the stress of life.pdf

THE STRESS OF LIFE:

Stress is undoubtedly an important personal human problem.
Robert Boyle - the famous scientist who originated Boyle’s law in
chemistry and physics - in the mid-sixteen hundreds wrote:
‘It is highly dishonorable for a reasonable soul to live in
so divinely built a mansion as the body she resides in altogether unacquainted with the exquisite structure of it.’
Hans Selye began - in 1935 - the very serious work of becoming truly
acquainted with the human body - not just its parts but even more
importantly with its reactions to the life circumstances in which it
maintains itself.
Some have called Hans Selye ‘The Einstein of medicine’
He was a Canadian scientist - and he started the modern quest for the
reduction of the stresses that are found in the life of every individual he did his work at the institute of experimental medicine and surgery at
the university of Montreal.
He did so by showing that much modern ‘stress’ - although not all - is
detrimental to the physiology of animal and human living beings.
He wrote the book - ‘The Stress of Life’ - just before the sixties began
- in 1956.
As Hans Selye puts the ideas forward - we are continually immersed in
stress - and some of the stress comes from the joy of living - so there is
no way of totally avoiding stress.
While most of the stress comes from living in a fast-moving world
without properly adapting to it.
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It is possible to have health and happiness even in this world with all
its stressors - the secret is in adapting to the stress successfully.
If we do not learn to adapt to our circumstances we end up with
disease and unhappiness.
Our evolution during our lifetime into individuals capable of living with
the stresses and adapting to them is something that is up to each
individual to accomplish - it is a matter of understanding what is going
on and developing the power to act with common sense.
We are at the beginning stages of learning that many common diseases
are due mainly to mistakes in our reactions to stress - a different
reaction would result in a different final outcome.

SO WHAT IS STRESS?
Illustration of stress and strain using a spring:

[Use an ordinary spring - place various weights on the spring - see that
the spring stretches to a specific length when a weight is put on it - this
is the principle of the spring scale - see also that when too much weight
is put on a given spring - it stretches beyond its elastic limit and will
thereafter not return to its original length and it will give faulty readings
of weight after such stretching.]
When Hans Selye came into Canada and began his research he was not
aware of the usage of the words ‘Strain’ and ‘Stress’ as used in
physics.
In physics the word ‘Stress’ means any force that tends to cause a
change in a material.
As an example - when a weight is hung on a spring this would be
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called placing a ‘Stress’ on the spring.
The effect that results from the ‘Stress’ - in this case the elongation of
the spring - would be referred to as ‘Strain’ - the complete term would
be ‘Strain reaction’.
Since Selye had used the wrong word for several years before this was
pointed out to him - both in scientific communication with research
people and in presentations before the public - he was in a bind.
What he was saying by the way he was using the word was that stress
caused stress - that is - stress caused itself.
So he invented a new word - ‘Stressor’ - to indicate the cause - the
weight on the spring - and let ‘Stress’ continue as the effect of the
‘Stressor’.
At present we define stress as the nonspecific response of the body to
any demand.
What this means is that when pressure is put on either the mind or the
body there will be a reaction in the body to that pressure - and that
reaction is called ‘stress’.

WHO IS UNDER STRESS?
These are all under stress:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

A person who is hurting - either physically or mentally.
A mother worrying about her child.
A gambler watching a horse race.
Both the horse and the jockey at the race.
A beggar suffering hunger.
A glutton who eats too much.
A shopkeeper fearing bankruptcy.
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8.
9.

A rich man hoping to make another million.
A mother who tries to keep her children out of trouble.

You can think of many more.

SIGNS OF STRESS:
Some self-observable signs of stress:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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12.
13.
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15.
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18.
19.
20.

General irritability - hyperexcitation - or depression. (also
known as the ‘prima-donna’ complex)
Pounding of the heart.
Dryness of the throat and mouth.
Impulsive behavior - emotional instability.
The overpowering urge to cry or run and hide.
Inability to concentrate - flight of thoughts - general
disorientation
Feelings of unreality - weakness - or dizziness.
Predilection to become fatigued - and loss of the ‘Joy of life’.
‘Free floating anxiety’ - that is - we are afraid although we do
not know exactly what we are afraid of.
Emotional tension and alertness - feeling of being ‘Keyed up’.
Trembling - nervous ticks.
Tendency to be easily startled by small sounds.
High-pitched - nervous laughter.
Stuttering and other speech difficulties, frequently stressinduced.
Bruxism - or grinding of the teeth.
Insomnia - which is usually a consequence of being ‘Keyed up’.
Hypermotility - increased tendency to move about without
reason.
Sweating.
Frequent urination.
Diarrhea - indigestion - queasiness in the stomach area sometimes even vomiting.
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21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

Migraine headaches.
Premenstrual tension or missed menstrual cycles.
Pain in the neck or lower back.
Loss of - or excessive - appetite.
Increased smoking.
Increased use of legally prescribed drugs.
Alcohol and drug addiction.
Nightmares.
Neurotic behavior.
Psychoses.
Accident proneness.

THE CAUSE OF STRESS
THE FIGHT OR FLIGHT SYNDROME:
Imagine with me the following:
You are at your campsite in the woods - you are happily cooking your
evening meal on the campfire - which is about 60 feet from your tent.
You backpacked to this site - it took you a week to get here from the
nearest civilized outpost.
A slight noise brings you to awareness - without thinking you turn
quickly.
There is a bear coming towards you!
You must make some quick decisions - you have food in your tent - is
the bear going for this food - or is it coming for you?
There is an immediate tightness in your stomach - a churning begins and a surge of energy flows through you.
You must act quickly!
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Do you attempt to fight the bear off with a stick you can pick up from
the ground - in this way saving your food supply?
Do you climb the tree that you are camping under?
The threat is a physical one.
You decide to climb the tree - the bear leaves after a while - you now
hang your food from a tree - still trembling - and you finally relax.
You have just experienced a classic ‘Fight or flight’ response.
How did your body prepare you almost instantly to deal with the
situation?
In the first few seconds your heartbeat quickened to pump more blood
to your vital organs - part of this blood came from the peripheral blood
vessels near the skin - just under the outer layers.
The heartbeat is quickened by the adrenalin that is poured into the
blood from the adrenal glands just over the kidneys.
You now have cold - clammy - hands as a result - as well as cold feet.
If you were injured at this moment so as to break your skin - you
would not bleed as much as you would in a relaxed condition.
When the pulse rate rises the blood pressure in the body rises - this
puts more blood into the muscles and brain - this will help you react
more quickly and think more clearly.
The liver pours sugar into your system.
The adrenalin allows quick release of energy from the sugars strengthening the muscles.
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Blood clotting chemicals are mixed into the blood so that an injury
causing a break in the skin or an internal injury will control the amount
of blood loss.
This can be risky since - if the blood vessels are narrowed by
arteriosclerosis - there is a possibility of a clot forming - leading to a
coronary thrombosis - and this will cause a heart attack.
At the same time the digestive system shuts down so that its action will
not waste any precious energy.
More red blood cells are produced so the body can utilize additional
supplies of oxygen for the production of energy in the muscles.
To make a long story short - within the first few seconds the body
goes through some 1400 changes related to the ‘fight or flight’
situation.
Bear stories are dramatic - and we can all see how there might be an
uproar in the human body over such a serious threat as possible
mauling or even death by a bear.
The emergency is over almost as soon as it started - what does the
body do with the 1400 changes to defuse the situation and return the
body chemistry to normal?
This episode is less dangerous to our long-term health - provided that
we escape the bear - than the everyday wear and tear stress that we are
all subject to every day of our lives.
The fight or flight response developed over millions of years of
learning to escape danger - it was with us when we still lived in caves and for that time and place it was less dangerous in its long-term
effects than the present fight or flight situations.

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Whether we are threatened by a saber-toothed tiger or a mugger in the
local park - when we act to flee the danger - or stand and fight - the
effort of our response uses up the 1400 chemicals that our body is
providing us with - and after we run or fight the body quickly regains
its equilibrium - with little harmful effect - if any.
In today’s world most of the fight or flight situations are not physically
life-threatening - and there is no opportunity to run or fight - and yet we
still react in the same way as we did in the true fight or flight.
We still perceive danger to us - we still react to this perceived threat.
It is true to say that our fight-or-flight reactions are inappropriate
behavior under the circumstances.
It is also true that there are many more kinds of stressful situations and
they come up much more frequently in our lives.
The need to run quickly or fight hard might have come up only
occasionally in the wild forest or the open plain - there was not
constant danger except in exceptional circumstances.

BUT - YOU SAY - I DON’T MEET BEARS EVERYDAY:
This is a generally true statement - except that the physiologic response
to any stress is just as definite and pronounced as the stress produced
in the ‘fight or flight’ meeting with the bear in the above illustration.
What is more - the dangers and the end result are just as damaging.

THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF BEARS
AND ALL KINDS OF WOODS:
It is the way our mind is constituted that causes the health problems.
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When our mind perceives a threat - this is communicated to the body and the body cannot tell the difference between a real threat to life and
limb and an imagined one - they are identical to the body.
Whenever we think about an event about which we have some feeling and it is true that we have some feeling or emotion about just about
everything - we begin to react to that feeling.
Here are some everyday examples.
First thing in the morning - going to the refrigerator - you are planning
to will make cereal for the family breakfast - there is no milk - the
system elevates as a result - what should you prepare now?
Taking the car out of the garage - slippery street - fish-tail on the driveway - the system elevates.
On the way to a test that is to be held in one hour - you try to anticipate
the questions - and the answers - they don’t come easily - you feel you
should have studied more - the system elevates.
You get to the school - drive around the block three times hoping to
find a parking spot - see a spot and make a dash for it - just then a car
passes and slides into the one vacant spot - your foot hits the brake you feel sudden rage at the inconsiderate wretch who took your spot system elevates a lot.
All day long the housewife - the farmer - college student - doctor contractor - secretary - teacher - everyone in fact - find their lives and
days filled with events that cause mental and emotional responses - and
stress.
This is true also of watching television - the situations that the writers
and actors are portraying are meant to grip our feelings and turn our
minds to romance or fear or compassion or anger or envy or hate 9

you name the emotion - they all come up.
If we do not feel ourselves gripped emotionally by what we see and
hear we quickly tune to another channel where we can usually find
some emotion that will enthrall us.
Let’s face it - we are stress junkies - hooked on stress - that’s why we
watch television.
We use an expression: ‘I am relaxing in front of the TV’.
There is nothing relaxing about watching television most of the time or a movie on the big screen - every action-adventure is meant to
elevate your blood pressure - every horror show is meant to scare the
daylights out of you - providing you with lots of fight or flight
reactions.
What the advertisements mean when they say ‘Exciting’ is that the
show will raise your blood pressure.
If they don’t deliver what they promise you want your money back!
But the mind reacts to fight or flight situations on television in the same
way as it does to real situations in life - and the body simply cannot tell
the difference between real dangers or merely perceived dangers.
Real dangers and imagined dangers are simply mental states - they
affect the body in exactly the same way.
And the same chemicals are released into the blood-stream when you
watch an exciting or scary show - or even when you get angry with the
villain and want to see him/her punished.
To make the situation worse - when watching television you are likely
to be a ‘Couch potato’ - taking no time after the show to work off the
stress-produced chemicals - perhaps even munching out of the
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refrigerator or a plastic bag.
To be in the body and to live without stress is no fun at all - you have
to be physically dead to have no stress - even the pleasures of family of love-making - and social gatherings - are a source of stress.
If we had plenty of time to recover between episodes of stress there
would not be much of a problem - but - after years of such continuous
stress without adequate recovery time the bodily responses begin to
take longer and longer to get back to their baseline levels - the ability
to recover rapidly is lost.
When this happens the elevated state becomes the ‘normal’ state blood pressure becomes chronically high - more than normal acid is
poured into our stomachs - we may develop an ulcer.
Some people develop problems with chronic diseases - some develop
problems with the muscular system - resulting in tension headaches neck or chest pains - and so on.
So now we know about the presence and dangers of stress in our lives
- especially unrelieved stress with not enough time to recover between
stressful episodes in our daily lives.
Is there anything we can do about the danger?
There is!
All organisms - human beings included - need to do as much as
possible to reduce the effects of the stressors on the organism - and one
such method that can be practiced without much interference into the
routines of living is the practice of breathing properly.
Much more will be said about breathing later in the course - right now
it will be a good start to begin the process of stress reduction by means
of a new breathing pattern.
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This relaxed state is a good place to begin the process of sensing
energies that will be used in the healing of self or others.
To heal effectively the healer becomes aware of the energies that are
found in the vicinity of any living organism
To be able to detect the energy needs of self and others it is necessary
to know what the sensors feel when the healer is in quiescent or
steady-state condition - so that a comparison can be made between
this steady-state condition when healing is not being done and the
sensations that are caused by the healee’s energy field.
The hand chakras - more will be said about chakras later in the course
- are used by the healer to influence the healee in such as way as to
restore the balance of energies which will result in the return of health.
Here is an exercise that will establish the sensations of the hand
chakras when healing is not being done.

ASSESSING BASELINE HAND CHAKRA ENERGIES OF
SELF:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Return to the state of calm felt at the end of the exercise in
breathing for stress reduction.
Hold your hands in front of you - palms up - hold your elbows
just slightly away from your chest.
Make sure that your wrists are loose - move them once or twice
- they should be almost limp.
Do not let your hands touch in front of you.
In this peaceful state focus your attention on your hands especially the hollows of your palms - what do they feel like.
How your hands feel at this time - in this centered state - is the
base line for your touch - stay in this position until you form a
clear memory of what your hands feel like.
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You will use this memory of how your hands feel when you are not
placing them in the aura of another person - [as you do in healing] to compare with how your hands feel when they are within the aura of
the healee.

THE SYMPTOMS OF STRESS DISEASE:
By doing experiments on animals - rats - exposing them to heat and
cold beyond the normal range of comfort for them - selye was able to
show that the adrenal glands of rats so exposed would show the effects
of the discomfort by increasing the size of the adrenal glands and the
amount of their output of adrenalin.
And this has a consequence.
It was found that the fight or flight reaction - when the adrenalin is not
soon burned off by exercise - will lead to the scarring of the interior of
arterial walls - leading to ‘hardening of the arteries’ - which we also
call atherosclerosis - so heart disease usually occurs as a result of
stress which is not relieved by exercise.
But heart disease is only one of the ailments that humans - and animals
- acquire by too much stress on the mind and body without an adequate
release of the adrenalin into the energy of action - more will be said on
this later.
Hans selye wrote the book ‘the stress of life’ - which became famous
and eventually made ‘stress’ a household word around the world
It is not an exaggeration to say that the discovery of the stress
reaction opened the door to a whole new concept of medicine.
And yet - the basic ideas had been known and accepted in much of the
world’s literature and religion - and also people in the healing activities
- doctors and surgeons throughout the ages - had often indicated that
they understood the basic principles.
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After all - bed rest - to give the body an opportunity to recuperate - has
been well-known throughout history.
Who could have known that these experiments would in half a century
become the basis for a new approach - a new model - we now call such
a new model by the name ‘paradigm’ - for the understanding of disease
and its processes.
Suddenly it became clear that the immune system was affected by such
stressors, and the breakdown of the immune system led to the intrusion
of disease into the organism.
It became useful to think of the disease bacteria and viruses as always
there in the body - but impotent - as long as the defenses of the body that is to say - the immune system - is intact.
Since Hans Selye’s work we do not so much think of the bacteria and
viruses out there as causing disease symptoms - but rather - we think of
the disease as manifesting because the immune system has been
somehow weakened.
Learning to live with disease germs inside the body but without getting
the symptoms of the disease is one form of a process that we call
‘adaptation’.
It was also found that there is a limit to the amount of adaptation that
any organism can sustain - in other words - the living being is much
like a spring which can return to its original length only if the stress is
not too great or persisting for too long - after that - the spring will not
return - and the living organism will no longer adapt to intruders but
become symptomatic.
To become symptomatic is to begin to show the symptoms of a
disease.
For this reason the ability to adapt has been postulated as being in the
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form of an adaptive energy of which there is a finite amount given to
the living organism at the time of its conception.
When this energy runs out - the organism dies.
Now - here is an exercise that you can do to increase your sensitivity
to life energies:

EXERCISE - THE PALMAR STRETCH - SELF:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.

8.

Continue in the state of calm.
Hold your hands in front of you - palms up - hold your elbows
just slightly away from your chest.
Make sure that your wrists are loose - move them once or twice
- they should be almost limp.
Do not let your hands touch in front of you.
Now - extend and separate your fingers and stretch and
straighten you hands fully - bend the fingers down and away
from the palms as hard as you can - your palm muscles should
be fully stretched as far as they can stretch.
Do this palmar stretch for a slow count of 15.
Relax your hands and notice the sensations in your palms
especially - and also in your fingers - do they feel tingly - do
they feel warm - do they feel bubbly like the effervescence of a
soda (fizz) - or do they feel cold - is there a warm pulsation or a
cool pulsation.
Scan your whole hands for sensations - what do you feel in the
fingers - is there sensation on the backs of your hands.

Normally - when you reach for a pencil or a glass of water - or car keys
- or whatever else you intend to contact and sense - you do so with the
fingers - usually the tips of the fingers.
Begin to sense things now with the palms of your hands - become
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aware that you can do so - and focus on the sensations that arise in
your hands - especially the palms of your hands - when you contact
something.
Begin to feel the antennas reaching up out of the wells of your palms and sense the item you are reaching for with these antennae.
When you reach for a toothbrush - sense it first with your palms.
Remember that you do not stop at your skin - so - when you reach for
the handle of your coffee cup - or when you reach for a glass of water or a towel - or a knife - spoon - or fork - your energy field will interact
with the energy filed of the item you are reaching for.
See if you can sense these items first with the palms of the hands even before the palms touch the item.
You will find that the sensations are not like a blaring trumpet - they
are exceedingly subtle and gentle - and you may have to be in a most
quiet and centered state to detect these sensations.
Your whole body in this centered state will appear to be ‘listening’ in
a most peaceful and quiet - yet attentive - state.
You may want to ‘listen’ with your palms to groups of flowers - or
other plants - or ‘listen’ this way to a pet animal - cats are good for
this - as you pet them - or even a bird.
Where plants are concerned - an aloe vera plant will do wonderfully for
the work of developing this subtle sense of touch.

Let’s continue now with exercises to increase our sensitivity to the
energies of living organisms.
Your own body also has energies that can be sensed by you.
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Here is an exercise to demonstrate this to you.

FIRST EXERCISE TO DETECT ENERGIES BETWEEN
HANDS - SELF:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Hold your hands out straight - parallel to the floor - one palm
up - one palm down.
Quickly open and close hands about twenty times.
Reverse the palms.
Again open and close twenty times.
Now open palms slowly and slowly bring palms together from
about two feet apart to a few inches apart.
You should be able to feel a subtle ball of energy between your
palms - maybe even a sensation of turning - if you tune in
closely.

To begin with the process of becoming a healer the following exercise
will be of benefit to you - this is an exercise in healing others who are
not in your immediate vicinity.
For reasons that will be discussed much later in the course - reasons
that relate to physics and the quantum nature of the universe - the
healing of someone who is not in your immediate presence is just as
potent as that of actually laying the hands on the physical body of the
individual.

FOUNTAIN ABSENT-HEALING GUIDED MEDITATION:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Become very comfortable.
Imagine yourself in a park or garden near a steep cliff down
which a waterfall is cascading.
See the blue sky - flowers - trees - grass - birds - children
playing out of sight.
See a fountain near the cliff - a beautiful fountain in the form of
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5.

