Energy healing is an ancient practice deeply rooted in diverse cultures across the globe. My journey began with Ed Sullivan's Qi Gong Infinichi Energy Healing workshops at Yo San University, and studying to become a Reiki Master. These workshops introduced me to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), particularly anatomy and meridian systems. Despite struggling as a student, energy healing provided a practical way to understand and apply TCM knowledge. During healing sessions, I intuitively scan a person's body, emotions, and mind, often providing TCM-accurate diagnoses that clients, many of whom are TCM students, confirm.

This intuitive process often guides me to specific acupressure points or meridians for energy work, connecting my insights to traditional energy systems. While my engineering work experience makes it challenging to rationalize these experiences, they inspired me to explore the origins, practices, and scientific foundations of energy healing. This exploration revealed that modalities like Qi Gong and Reiki share universal principles, focusing on balancing subtle energy systems to enhance health and well-being. This exploration also showed me there are a lot of other modalities of healing derived from ancient systems, and that the scientific community is actively researching and trying to prove energy healing right now.

Qi Gong & Infinichi

Qi Gong and Reiki are distinct practices with similar philosophical foundations in energy healing. Qi Gong, rooted in TCM, combines movement, breathwork, and meditation to harmonize qi, or life energy. Practitioners use techniques like meridian tracing, acupressure, visualization, and external qi projection to restore balance.

Originating thousands of years ago, Qi Gong was historically practiced to maintain balance and prevent disease. Ancient Chinese scholars believed health depended on the unobstructed flow of qi through the body's meridians. By the Tang (618–907 AD) and Song (960–1279 AD) dynasties, Qi Gong became systematized and incorporated into martial arts and spiritual practices. The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) in China suppressed many traditional practices, including Qi Gong.

Modern adaptations like Infinichi Qi Gong, which is also called “External Qi Gong” focus on cultivating the practitioner's energy, which then is used to help someone else heal, vs. the origins of Qi Gong, which were practiced by the client themselves. Unlike Reiki, Qi Gong relies on structured anatomical frameworks, such as meridian systems, and emphasizes self-cultivation to sustain energy flow.

Reiki

Reiki, developed in the early 20th century by Mikao Usui, is a Japanese energy healing practice. Usui's system, inspired by a profound spiritual experience on Mount Kurama, combined Buddhist, Shinto, and martial arts traditions with his insights on universal energy. Reiki channels universal energy through the practitioner's hand, and through specific symbols to harmonize the recipient’s energy field.

Chujiro Hayashi, one of Usui’s prominent students, formalized Reiki with structured hand positions and treatment protocols. Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American, introduced Reiki to the West in the 1930s, adapting it for Western audiences. Over time, Reiki evolved into styles such as Karuna Reiki, which integrates additional symbols for emotional healing, and Jikiden Reiki, which preserves traditional Japanese techniques.

Qi Gong and Reiki: What’s the origin and difference?

I wanted to see if Reiki historically originated from TCM or any Chinese influence. However, after hours of searching, I did not find any proof and instead found that Reiki, as developed by Mikao Usui, has no direct historical ties to Chinese teachings such as Qi Gong or TCM. I also started to doubt the story of its origin as told here in the West, so I made a note to keep looking further in the future. For now, I found that Reiki and Qi Gong, though distinct in origin and methodology, share a philosophical foundation in the concept of life energy and holistic healing.

Reiki does not depend on anatomical frameworks but instead emphasizes intuitive healing and universal energy flow. While Qi Gong practitioners actively direct qi using specific pathways, Reiki healers act as conduits for external energy. Qi Gong, rooted in TCM, uses structured techniques like meridian tracing and acupressure, grounded in an anatomical framework. Reiki, developed in Japan, emphasizes intuitive energy flow and universal energy channeling, without reliance on anatomical maps. Reiki is also rooted in Buddhism, while Qi Gong is in Taoism. Both practices aim to restore energetic balance, but Qi Gong integrates personal cultivation and specific pathways, while Reiki focuses on intuitive healing through hand positions.

Other Energy Healing Modalities

I wanted to see what else is out there, as a student and practitioner of energy healing, I am currently looking into even more courses and workshops for 2025 to enhance my practice. In addition to Qi Gong and Reiki, several energy healing modalities have evolved, each integrating ancient philosophies and modern techniques. I still think many of these modalities are modern interpretations based on Japanese or Chinese ancient teachings.

• Johrei (1930s): Founded by Mokichi Okada in Japan, this modality channels white light energy for spiritual purification and healing, sharing similarities with Reiki’s focus on universal energy.
• Polarity Therapy (1947): Developed by Dr. Randolph Stone, it balances positive, neutral, and negative energy poles in the body, blending Ayurvedic principles with Western anatomical knowledge.
• Therapeutic Touch (1972): Created by Dolores Krieger and Dora Kunz, this no-contact practice modernizes spiritual "laying on of hands" techniques, scanning and balancing the patient’s energy field.
• Pranic Healing (1987): Master Choa Kok Sui systematized this no-touch technique that cleanses and energizes chakras using prana, or life energy, inspired by ancient systems.
• Healing Touch (1989): Developed by Janet Mentgen, this modality focuses on clearing and balancing energy fields to complement traditional medical treatments, especially in nursing.
• Quantum Touch (1999): Richard Gordon introduced this practice, emphasizing breathwork, light touch, and focused awareness to amplify healing energy.
• BodyTalk™ (1995): Dr. John Veltheim created this system by integrating TCM, neuroscience, and biofeedback to redirect the body’s healing energy and improve communication between systems.
• Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT, 1995): Gary Craig developed EFT to combine tapping on acupressure points with affirmations, addressing emotional and physical imbalances.
• Fire Reiki (2000s): A modern adaptation of Reiki, Fire Reiki incorporates the symbolic power of fire for rapid energetic clearing and spiritual transformation.

