Acupuncture: Energy Medicine & Energy Fields

Over 5,000 years ago the Chinese discovered a set of subtle energy channels that serve as rivers of energy -or- light that connect the macrocosm, the external universe, with the microcosm of the pulsing, living tissues inside us.  These channels are called meridians, and modalities based on them are called meridian-based therapies, which assist in balancing the flow of qi in the body, the subtle energy required for life.  Meridians are pathways for different kinds of physical & subtle energies and they transport chemical, electrical and etheric energies reflected in the human body as an electrical-magnetic phenomenon.

Through our Physics studies, we have come to realize that the physical body and its related systems operate under the laws of classical physics, just as everything else in the physical universe.  Essentially underlying all the biochemical, physical systems there is the quantum field of the energetic body.  Here, the more subtle realm of the energetic body operates under the laws of quantum physics.  The physical body correlates with the left brained, logical, analytical functioning of the brain where as the subtle energy of the body maps to the right brain, and the morphogenic fields.

In discussing the field of Energy Medicine, it is pertinent to include the various forms in which it is expressed in the human body:

• Electricity in the form of electrons & protons: every cell in the body stores & emits electricity.  Every breath we take, muscle we move, morsel of food we digest involves electrical activity.  Likewise, memories, feelings and thoughts are encoded in patterns of tiny electrical impulses.

• Electromagnetic fields of energy are created by the activity of organs, such as the brain and heart, which create an  these fields as the result of the electrical activity they generate.   Similarly, electromagnetic frequencies can be found in the areas of the body where a chakra is located.

• Subtle energies, or rivers of light, that transport life energy in and around the body, including:

1. Meridians - energy transport systems that feed vital energies to their related organs and reflect pathological disturbances in those organs, providing a highly effective tool for diagnosis as well as therapy;
2. Chakras - energy transforming stations: major centers of both electromagnetic activity and vital energy are recognized in indigenous cultures the world over; imprints of important or emotionally significant events are recorded in chakra energy, which parallels neural memory.  Chakras can pull energy in from the environment and distribute it in your body as well as send energy outward.
3. Aura: surrounds the human body and contains the energy field, while it links with the chakra energy body.
4. The Five Rhythms - as embodied in the Five Elements of Chinese Medicine and reflected in the macrocosm as the seasons, and the correspondences of the elements; and in the microcosm of the physical body as the circadian, cranial sacral  and other rhythms.

Classical thought and research suggest that both the meridians and the chakras are linked through electromagnetic channels or bodies, and therefore relate through positive and negative charges.  In both the chakra system and the acupuncture points, emotions play a vital role in creating the internal situations that can lead to health or disease.  A person can direct these subtle energies with intention, because energy follows intent.

 In Chinese Medicine, illness is seen as the imbalance or energetic disturbance in the body’s systems; and conversely, healing is the restoring of the energetic balance in these same systems. 

According to Dr. Albert Villoldo, an expert on indigenous shamanism, traditional shamanic healers report that they work on a luminous energy field of light, “rios de luz“, that serves as the template for all aspects of our being.  Chakras and meridians are part of this luminous energy field that creates and sustains physical reality, and which emanates from the subtler realms of the unified field of spirit, the ground state of our being.

Ever increasing numbers of scientists are proposing that the meridian system is part of a secondary electrical system - one that is related to - but different from, the established circulatory and central nervous systems.  One such scientist, Dr. Bjorn Nordenstrom, a Swedish radiologist has discovered through his research that electricity as well as blood flows through the blood stream; but seems to feed to related, but different, systems.  His work also at least partially explains how meridians and acupuncture points work, which he says are anchored in electromagnetism:

• The points serve as transceivers of subtle energy signals from the outside world, much like a sophisticated radar system.

•  These sites receive all types of energies, physical and subtle

• This may explain the placebo and nocebo effects, since messages of faith or belief can also filter into the acupoints and create a shift in this secondary electrical system and promote healing.

Dr. Nordenstrom concludes that the forces flowing in the secondary system can be thought of as qi, and the negative and positive charges as yin and yang.  He suggests this secondary system is the meridian system, at least in part.  The bio-electro-magnetic forces influence the body as a whole, revealed in the five elements, their associated organs and correspondences.

Another perspective is put forth by Dr. Willian Tiller, whose theory explains how meridians interface the etheric, subtle energies of the physical body.  His research is primarily based on connective tissue and meridian science, showing that there is an slight electrical resistance between any two acupuncture points.  Tiller says that meridians process physical as well as subtle energies and further postulates that there are particles called ‘deltrons’ that connect the two energies.  Based on this theory, Tiller claims that:

• Meridians, that lie in connective tissue, are like antennae for subtle energies.

• These antennae are primarily at the etheric level, versus the physical, which is why it’s hard to correlate their existence with existing instrumentation.

• Subtle energy waves flow along the etheric meridians, creating the flow of energy through the channel

These stimulations, in turn, generate endorphins in the blood stream, which generate enkaphalines in the brain - the natural opiates of the body.  Similarly, seratonin has been found to serve as an acupuncture analgesic in both the brain and the spinal cord.

In reviewing the above, we can see that Acupuncture as a modality is uniquely skilled to heal and bring into balance the physical body and it’s functionality, in addition to the subtle energy body and it’s functions as well, treating all levels of an individual: body, mind and spirit as one contiguous whole.