6.

7.

8.
9.
10.
11.

12.

13.
14.

15.
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a powerful androgynous being - neither male nor female.
The waterfall gushes down - enters the head of the being - then
reappears in its heart area and cascades along its arms and in
an arc into the pool at its feet.
Hear the wind in the trees and the grass - hear the birds - hear
the children at play in the distance - hear the splashing of the
fountain.
Feel the wind tousling your hair - feel it on your cheeks - on
any bare part of your body - feel it tug gently at your clothing open your mouth and feel the cool air on your tongue.
Smell the grass - the trees - the flowers - the water from the
fountain and in the pool.
Pull up a blade of grass at your feet - open your mouth and
chew on it - feel and taste it - smell it fragrance.
Pick a flower and taste it - move the petals between your lips feel the cool and satiny texture.
As you become calm and gaze at the fountain you slowly begin
to feel yourself becoming the fountain - it is like an irresistible
pull - you are not moving - you are simply becoming the
fountain - and beginning to gush forth healing energies in the
water that flows from your heart and hands.
You begin to imagine the water pouring forth and giving
healing to all about you - to the earth - to the grass - the trees the sky.
The water flows in an inexhaustible stream from the sky and
through you.
Imagine someone you know who needs healing standing before
you - direct the healing waters to the individual and see that
individual become strong and beautiful - the perfect picture of
health.
Do this with as many individuals as you like.
When you are all done - come back - at your own rate - in your
own time - to the here and now - feeling refreshed and very
alert.

We tend to think of breathing as just the mere inhalation and exhalation
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of air into and out of the body.
And yet - breathing is one of the greatest tools and resources
influencing the vitality of our body and positively or negatively
affecting our emotions.
By breathing in specific ways we can:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Set our busy mind to rest.
Change our mood.
Increase our prolongevity.
Reduce stress.
Wake up alert without three cups of coffee.
Concentrate better.
Improve our resistance to colds and respiratory infections.
Reduce our chance of heart disease.
Sleep a deeper - more thorough sleep.

Each of us breathes in specific ways that are unlike anyone else’s
breathing patterns - which are as unique and individualistic as our
fingerprints.
Each emotion has a unique breathing pattern all its own.
Breathing is one of the most complex - essential - and controllable
processes of the body.
Primarily it is a process for oxygenating the body and removing carbon
dioxide.
Both the heart and the blood - which oversee the maintenance of the
body’s internal environment - rely totally on the breath to supply them.
with oxygen and remove gaseous waste.
On the average we breathe about 15 times a minute.

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The breathing process functions both automatically and voluntarily unlike the flow of our blood or the beat of our heart - we are able to
change the rate and pattern of our breath whenever we wish.
Through controlling the way we breathe - we can better regulate the
needs of our body - because the breathing process is so intimately
connected with our every thought and action.
By mastering our breathing we can continually monitor and improve
our health - vitality - and emotions.
Initially you may find yourself becoming somewhat obsessive about
your breathing - this will soon pass.
Once you train yourself in proper breathing it will rapidly become
second nature.

WHAT IS ADAPTATION ENERGY?
This adaptation energy is a basic feature of life itself - the length of the
human lifespan appears to be primarily determined by the amount of
available adaptation energy.
This amount of adaptation energy appears to be an inheritance that is
given to the living organism at the time of its conception - some receive
more - some less.
A better understanding of this energy promises to show us how to
improve recovery from any kind of exhaustion and perhaps even to
prolong life.
But all we know about this energy at this time is that constant exposure
to any stressor will use it up - that much is certain - we can verify it by
experiment.

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We can demonstrate that anything to which adaptation is possible
eventually suffers exhaustion - which is the loss of the power to resist
stress placed upon it.
Exactly what it is that is lost we do not know - but it cannot be caloric
energy - that is - energy that we get from foods and oxygen - because
we can show that exhaustion occurs even when there is lots of food
and lots of oxygen.
The most important applications of the stress concept as regards purely
somatic medicine are derived from the discovery that the body can
meet aggressions of various kinds with the very same adaptive
defensive mechanism.
When we understand what this means we also understand that we can
combat disease by strengthening the body’s own defenses against
stress.
These defenses are mental attitudes.
We must examine and dissect our troubles so that we can clearly
distinguish the part played by the actual external stressor - and the part
played by our own mental processes.
This requires self-knowledge.
This self-knowledge will make it possible for us to see what part of the
stress comes to us from our own attempts to adapt by defense or
surrender.
We must learn how to:
1.
2.
3.

Tune down when we are wrought up.
Overcome insomnia.
Get out of certain grooves of stereotypical behavior.

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Stress plays a role in aging - in development of individuality - in the
need for self-expression - and in the formulation of man’s ultimate
aims.
Without stress nothing can be accomplished - so stress is necessary and it must be understood and managed so that the organism can live in
health and vitality to accomplish is teleological purposes.
There is a term - teleologic - which expresses the idea that an item or
organism has been designed to produce some result or function.
This term can be used to describe the energy of adaptation.
Teleologic = telos>end + logia>science - this refers to more than mere
causality - it suggests purposeful causation - intention to achieve an
end or an aim.
Science can and constantly must examine teleologic motives in the
objects of creation - without this we are left with unintelligible masses
of facts but no understanding.
Since most of the stress that we suffer - both the good and the bad
stress known in the literature as ‘Eustress’ and ‘distress’ - is the direct
result of our emotional states - we need to understand and master the
emotions.
Most emotions are generated and sustained by interpersonal relations.
So it becomes important to understand the psychological laws or rules
that govern interpersonal relations.
Both our ecstacies and our sorrows must be understood and managed.

We must learn to recognize and deal with the emotions that cause us
the greater part of all the stress that we will feel in our lifetimes - stress
22

that has more to do with how long and happily and healthily we live
than any other factors - including diet.

SECOND EXERCISE TO DETECT ENERGIES BETWEEN
THE HANDS-SELF:
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.

7.

Remain in a state of calm.
Place your hands so that your palms face each other.
Bring your palms together - do not let them touch - keep about
1/4 to 1/8 inch between them.
Separate your hands until they are about 4 inches apart - then
slowly bring them back together in the former position - slightly
apart.
Again separate your hands - this time to about 6 inches apart and again slowly bring them together.
Separate your hands again - this time to about 8 inches apart
Now bring them back together slowly - with slight bouncy
movements so that they move toward each other about 2 inches
at a time.
Check to see what you feel in your hands - be aware of any
sensations - until your hands are again 1/4 to 1/8 inches apart.

The human energy field is invisible - except under certain conditions
for some people - but - as you now know - there are ways of detecting
where a field exists.
We are all different - but the better we know what makes us tick - the
more likely we will be to make a success of life.
The ancient greek philosophers recognized with great clarity the
importance of self-knowledge - because this is the road to doing and
thinking exactly those things that will maintain our energies and healththey also realized that this was the most difficult of all knowledge to
attain.

23

It takes great courage even just to attempt this self-knowledge
honestly.
How awful to come to the conclusion that what people say about us is
true!
But it is worth the effort and the humiliation - and this is because most
of our tensions and frustrations come from our compulsive needs to act
the role of someone that we are not.
As Matthew Arnold put it:

‘Resolve to be thyself: and know that he who finds
himself - loses his misery.’

Few things earn you more goodwill and love than the gift of always
being yourself.
Unaffected simplicity is one of the most likable traits.
This was so well understood in the ancient past that it was even
emblazoned on the temple at corinth - in the famous words - ‘man -know thyself’.
Corinth was a place that many individuals went to for their medical and
healing education - as well as for personal healing.
The mere fact of knowing what hurts has an inherent curative value we have been able to demonstrate this truth in psychoanalysis.
Once we can understand how previous experiences from very early
childhood - often hidden from us in the subconscious part of ourselves
- can be made harmless and even advantageous to us - we can become
whole and healthy again.
24

The subconscious conflicts can continue to cause disease almost
indefinitely if not recognized and rendered harmless.
Just knowing the mechanism of our mental conflicts can render them
into a form where they cease to bother us.
This self-knowledge is an adaptive feature - it allows us to learn to live
with the injury by understanding and accepting it - so that we can
‘work around’ the injury.
As it happens - and this is certainly no accident - the pursuit of selfknowledge is what all the major religions throughout our history have
stated and confirmed as being the ‘spiritual path’.
For those who are inclined to the spiritual this will come as no surprise
since they will already have experienced and recognized the spiritual
growth that follows the hard lessons of self-knowledge.
Here is an exercise to check your own energy field - you may be
surprised to learn that whatever will work with others when you are
doing a healing on them will also work for you to do a healing on
yourself.

EXERCISE IN ASSESSING ENERGY FIELDS OF THE SELF:
1.
2.

3.

4.

Remain in a calm state - relaxed - scan your fields from an inch
to 3 inches from your physical body.
Begin at the top of your head - use both hands - or just your
right or left hand - to scan the energy fields on the front of your
body.
If you are using both hands try to discover whether there is a
difference between what you feel on the right side of your body
with your right hand and what you feel on the left side of your
body with your left hand.
Scan all the way down the front of your body - see whether you
can sense areas of your body where there are more intense
25

5.

energy fields.
Check for heat - cold - vibrations - rough areas in the field anything that you can sense with your finger-tips or your palms.

BEING KEYED UP:
What happens to us when we are tense?
At times of tension our adrenal glands produce an excess of adrenalin
and corticoids - and taking these drugs in a setting of illness can
produce exactly the same symptoms as being keyed up.
Those who are given large doses of cortisone to relieve allergic or
rheumatoid conditions often find it difficult to sleep - or else they may
even become euphoric - carried away by an unreasonable sense of
well-being and buoyancy - which interferes with sleep - and may make
them seem slightly drunk.
Mental excitement is often followed by deep depression
It is important to realize that stress stimulates our glands to make
hormones which can induce a kind of drunkenness.
So one should check one’s conduct as carefully during times of stress
as one would at a cocktail party.
The fact is that a person can become intoxicated with his own stress
hormones.
We are on our guard against external intoxicants - but hormones are a
part of our bodies - it takes more wisdom to recognize and overcome
the foe which fights from within.
All during the day we must look for signs that we are keyed up too
much - and we must learn to stop in time.

26

HOW TO TUNE DOWN:
It is not easy to tune down when you have exceeded your stress quota many more people are the helpless slaves of their own stressful
activities than of alcohol.
Simple rest is no cure-all.
Activity and rest must be judiciously balanced - and every person is
unique in his own characteristic requirements for rest and activity.
To lie motionless in bed all day is no relaxation for an active person.
No one part of the body must be disproportionately overworked for a
long time.
If there is proportionately too much stress in any one part of the body you need diversion - and if there is too much stress in the body as a
whole - you must rest.
Deviation or diversion is the act of turning something aside from its
course - it need not necessarily be a pleasant or relaxing diversion.
When the concentration of effort in any one part of our body or mind
is not very intense and chronic - milder types of deviation are often
quite effective - such as sports - dancing - music - reading - travel chewing gum - these always cause a decentralization of our efforts and this can restore a lopsided stress quotient to normal.

THE DEFINITION OF THE STRESS QUOTIENT:

Stress quotient

Local stress in any one part
= ____________________________
Total stress in the body
27

Here is another exercise in training your sensitivity to what your palms
send and receive

FIRST EXERCISE IN MODULATING HUMAN ENERGY TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING HUMAN ENERGY DIRECTING AND DETECTING:
In this exercise you will direct energy down your arm and into your
hand chakra - if you are the sender.
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

6.
7.
8.

9.

Pick a partner - decide who will be sender and who will be
receiver.
Remain calm - now extend your right hand to your partner as if
you were going to shake hands - do not let your palms touch.
Keep the wrists loose and let your shoulder depress so that
there is a minimum of tension in your arms - this is true for
both sender and receiver - your eyes may be closed for the best
results.
The receiver will give directions to the sender.
The receiver now instructs the sender to check to see whether
the sender can feel what the energy that makes up the space just
below the right shoulder feels like - and to tell the receiver
when the sender feels the energy.
The receiver instructs the sender to bring the energy down the
arm to the elbow - and to say when this has been done.
The receiver instructs the sender to bring the energy down from
the elbow to the wrist - and to say when this has been done.
The receiver now instructs the sender to feel the energy just
below the right shoulder - and as soon as the energy is felt - to
send the energy directly down the arm smoothly into the energy
center in the hollow of the sender’s palm.
Now the receiver instructs the sender to again feel the energy at
the right shoulder - then to send the energy into the right palm and then send the energy across the gap from the sender’s palm
to the receiver’s palm and directly into the energy center of the
28

10.

receiver’s palm.
The receiver now “listens” for the energy in the palm of his
hand.
[This energy will be very subtle - very low - somewhat like
bubbles in flowing water - or it may be a very light tingling
sensation.]

11.

When the receiver can detect the energy flow consistently sender and receiver should exchange places and do the
exercise again.

With practice it will become possible to control the energy flow quite
accurately - this is called modulating the energy flow.
When energy can not only be sent - but sent into the right places in the
right amounts - this is called modulation of the energy.
It comes from the word “modify” which indicates the ability to change
or control something in some way.

SECOND EXERCISE IN MODULATING HUMAN ENERGY TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING HUMAN ENERGY DIRECTING AND DETECTING:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Decide who will be sender - who will be receiver.
Remain calm.
Extend you right hands to each other as if about to shake hands
- do not let the palm touch.
The sender now decides which one of three colors - red - blue yellow - will be sent.
The sender now tells the receiver what color will be sent.
After spending a moment to recall his/her experiences with one
of the colors - the sender recreates within him/herself the
feelings or tone that is associated with that color.
29

7.

8.

When the sender can both visualize and feel the effect of the
color he/she then directs that feeling or inner sensation to the
area of his/her right shoulder.
Now the sender brings those associated energies down the arm
and into the palm of the receiver.
[The sender should have a well-defined feeling of “jumping the
gap” between the hand chakras - and should feel the impact
that the jump makes on the receiver’s hand chakra.]

9.
10.

11.
12.
13.

14.

15.

The receiver now also “feels” the impact and notes what she/he
feels for the color.
The same process is repeated several times with the three
colors in any order - until the receiver feels that she/he can
detect the differences between the energies of the colors sent.
When the receiver feels ready - the sender sends a color without
first identifying the color to the receiver.
The receiver now ‘guesses’ the color that was sent.
This process is repeated several times to get an average of
correct guesses. (one out of three is just chance so there should
be more than one correct guess out of three tries to be better
than chance.)
It does not matter whether the receiver guesses the color
correctly every time - only that this should happen more than
one time out of three tries.
Sender and receiver exchange - and the exercise is done again.

From physics we know that the surrounding electrical fields and
magnetic field of our ordinary everyday world have an effect upon
objects within their range.
It is something of this nature that allows the healer to affect the healee and the other way around.
There seems to be a field - and we can sense this field - that connects
the healer and the healee and transfers healing energy.

30

But the ability to project this energy from one human body to another is
dependent upon the amount of experience that the projector has in this
process - for this reason it is most important to project energies - and to
detect energies - wherever and whenever this can be done - whether
relatives or animals or plants are used to aid in this detection and
projection is immaterial.
Practice is essential!
Different materials have different effects on the energies of the life
fields of our being.
Here is an exercise to assess the properties of cotton in relation to the
life fields:

FIRST EXERCISE IN SENDING ENERGY THROUGH
COTTON BETWEEN HANDS:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

6.
7.
8.

Your left hand should be open in front of you with the palm
upwards.
Lay a piece of cotton on your left hand.
Hold your open right hand with the palm downward over the
piece of cotton in your left hand - but two or three inches above
the cotton.
Begin to focus on the field - your personal space - just beyond
the palm of your right hand and cotton.
Now that you are aware of and focused on the field - begin to
visualize that you are reaching down with the field of your right
hand - reaching down into the palm of the left hand.
Move the right hand slowly and steadily nearer and then farther
from the cotton - up and down - and also in a small circle.
Do this for a full minute.
During this minute make a mental note of any sensations that
arise in either hand - sensations such as heat - cold - tingling or
bubbling - pressure - pulsations - electric discharges - or any
other sensations that you experience.
31

9.
10.

11.

Now - give your piece of cotton to someone else - and take that
person’s piece of cotton.
Now repeat with this new cotton what you have just done with
your own - reach down with your right hand’s field again - all
the way into your own left hand through the cotton.
Focus on what you detect - become aware of any sensations
that arise - compare what you experience with your neighbor’s
cotton with what you experienced with your own.

You will find that the energies of your life fields go right through the
cotton - and you will feel the tingling - heat - cold - pulsations - electric
shock - whatever it is that you sense - moving through the cotton into
your left hand.
As you have also just seen - cotton acts as an absorber and holder of
life field energies.

TEMPLE GUIDED SELF-HEALING MEDITATION:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.

Become very comfortable.
Begin to imagine a temple of white marble - tall white columns broad steps leading up to a wide expanse of marble floor.
Walk up the steps of the temple and onto the marble floor under
the massive white marble roof of the temple.
Become aware of an altar of red crystal - ruby or garnet - or
bloodstone.
Pause for a short time - think of your life in this physical world
- is there an issue of physical survival that has been troubling
you - some issue of physical living that is causing problems perhaps some problem with the physical body - or a lack of
something needed to make life easier to bear.
Imagine this issue as healed for you - imagine your life with this
issue healed - imagine your life strongly with this issue healed.
Walk on and become aware of an altar of orange crystal coral.
32

8.

9.
10.
11.

12.

13.
14.

15.

16.
17.

18.

Pause for a short time - think of your life in this physical world
- is there an issue of personal relationships that has been
troubling you - some interpersonal interaction that is not going
as you would like it to - some conflict that is causing you pain or some issue of rejection - or of loneliness.
Imagine this issue as healed for you - imagine your life with this
issue healed - imagine your life strongly with this issue healed.
Walk on and become aware of an altar of yellow crystal amber - topaz.
Pause for a short time - think of your life in this physical world
- is there an issue of personal power that is troubling you - do
you find yourself unable to say ‘no’ when it would be better for
you if you did say ‘no’ - do you carry fears for the future - do
you wonder whether you can overcome the many difficulties
that keep coming your way.
Imagine these issues as healed for you - imagine your life with
these issues healed - imagine your life strongly with these
issues healed.
Walk on and become aware of an altar of green crystal emerald - tourmaline.
Pause for a short time - think of an issue of the heart that has
been troubling you - do you find yourself unable to love as you
would like to love - unconditionally and completely - do you feel
that you have not been and are not now loved in the way that
you would like to be loved.
Imagine these issues as healed for you - imagine your life with
these issues healed - imagine your life strongly with these
issues healed.
Walk on and become aware of an altar of blue crystal turquoise.
Pause for a short time - think of an issue of speaking out that
may have been troubling you - perhaps you feel that it would be
better if you could express your feelings more forcefully and
effectively in certain situations - not speaking out is painful and speaking out also creates pain because of fear of speaking
out and asking for what you need.
Imagine this issue healed for you - imagine your life with this
33

19.
20.

21.
22.
23.

24.

