners should engage our spirit and our intentions toward the client before us. We know that we will be giving negative ions to the person in front of us and that will help with their healing. We must also help that person begin to change their old programming and perceptions of what heals. A willingness to reconnect with the energy of nature and the energy and spirit that is within each of us is a powerful tool indeed.
Ian Kennedy is the Founder and Head Clinician of True Wellness of Pennsylvania.