There are many different types of energy work,                                                    incorporating a broad range of often ancient techniques. Energy work may be one of the oldest forms of healing and many types of energy work stem from ancient shaman and seer practices from centuries ago. Though, as the name indicates, energy work focuses on balancing out and promoting the flow of energy in the body, it often also takes a holistic approach by including breathing and movement exercises, meditation and self-awareness practices, herbal and food/diet remedies, as well as lifestyle changes to assist the healing process. Here I will introduce five types of energy work for holistic health:

1) Reiki

Reiki is an energy work technique that guides and transfers the universal ki (energy, qi, chi) through the practitioner’s palms or hands to promote healing within the client. A fixed number of hand placements are commonly used, but some practitioners let their intuition guide them to where the energy flow is blocked or to where healing needs to take place. A Reiki session might also focus on balancing the seven Chakras. Reiki can be done hands-on or with the hands a few inches over the body. Reiki practitioners also use empowered Reiki symbols and breathing techniques to facilitate the healing process.

2) Polarity Therapy

Polarity Therapy seeks to find where energy is unbalanced, blocked, or fixed due to stress or other factors. This allows pain and disease to arise. Energy blockages in the human energy field begin at the subtle level but eventually manifest at the denser level of bodily tissues such as muscle and fascia. Polarity Therapy views health as a reflection of the condition of the energy field, and there are 3 types of energy fields in the human body: Long line currents that run north to south in the body; transverse currents that run east-west in the body; and spiral currents that start at the navel and expand outward. With its goal of addressing the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of healing, Polarity Therapy combines energy-based bodywork, diet, exercise, and self-awareness practices.

3) Qigong (chi kung, or chi gung)

Qigong is a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi, ki, energy) for the promotion and maintenance of health. It incorporates breathing exercises, movement exercises, self-awareness practices, and meditation. Its goal is to master the mind through self-awareness of the body, mind, and emotions, and to open the heart with gratitude and compassion. Mindfulness and awareness can remove negative emotions, which are qi blockers, hinderers, and causes of pain and suffering. As Qigong instructors say: Mind is a good servant, but a bad master.

4) Shiatsu

Shiatsu is a finger-pressure or Acupressure technique similar to Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. A Shiatsu practitioner works by putting pressure on specific points along the meridian energy channels to balance out, increase, or decrease the flow of chi to that given point and/or through the specific meridian channel. As with Reiki, there are some Shiatsu techniques that are a fixed pattern, but healing sessions are also individualized according to the clients’ needs. As with Acupuncture, Shiatsu can also incorporate the recommendation of herbs and herbal tea remedies and diet modifications.

5) Matrix Energetics

With Matrix Energetics we move beyond the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of energy work and add in quantum physics to the healing mix. Matrix Energetics practitioners work with the vibrations and waves of energy at the quantum energy level. They open up the blocked pathways of very subtle energy for transformation and healing to take place. Through teaching awareness of the limitations of the mind and with gentle touch, disease, which is a disruption or distortion arising in the matrix of the energy fields, and physical and emotional injuries, which impair communication at the cellular level, are cleared. Matrix Energetics also repairs and improves the flow of energy so that the body can better respond to injury and illness in the future.