25.

issue healed - imagine your life strongly with this issue healed.
Walk on and become aware of an altar of indigo crystal - lapis
lazuli.
Pause for a short time - think of an issue of perception that may
have been troubling you - perhaps you feel that your life and
the lives of those around you might improve if you were able to
perceive the thoughts and emotions of others more clearly perhaps it might lead to less conflict and pain - perhaps the
keener perceptions of others of your feelings would improve
your life.
Imagine this issue healed for you - imagine your life with this
issue healed - imagine your life strongly with this issue healed.
Walk on and become aware of an altar of violet crystal amethyst.
Pause for a short time - think of an issue of your own
spirituality that may have been troubling you - is there an issue
of confusion as to your path in this life - is there a fear that you
may somehow “miss the mark” in your life - are there issues of
guilt or faith.
Imagine these issues healed for you - imagine your life with
these issues healed - imagine your life strongly with these
issues healed.
At your own rate - in your own time - leave the temple floor and
walk down the temple steps into the here and now.

This time we will begin the lesson with an exercise instead of with a
theoretical discussion.

SECOND EXERCISE IN SENDING ENERGY THROUGH A
PIECE OF COTTON BETWEEN THE HANDS:
1.
2.
3.

Remain in a relaxed state.
Hold your left hand in front of you with the palm open upwards.
Pick up a piece of 100% cotton - and place it in the open palm
34

4.

of your left hand - let it lie there loosely.
Strongly visualize one of the colors - red - blue - yellow.
[Remember some time when you were looking at such a color recall as vividly as possible your emotional response to this
color.]

5.
6.

Place the open right hand - palm downward - about 3 inches
above the cotton in your left hand.
Direct the flow of your energy in the color that you have chosen
downward from just below your right shoulder and through the
energy center (chakra) of your right hand and downward
through the cotton into the energy center (chakra) of your left
hand.
[To do this - focus your attention and visualize as clearly as
you can a ball of energy in the color you have chosen - and that
the energy is flowing from just below your right shoulder and
down your arm and hand and through the cotton into your left
hand.]
[Your energy will follow the line of focus of your attention.]

7.
8.
9.

Direct the flow of energy in this way for two to three minutes.
Exchange your piece of cotton with that of another participant choose a partner - doing this same exercise.
Tell your partner what color you were storing in the energy
field of the cotton.
[Your partner tells you what color she/he has stored for you.]

10.
11.
12.

Do an assessment of your partner’s cotton piece - how does it
feel.
Do this exercise a few times with the color identified for you by
your partner.
Now do the exercise again - but do not tell your partner what
color you were storing - have her/him guess - your partner also
35

will not tell you the color she/he was storing - you guess the
color.
[If you are using three different colors in the exercise - then it
is only necessary to guess correctly more often than once out of
three tries.]
The human energy field is invisible - except under certain conditions
for some people.
As you now know - there are ways of detecting where a field exists.
This field can even be shrouded so as to make it seem to disappear.

EXERCISE USING HAND ENERGIES THROUGH
A PLASTIC VEST:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Stand at some distance from the healee - the healee sitting or
standing.
Close your eyes.
Have the healee put a plastic vest over one side of the healee’s
upper chest area - the healee does not tell you on which side of
the chest the vest has been placed
Move to within about a foot of the healee.
Because of the plastic vest the energy field of the healee will not
feel as it did before in the area of the vest.
With eyes still closed do an assessment of the healee’s energy
field - as you did before - not touching the healee at any time
Determine from the change in the energy field on which side of
the healee the vest is placed.
State your perception - open your eyes to check your
perception.
Change with your partner - with the healee becoming the healer
- and do the procedure again.

36

BECOMING SENSITIVE TO THE LIVING ENERGY FIELD:
Take every opportunity that you can to become aware of and sensitive
to the energy fields of humans - animals - and plants.
In the therapeutic touch interaction very fine energies are being
accessed - they may not be accessible to your gross senses at first - so
this process of becoming ‘Attuned’ may take considerable time.
Whatever the time frame over which the sensitization takes place - one
thing remains the same and is the same for all healers - the process
requires going within.
Unless there is a going within - there will be no accessing of these
sensitivities.
Because of this fact we - as healers - must be willing to go within - as
deeply as it is possible for us to go at any given time.
This going within will begin to bring self-knowledge - and that can be
painful and require healing at some deep levels of the healer’s being.
When we go within we become aware that there are many levels to our
inward being - and these levels correspond to levels of consciousness.

SENSITIVITY TRAINING EXERCISE
CHARGING COTTON BATTING:
1.

2.

Let each person from the group take a piece of cotton batting in
her/his hand - in a separate place.
[Pick up the piece of 100% cotton - and place it in the open
palm of your left hand - let it lie there loosely.
Strongly visualize one of the emotions - love - hate - anger envy - jealously - fear - physical pain - anxiety - an emotion
that you have felt strongly in your life.
37

[Remember some time when you were feeling such an emotion
- recall as vividly as possible your response to this emotion.]
3.
4.

Place the open right hand - palm downward - about 3 inches
above the cotton in your left hand.
Direct the flow of your energy - in the emotion that you have
chosen - downward from just below your right shoulder and
through the energy center (chakra) of your right hand and
downward through the cotton into the energy center (chakra) of
your left hand.
[To do this - focus your attention and visualize as clearly as
you can that the energy is flowing from just below your right
shoulder and down your arm and hand and through the cotton
into your left hand.]
[Your energy will follow the line of focus of your attention.]

5.
6.
7.
8.
6.

7.

Direct the flow of energy in this way for about ten minutes.
Do not tell anyone what the emotion is that is being imagined.
Each cotton is then placed centrally - by turn - one piece at a
time - on a chair or other stand.
The other participants now sit around the cotton in a circle only the imprinter goes aside.
The participants in the circle quiet themselves and put out their
hands towards the cotton on the central chair - but not quite
touching.
Then - listening and feeling very carefully for the subtlest
energies - they attempt to identify the emotion that has been
placed on the cotton by the imprinter.

After about 5 minutes each sensor tells the group what has been felt which of the emotions the cotton was projecting - this impression is
checked with the imprinter.
After all have expressed their perceptions the imprinter tells the group
38

what emotion she/he was imagining.

TWO KINDS OF ADAPTATION ENERGY:
There is a superficial kind of adaptation energy - which is ready to use
at any moment - and there is a deeper kind - which acts as a frozen
reserve.
When superficial adaptation energy is exhausted during exertion - it
can be slowly restored from a deeper store during rest.
This gives a certain plasticity to our resistance.
It also stops us from wasting too much too lavishly on foolish or
wasteful moments - because acute fatigue will stop us before we can
get too far into the deeper store.
It is the restoration of the superficial adaptation energy from the deep
reserves that tricks us into believing that the loss has been made good.
Actually it has only been covered from the reserves - and the cost will
be the gradual depletion of the deeper reserves.
This is like spending cash out of a wallet and replacing it by
withdrawals from the bank - the loss has not been made good - the total
bank balance has been decreased.

JUST STAYING ALIVE IS NEVER ENOUGH:
Mankind certainly does not get the feeling of happiness - of having
completed a mission on earth - just by staying alive for a very long time
- on the contrary - a long life without the feeling of fulfillment is very
tedious.

39

And yet - when and if we analyze our lives - most of us get the feeling
of merely muddling through - of drifting aimlessly from one day to
another.
Just staying alive - no matter how comfortably and securely - is no
adequate outlet for our vital adaptation energy.
Though comfort and security make it easier for us to enjoy the great
things in life - they are not in themselves great and enjoyable aims.
It is a very fundamental human need to work for some reward - and we
tend to judge the degree of success by the amount of reward that we
can accumulate by these efforts.
How can we know whether we have accomplished enough to be secure
and happy?
The lessons of the laboratory regarding stress and its relief have been
vaguely understood and felt by almost all people in all ages - hence the
tendency of religions to incorporate and expound these truths.
The instinctive wisdom of our emotional lives has always dimly
perceived that we must put effort into worthwhile endeavors - these
being endeavors that produce the right kind of stress for a long and
healthy life.
It is gratifying to learn that much of what religions and philosophies
have taught as doctrines to guide our conduct is based on scientifically
understandable biological and psychological truths.
Is the need for self-expression the common denominator of mankind’s
ultimate aim? - do we always look for rewards because we need some
cumulative indicator of success which tells us to what extent we have
accomplished self-expression?
No matter how acute they may be - the pleasures of the flesh are
40

ephemeral - they cannot be accumulated in the form of any kind of
capital.
They cannot give us the sense of a life mission well accomplished - of
having earned some type of wealth which assures our security
throughout life.
So it seems that the laboratory can give us an idea of what our code of
ethics should be:
It can be stated in these words by Hans Selye:
‘Earn thy neighbor’s love - don’t just try to command it - and this is
compatible with mankind’s nature structure - and it is not unethical.’
Who could blame the individual who wants to assure her/his own
equilibrium and happiness by accumulating the treasure of other
people’s benevolence towards herself/himself.
Avoid remaining alone in the midst of the overcrowded society which
surrounds you.
Trust people - even though they often appear untrustworthy - if you do
not you will have no friends and no support from others.

If you have earned your neighbor’s love you will never be alone.

SENSITIVITY TRAINING EXERCISE
CIRCLE WITH ONE CENTRAL PROJECTOR:

1.
2.
3.

Have one person from the group sit in a chair in a central
position.
The other participants sit around the projector in a circle.
The projector in the center begins to imagine that she/he is
41

going through an emotional experience - the emotion may be
love - hate - anger - envy - jealously - fear - physical pain anxiety
[The technique is familiar by now - just as was done before with
the cotton - imagine strongly a time when this emotion was
overpowering - all the aspects of the emotion are remembered
and heightened and then projected.]
4.
5.

6.

The projector does not tell anyone what the emotion is that is
being imagined.
The participants in the circle quiet themselves and put out their
hands towards the person in the central chair - but not quite
touching.
Then - listening and feeling very carefully for the subtlest
energies - they attempt to identify the emotion that is being
imagined by the projector.

After about 5 minutes each sensor tells the group what has been felt which of the emotions the projector was projecting.
After all have expressed their perceptions the subject tells the group
what she/he was imagining.
It is possible and desirable to learn to sense the emotions of others without words being needed.

AGING:
Aging - particularly premature aging - is due to the constant and
eventually exhausting stresses of life.
Aging - at least true physiological aging - is not determined by the time
elapsed since birth - but by the total amount of wear and tear to which
the body has been exposed.

42

There is a great difference between chronological and physiological
age.
One individual may be much more senile in body and mind and much
closer to the grave at forty than another at sixty.
True age depends largely on the wear and tear - on the speed of selfconsumption.
Life is essentially a process which gradually spends the given amount
of adaptation energy that we inherited from our parents.
Vitality is like a special kind of bank account which you can use up by
withdrawals but cannot increase by deposits.
The only thing that you can control is the rate at which you take out the
energy.
If you stop withdrawing you will encounter death - so you cannot stop
taking the energy out.
You could draw out only enough for a vegetative existence - but this
would not be any fun - life would be drab.
The intelligent thing to do is to withdraw and expend generously - but
never wasting in worthless effort.
People believe that after they have exposed themselves to very stressful
activities a rest can restore them to where they were before.
This is a false idea.
Experiments on animals have shown that each exposure to stress leaves
an indelible scar - it uses up reserves of adaptability which cannot be
replaced.

43

It is true that immediately after some harassing experience rest can
restore us to almost the original level of fitness by eliminating the acute
fatigue.
The emphasis is on the words ‘Almost’ and ‘acute’.
Even a minute deficit of adaptation energy every day adds up - it adds
up to what we call ‘aging’.

STRESS WITHOUT DISTRESS:
From the point of view of its stress-producing or stressor activity - it is
immaterial whether the agent or situation we face is pleasant or
unpleasant - all that counts is the intensity of the demand for
readjustment or adaptation.
The mother who is suddenly told that her only son has died in battle
suffers a terrible mental shock - if years later it turns out that the news
was false and the son unexpectedly walks into her room alive and well
she then may experience extreme joy.
The specific results of the two events - sorrow and joy - are completely
different - in fact opposite to each other - yet their stressor effect - the
non-specific demand to readjust herself to an entirely new situation may be the same.

WHAT STRESS IS NOT:
1.
2.

Stress is not merely nervous tension - animals that have no
nervous system also suffer stress.
Stress is not always the nonspecific result of damage - since
stress can be either pleasant or unpleasant - any kind of normal
activity - a game of chess - or a passionate embrace - these can
also produce considerable stress.
44

[Damaging or unpleasant stress is ‘Dis-tress’]
3.
4.

Stress is not something to be avoided - in fact - it cannot be
avoided.
Complete freedom from stress is death.

A TECHNIQUE OFTEN USED FOR COMPLETE
MUSCLE CONTROL AND RELAXATION:
A technique that is used a great deal is the progressive alternation of
tensing a group of muscles and then relaxing them.
To learn the techniques of effective control of the muscles in such a
way as to differentiate between the muscle groups may take up to a
year to learn.
The purpose of this exercise is to help you to become aware of and
learn to control very small changes in muscle tension.
This exercise emphasizes the relaxation of voluntary skeletal muscles all the muscles over which you have conscious control - this seeks to
achieve increased control over skeletal muscles until a subject is able
to induce very low levels of tension in the major muscle groups - such
as in the arms and legs.
Dr. E. Jacobson who devised the technique argues that anxiety neurosis
and other related diseases are caused or aggravated by skeletal muscle
contraction - and muscular relaxation produces opposite psychological
effects.
Progressive relaxation is practiced lying down in a quiet room.
A passive attitude is essential because mental images induce slight
measurable muscle tension - especially in the eyes and face.
45

The subject is taught to recognize even the minute contraction of his or
her muscles so that he or she can avoid them and achieve the deepest
degrees of relaxation possible.

TENSE-RELAX EXERCISE:
1.
2.

Find a comfortable position.
Close your eyes gently.
[If you prefer you may keep your eyes open.]

3.
4.
5.
6.

Take a deep breath - hold for a count of four.
Exhale slowly - let all tension fade away.
Breathe normally.
Scan your body for signs of tension.
[Notice any tension - pressure - or pain.]
[It may take a minute or two at first - but with practice you will
become aware of tension in just a few seconds.]

7.
8.
9.
10.

Now relax those areas that have tension - one by one.
Now scan for areas that are already quite relaxed.
When the scans are completed begin by clenching your toes on
both feet - pull as tight as you can - then tighter still.
Hold clenched for about a count of 5 - while letting all other
muscles in your body remain in a relaxed state.
[Note - if you experience cramping - force your toes up
immediately as far as they will go - and do the exercise more
moderately.]

11.
12.

Notice where the tension is in your toes.
Relax your toes.
[Do this all at once - not by easing off - but by a sudden act of
46

the will.]
13.

Now be aware of how the muscles in your toes feel as they relax
to the limit.
[You are trying to become aware of exactly what it feels like to
relax the toes - what the letting-go feeling is like - so that you
can learn to do this quickly and on demand - without the
tensing.]
[You want to form an association in your mind and memory
between the letting-go feeling and complete relaxation.]
[After you have tensed the muscles and allowed them to relax
suddenly - the muscles continue to drift towards relaxation in
stages - you want to know what those stages feel like - so that
you can reproduce that feeling at will - and quickly.]

14.

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.

Now tense the muscles in the calves of your legs - do this by
forcing your toes up and then pulling your legs in towards your
thighs.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of the calves of your legs.
Now tense the muscles in your knees.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your knees.
Now tense the muscles in your thighs.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of the thighs.
Now tense the muscles in your buttocks.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of the buttocks.
Now tense the muscles in your lower abdomen.
47

27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.

Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of the lower abdomen.
Now tense your stomach muscles.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of your stomach muscles.
Now tense the muscles of your chest.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your chest.
Now tense the muscles of your shoulders.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your shoulders.
Now tense the muscles of your upper arms.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your upper arms.
Now tense the muscles of your forearms.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your forearms.
Now tense the muscles of your hands - make tight fists.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your hands.
Now pull your forearms up against your upper arms.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your arms.
Now tense the muscles of your throat.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your throat.
Now tense the muscles of your neck.
Hold for a count of 5.
48

55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.

63.
64.

Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your neck.
Now tense the muscles of your jaw.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your jaw.
Now tense the muscles of your eyelids by closing your eyes
tightly.
Hold for a count of 5.
Now - keeping your eyes closed - release suddenly - be aware of
the progressive relaxation of the muscles of your eyes.
With you eyes still closed - roll your eyes in a large circle for a
count of 5 - be careful - these muscles can be strained easily make the circles just large enough so that you can feel the
tension go round and round.
Now relax - follow the relaxation attentively.
Now tense the muscles of your forehead.
[Notice where the central focus of tension is - and the adjacent
muscles that are affected by the tensing of the forehead.]

65.
66.

Hold for a count of 5.
Now release suddenly - be aware of the progressive relaxation
of the muscles of your forehead.
[Pay close attention to how the muscles feel at the various
levels as they drift toward relaxation - after they have been
tight the muscles let go by stages - it is these stages that you
will learn to recognize and become familiar with.]
[Once you have learned to identify the various degrees of
muscle tension-relaxation - you can duplicate any level that you
may desire.]

67.
68.
69.

Now - take a deep breath.
Hold for a count of four.
Release the breath slowly.
49

[Note how your entire body feels - see if any tension that you
noticed before the exercise is still present.]
70.

Stretch fully - continue with your daily activities.
[The practice of this exercise will help you to learn to recognize
tension when it first begins to build - any slight change in
muscle tension can be noticed - and this awareness early on in
the tension loop will allow you to defuse the tension at the
start.]

HOARDING AND FEAR:
Collecting or hoarding is as characteristic of life as is egotism - in fact it is one of the manifestations of selfishness.
Even many animals instinctively hoard things that they may need in the
future to ensure their own security.
The same impulse drives entire human societies to amass a system of
roads - telephones - cities - and fortifications that strike them as useful
means of accumulating the ingredients of security and comfort.
By collecting certain things you acquire status and security in your
community.
This is the essence of capitalism - to hoard for future security - to
become free of the fear of being attacked and made vulnerable.
The basis of this drive is fear.
Egotism or selfishness is the most ancient characteristic feature of life we must all protect our own interests first of all.
We can hardly expect someone else to look after us more
50

conscientiously than after her/himself.

SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF HOARDING AND FEAR:
And yet - we are afraid of this attitude because it also harbors the seeds
of fight and revenge.
Curiously - many of us are also motivated by altruistic feelings.
And in spite of first appearances - these two apparently contradictory
impulses are not incompatible - the instinct for self-preservation need
not conflict with the wish to help others.
Altruism is a kind of collective selfishness that helps the community as
a whole in that it often engenders gratitude in those who have been the
recipients of altruism.
It can make us wish that someone may prosper because of what he has
done for us or others - and will likely do for us again - this elicits
goodwill.
This is a humane way of assuring our security in society - as opposed
to the inhumane ways of violence and coercion.
By creating gratitude and trust we induce others to share our natural
wish for our own well-being.
And this is the better way - and leads to better health - and if there is a
teleological reason for our existence then this health benefit should not
surprise us.
It would be a ridiculous and insane creation indeed if there were no
sane way to live and thrive within the universe.
Both short and long-term goals may be pursued either unconsciously to
51

satisfy basic drives or as consciously accepted guidelines to the
ultimate aim - the fulfillment of what we consider our purpose.
Hans selye’s suggestion is that the earning of love will direct the
hoarding instinct toward what is the more permanent and valuable
commodity that man can collect: a huge capital of goodwill which
protects the individual against personal attacks by his fellow men.

WHY ARE WE HERE?
Many of our problems with health and human interactions would seem
to be made easier to deal with if we had some idea of why we are here
- what our true purpose in life might be - our reason for living.
Humans have always found it difficult to live effectively and in good
health when they did not sense some purpose in their lives or believe in
some reason for their existence.
Below is a list of plausible purposes that some people - philosophers
and such - have thought we are here to accomplish.
Perhaps some of these reasons appeal to you and make your own life
worth living.