The Integration of Energy Healing into Western Medicine

The first observation I made is that energy healing is increasingly recognized in Western medicine for its ability to reduce stress, enhance relaxation, and improve quality of life. For example, Ed Sullivan does supportive energy healing for cancer patients in hospitals in Los Angeles. Then I found more support: modalities like Reiki and Healing Touch are offered in healthcare settings to complement traditional treatments.

The Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic incorporate Reiki into integrative medicine programs for chronic pain and stress management. The University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing integrates energy healing into healthcare education and research, offering courses in Reiki and Healing Touch while exploring their effectiveness through clinical studies.

The second observation I made is that massage therapy, reflexology, and craniosacral therapy are inherently forms of energy healing, although they are often taught and practiced primarily as physical and muscular techniques. The challenge lies in the fact that practitioners who use their hands to heal others are not always educated about the vital importance of energy cultivation, protection, and cleansing. Incorporating practices like Qi Gong could greatly benefit these professionals, enabling them to maintain their own energy and well-being while providing more effective care to their clients.

Lastly, I realized a lot of people are asking for “bodywork” and started looking into what it actually is. It combines physical techniques like massage with principles of energy healing, addressing both physical tension and the subtle energy fields of the body. Variations such as Shiatsu, which integrates TCM principles, and Rolfing, which focuses on structural integration, have incorporated energy healing elements to promote holistic well-being. My personal issue with “bodywork” is that anyone can do it without a license, so I hope to see more credited bodywork programs that combine Western and Eastern massage therapies with energy healing therapies.

Scientific Research

I believe the future of energy healing lies in integrating Western scientific principles to validate the effectiveness of these ancient techniques. Demonstrating measurable results through rigorous research and evidence-based studies is key to making energy healing more mainstream and widely accepted.

Scientific research increasingly highlights the effectiveness of energy healing modalities, including Reiki, despite ongoing challenges in validating non-physical energy fields. Thrane and Cohen (2014) demonstrated that Reiki significantly reduces cancer-related fatigue and anxiety, establishing its potential as a complementary therapy. Baldwin and colleagues (2017) showed that Reiki therapy substantially lowers stress and anxiety, supported by physiological markers like heart rate variability and salivary cortisol levels.

This evidence aligns with biofield research, which investigates the subtle energy fields thought to surround and influence the human body. Introduced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the 1990s, the concept of the biofield refers to a dynamic electromagnetic system believed to regulate biological processes. Ancient practices such as qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine and prana in Ayurveda provide cultural analogs, positioning biofield research as a bridge between historical traditions and modern science.

Biofield studies continue to advance understanding of energy healing. Research from the HeartMath Institute links emotional states to heart rate variability and coherent biofields, demonstrating measurable connections between psychological well-being and energy patterns. Instruments like superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) detect magnetic fields emitted by the body, further connecting physiological processes to biofield phenomena. Cellular research indicates biofield therapies can accelerate wound healing, modulate immune responses, and reduce oxidative stress, though further validation is needed.

Clinical trials also support biofield therapies like Reiki and Therapeutic Touch in addressing pain, anxiety, and inflammation, while enhancing overall quality of life. These therapies have been shown to lower cortisol levels, improve autonomic nervous system function, and promote faster tissue repair in both human and animal studies. While distinguishing specific biofield effects from placebo mechanisms remains a challenge, the growing body of research underscores the potential for energy healing to complement conventional medicine and address holistic health needs.

In conclusion, I’m so dedicated to this field of energy healing as a medicine, even if sometimes my right-brained, logical, highly analytical engineer self doesn’t believe in what is happening. My experience with this modality has been profound, and I have seen a lot of people get a lot of comfort and support from my work with this modality. My research into the origins and future of this medicine doesn’t stop here. I will continue.

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Baldwin, A. L., Wagers, C., & Schwartz, G. E. (2017). Reiki improves heart rate homeostasis in laboratory rats. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 22(3), 445-453. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587216686463

Gorski, D. (2012). Mayo Clinic promotes Reiki. Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved from https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/mayo-clinic-promotes-reiki/

HealList. (n.d.). Holistic modalities. Retrieved December 11, 2024, from https://www.heallist.com/resources/holistic-modalities

HeartMath Institute. (2020). The role of the heart in emotional well-being: Coherence and biofield research. Retrieved from https://www.heartmath.org

National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (1994). Biofield therapies: Definitions and significance. Retrieved from https://nccih.nih.gov

Thrane, S., & Cohen, S. M. (2014). Effect of Reiki therapy on pain and anxiety in adults: An in-depth literature review of randomized trials with effect size calculations. Pain Management Nursing, 15(4), 897-908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2013.07.008

University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality & Healing. (n.d.). Energy healing. Retrieved from https://csh.umn.edu/taxonomy/term/266