PLAUSIBLE PURPOSES FOR OUR EXISTENCE:
1.

Lean on the powerful: pleasing god - serving the king - who
symbolizes the fatherland or the motherland - serving one’s
country - or loyalty to a political system - whether fascism communism - republicanism - democracy.

2.

Promoting the good of the family - through self-sacrifice for the
spouse or the children - unswerving adherence to a code of
honor.
52

3.

Be powerful: power for its own sake - fame - the applause of the
masses - the acquisition of generally accepted status symbols security - often sought through the acquisition of power - this
usually comes from a great and morbid feeling of insecurity.

4.

Give joy: unselfish philanthropy - the gifts of artistic or scientific
creations - child care - kindness to animals - the wish to help
others without ulterior motives.

5.

Get joy: there are also the real hedonists who think of nothing
but their own pleasures - no matter by what means.?

How strongly do these ideas impress you as good reasons for you to be
alive
Can the attainment of any of these purposes above give you - yourself a really good feeling about being alive?

IMPORTANCE OF SELF-ANALYSIS
AND SELF-UNDERSTANDING:
The search for a satisfactory philosophy of life must begin with selfanalysis - we have to answer for ourselves as honestly as we can “what do we really want from life?
To give meaning and direction to life we need a lofty long-range
purpose: that is why our natural ultimate aim must have two salient
characteristics - it must be something that requires hard work
(otherwise it is no outlet to self-expression) and its fruits must be
sufficiently permanent to accumulate as life goes by. (otherwise it
would not be a long-range aim)
Philosophical - religious - and political ideals have long and effectively
53

served man in his search for a long-term objective to which he can
devote his whole life.

BREATHING EXERCISE FOR SELF-AWARENESS:
The awareness breathing will bring you into touch with your mental
processes and your body.
You will gain better insight into who you are - how you do things - and
what you want.
The awareness breath is designed to increase your inner sensitivity.

THE SELF-AWARENESS BREATH:
1.
2.
3.

4.

5.

6.
7.

8.
9.

In a quiet room - lie on your back on the floor.
Hold this position for a minute with your eyes closed .
Slowly begin to inhale - inflating the lower abdomen and
diaphragm first - then expanding the rib area - and finally
filling the upper chest.
As you inhale - slowly lift your arms so that they rise up and
form an arc over you - then keep moving them up and back until
they come to rest on the floor behind you.
While forming this arc - let your outstretched fingers guide your
arms - which should more or less be in line with your
outstretched legs.
Let the breath enter in a line straight up into your forehead.
Check your inhalation - making sure that the breath is silent - if
you are making a wheezing noise or a sniffing noise you are
breathing in too much too soon - refine your breath so that it
enters the nostrils as if were a long silken thread - not a gush of
wind - concentrate on the quality of the air you are inhaling.
As you inhale - visualize in your mind’s eye that this air is a
gentle white mist entering your body.
Now - with your arms fully extended over your head and your
54

lungs filled with air - hold your breath for as long as
comfortably possible.
[While you are holding your breath you will feel gently
rhythmic waves passing over your body - simultaneously your
body will feel as if is sinking deeper and deeper into the floor just let yourself go.]
[You will feel lighter and lighter as the exercise continues.]
10.

When you feel that it is time to begin the exhalation - keep your
eyes closed and slowly begin to raise your outstretched hands
off the floor - bringing them up over your head - keeping the
fingers pointed straight out the entire time - until the hands
come to rest at your sides as you finish the exhalation.
[Let your fingers guide the hands.]

11.

12.

Visualize the breath you are exhaling as a white mist - let it
slowly envelop you like a cloud of vapors from dry ice.
The cloud will begin at your toes and - as you continue to
exhale slowly - work its way up until it has surrounded your
entire body
At this point let yourself go and continue to breathe deeply slowly - and normally for another minute or two.
[Your body will feel incredibly relaxed and almost invisible.]
[even with your eyes closed you will feel calmly alert]
[The body may feel as if is slightly floating an inch or two
above the floor in this white mist.]
[Let yourself become more and more absorbed into the cloud.]

13.

Repeat the entire exercise three or four more times.

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[After the last exhalation just keep your eyes closed until you
are ready to open them.]
[During this time you may find yourself dreaming or sleeping with a profusion of images floating before your eyes.]
[Upon awakening - you may wonder where you are or where
you’ve been - the relaxation here is deeper than most forms of
meditation.]
Below is an important addition - we will not do the self-awareness
breath again at this time - but you may wish to do this breath again
whenever you have a question that you have not been able to come to
any conclusion about

EXTENSION OF THE SELF-AWARENESS BREATH:
Although the awareness breath is designed to increase your inner
sensitivity - it is useful also in other ways.
After you have become familiar with the procedures of the exercise and
can do the steps automatically you might wish to proceed to the
following extension of the exercise.
You can use the breath to gain insight into a difficulty or a question you
might be considering.
As you start the exercise - on the first breath - ask the question in the
simplest form possible.
The answer that will come to you may appear as an image or from a
voice you have never heard before.
With the second inhalation - ask the question once again and continue
for two more breaths.
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At the end of the last exhalation just let your arms rest by your sides as
usual.
Oftentimes the answer will come during the rest period.
The breathing cycle helps clear away much of the mental clutter and
confusion that often blocks us from making clear - definitive decisions
- and it allows us to become more in touch with our intuitive selves.

HANS SELYE AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM:
It was thirty years of the wilderness for Hans Selye - thirty years during
which he was ignored and shamed and calumniated - but he lived to
see his ideas triumph and usher in - literally usher in - a new age of
understanding and power in the human quest for wellness.
Now it began to be understood that the most powerful ally in the
arsenal of the individual was the individual’s own immune system - and
that the most that medicine can hope to do is arrange for the immune
system to do its work unhampered.
All the medical heroics when it comes to the most deadly diseases are
nothing more than window dressing - the real show is in the interaction
between the immune system and the aggressor - whether bacteria or
viruses or simply old age.
These immune deficiencies could be triggered by anger - by fear - by
envy - any kind of malice - any emotion that causes stress to the
individual will increase the likelihood of an immune deficiency
Overwork also is a possible culprit - anything that causes the body to
go into the stress response has the potential to lower the effectiveness
of the immune system.
And what Selye showed scientifically in the laboratory was what the
ancient religions of the world had understood and preached.
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It was the internal environment - the proneness to stress of the
individual heart and soul and body when the mind or body are pushed
beyond the range that they were designed to function - this is what
causes ‘dis-tress’ and ‘dis-ease’.
Aids - (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) - came along as the
final nail needed to crucify the old ideas that the body is a machine and
can be treated like a machine - and repaired like a machine.
The human body is not a machine - and it can not be fixed like a
machine - it has to heal.
This healing comes from within - and cannot be applied like spare parts
to an ailing automobile.
With the advent of aids is was finally clear that all the other ailments cancer - diabetes - arthritis - all the ailments of advancing age are the
result of the stress of life taking its toll on the immune system.
When this knowledge was finally added to what we already knew
about the role of the immune system in infections and infectious
diseases - smallpox - measles - pneumonia and all the rest it became
clear that the state of the body’s own defenses held the key to whether
any individual would suffer a specific ailment or not.
There was literally nothing left that could make us ‘unwell’ that was
not somehow connected with the immune system and how it copes
with stress.
And the immune system was delicately prone to be over-stressed.
Once the over-stress had happened - it was like a spring scale that has
been stretched out of shape by a weight too heavy for it - it then
becomes useless for its primary purpose of giving an accurate weight.
After too much stress on the body or mind of the individual the immune
58

system becomes ineffective in recognizing and combating ‘dis-ease’.
So the immune system must be kept in good working order.
To do this we must learn to recognize stressors.
We must learn how to combat the stress of the stressors.
And this brings us to the placebo effect.
We will begin our next lesson with a short discussion on the so-called
‘placebo effect’.

MEDITATION TO MEET THE LUMINOUS CHILD WITHIN AN EXERCISE IN SELF-HEALING:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

6.

7.

8.
9.

Again become comfortable.
Place one hand on your lower abdomen.
Use the metronome breathing exercise just learned to calm
your breathing - you will feel your lower abdomen respond by
becoming quiet.
Imagine yourself on the shore of a lake on which there is not a
ripple.
As the stillness within you becomes your entire being - become
aware of an area of the lake - that is brighter than the rest of
the surface.
Begin to notice a pattern in this brightness and that as you
continue to sink deeper into the quietness and stillness within this pattern begins to take on the form of a child.
This figure is an expression - a form of - your own inner
stillness - and it emanates a sense of innocence and acceptance
and wonderful serenity.
Make no attempt to put any specific characteristics on this
figure - simply allow it to be what it will be.
Now - begin to expand your own energy field - and feel the
presence that the figure projects.
59

10.
11.

12.
13.
14.
15.

16.
17.
18.
19.

Watch the breathing pattern of this figure - and match it with
your own breathing pattern.
Step into the quiet lake now - reach out your hand to the
luminous child and touch it with the energy center that appears
just above the center of you palm of your hand.
To what can you liken the touch of this luminous child - it is like
a butterfly’s wing - it is like the touch of a cobweb.
Completely within the space and time of your own mind - ask
this shining figure to help you to understand it.
Your deepest wish is to help others - you are committed to this
as a way of life - that is why your are here.
Communicate this in a loving thought - gently sending the
thought through the energy center in your hand and into the
luminous child - feel your heart area becoming warm and
expanding as you send the thought.
Ask for any suggestions that will increase your effectiveness as
a healer.
Wait until there is an answer for you.
Step back out of the lake - take a deep breath - return to the
here and now - fully relaxed and feeling wonderful.
Open your eyes in the here and now.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT:
It has come as a great surprise to the health professionals that the effect
of belief on the maintenance of health has been exquisitely designed
into human nature.
What we ‘believe’ can literally make us ‘ill’ - or ‘cure’ us if we are
already ill.
When Jesus noticed the power going out or him at the time the woman
with an issue of blood touched him in the belief that he could heal her instead of being angry at her presumption he recognized her fear and
complimented her faith.

60

As recorded in St. Mark chapter 5 - v 34 - he said:
‘Daughter they faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole
of they plague’.
Being a great healer he could immediately appreciate her own
complicity in her own healing: ‘daughter - thy faith hath healed thee!’
Not only had she grasped the fact of the possibility of healing - she had
understood that even the garment of a man such as he was could give
her what she desired - healing of the body - in this case a cure.
Most of us have little idea of how great our individual potential or
‘performance ceiling’ is - both physically and mentally.
If you truly believe in your personal philosophy or religious faith - if
you are committed - mind and soul - to your world view - you may well
be capable of achieving remarkable feats of mind and body that many
only speculate about.
Of all the patients who see their doctors - it has been estimated that 75
percent have conditions that will eventually get better by themselves if they get better at all.
For such illnesses there are no specific treatments.
The remaining 25 percent represent specific illnesses that can be
diagnosed by modern medicine and they can often be treated with great
success.
The power and the potential of the placebo effect assume a role of
primary importance in many of the 75 percent of health problems that
do not respond to specific treatments.
Even in the 25 percent of illnesses mentioned above - the placebo
effect may enhance the medical treatments.
61

Of course - the importance of belief in effecting a cure would come as
no surprise to those practicing medicine.
In our own contemporary culture a significant number of illnesses can
be treated more successfully if the patient believes in a particular cure.
This can happen even if the substance or technique the doctor uses has
little or no inherent medical value.

WHY WORDS MAY NOT BE ENOUGH:
Words - language - have the ability to act as shrouds or hedges against
the expression of emotions - often people talk a great deal to avoid
being sensed by others.
When an individual has a low self-image - or is afraid of being
recognized for the lonely or sad individual that she/he is - this
individual may use the screen of words to hide behind.
This screen can work - because it may detract the attention of the
observer from what is going on within the individual.
Of course - other individuals attempt to hide behind a wall of silence.
To an astute observer of the human energy field neither of these
attempted ‘stonewalls’ are an impenetrable barrier
The emotional state is directly connected to the health of an individual
- so it is necessary to be able to detect the emotions of others in order
to be able to heal effectively.

EXERCISE TO DETECT A SPECIFIC EMOTION FROM
SENDER TO RECEIVER - ONE SENDER - ONE RECEIVER:

62

1.
2.

Pick a partner.
Confer with your partner and decide who will be the ‘sender’
and who will be the ‘receiver’.

3.

Let the ‘sender’ pick an emotion.
[Anger - fear - envy - hate - compassion - love - strong physical
pain.]

4.
6.
7.

The ‘sender’ will sit down in a chair - the ‘receiver’ stands
behind the sender.
Both sender and receiver will now quietly center.
When the sender feels centered she/he begins to feel the
emotion that has been chosen.
[What was it like to be in the grip of the emotion - visualize the
situation as strongly as possible - live the experience and the
emotion again.]
[If after a few minutes the ‘sender’ feels unable to recreate the
emotion strongly enough - then let the ‘sender’ pick another
emotion.]

8.
9.

10.

The sender will nod when she/he feels that the emotion is being
strongly felt
The receiver will then attempt to receive the emotion from the
sender - place the hands just above the shoulders of the sender
- with just 2 inches or so between the hands and the shoulders.
The receiver should be as aware as possible of any images that
come to her/his mind.
[These may be in the form of visual images - such as pictures or
colors.]
[They may be in the form of sounds - words - music - noises.]
[They may be in the form of tastes - smells - and so on.]
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[Let the images form in the mind - make no attempt to form a
structure of them - or find a meaning for them at this time.]
[Do this for two or three minutes.]
13.
14.

Then have the ‘receiver’ state her/his opinion on what emotion
was being sent - the ‘sender’ will corroborate or deny.
Exchange places and repeat - the new sender picking an
emotion.

The power of the mind to effect change in our lives is very great.
This is the power of imagination - which is always used both in
acquiring and releasing the tensions that cause our ‘dis-eases’.

BREATHING EXERCISE FOR
INCREASING SENSITIVITY TO OTHERS:
The information breath will increase your perceptions of other people.
By practicing this breath you will learn to make more intuitive
observations and become aware of other people’s thinking.
This exercise is very good for ‘getting outside of yourself’ whenever
you feel locked in by your own thoughts.
By experiencing the thoughts of another person you may give yourself
some valuable perspective.

SENSITIVITY BREATH:
1.
2.

Sitting down - close your eyes and slowly inhale the total breath
for ten counts.
Hold the breath for twenty counts - visualize the head of a
64

3.
4.
5.
6.
7..
8..
9.
10.
11.

person you would like to contact - this may be a neighbor - a
celebrity - or a friend.
Spend some time quieting your mind - slip that person’s head
over yours as if it were a mask.
For the rest of this exercise forget your own thoughts and
concentrate only on your breathing.
Now imagine you are the other person - see what she/he is
thinking.
Just observe her/him as if you were watching a movie - you may
ask questions of the borrowed head and watch for the response
After twenty counts - exhale for ten counts.
Until you have gotten all the information you wish - continue to
breathe in the following pattern:
Inhale for ten counts - hold for twenty counts - and exhale for
ten counts.
When you are finished - exhale - then return the person’s head
and begin your own thinking process.
You may now open your eyes.

DISCUSSION ON THE HUMAN ENERGY FIELD:
Human beings appear to our touch to be solid - and to our eyes they
appear to be opaque - we cannot see through them under ordinary
circumstances.
For a long time this seemed to be a reasonable and scientific view.
Since the advent of x-rays and ultra-sound we have all become aware
that our skin sensors and our eyes deceive us whenever we come in
contact with another human being.
Our bodies are simply aggregates of energy that have congealed out of
the invisible and intangible into what we find visible and tangible.
How an energy affects our system is determined by what the energy is
like in frequency of vibration and what our system is capable of
65

detecting.
We are quite well acquainted with the way our sense of sight - our eyes
- and our sense of touch - our skin - may fool us if we do not know
their limits well enough - and so a knowledge of how our sight and
sense detectors fail us at times is clearly valuable.
When we hold our hands in cold water for a while and then place them
in slightly warm water we may find that our hand sensors now tell us
that the warm water feels hot to us - and such misinformation is
common when coming from any of our sensors.

When we leave a dark cave and come out into the sunlight we may
perceive the light to be unbearably bright for a little while.
But we all know that after a while the sensors will again become more
reliable - and we can allow for this - so that in this case the selfknowledge of what our sensors have experienced in the recent past
may lead us to accept the temporary aberrations with equanimity - and
to compensate for them.
But what about our sensors for sound - our ears - and for taste - our
taste buds - and our sensors for smell - our noses - do they also fool us
at times?
I think we can all say that they may do so.
What about our emotional sensors - might they fool us in the same
way? - might we find that if we have just been through a harrowing
experience this will skew our perceptions in such a way that what we
perceive of the emotions of others - or our own emotions - might also
fool us.
Our perceptions are clearly not to be trusted unless we learn how to
account and adjust for our own emotional states.
66

This is the self-knowledge that we must have.
Besides this - almost the entire universe of things to see - things to hear
- things to feel - things to taste - and things to smell is outside of the
range of our receptors.
We are in a universe in which we have to try to get along with only a
minimum of sensing abilities.
We can sense only a very narrow range of what is to be seen - or felt or tasted.

Our eyes see a tiny spectrum of the light that is available all about us our ears hear only a narrow band of air vibrations - the rest are too
slow to affect the ears as sound or too fast.
Insects can see light that is beyond our range - dogs can hear - so can
bats - sounds that are beyond our own range of audio perception.
The fields of life that are the true structure of our bodies would be seen
as light if our eyes could perceive the rates of vibration at which our
life fields vibrate.
The life fields either are electromagnetic fields - or they are fields that
can affect electromagnetic fields - and we are usually unable to
perceive them.
The life fields permeate and surround our bodies - sometimes reaching
out beyond the solid part of our bodies to greater - sometimes to
shorter - distances.
Rooted into the life fields - and extending out beyond the life fields are energy transformers known as wheels or ‘chakras’ - the sanskrit
term for wheels.

67

The chakras have a characteristic rotation - and they usually have
characteristic colors - and they appear to be visible to some eyes under
some conditions.
The word ‘appear’ is appropriate here - it seems that those individuals
who are able to ‘see’ the chakras do not do so by the physical eyes but by means of the brow chakra which is often referred to as the ‘third
eye’.
Two of these chakras are found in the palms of the hands and two more
in the soles of the feet.
These are secondary chakras - the primary ones are found in a string
roughly following the spine from the tailbone to the top of the head.
It is through the chakra system that we detect one another - also the
emotions that others emanate - and we in turn emanate our own
emotions through our own chakras - although we are usually unaware
that we are doing so.
But then - we are also usually unaware of our intricate digestive
processes and all the immune system functioning.
A very large part of what our bodies are doing is beyond the range of
present human knowledge - and none of us could consciously control
all of what has to go on in our bodies for us to stay alive and
functioning.
It is by means of these usually unnoticed chakras that we can effect the
transfer of energy from healer to healee which can bring about a rebalancing of the energies - or healing - of the healee.
Here is an exercise that will make you more aware of this human
energy field.

68

ASSESSING THE HUMAN ENERGY FIELD:
Once you are in a peaceful state you are ready to begin to address the
healing process.
You will be doing several things at once as you do the healing.
Look for differences between what your left hand feels and what your
right hand feels.

SCANNING EXERCISE TO ASSESS HEALEE’S
ENERGY FIELD:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

6.

7.

Return to a peaceful state.
Seat the healee of have her/him lie down.
Stand at the healee’s front or back - it does not matter which
you begin with - since you will be assessing both the front and
the back - in the example given below the healer is working at
the back of the healee - regardless of whether the healee is
sitting up or lying on her/his stomach.
Look at the healee’s spinal column to find the dividing line
between the two symmetrical halves of the back.
Place your hands near the top of the head - keep the palms of
your hands about two to three inches from the healee’s head the palms should be facing the healee.
Assume a listening attitude - paying complete attention to any
sensations in your hands and any other sensations or feelings
that may come up - sweep slowly and steadily - do not stay in
any area too long at this time.
Pay special attention to the balance between your own hand
chakras as you sweep your hands along in unison - notice any
differences between what your hands feel - compare what you
feel in one hand with what you feel in the other at all times - if
you feel something in your right hand that you do not feel in
your left - make a mental note of what you feel - store it for
later.
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8.
9.

10.

11.

12.
13.

14.

It will take about half a minute to scan the back - the same for
the front.
From the starting point at the top of the head - keeping your
hands near the spinal column - begin a steady motion with your
hands though the energy field of the healee - continuing this
motion down the neck - then the shoulder area - then the upper
back and the lower back - until your hands are near the
healee’s tailbone.
Now bring your hands in a gently sweeping motion back to the
lower neck area near the spinal column - then sweep your
hands in unison outward from the spinal column along the top
of the shoulders until your hands are in the area where the
arms begin.
Sweep your hands back to the spinal column - move down the
back a few inches so that your hands are just below the area
where you made your last sweep out to the arms - then do
another sweep until your hands are again at the area of the
healee’s arms.
Continue these sweeps all the way down the healee’s back until
you are sweeping across in the region of the tailbone.
If the healee is lying down continue to sweep in this way all the
way down to the healee’s feet - if the healee is sitting it may be
more practical to move around to the front of the chair to
continue this assessment.
If your hands seem to be attracted to a particular area - or if
you feel there is a concern anywhere - do not stop until the
entire energy field of the healee has been scanned by your hand
chakras.
[You need to get a sense of the healee as a totality - as an entire
unique being.]

15.

Now go to the front of the healee - scan the healee’s energy
field at the front just as you did at the back.

FIRST SELF-EVALUATION THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
70

SCALE EXERCISE:

The following items reflect experiences that therapeutic touch
practitioners have had while performing therapeutic touch on healees.
Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:
0
1
2
3
4

not at all.
once in a while.
frequently.
almost always.
all the time.

Rating:

Your experience of therapeutic touch:

____

1.

My heart beats are slower.

____

2.

My breathing becomes slower and deeper.

____

3.

My hands feel sensations of heat or cold.

____

4.

My hands tingle.

____

5.

My hands feel pressure sensations.

____

6.

My hands feel electric shock sensations.

____

7.

My hands experience energy pulsations.

____

8.

My hands feel drawn to specific areas.

____

9.

My hands project heat towards the healee.

____

10.

Uncomfortable postures bother me less.

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WHAT DID YOU FIND IN THE
HEALEE’S ENERGY FIELD?
If you find any differences between what your left hand chakra feels as
compared to your right hand chakra - take this as a cue to the healee’s
energy field - and the conditions found in the various areas of the
energy field.
These cues give information about the state of health of the healee.
The health cues of the energy field do not refer only to the health of the
physical body - but to the state of mind of the healee - the emotional
health.
At present these cues may not carry much meaning for you - but with
practice and experience you will find that there are specific sensations
connected with specific conditions - and even these vary from person
to person.
Note: [As you learn to listen very closely to what is coming in to your
chakras - you will find that not only your hand chakras are
involved in this scanning - you will begin to pick up messages or
cues in very subtle ways.]
Note. [You will notice that the cues do not affect the surface tissues of
your hands - the effects are felt in the deeper layers of your hand
tissues.]
[As an example - if you feel cold - or heat - over a specific area
of the healee’s body - this heat and cold do not resemble the heat
and cold that you may feel if you put your hands around a hot
vegetable - or around an ice cube.]
[The heat and cold go much deeper into your hands - and you
are not even touching the healee - just detecting the energy
72

field.]
Note: [There have been measurements of healer’s hands - using
sensitive thermocouples that can measure to thousandths of a
degree - but none of these measurements have ever recorded the
increase or decrease in temperature that the healers and the
healees experience.]
[It is clear that the energies that appear as heat and cold in the
healing process are of a different kind than ordinary heat and
cold as measured by instruments that we have developed up to
the present time.]
[This does not mean that we will never be able to do so - we
may eventually be able to detect the energies that make up the
life fields directly - who knows?]

FIRST EXERCISE IN UNRUFFLING
THE ENERGY FIELD:
This exercise will form an introduction to every healing that you do:
1.

2.

3.

4.
5.

Begin by assessing the healee’s energy field - move your hands
in a smooth motion from the top of the head and down the
shoulders and back - about two inches from the surface of the
healee’s body.
If there is a sense that the energy field of the healee is not
smooth but rather has little unevenesses or changes in ‘texture’
as your hands move through the field then continue with the
next step.
Start above the top of the head level and sweep your hands
toward the edges of the field that you can detect and then
downward and outward as though smoothing out a comforter.
In some cases - most cases - you will find that three or four of
these sweeps are necessary to move the ‘ruffles’ out of the area.
Reassess the area after a few sweeps of unruffling - continue
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until you feel smoothness restored and energy rebalanced in the
field.

UNRUFFLING THE ENERGY FIELD
OF THE HEALEE FOR SPECIFIC BENEFITS:
Keep the feeling of the ‘unruffled’ state in mind as you continue the
rest of the healing process.
Unruffling the energy field is very effective in helping the energy flow and this will create a cooling effect and help to reduce elevated
temperatures if they are present.
This is a useful technique to use for upper respiratory infections and
clearing congested energies.
Unruffling is done in a general head-to-foot direction - but there are
exceptions.
If there is swelling in the feet or the hands resulting from pooling of the
blood in these areas - then the unruffling motion in a direction upward
towards the head is found more effective.
Start at the hand or foot and unruffle the energy field upward - toward
the head of the healee - and stop the upward motions of the healer’s
hands in the area of the upper abdomen.

GENERAL BENEFITS OF UNRUFFLING
THE ENERGY FIELD:
The action of unruffling the energy field has the following benefits:
1.
2.
3.

Facilitates energy flow.
Breaks up energy patterns such as congestion.
Re-establishes rhythm in the healee’s energy field.
74

4.
5.

Has a cooling effect in the case of elevated temperatures.
Knits together the energy field.

It is the intentionality of the healer that is important rather than the
position of the healer’s hands - it is what the healer intends to do that is
important - not exactly how she/he does it.
At the university of washington medical school - dr. thomas holmes
and dr. richard rahe - two psychiatrists - have come up with a scale of
stress in life as shown below:

HOW TO USE AND INTERPRET ‘THE STRESS OF
ADJUSTING TO CHANGE SCALE’ GIVEN ABOVE:
The widely used scale that is shown above rates the relative amount of
stress caused by forty-three of the most common events in human lives.
Much research has shown that as an individual’s score on this scale
increases - the likelihood that the person will shortly become ill is
increased.
As the scores go higher the likelihood also increases the probability
that the ailment will be more serious.
Of 2500 naval men and women - officers and enlisted personnel - it
was found that those with scores in the top 30 percent developed 90
percent more illnesses in the first month of a cruise than those that
were in the bottom 30 percent.
These same people also continued to develop more illnesses during the
following months.
When eighty-four doctors were rated on the same scale according to
the previous eighteen months of their lives - it was found that those
75

with a total score over 300 became ill at the rate of 49 percent of the
sample - while those with a total score of 200 to 299 got ill at the rate
of 25 percent.
Of those who had a total score of 150 to 199 - only 9 percent became
ill.
Although these are startling numbers - it must also be remembered that
there is a great deal of individual variation in the response to stress many cope much better than the above figures would indicate - and of
course - some do even worse.

The scale is certainly a valid guide to the general idea that stress results
in illness - especially stress that is not handled well.
If we had long periods of time in which to recover from stressful events
before being stressed again - the statistics would no doubt look very
different.
And the items measured in the stress scale above are not the only
stressors in society - often it is the small and steady but constantly
annoying events that do the most damage.
And what causes stress differs from person to person - it is true that
times of happiness can cause us a great deal of stress also.
Such things as preparing for a wedding - planning a graduation celebrating a victory or an event - playing a game of cards with money
or prestige riding on the outcome - all these can activate the nervous
system and overload it.

BREATHING FOR A MEDITATIVE STATE
THE MIND BREATH:

76

The mind breath puts the body and mind into a focused - quiet - and
meditative state.
In this way our way of thinking can be reoriented away from the
exterior to our own interior processes.
1.

2.
3.
4.

Close your eyes and focus them toward the bridge of your nose
- slowly inhale the total breath for ten counts - breathe in a
refined fashion - the breath should silently enter and leave the
nose.
Hold for twenty counts - during this retention let the body and
mind become quiet and still.
Slowly exhale for ten counts.
Repeat this breath ten times - afterward you may wish to keep
your eyes closed for several minutes and use this time to
examining your own thoughts or to keep the mind pleasantly
empty.

THE BONES AS STOREHOUSES
OF THE LIFE ENERGIES:
When there is pain that is caused by damage to the skeleton - the bones
- there is a an idea that comes from the eastern - the hindu teachings that can be helpful.
This ancient teaching says that the bones act as the storage places for
‘prana’ - the life energies.
These life energies can be activated to help in reducing congested areas
around the pain sites.
This activation can be done in the following way - and it will move the
congested energies along through the long bones near the feet and the
hands.
EXERCISE IN FACILITATING ENERGY FLOW
77

IN THE LOWER EXTREMITIES:
Select a partner - decide which of you will be the healer and which the
healee.
The following instructions are for the healer:
1.
2.

Maintain a calm and centered attitude.
Place one hand over or near the joint above the location of the
pain - place the other hand over or near the joint below the site
of the pain.
[As an example - if the pain is in the area between the hip-joint
and the knee joint - then place your right hand - if it is the one
with which you send your energy - on the hip joint and your left
hand on the knee joint.]

3.

Now direct the energy along from the upper - the hip joint along the bone and into the pain site - and on into your left
hand.
[The bones act as a sort of a conductor - more or less like the
wires in an electric circuit.]
[Remember to use your dominant hand chakra to send the
energy along the bone from the position nearest the head of the
healee - we call this the upper joint - into the less dominant
hand chakra - you will have to learn during these exercises
which hand is your dominant or sending hand.]

4.

Check the hand chakra at the lower joint - the receiving chakra
- to see whether the intentional energy flow is moving into it.
[‘Listen’ - become sensitive - to any increased energy flow into
this chakra.]
Tthis whole process could be likened to playing catch with just
78

your two hands - from the dominant - the sending chakra to the
receiving hand chakra.]
5.

When your receiving chakra senses a change or difference in
energy flow - and you can feel an increased energy flow - or a
more vibrant energy flow - then you move on to the next step.

6.

Now place your sending or dominant hand from the upper joint
to the lower joint - at the same time move your receiving hand
to the next lower joint and continue the process of sending
energy from the new location at the new upper joint.
[In the example above - move your sending hand to the knee
joint and your receiving hand to the ankle joint.]

7.

As you did before - wait for the flow of energy to be reestablished - until you can feel the energy flowing from the
upper or sending hand chakra at the knee into the receiving or
lower hand chakra at the ankle.

8.

You can repeat the above for any location in the thigh area or
the shin area or the feet.
[Simply start the process one joint above the location of the
pain.]

9.

If the pain is not gone after the procedure has been done once repeat the procedure - then a gentle ‘smoothing’ of the energies
from the upper joint to the lower extremities - toes in this case may help.

10.

If the healee still does not experience relief from the pain then
start the energy flow from an area of the trunk of the body near
the spinal column and again work your way down to the
extremity.
[Do not extend the effort beyond a time of twenty to twenty-five
79

minutes.]
11.

If after twenty-five minutes there is still no relief - then refer the
healee to some other therapy.

12.

Now switch places with your partner - the former healer
becomes the new healee.

The power of the mind to effect change in our lives is very great.
This is the power of imagination - which is always used both in
acquiring and releasing the tensions that cause our ‘dis-eases’.
Here is a little exercise to confirm the power of your imagination:

EXERCISE IN MUSCLE TESTING TO DEMONSTRATE
THE POWER OF THE MIND:
1.
2.
3.

4.

5.
6.

Stretch out your right arm straight to the side of the body and
parallel to the floor.
Keep your mind focused - think of your arm as a piece of warm
- wet - spaghetti.
Have someone put her/his right hand over your right wrist and
push downwards - resist this force with all your might with your
spaghetti arm.
Now - again stretch out your arm in the same way - imagine
that your arm is a fire hose through which water is flowing with
incredible force.
Have the same person attempt to force your arm down.
Exchange places with your partner.

MORE ON THE PLACEBO EFFECT:
For years western doctors have been aware of this phenomenon of the
curative power of personal belief.
80

The word ‘placebo’ comes from a latin root that means literally ‘I shall
please’.
In modern medicine it refers to a medicine or procedure that has no
active curative ingredient - but rather is given solely for the purpose of
calming or pleasing the patient.
Most researchers have tried to eliminate this effect from their studies considering it a nuisance and more likely to confuse than to enlighten
the researcher.
These researchers have tried to get to the ‘true’ effect of a drug or
procedure as separated from its ‘placebo’ effect.
Many researchers now believe there may be no such separation
possible - it is likely that the placebo effect will need to be included in
the effectiveness of any procedure or medication.
The ‘placebo effect’ can present us with some of the most dramatic
examples of the power of the mind over the body - and tends to
confirm the metaphysical and now modern physics insistence that the
body/mind is really ‘all of one piece’.
The dalai lama has stated that healing - the effectiveness of buddhist
medicine - consists of three interrelated facets:
1.
2.
3.

The belief of the patient.
The belief of the doctor.
The karma - the spiritual force generated by the mutual
interaction between the doctor and the patient.

THE POWER OF CONFIDENCE AND CARING:
We now know that any treatment is more likely to be successful if the
patient has a great deal of faith in his physician’s ability - or even faith
81

that a higher spiritual power is at work in his body.
We know that many people are helped merely because they visit their
doctor - believe in him - and get assurances from him.
A doctor who gains his patient’s confidence and trust is much more
likely to treat an illness successfully than one who does not.
The trust and belief interactions between the doctor and patient can
actually alter the physiology of the patient - and effect the ‘cure’ or
relieve the bodily symptoms.
Even the presence of a friend or companion who is not a doctor can
make a big difference in a person’s recovery from ailments - and of
course we know that oftentimes a certain person’s presence may
exacerbate an illness.

IMPORTANCE OF INTERVIEWS BEFORE SURGERY:
Research has been done that shows clearly that if a surgeon does only
a short interview with the patient before an operation - giving only the
bare details of what will be done and what can be expected during and
after recovery - the patient will require much more hospital time and
painkilling medication than if the same surgeon spends a leisurely time
with the patient before surgery - explaining in detail and in depth what
will be happening - and engaging with the patient in a warm and
friendly manner - especially if the manner is upbeat and reassuring.
Hospital stays were on the average 3 days less and medication required
was reduced to half - and all this with just six extra minutes of the
surgeon’s time.
Hospital costs could be drastically reduced if surgeons and other
doctors could be given more time per patient - and this means paying
the doctor more per minute - not less.
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These studies were done at Massachusetts General Hospital.
A sympathetic person with perceived power and authority can
dramatically increase the power of mind over matter.
Anyone who reads of the healings that jesus did in the new testament
accounts can see that he did in fact represent just such a figure of
authority and power - because he believed in himself and in the people
who came to him - and in the god within.

NEGATIVE PLACEBO EFFECTS:
Belief can also go the other way- in the last twenty years there have
been at least twenty-eight cases of epidemics of diseases that arose not
from any physical cause but from the spread of anxiety supported by a
strong belief that a real epidemic - or ‘poison’ - was involved.
Negative placebo effects have caused nausea - vomiting - diarrhea headache - dizziness - breathing difficulty - itching - rashes - coughs fainting - and burning of the eyes and throat.
We can say with confidence that 75 percent of our ailments can benefit
from personal belief.

BEYOND THE RELAXATION RESPONSE:
Medical and scientific research is demonstrating ever more clearly that
the things we can touch - taste - and measure may frequently have to
take a back seat to what we perceive or believe to be real - it is how
we interpret reality or how our body ‘sees’ the concrete world around
us that is important.
As the philosopher epictetus said - ‘man is disturbed not by things - but
by his opinion of things’.
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After learning how to elicit the relaxation response - benson thought
that the benefits listed above were all there was to be obtained from it.
These effects are as stated above - but then it became clear that another
aspect could be useful.
As Benson stated later:

‘Now I’ve come to understand that the effects of this simple technique
- combined with a person’s deepest personal beliefs - can create other
internal environments that can help the individual reach enhanced
states of health and well-being’.
This combination of the relaxation response technique with the
individual’s belief system is what benson calls the ‘faith factor’.
This is not an entirely original concept.
It should be stated that the faith referred to here is not a specific
religious philosophy.
When jesus encouraged his disciples to use the ‘faith like a mustard
seed to move yonder mountain’ he was not talking about a specific set
of rules or dogmas.
He was saying that what counts is to have simply the faith that the
universe is constructed in such a way that if we believe that something
can be done or can happen - then this will be our experience.

THOSE WHO DEVELOP AND USE
THE FAITH FACTOR EFFECTIVELY CAN:
1.
2.

Relieve headaches.
Reduce angina pectoris pains and perhaps even eliminate the
84

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

12.

need for bypass surgery - an estimated 80% of angina pain can
be relieved by positive belief.
Reduce blood pressure and help control hypertension problems.
Enhance creativity - especially when experiencing some sort of
‘mental block’.
Overcome insomnia.
Prevent hyperventilation attacks.
Help alleviate backaches.
Enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapies.
Control panic attacks.
Lower cholesterol levels.
Alleviate the symptoms of anxiety that include nausea - vomiting
- diarrhea - constipation - short temper - and inability to get
along with others.
Reduce overall stress and achieve greater inner peace and
emotional balance.

But the faith factor should be used in conjunction with modern
medicine - it should be an addition to the cures that the medical
profession can now sometimes perform and not a substitute for
accepted medical care.

HOW TO WORK WITH YOUR DOCTOR
TOWARD OPTIMAL HEALTH FOR YOURSELF:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

If you feel ill - don’t hesitate to go to a doctor.
Find a supportive doctor whom you trust.
Go to a doctor who emphasizes the positive.
Don’t expect a prescription from your visit with a doctor.
If drugs or surgery are prescribed - find out why.
Use the relaxation response regularly.

TRUTH IN HEALING AND OTHER TECHNIQUES REMAINING OPEN TO ALTERNATIVES:
85

Many other techniques such as shiatsu and acupressure and
biofeedback and imagery - as well the formal treatments given by
medical doctors and nurses will interface well with therapeutic touch and these should not be ignored.
They are legitimate methods of treatment that should be given the faith
and encouragement that they also need to work.

Recognize the limits of what your approach can do for an individual supplement with other modalities - remain open to all avenues

THE VOICE OF TRUTH:
This will be the most important aspect of your healing work - the
openness to truth.
Truth has brought you this far in your search for its benefits - it will
lead you on if you will be open to the whispers in which it speaks.
Truth speaks in a gentle voice - but it is the most insistent voice that
there is and the most consistent - that is how the universe was
designed.
So - pause often in your work to assess - from time to time reassess the
healee’s energy field - remain open to what it has to tell you.
By doing this you will be able to evaluate the work that you are doing
and the benefits that can be derived from it.
When you no longer can pick up any new cues - then consider that the
time has come for you to stop the work on the healee.

86

WATCH THE HEALEE FOR OVERLOAD:
Under no conditions should you continue after you begin to spot the
signs of overload.
Signs of overload:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Restlessness.
Irritability.
Increasing anxiety.
Pain or hostility.

Also - it is very useful to have the healee rest for ten to fifteen minutes
after the session - this will stabilize the energies.
If the healee falls asleep after the treatment - consider it a job well
done.
Never work for more than half an hour at a session.

ENERGY FLOW IN THE UPPER BODY AREAS:
Assume that the pain is found either in the upper arms or in the lower
arms or hands.

FACILITATING ENERGY FLOW OF
CONGESTED SHOULDER AREAS:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Center.
Place the dominant hand at the shoulder joint - the upper joint and the other at the next joint - the elbow joint.
From the energy center at the shoulder direct the energies to
the elbow.
When you sense the energy leaving your sending hand and
entering your receiving hand wait until the flow is smooth and
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5.

strong.
Now move each hand down one joint and continue as before.
[Place your sending hand at the elbow and the receiving hand
at the wrist.]

SOME CAUTIONS TO KEEP IN MIND
AS YOU GO INTO THE HEALING:
When you are attempting to bring new balance into the healee’s energy
field it is essential that you maintain a rhythm in your movements whether they are slow and deliberate or with more energy but still
deliberate.
It is important to keep the intent clearly in mind.
It is not the amount of energy that you expend - and it is not the
intensity of your effort that will count.
It is your ability to bring the healee to the point where the healee’s own
energies begin to flow in synchronism with all her/his other energies.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH AND THE TREATMENT
OF BURNS:
Burns are especially sensitive to energy overload - so therapeutic touch
must be done very gently at the site of a burn.
Work for short periods - two to three minutes at a time - and keep your
hands moving so that your chakras do not focus too intensely at the
burn site.
It is good practice to visualize a royal blue color when sending healing
into a burn area.
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Below is a little self-test that will demonstrate this for you.

HEALING EFFECT ON EARS SELF-TEST:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Center.
Bring your hands up to the level of your ears - about five inches
from your ears.
Set up an energy field between them.
When you feel the build-up of energy - move both your hands to
the left at the same instant - so that you right hand is now one
inch from you right ear and your left hand is nine inches from
your left ear.
[The exact distances are not important - they are just for the
sake of the illustration.]

5.

6.
7.

Still maintaining the field - move both hands to the right at the
same time - so that your left hand is one inch from your left ear
and your right hand is now nine inches from your right ear.
Continue this back and forth rocking motion for about thirty
seconds - at moderate speed.
Pay attention to what is happening to your ear drums.

You will likely find that your eardrums begin to respond to the moving
field - being pulled first one way and then the other.
What might this feel like to a baby with an ear infection?
Try this on yourself sometime when you have a head cold.
It seems that all body fluids are very sensitive - especially the
electrolytes - to moving energy fields.

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM ENERGY VAMPIRES:

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Also - another caution - do not let yourself become too open in human
energy interactions - you may find that your energy is being taken
without your consent - some people are known as ‘energy vampires’ knowingly or unknowingly they can sap the energy of the healer.
Especially people who talk a great deal - they use the spoken voice as
a conduit for the energy that they take in from whoever will allow this
to be done.
Whenever people ask for your attention they are in the process of
draining your energy - whether this happens on the phone or in face-t0face interactions.
Ideally - when you practice therapeutic touch consistently you will feel
more vital and vigorous and integrated.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GROUNDING:
This bonus of increased energies when healing should not be used
carelessly - ground the energies and let them work for you in helpful
and strengthening ways.
The best way to do this is to maintain centeredness as your entire lifestyle.
If you would like to do grounding for the energies - you can actually sit
on the ground - or work in your garden barefoot - or you can walk in
the sand by a lake or sea.
If you have no a lake or a sea nearby - then imagine them strongly remember - your body cannot tell the difference between what is really
out there and what you imagine strongly - they are one and the same.
If all else fails - go outside and lean against a tree - or embrace it with
both your arms - trees are well-grounded - that is why it feels so good
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to be near a tree.

THE HEALING SEQUENCE:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

There is less concern about the symptoms or the illness - in other
words - the anxiety cycle is broken.
The symptoms become less severe.
The symptoms are present less of the time and short periods of
complete relief are noted.
The periods of relief become longer.
The symptoms are completely gone or remain in a fashion that
no longer interferes with everyday activities - many patients
have difficulty remembering their original symptoms.

TIME AND HEALING:
The time duration for a person to experience these full benefits is quite
variable.
For some it can be as short as one to two weeks - for others - up to a
year is required.
Most people can expect improvements to occur in approximately four
to six weeks.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CENTERS
OF CONSCIOUSNESS - THE CHAKRAS:
The success of therapeutic touch is related to such factors of the mind
as memory - good judgment - evaluation - and decision-making.
It is also influenced by factors that are not of the mental processes such as the unconscious and the intuition of the healer.
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The eastern religions have for millennia spoken of the centers of
consciousness that we find in our bodies - or at least interpenetrating
our bodies - and these they call ‘wheels’ in the sanskrit language - the
word sounds like ‘chakras’ to us.
When the centers of consciousness are approached in therapeutic touch
there are specific effects that can be expected for each of these ‘wheels
of consciousness’.
The reason that the hindus call these centers ‘wheels’ is because they
look like colored spinning wheels arranged along the central axis of the
human body.
This is not the time for a complete course in the functions of the
chakras - it needs to be stated outright that many excellent healers
know nothing at all about chakras - but a short introduction at this point
may be useful.

THE SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA AND
GLAND CONNECTIONS:
When a healee is low on energy this can often be alleviated by
balancing and energizing the solar plexus chakra.
The north american natives see this chakra as related to the adrenal
glands just over the kidneys - also the pancreas - the liver - and the
stomach and intestinal tract.
This chakra is seen as the seat of the personal power of the individual and this is why - when an individual is threatened in some way that
might remove this personal power - there will be a response of the
individual’s body that is clearly felt in the stomach area.
The stomach may knot up - the adrenals begin to produce adrenalin for
the fight or flight that may come as the result of the threat.
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The liver may cause problems by increasing the sugar in the bloodstream.
The sugar levels of the threatened individual may go out of control
because the pancreas is also involved - and stops producing the insulin
to metabolize the sugar.
And the intestines may swing over into a condition such as divirticulitis
or unstable bowels - or irritable bowel syndrome - diarrhea or
constipation may result from the threat that induces fear into the
individual.
This is why a fearful individual - especially a child - may be helped to a
more balanced and less fearful condition by the application of
therapeutic touch to the solar plexus area of the body.

THE HEART CHAKRA AND THE HEART AND HANDS:
In the same way - the heart chakra - since it is connected with deep
caring - (the emotions of love and compassion - anything coming from
the heart - the entire blood system) - is a center for powerful healing.
Heart arrhythmias and hypertension - high blood pressure - can be
alleviated by therapeutic touch to the heart chakra - and emotions of
deep feeling in a positive sense can be engendered in the healee.
The heart chakra is especially connected to the arms and hand chakras
- and for this reason the hand chakras figure so prominently in
therapeutic touch healing.

THE THROAT CHAKRA AND
COMPASSIONATE SELF-EXPRESSION:
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the throat chakra - which is
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connected with self-expression - especially in the areas of
compassionate self-expression - as well as in areas of speaking out on
issues that have deep meaning for the individual concerned - will be
stimulated in those individuals who practice therapeutic touch - either
as receivers or givers.

HEALING AND THE BROW AND CROWN CHAKRAS:
Individuals engaged in healing - and who make healing a life-style begin to gain access to the higher chakras - the brow and crown
chakras - which are associated with the higher and finer spiritual
aspects of the individual’s life.
The consistent practice and acceptance of the principles of altruism practiced intentionally and fired by compassion and selfless love clearly indicate a willingness and intention to control the impulses of
pure fantasy in self-observation and impatience in interaction with
others.
All impetuous activity begins to take a back seat - rational and
intuitively sound approaches are taken at all life’s turns - thoughtful
reflection and focused concentration anchored in reality become the
norm of thought and behavior.

THE MIND IS LIMITLESS:
There are no limitations in the realm of the mind.
A sense of timelessness accompanies the practice of meditation and
pervades all of life when the individual learns to stay in a centered state
habitually - and this soon shows itself in the life-style of the healer.
There is always hope - a hope grounded in the reality of the life that is
anchored in the knowledge that all things are possible without any
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limitation.

MORE ON THE DISTINCTION
BETWEEN CURING AND HEALING:
The word ‘cure’ comes from the latin and means ‘to care for’ - this is
why the ‘curate’ of a christian church was so-named - the curate was
concerned with caring for the soul.
In the latter years the term ‘cure’ has come to be connected with a
particular method of medical treatment.
This can be taken to mean that ‘to be cured for five years’ could be
interpreted as meaning that under a particular system of treatment a
patient may be expected to live for five years.
The word ‘heal’ comes from the middle english word ‘helen’ - which
means ‘to make whole’ or alternatively ‘to care about’ - rather than ‘to
care for’ - the whole individual.
The term ‘heal’ has to do with how one thinks about oneself and others
- this is a way of looking at the world - a worldview.

HEALING AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH:
This means that healing has to do with the entire spectrum of the
quality of life - and it refers to transformation of the individual and the
ability to go beyond life’s conditions - whatever they may be.
Helping the individual in her/his personal growth and spiritual growth
is the true purpose of the healer.
We know that the mood of a person affects the neuropeptides
throughout the body - since these neuropeptides affect the functioning
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of the endorphins and enkephalins - and these alleviate pain and
promote a sense of well-being.
When an individual with a disability is helped to a greater sense of
vitality and more vigor in daily life and an uplifted psychological
outlook on life - this is an example of healing.
There may not be a cure - that is - the individual may still suffer from
the disability - but now it is reframed into something that is manageable
rather than devastating.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH AND SPINAL CORD INJURIES:
It is interesting to note that an experiment was done with a number of
men whose spinal cords had been accidentally severed earlier in their
lives.
They were without feeling in the areas of their bodies - legs in this case
- below the spinal cord injury - since the nerves had been severed.
These men all reported that they could ‘feel’ the therapeutic touch done
on their legs - even though this was supposed to be impossible for them
- and when they were blindfolded and therapeutic touch was done on
their legs they were able to report where the hands were being held
above the legs without touching the skin.

BREATHING FOR HEALING:
The purpose of the healing breath is to bring your awareness to all
parts of the body.
Whenever you feel vaguely out of sorts - lie down and practice the
healing breath.

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You may find that this may often prevent illness in your own body - by
doing this check-up before there is a full-fledged crisis.

HEALING BREATH:
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

Lie down - close your eyes and breathe the mind breath ten
times - this will put your body in a quietly alert state.
Now - begin breathing the total breath very slowly - let the
breath set its own rhythm.
Keeping your eyes closed - mentally begin to look over your
body - starting with the feet - move up the legs - the torso - the
arms - until you reach the head area - as you mentally scan the
body - imagine a stream of white light starting at the feet and
making its way through the entire body - further imagine this
stream of light bringing good health and vitality to every part of
your body.
If you happen to be sick - concentrate the light on the particular
area where you are unwell.
When you have finished this process - continue to lie with your
eyes closed until you feel it is time to arise - continue the total
breath throughout the exercise.

SELF-HEALING:
Your first duty as a healer is to become healed in your own being.
This self-healing is an on-going process that will require your attention
as long as you are alive and healing.
Healing involves the conscious engagement of the healer’s own
energies - and the channeling of cosmic energies - but these are really
the same thing - given the ultimate interconnectedness of all creation.
Dolores krieger ph. D. Rn. Puts it this way:

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‘To heal another person - in one sense the healer interposes his or her
own energy field between the healee and the illness’.
From another point of view - however - the healer sensitively draws
upon the universal energies that are the backdrop of all living events
and within which both the healer and the healee are figures sharing a
unitary nature.
Energy fields are non-material - nevertheless - you do have physical
access to them.
This is readily understandable if you recognize that human emotions
are a form of human energy.

THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ALL PHENOMENA:
This interconnectedness is not something that the so-called hard
sciences have been able to endorse during the first centuries of the
materialistic view of the cosmos.
During the twentieth century - Einstein - as the leading spirit of a new
age of physicists - ushered in the view that the experiment and the
experimenter are really of the same fabric - that what the observer sees
depends on the observer himself.
The way the universe appears to a man depends upon the man who is
observing the universe.
There is really no opposition to this view among the leading physicist
anymore - although in the lower echelons and in the less hard sciences
- there are still pockets of resistance to this idea.
It does indeed play havoc with the usual interpretations of the universe
and its creator and the western religions that presume and purport to
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speak under the direction and under the instruction of the creator.
What the ancients knew - about how all things affect each other
because they are connected in a deep and direct way - is again
becoming the new age knowledge.
The healing by means of touch and compassionate thought is proving
to be as effective as it was always thought to be - during the ninety
percent of the time since man first kept records that we can read.
No doubt the records - once we learn to read them - and believe what
we read - will go back much - much farther.
Humans have been on this earth a very long time.
They have been healing each other by touch for as long as they have
been here.

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HEALER:
1.

The healer should have a strong motivation to help or heal - a
strongly compassionate nature - a strong desire to heal.

2.

The healer should be able to muster a strong intentionality to
heal and help - this means that the healer will carry a specific
goal in her/his mind - and this means that the healer has an
understanding of how this healing may be accomplished.

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF A HEALEE:
1.

The healee must have a willingness to change.

2.

When the change begins to happen the healee must accept the
change.
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FIRST EXERCISE TO SEND ENERGY THROUGH A
HEALEE AND DETECT IT BY ANOTHER HEALER
– BACK HEALER BLOCKING:
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Pick a partner to work with you as a healer - and also someone
to be the healee.
Have the healee take off her/his shoes.
Have the healee sit crosswise on a chair so that the healee’s
back is easily accessible.
Decide whether you or your partner will stand behind the
healee - the other partner will stand in front of the healee in
such a position that the healee’s feet can be easily reached.
Take a moment for you and your partner to center and the
healee to center.
[By centering - you and your partner become more keenly
aware of the energy flows - and the healee will maintain
balance while at the same time being aware of the energy flows
also.]

6.

The healer who stands behind the healee now places one hand
over each kidney.
[The kidneys are on either side of the spinal column and just
above the hips but inside the lower ribcage.]
[For comfort the healer in front may wish to kneel or sit.]

7.

8.

The healer at the feet of the healee places her/his hands in such
a way that the energy centers (chakras) of the healee in the
bottom of the feet just under the arches - are accessible to the
hand energy centers (chakras) of the healer.
The healer at the back then begins to send energy through the
healee from the kidneys and down into the healee’s feet - and
out through the foot chakras of the healee.
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[To do this - visualize as strongly as you can - by firmly
focusing your attention - that the energy is flowing from the
hands into the kidneys and down the legs and into the feet into
the foot chakras - and from there out into the other healer’s
hand chakras.]
[You may want to increase the energy flow by matching your
breathing to the energy flow that you are visualizing - the
energy flowing in rhythm with your outbreath - or whatever
works for you.]
[Be careful to remain in a centered state - the flow will be
effortless - and the mind and body of the healer will remain
relaxed.]
9.

The healer at the feet focuses attention on the energy fields near
the foot chakras - and the flow of the energy from the healee’s
foot chakras.
[The flow is influenced by the healer at the back - and this can
be checked by having the healer at the back interrupt the flow
of energy by focusing on this for a few minutes - the healer at
the feet will be able to detect when this is being done.]

10.

11.

After this has been done - and the flow and cessation can be
verified by both healers - change positions with the healing
partner - and redo the exercise.
The person at the feet becomes the new healee - the healee
becomes the healer at the head - and the healer at the head
becomes the new healer at the feet.
The exercise can be done again - until all the participants have
verified for themselves how the energy flows can be detected by
the chakra systems in the hands - perhaps also the feet.

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CHANGE IS SCARY - THERE MAY BE SOME
SECONDARY GAINS FROM REMAINING UNHEALED:
The above statement may seem strange - surely all people who come
for ‘healing’ want to be ‘healed’.
The truth is that illness has many secondary gains for people - and a
person may present her/himself for healing - when all she/he really
wants is relief from symptoms - especially pain.
If the healing is rejected at a subconscious level - then healing will not
take place - and the symptoms will eventually return in the same place
or somewhere else.

THE PURPOSE OF PAIN - WARNING OF DANGERS:
But the symptoms and the pains have a purpose - they are there to let
us know that we are not on the right path.
We may be living a life that goes against what we know we should be
doing - we may be doing this for the sake of appearances - or to please
others about us whose opinions matter to us.
We may be confining our spirits into ruts that others - (our parents or
our schools or our churches - or our political systems - or our
companions along the way - all the grand-parents - parents - siblings children - grandchildren - or spouses) - have provided for us - or are
providing now.
And we will as a result eventually suffer pain in our mind.
We may be eating against the best interests of our body/mind - and the
resulting ‘dis-ease’ may be there to get us back on track.
We may be indulging in habits that go against the best interests of our
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bodies - such as chemical ingestion.
We may not be getting the proper rest for our bodies - as well as for
our minds.
And we will as a result eventually suffer pain in our minds - as well as
in our bodies.
It is often easier to go a wrong road that is well-traveled than the road
that is uniquely ours.
Our minds and our bodies will weaken under the strain of going the
wrong way - and we will suffer pain as a result.

SOME SPECIFIC PHYSICAL PAINS RESULTING
FROM SPECIFIC PSYCHOLOGICAL HISTORIES:

People may have ‘back problems’ for more than one reason - there
may be a history of accident - or there may be a history of relationship
problems - or there may be a history of neglect and lack of affection.
If the person is unwilling to heal the relationship that is causing
physical pain - then the pain cannot be healed except by superimposing some powerful pain-killer.
Sometimes ‘it just don’t hurt that much’ - when the alternative is to let
go of anger - or some other pet emotion.
If the sufferer feels that there has not been enough love in her/his life there may be a life-long attempt to get the attention that was not given
to the child by becoming an ‘invalid’ over whom others may ‘tut-tut’
before they move on to other more interesting things.

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MAGNETIC OR PSYCHIC HEALING:
When the healer uses her/his own energy in the healing process this is
often referred to a psychic or magnetic healing.
The practice of therapeutic touch is a mental process and should
involve the intent to use the energies of the cosmos - or ‘god’ whatever the definition of the creative forces you may hold.
When the healer’s own energies are knowingly being used - there
should be a limit set on how many people will be given a healing within
any given time period.
This period will depend upon the healer’s energy levels - usually two
to a maximum of three healings in a day is considered as a limit.
When using the ‘cosmic’ energies the healer is knowingly channeling
the energy from a source apparently beyond her/his own physical and
psychical strength - and the healer should feel energized from the
process and not depleted.

MORE ON PROTECTING YOURSELF WHEN HEALING:
The healer may begin to pick up the actual pains from the healee these may be worrisome and severe enough to cause serious
discomfort.
These pains may be useful in locating the source of the discomforts of
the healee - but after they have fulfilled that function they should be
allowed to disappear.
As mentioned before some individuals act as energy ‘vacuum cleaners’
- and this may deplete the healer’s energies - not as a result of the
healing but as a result of ‘vampirism’.

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This ‘vampirism’ may be - and usually is - quite unconscious on the
part of the vampire.
The protection against both forms of discomfort on the part of the
healer is a mental device.
The healer imagines strongly that he/she is protected by a white light which may be thought of as streaming down in a cone from above - or
as a cloud or cocoon - or as a sphere of brilliant white light.
The protection works as a result of ‘knowing’ that the healer is
protected - a faith in the protective ability of the light.
This same device may be used when someone is sapping energy during
a telephone conversation - the listener to a ‘strong talker’ on the other
end of the line can protect her/himself in this way - hearing what is
being said but shielded from an energy drain by the white light which
can be thought of as supplying the ‘sucker’ of energy with the energy
needed but without abusing the listener.
Another device that works for pain picked up by the healer during the
healing process is to become conscious of the pain and to shake the
pain out of the affected limbs if this is possible - or to say simply: ‘if
this pain is not my own - take it away’.
The unconscious processes in the healer can then do what is necessary
to alleviate the pain.

HEALING - TWO HEALERS FOR ONE HEALEE:
SECOND SELF-EVALUATION THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
SCALE EXERCISE:
Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:

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0
1
2
3
4

Not at all.
Once in a while.
Frequently.
Almost always.
All the time.

____

1.

I seem to stand or kneel straighter.

____

2.

I move more subtly - softly - flowingly.

____

3.

I become more sensitive to my posture.

____

4.

My movements feel slow - smooth - alert.

____

5.

I feel energy moving through me.

____

6.

I feel energy moving out of my hands.

____

7.

Energy flows more freely in my body.

____

8.

I sense stillness in body - mind - emotions.

____

9.

I sense balance in body - mind - emotions.

____

10.

My body feels in harmony.

ENERGY FLOW FOLLOWS ATTENTION OF THE MIND:
It is by now clear that energy flow follows the attention of the mind by the exercises we have done we can see that this is so.
With self-discipline and practice in focusing your mind you can direct
energy by the intention of your will over long distances.
In this process there is also a complex focusing of your chakras - or
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energy centers - on the object of your attention.

A SHORT DISCUSSION ON CENTERING:
Centering is often referred to as the ‘effortless effort’ - and this seems
to be a contradiction in terms.
How can such a thing as ‘effortless effort’ exist - it is a paradox.
Therapeutic touch is basically a healing meditation.
The most important part of the healing process is the centering of the
healer and the continuation in this centered state during the entire
healing session.
There are four parts or phases to the healing act - these are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Centering - finding inner stability.
Assessing the energy flow of the healee using the hand chakras.
Providing motion to energy fields that are perceived as being
non-flowing - static - sluggish - congested.
Direction under conscious mental control of excess energy from
the healer to compensate for lack of these energies in the
healee’s energy field.
Modulation of the energies of the healee so as to assist in the
formation of new patterns in the healee’s energy field.

There is a strange sort of phenomenon that takes place in the healing
situation - it is an unexpected phenomenon - but it is real nonetheless and it can be verified - often has been verified - by the use of
instruments such as biofeedback instruments.
This phenomenon is the following:
At the very instant that the healer turn’s her/his attention to the helping
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or healing of another living being - an energy interchange begins
between the healer and the healee.
Even during the centering and assessment stages as given above - the
energy begins to flow between the healer and the healee.
When the healer is in the presence of suffering - (and even if the
presence is not a physical presence - merely an act of becoming
conscious of the suffering will begin this process) - the healing begins.
Healers often experience the warming of the hands - to the extent that
they may become quite red in the palms - or a tingling or electrical
discharges - when merely sitting and conversing with someone who is
perceived as in need of healing.
Neither the healer nor the healee have formally decided to begin the
healing act on a conscious level - at the unconscious level - or course the agreement has been made.
During the healing the healer may become aware of certain facts
relating to the well-being of the healee - these seem to come up from a
deep well of concern for the well-being of the healee.
The centering act takes the healer into a sense of self-relatedness that
we can think of as a place of inner being - a place of quietude within
the self where we can become integrated and unified.
‘Focused’ is a good word to describe the feeling of centeredness.
This effort does not involve any straining - in fact - straining with
effort will abort the successful going within.
Going within is an idea.
Meditation research done with instruments that measure the brainwaves and the muscle tension show that the state of meditation and the
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state of centering in preparation for healing are exactly the same by any
measurements that can be made.
It is for this reason that meditation and healing must always be thought
of in the same breath - so to speak.
If the healer goes ‘off center’ during the healing - both the healer and
the healee will become aware of this - and the healer should gently
return to the state of centeredness without self-rebuke.
As this centering becomes a habitual way of life with the healer there
will be a new awareness of the internal processes - and a new
recognition of facets within the self that have not been apprehended
before.
This centering act is also one of the cornerstones of creativity - it is the
insight into the self that brings forth the creativity - that allows the
inner life to become actualized in outer activity.
The healer must have the ability to confront her/himself.
The healer must be willing to confront her/himself.
It is the unwillingness to confront the self that keeps most individuals
who want to heal from actually becoming healers.
The intentionality of the healer means that the healer has a goal that is
to be accomplished - and also knows what is going to be done - how to
go about the process of the healing - this knowledge allows the
focusing to take place.
The healer’s motivation for healing can be many things - it might - for
instance - be an ego thing - motivated by the needs of the ego of the
healer - such an individual would not become a strong healer.
The motivation must be there to help the healee without regard for the
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healer’s benefit - this can lead to strong healing abilities.
Healing is a power tool - and the healer must know why he wants to
use it.
At the very least the healer must be able to confront her/himself on the
question:
Why do I want to heal?
It does not matter so much what the answer to this question is - but
there must be a clear answer - and the healer must know what this
answer is.

EXERCISE - CENTERING:
1.
2.

Sit in a comfortable position - take quiet - deep breaths.
Become aware of what you feel like when you are quiet.
[Follow any thought that happens to cross your mind - but do
not get emotionally attached to any thought.]

3.

Keep your awareness on what is coming from you
[You may become aware of energies emanating from others or
from objects around you - just note which ones are coming from
you and which are coming from your environment.]

4.

Become as sensitive as you can to your own energies - they may
be very faint or ‘Subtle’.
[A good place to start is with your own breathing.]

5.

Become aware of how your breath fills your lungs - try to sense
the flow of the energy of the breath into all the tissues of your
body.
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6.

Feel - or imagine that you feel - the life-giving vital energies
becoming a part of your entire being.

As you become more aware of the very faint energies of your own
mind-body - note that you also become more aware of the energies of
others around you.

THE HEALEE DOES THE HEALING:
It has already been indicated - and it bears repeating here - it is the
healee - in the last analysis - who does the healing - all that the healer
can do is set up the conditions where this can be done more effectively.
There are many levels of energy related to the healing process.

THE HEALEE’S NATURAL ABILITY TO HEAL
CONSISTS OF THESE MECHANISMS:

1.

The immunological system.
[This is a major system for rebalancing human energies and
maintaining their natural harmonies.]

2.

The autonomic nervous system.
[This reacts to trauma instantaneously - and consists of
protective biological functions.]

3.

The endocrine system.
[This fires off the instructions to coordinate the other systems in
the work of damage control.]
[This system works especially well during the relaxation
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response.]
4.

5.

6.

During recuperation the endorphins and enkephalins and other
neuropeptides operate throughout the body to bring pain under
control of the healee.
The thalamus - in the middle of the brain - acts to reduce
excessive pain sensations before they even enter the awareness
of the healee.
The skin regenerates at a very fast rate - as also do the bone
tissues - the liver - and the peripheral nerves.

Therapeutic touch reaches and heightens the effects of all these natural
allies.

THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN ENERGY
AND HUMAN ENERGY FIELDS:
Our understanding of nature - what we now call science - has changed
many times over the millennia as we became more sophisticated in our
methods of asking questions and listening for answers.
There is one thing that has not changed in all this time.
This is the awesome ability of the body to heal itself.
It has also always been understood that the effects of humane
intentional direction of human energies from one individual to another as in healing - is both natural and miraculous at the same time.
All cultures throughout all the histories have had their attentions riveted
on this phenomenon.
Only for a short time in all of human history has the ‘medical
profession’ allowed itself to be divorced from the truth of human touch
and its effectiveness - and this was a result of the popular
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misunderstanding of Newton’s physical discoveries.

Newton himself knew better - he spent more time on alchemy and
eschatology than he ever did on his calculus and physics - but he was
secretive - some say he was paranoid.
He was a fairly unpleasant and envious person if what is said of him is
true - but the envy of others may also have to be taken into account.
It is the nature of all the masters of wisdom for very good reasons to
work behind a screen - Newton may have been one of these - and this
secretive side of his endeavors was never understood nor appreciated.

EXERCISE TO PLACE BODY AND MIND IN BALANCE:
1.
2.

3.

4.

Sit in a relaxed position - either in a chair or on the floor.
Either lay your hands comfortably on your lap - if you are
sitting on a chair - or fold your hands one on top of the other if
you are sitting on the floor or ground with your legs crossed.
Slowly move your body one to two inches from side to side - do
this two or three times - so that when you stop you feel as
though your spine is in postural alignment.
Now tilt your body back about one to two inches - this should be
a comfortable position - your vertebrae should be aligned so
that they easily carry the weight of your body.
[You may think of your body in a position that it might be in if
you had a rope attached to the top of you head and pulling you
gently straight upward.]

5.
6.

Close you eyes and breath - slowly - easily - effortlessly.
Feel out - that is - become aware of - your tensions and
purposefully relax them.
[You may find this easier to do while you are exhaling gently
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and evenly.]
7.
8.

9.

Feel your body to be in balance.
Go more deeply within your consciousness - be aware of any
tension in any specific part of your body and release that
tension by sending energy and directing it to release the
tension.
When you have attained a sense of inner equilibrium - you
should feel that you can call upon your physical and mental
energies on command and direct them as you wish.
[You should now feel that you are in complete control of your
energies.]

In the very quiet state of mind in which you now are - you can become
aware of the energies of the persons next to you - notice now how you
become aware - the process of becoming aware.
As you go more deeply into yourself - and become more completely
aware of yourself - notice that you at the same time become more
intensely aware of others.
You will become aware of a state of stillness that seems to envelope
you - and you may go into a timeless space - a place where it becomes
impossible to gauge the passage of time.
This is the same space that you center into as you gently fall asleep in
the normal manner - or when you first wake up out of a restful sleep.

THE INTRODUCTION OF ENERGY FIELDS
INTO SCIENCE:

Newton introduced the idea of gravity as a field - able to act at a
distance - and we have since his time become thoroughly conversant
with the idea of action-at-a-distance - via a field - in all the areas in
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which science has investigated.

Descartes saw the universe as a giant machine that had been wound up
to run like a clockwork train until it expended all its energies and
stopped on its tracks.
This was a strong ‘paradigm’ and it was picked up because of its
success in explaining the motion of planets and the forces of electricity
- and applied to the human body in the form of ‘medical practice’.
So we ended up with a mechanical system of physical medicine as it
applied to healing - or rather curing - where the parts of the body were
thought to be in need of repair the same way that a machine might need
to have parts replaced.

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE:
But - to quote the X-files - ‘The truth was always out there’ - and those
who were willing to seek it out could always do so.
The healing energies that are part of every living physical organisms
have been noted throughout history - fifteen thousand year old cave
paintings attest to this knowledge being available even then.
And this brings us to the long-accepted concept of human energies and
the chakras - accepted in the eastern teachings - forgotten in the
western teachings.
The east indian name ‘prana’ is well known today - it is the sanskrit
name for an energy that flows through the energy field of the human
body in channels that are not part of the physical body - these channels
are called ‘nadis’.
In the chinese system these same energies flow along a non-physical
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network known as meridians - and the energy is called ‘ch’i’ - or ‘qi’.
In the ancient egyptian system these same energies flowed and were
called ‘ka’.
The idea of interconnectedness is what has sparked the research and
acceptance of the notion of therapeutic touch healing - since we are all
interconnected there should be a way of making this interconnection
work to implement healing of one individual with the help of another.
And there is such a way - the way of therapeutic touch - whether by the
method of immediate ‘laying on’ of hands or ‘absent healing’ by
directed thought.
The East Indian literature begins the discussion of energy fields in
about 2000BC.
In the Rig-Veda are stated the following concepts:
1.
2.

There are three types on energy concerned with the health of the
individual.
The first of these is the ‘prana’ energy.
[This energy underlies the organization of all life processes.]

3.

The second is the kundalini energy.
[This energy is concerned with the creative energies of life especially it can be thought of in modern terms as the libido.]

4.

The third energy is best thought of as somewhat like the greek
concept of ‘eros’ - which can also be thought of as ‘love’.

The therapeutic touch process is mainly concerned with the first of
these energies - although there is strong relationship between all the
energies - and affecting one will also affect the others.
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The East Indian belief is that the ‘prana’ flows through its nadis - and
that as it makes its circuits it acts as a carrier for the functions of will
and emotions and intelligence functions.
It is the functions of will and emotions and intelligence that puts us into
contact with our environment through the senses of the body.
The main channel or circuit for these energies is thought to be the
hollow core at the center of the spinal column - which is like the
‘thread through the eye of a needle’ - in the East Indian terminology.
It is this hollow core or tube that is the remnant of the hollow tube from
which we in the west believe the brain and spinal cord to have
developed in the evolutionary path and which still is the pattern for the
development of each embryo.
You will almost always in your healing be doing more than one thing at
a time - below is an exercise to develop the ability to do so in a
centered state.

EXERCISE TO RELEASE TENSION IN THE BODY
DUAL ATTENTION:
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Sit comfortably - in good alignment.
Take deep - slow - smooth - easy breaths and exhale slowly and
smoothly and easily.
While you are focusing on your breath note the state of your
body - locating any points of tension.
As the focus of your attention remains on your breathing begin to send releasing energy in an effortless manner into the
areas that have tension in them - and be aware of the loosening
of the tense areas.
Stay in this state for a period of time - with your attention
simultaneously on your breathing and on releasing tension.
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MORE ON THE CHAKRAS:
The chakras are located approximately along the spinal column - and
usually they are thought to have their origin at the base of the spinal
column.
The lowermost chakra is called the ‘root’ chakra - it is located at the
base of the spine - and it is connected with the will to life in this world
- it is often called the ‘grounding chakra’.
It functions to preserve life of the body on this plane - and is active in
the preserving of the life and in acquiring the material needs of the
body - such as food and drink - shelter - and protection.
This first chakra is generally represented as being a deep-red color.
The second chakra is the spleen chakra - it is said to come in the color
orange - and it is connected to the sexual functions of the body.
This chakra is also connected with the production of the red blood cells
- and is important in therapeutic touch as part of the healing process.
The third chakra comes in the color yellow - and it is the seat of
personal power - it is found in the solar plexus area of the body.
Individuals who have problems in the area of personal power feel
threatened and fearful - they experience a lot of stress - and this will
often lead to peptic ulcers or spasmodic stomachaches as a result of
pent-up anger - anxiety - or other such power-related emotions.
The fourth chakra is the heart chakra - it is thought to come in green and it is the home of ‘prana’ the life energy - and of the soul - found
over the heart in the body.
This chakra is related to the sense of touch and the nerves throughout
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the body - and also to the blood system. It also regulates heart function
and the circulatory system - it is intimately connected to the hand
chakras.
The energy of this chakra is love - and its demonstration.
The fifth chakra - the throat chakra - is thought to come in blue - it is
the energy of communication and compassion - its power is in
controlled sound - found in the throat.
This chakra is related to the akasha - the continuum of consciousness and to the skin through which we feel the vibrations of sound.
The sixth chakra is the brow chakra - sometimes referred to as the third
eye.
It is found in the middle of the forehead - between the eyes but a little
above them.
This is the seat of the subtle perceptions - of intuitions and higher
knowledge - it comes in indigo - it functions as a unit with the crown
chakra at the top of the head.
The seventh chakra is the crown chakra - it comes in violet sometimes thought to come in white or perhaps purple - a combination
of red and blue - and it is found on the top of the head and to the back.
It is sometimes represented by the thousand-petalled lotus.
The lotus is anchored in the waters of the earth - but has its petals in
the medium of air.
This chakra is symbolically represented as the link between the
personality of the individual existing in the space/time world and the
higher functions of the self.

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This chakra is connected with acts of the will and altruism.

The colors of the chakras must not be taken too literally - people who
see chakras will describe their appearance in different ways - but there
is always the idea of rotation and color.
Some writers have referred to rainbow colors of the chakras.
They can also be thought of as transformers of the energies of the
cosmos - just as we use transformers in electrical circuits to adjust the
power of the electric current to the devices that will use them without
being injured by the power.
You might - also - think of the chakras as composing a prism through
which a white light is shining - a triangular piece of glass will break up
the white light into its component colors - as all of us have seen in
science class or in our own experiences with light when it refracts
through oddly shaped pieces of glass or plastic.
If the cosmic energy is thought of as coming to us in the form or what
appears to us as white light - which is really an even distribution of all
the colors of light - then the prism in breaking this light up into its
constituent colors is transforming it in such a way that each of the
aspects of the human being is being energized with the particular
energy that it is capable of absorbing without danger to itself.

EXERCISE IN RAPID CENTERING:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Sit comfortably - in postural alignment.
Scan all parts of your body quickly - loosen any parts that need
it.
If you find that your shoulders are hunched up toward your
neck - lower the shoulders to loosen the muscles.
Inhale deeply and gently.
Slowly exhale.
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6.
7.
8.

9.

Inhale again.
You are there! - it is this state between breaths which you are
now experiencing that is the centering experience.
Just at the point - after you have inhaled deeply - and just as
you are beginning the release of the breath in an outbreath and continuing during the outbreath - the state of balance is
most profound - and this balance is the centering.
At this point the quietude is most apparent.

In this space time ceases to exist for you - and images form of their
own accord without any effort on your part to think of any specific
thing - an hour may pass - or two minutes - and you cannot tell the
difference in time between the hour and the two minutes.
When you get into this stillness within you - you will find it easy to go
into a state where you become so receptive that personal insights may
suddenly come to the surface of your mind - like a stick that has been
dropped into the water and bobs back to the surface after a short time.
Every technique that is used to center your consciousness will have as
its main element a sense of great stillness and calm.

MORE ON THE CHAKRAS:
When we practice therapeutic touch we soon become aware of the
rhythms of the human energy field.
When these rhythms are being mechanically controlled - as when
people are on respirators or receiving dialysis for the kidneys - these
dysrhymias can become very prominent.
Also - when people are taking high doses of antibiotics or
psychotropics - or when they are being given chemotherapy - the
energy flows feel out of sync and out of phase.
A great deal can be done for the good of such people by the use of
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therapeutic touch - especially as it is used to evoke the relaxation
response.
This respite may be just enough to allow the body to regroup its own
defenses and allow it to rebalance itself.
The irregularities in the rhythm may be perceived in the chakras during
the assessment of the healee.
As already given earlier - the chakras are energy centers or vortices in
the human energy field that can be thought of as transformers.
Each of the chakras is closely connected to some one or other of the
glands - the endocrine system - and the autonomic nervous system since these glands are involved in the input and output of vital energies
- as are also the chakras.
Because the chakras are so closely connected to the glands - the
therapeutic touch in the areas of the chakras has a powerful effect on
the functioning of the glands - and the system of health protection of
the body.
The importance of the chakras is made very clear by the fact that more
than 70% of human illnesses are related to the stress and other
emotional factors of our lives.
We say that such illnesses are psychosomatic in origin.
Since the chakras are so important in the well-being and healing of the
healee - it is important to understand the effects that the chakras have
on the awareness and behavior and attitude and mood of the healer and
of the healee.

CHAKRA EXERCISE IN SELF-KNOWLEDGE
AND SELF-ASSESSMENT:
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1.
2.

3.
4.

Center.
Review the information that you can recall about chakras realize that the information that has come to us from the east
over the last four thousand years has been validated by modern
research.
For this exercise choose your heart chakra.
Review what you know of its functions.
[The heart chakra is well-known to connect with the ability to
love unconditionally.]

5.

Place your dominant hand over the chakra that you have
chosen - within the energy field of the chakra.
[If you have chosen the heart chakra to investigate - then place
your hand over the heart chakra.]

7.
8.
9.

Clearly visualize someone that you love.
Allow yourself to feel love toward that person.
Deepen the experience of love.
[Note every level of consciousness of which you are aware - see
what is happening at each of these levels.]
[Note what you feel in your heart chakra as you do the various
exercises.]
[Note also what is transmitted to your dominant hand by your
heart chakra.]
[Note also what is happening with you internally as you ask the
questions and get the answers.]

10.

Ask yourself this question - if I send loving thoughts to the
person that I have in mind - will that person respond by sending
loving thoughts back to me?
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11.
12.
13.
14,
15.
16.
17.
18.

Listen for the answer.
Continue in the same way for another person.
Ask yourself this question - if I send loving thoughts to this
person - will that person open up to me?
listen for the answer.
Continue in the same way for an imaginary frightened child - or
some frightened child that you remember.
Ask yourself this question - if I send loving thoughts to a
frightened child - will the child accept me?
Listen for the answer.
Ask yourself this question - if I send loving thoughts out to the
universe and everything within that universe - will the universe
accept my love and love me in return.

In the same way you can use what you know of the other chakras to
gain more insight into how your own energy field interacts with your
own thoughts and emotions.
You can use what you know of the functioning of the root chakra to
gain insight into your relationship to providing for the physical needs of
your life and your desire to live in the body.
You can use what you know of the fear that is resident in the solar
plexus - just below the heart - to gain extra knowledge that you can use
in your healing.
You can use what you know of the function of the throat chakra - and
its relation to grief and compassion - to learn more there.
This will empower you to become proficient at gleaning the maximum
amount of information from the chakras of the healee when you do the
assessment of the energy field.
In the exercise below - use what you have learned about your own
heart chakra to assess the heart chakra of the healee.

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[Any other chakra may also be used - just be sure that the chakra that
you work with in the healee is the same as the chakra that you worked
with in your own self-assessment.]

THE METRONOME BREATH
A SECOND EXERCISE IN CONSCIOUS BREATHING:
Breathe in:

1, 2, 3, 4

Hold in the breath: 1, 2, 3, 4
Exhale:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17,18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,

Each of us breathes in specific ways that are unlike anyone else’s
breathing patterns - which are as unique and individualistic as our
fingerprints.
Each emotion has a unique breathing pattern all its own.
The exercise we have just done will help to break up old breathing
patterns that are not conducive to health.
Through controlling the way we breathe we can better regulate the
needs of our body because the breathing process is so intimately
connected with our every thought and action - mastering it we can
continually monitor and improve our health - vitality - and emotions.
Initially you may find yourself becoming somewhat obsessive about
your breathing - this will soon pass - once you train yourself in proper
breathing - it will rapidly become second nature.

EXERCISE TO SEND ENERGY THROUGH A HEALEE AND
DETECT IT BY ANOTHER HEALER - FOOT HEALER
BLOCKING:
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1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Pick a partner to work with you as a healer - and also someone
to be the healee.
Have the healee take off her/his shoes.
Have the healee sit crosswise on a chair so that the healee’s
back is easily accessible.
Decide whether you or your partner will stand behind the
healee - the other partner will stand in front of the healee in
such a position that the healee’s feet can be easily reached.
Take a moment for you and your partner to center and the
healee to center.
[By centering - you and your partner become more keenly
aware of the energy flows - and the healee will maintain
balance while at the same time being aware of the energy flows
also.]

6.

The healer who is standing behind the healee now places one
hand over each kidney.
[The kidneys are on either side of the spinal column and just
above the hips but inside the lower ribcage.
[For comfort the healer in front may wish to kneel or sit.]

7.

8.

The healer at the feet of the healee places her/his hands in such
a way that the energy centers (chakras) of the healee in the
bottom of the feet just under the arches - are accessible to the
hand energy centers (chakras) of the healer.
The healer at the back then begins to send energy through the
healee from the kidneys and down into the healee’s feet - and
out through the foot chakras of the healee.
[To do this - visualize as strongly as you can - by firmly
focusing your attention - that the energy is flowing from the
hands into the kidneys and down the legs and into the feet into
the foot chakras - and from there out into the other healer’s
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hand chakras.]
[You may want to increase the energy flow by matching your
breathing to the energy flow that you are visualizing - the
energy flowing in rhythm with your outbreath - or whatever
works.]
[Be careful to remain in a centered state - the flow will be
effortless - and the mind and body of the healer will remain
relaxed.]
9.

The healer at the feet focuses attention on the energy fields near
the foot chakras - and the flow of the energy from the healee’s
foot chakras.
[Any changes or differences in frequency or intensity of energy
flow are noted.]
[The flow is influenced by the healer at the feet - and this can
be checked by having the healer at the feet interrupt the flow of
energy by focusing on blocking the energy for a few minutes the healer at the back will be able to detect when this is being
done.]

10.

11.

After this has been done - and the flow and cessation can be
verified by both healers - change positions with the healing
partner - and redo the exercise.
The person at the feet becomes the new healee - the healee
becomes the healer at the head - and the healer at the head
becomes the new healer at the feet.
The exercise can be done again - until all the participants have
verified for themselves how the energy flows can be detected by
the chakra systems in the hands - perhaps also the feet.

STRONG RESPONSE AREAS TO WORK IN
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THE KIDNEYS AND NECK:
To start - it can be said that the areas of the kidneys and the adrenal
glands are very safe sites to work in when working with the human
energy field.
These areas are very efficient in utilizing the energies employed in
therapeutic touch.
After a treatment where these areas are treated the healee will usually
feel energized after the treatment - for this reason exhaustion and
fatigue are often treated by placing the hands into the field in the area
of the kidneys.
Even healers who consider themselves somewhat insensitive to the
energies will readily feel them in the kidney area of an ill person.
Another area in which the energies are more easily felt is in the area of
the neck - and energy deficiencies are easily detected here.

AREAS OF SPECIAL EFFECTIVENESS IN HEALING:
Placing the hand chakras over the heart will often convey a sense of
deep caring to the healee.
Holding the left hand of the healee in both hands of the healer may feel
like a complete body embrace to the healee as far as its effects go.
Holding the hand chakra over the heart of the healee will likely have a
sedative effect on the healee - and will often induce a deep relaxation
response.
This site is often used by nurses - anesthesiologists - and doctors especially if there are to be hospital procedures that may make the
healee apprehensive.
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Holding the hand chakra over the heart is also a good practice in
hospice care for the dying - if they will accept it - which most do very
readily.

AREAS THAT NEED TO BE TREATED WITH CAUTION
WHEN HEALING USING THERAPEUTIC TOUCH:
Having said this - there are however some things to watch out for.
If a person has head injuries the therapeutic touch should be used with
caution in the area of the head - especially directly over the head.
These areas should be treated for short times only - with careful
observation as to the effects.
Near-term pregnant women should also be treated cautiously - the
touch should be applied sensitively and gently.
The practitioner of therapeutic touch should not tense up and attempt to
‘push’ energy into the healee - the energy flow should be allowed to
take place naturally and effortlessly.
The direction of the energy is a mental process - and especially with
babies - the energy needs to be used with caution for short periods.

HOW TO USE WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED
ABOUT YOUR OWN CHAKRAS WHEN YOU ARE IN
INTERACTION WITH THE HEALEE:
1.
2.
3,

4.

Center.
Place your sending hand over the chakra of the healee.
Bring your own chakra into use by calling forth from within
yourself the mind-set that incorporates the energetic qualities of
the chakra that is being balanced.
Look for a response from the healee’s energy field that is in
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5.
6.

harmony with the corresponding energy of your own chakra.
Continue this interaction for only a short time - two to three
minutes - it can be overdone.
Re-assess the healee’s energy field to see what else needs to be
done.

WHICH SYSTEMS ARE MOST SENSITIVE TO
THERAPEUTIC TOUCH?:
The autonomic nervous system is the one most sensitive to the effects
of therapeutic touch - it looks after the functioning of the body in areas
that we would not want to have to do consciously.
This system is divided into two branches - the parasympathetic system
and the sympathetic system.
When the sympathetic system is activated there is general excitation.
The parasympathetic system is more specific - it acts mainly on the
smooth muscles - to relax them - and the heart rate - to decrease it and gastrointestinal functioning - to increase it.
So both of these system work together - most specifically to limit each
others’ actions.
You do not have to think about these systems - they work
harmoniously on their own - and they regulate the visceral - the
circulatory - and the glandular systems.
The voluntary system acts under the direct voluntary control of the
brain.
Those disorders that are of the parasympathetic system are located in
specific areas - as if they were focused.
Disorders of the sympathetic system occur in many places all over the
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body at the same time.
The reason why therapeutic touch is most effective in working with the
healing of the psychosomatic illnesses is because they often reflect the
autonomic nervous system.
In today’s world - the highly-stressed world - the autonomic nervous
system gets battered and so the illnesses of the psychosomatic type
account for 70% of all illnesses.
Any therapy that will make a dent in stress-syndrome illnesses is most
welcome - and should be utilized.
The systems that is next most sensitive to therapeutic touch is the
lymphatic system and the circulatory systems.
As already noted earlier - the edemas - the swellings of the body are
the result of electrolyte imbalances - and these are very responsive to
therapeutic touch.
The peripheral vascular system is also very responsive - and we can
easily see this when we note the slight flush of the healee’s skin after a
healing - this is particularly noticeable in the face and neck of the
healee - usually within the first four minutes of the commencement of
the treatment.
This increase in color of the skin is generally a whole-body effect especially noticeable in the face and neck - and since the hands are not
touching the healee’s body - they are clearly an energy-field effect.
The system that is the next most affected by therapeutic touch is the
musculoskeletal system - and bone fractures are particularly
susceptible.

Healees will usually feel a characteristic warmth on their skin which is
131

not due to contact or radiation - but seems to come from deeper within
the tissues - and this warmth can be felt through chairs and plaster
casts.
Another system that is fairly responsive to therapeutic touch is the
collagen system - so that the various forms of arthritis can be helped
with touch - but other collagen disorders such as lupus are not helped
to a great extent.
The glandular disorders are also affected to a limited extent - thyroid
conditions are helped and the adrenals can be helped - and certain
problems of the reproductive systems can be helped - especially in
females.
The results with pancreas problems - such as diabetes - and the
pituitary gland have not been found significant.
It is known that paraplegics may report that they can feel the healing
hands - even though the skin is not being touched - although they
would not be expected to feel such a touch.
In wounds that have raw sensory nerves exposed the healees have
reported that the sensation of the healing can easily become one of pain
if the hands are not moved often.
When healers do therapeutic touch with people who have
psychological disorders the results can be mixed - people with manic
depression have been helped - especially during the manic stages.
There are also numerous successes reported with individuals who were
catatonic - and it is remarkable to note that some of the catatonic
persons could identify the individuals who had been doing therapeutic
touch with them during the time that they were unconscious.
Hyperkinetic children have also been helped.

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The same can be said for people who suffered cerebral vascular
accidents - otherwise known as strokes - these also - when they came
out of their comas - were able to say who had been treating them.
On the other hand - people with schizophrenia have not been
significantly helped with their specific problem.
In the case of aids - the success has been more in the area of alleviating
the effects of the accompanying opportunistic infections such as
pneumonia and elevated temperatures and the restlessness that often is
part of the syndrome - and also the lungs can be helped to clear.
It has also been reported that kaposi’s sarcoma can be cleared
sometimes.
Parkinson’s and alzheimer’s have been treated with only limited
success - but the accompanying agitation has been successfully cleared.
People who work in hospice situations often report that the pain of
cancer can be successfully treated - and in the final stages before death
there is often a serene acceptance of the transition of consciousness.
During the earlier stages of cancer - the chemotherapy and radiation
treatments - there is often success in stabilizing the persons with the
cancer.
It has been found most useful to start with therapeutic touch about a
week before the beginning of these treatments - and continue the touch
about two to three times a week during the series.
This appears to stabilize and support the healees and they experience
less nausea and vomiting.

HEALING - TWO HEALERS FOR ONE HEALEE:

133

THIRD SELF-EVALUATION THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
SCALE EXERCISE:
Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:
0
1
2
3
4

Not at all.
Once in a while.
Frequently.
Almost always.
All the time.

____

1.

My body is an instrument for energy flow.

____

2.

My body feels quiet - calm - relaxed.

____

3.

Energy flows rhythmically in my body.

____

4.

I feel physically balanced - aligned.

____

5.

I feel physically integrated.

____

6.

All body parts are working in unison.

____

7.

I have a sense of physical attunement.

____

8.

I sense of psychological attunement.

____

9.

All my senses are heightened.

____

10.

All my senses are sharpened.

____

11.

I feel very close to the healee.

____

12.

I feel impersonal love for the healee.

134

____

13.

I can completely disregard dislikes.

____

14.

I love and accept myself.

____

15.

I love and accept the healee.

EFFECTS ON THE FAMILY OF THE USE OF
THERAPEUTIC TOUCH WITHIN THE FAMILY CIRCLE:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Creates close bonds within the family.
Gives family members an increased sense of inner strength in
times of unexpected need.
The interest of other family members is piqued - they want to
know more - and eventually to be involved in the practice.
Individuals participating in therapeutic touch become more
aware of their psychic potentials - and this leads to increased
creativity in their daily relationships.
[Within the family - if the husband is the bread-winner - he will
be involved in ego-centered and often highly competitive
atmospheres in the business world.]

6.

Centering before the therapeutic touch will lead to more inner
awareness and spiritual growth as a natural outcome for all
members of the family.

THE METRONOME BREATH - A THIRD EXERCISE IN
CONSCIOUS BREATHING:
Breathe in:

1, 2, 3, 4

Hold in the breath: 1, 2, 3, 4
Exhale:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,18,
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32
135

THE MOST REPEATABLE RESULTS OF
THERAPEUTIC TOUCH:
1.

The elicitation of the relaxation response.
[Observed within two to four minutes of beginning treatment.]

2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The relaxation response brings forward the body’s defenses - the
immune system becomes strengthened against bacteria and
viruses.
The relaxation response also stimulates the production of the
endorphins - naturally produced pain blockers.
Children often fall asleep during treatment.
Adults often nap.
People of all ages feel refreshed and vitalized.
There is a decrease in tension and a reduction in anxiety.
[The reduction in anxiety in itself can be a powerful pain reducer
- so we can expect the effect below.]

8.

The second most reliable effect of therapeutic touch is the
alleviation or cessation of pain.
[This is a very reliable effect of therapeutic touch - you can
count on this one almost all the time.]
[What people fear most about dying is the idea that there may be
pain - they fear the ‘next pain’ more than anything else.]
[Pain that recurs is frustrating and fatiguing - and the enjoyment
of life disappears - even the desire for life disappears when there
is much pain.]
[When pain is taken away the person again wants to fight to stay
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in the living - this is the greatest possible benefit to the suffering
as well as those who stand by the sufferer - and this is the area in
which therapeutic touch really shines.]
[Note that the power of suggestion is a very good ally in the
reduction of pain - if a new treatment is confidently expected to
reduce pain - then this reduction will almost certainly be seen at least for a while.]
[For this reason it is important for the therapeutic touch giver to
be quietly confident that the treatment will succeed in alleviating
pain - this confidence will transfer to the healee via the brainwave patterns that the healer will induce in the healee.]
[The above statement is no exaggeration - repeatable research
with biofeedback equipment has shown that whatever brainwaves the healer is exhibiting will within a short time be
transferred to the healee.]
[This biofeedback is an objective test that leaves no doubt about
the importance of the belief system of the healer.]
9.

The third most reliable effect of therapeutic touch is the
facilitation of the physical healing process itself.
[X-rays have shown repeatedly that the formation of the callus at
the sight of a bone fracture occurs within two and a half weeks
with therapeutic touch - but will take up to six weeks for the
same stage of healing to occur without therapeutic touch.]
[For this reason therapeutic touch is often used by ski patrols by medical technicians - and by firemen.]

THE EFFECT OF PAIN:
137

The experience of strong pain is not easily forgotten - pain by itself can
even kill - anyone who has ever suffered through a kidney stone or
birth can attest to that.
It brings with it the memories of the pain - and these will be emotionladen.
Even thinking about pain and its possible recurrence may bring on
severe psycho-physical results.
If pain can be relieved the focus on self that is so characteristic of
people in pain will also be alleviated - such people who get relief from
pain again become interested in others and their experiences.
So the release from pain is good for the sufferer and for those who
have been involved in the emotional consequences of the pain being
suffered by the patient.
To the person giving therapeutic touch the presence of pain will usually
be experienced as congestion of the energies in the healee’s field - or
like a kind of stiffening or hardening of the field - as if the hands were
immersed in a very stiff jello with ripples or bumps or swirls in it.
There may be a feeling of confusion in the field of the healee.
If the pain is severe and prolonged - then the healee’s energy field in
the area of the solar plexus chakra may be much disturbed.
Some healers actually feel the pain - rather than just the ripple effects
of it - or the nausea or fear may be experienced by the healer.
For the healer the recognition that the discomfort is not her/his own
will go far towards allowing the healing to progress without undue
interference.

138

If the healer over-identifies with the suffering there may be a loss of
intentionality or will to continue the process - and the healer may
become a part of the problem rather than alleviating it.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH TREATMENT FOR PAIN:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Center.
Recall the wavelength of energy that you associate with the
color blue.
Sense the level of this energy in your own field - the same way
that you would sense calmness.
Fully experience the blueness of the color for a while.
Project the blue energy as you gently unruffle the healee’s
energy field around the site of the pain.
Starting from the site of the pain move the congested energy
toward the outer edges of the healee’s energy field.
[Do this slowly and deliberately - intentionally - let the
congestion dissipate at the edges of the healee’s energy field.]

7.
8.

Place your hand chakras over the healee’s solar plexus area.
Send the blue energy to quiet the healee’s emotional reaction to
the stress of the pain.
[Do not continue beyond twenty minutes of treatmen.t]
[If the pain can be helped by therapeutic touch it will have been
done by twenty-five minutes of treatment.]

9.
10.

Have the healee lie down in a comfortable position.
Cover the healee with a light blanket.
If the healee falls asleep - allow plenty of time for her/him to
awaken naturally.]

11.

After the healee awakens - give some imagination exercises as
139

homework.
[The healee can be encouraged to imagine being on a beautiful
seashore at high tide - watching the waves - noticing how the
waves are carrying away any residual pain as they come to
shore and then recede into the ocean - and the tide ebbs.]
It is especially important to break the cycle of pain and the fear of pain
that in themselves bring on most of the pain that is felt.
If you can break the pain for even so short a time as two minutes - this
is of immense value to the sufferer.

HOW DOES THERAPEUTIC TOUCH DO ITS WORK:?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

By facilitating energy flow.
By removing or breaking up congestion or pressure in the energy
field.
By dampening the intensity of the energy flow.
By freeing up the bound energy found in blockages in the energy
field.
By synchronizing the dys-rhythmias in the energy flow.
By repatterning - rebalancing - knitting together the energy field
so that it can once again function as an integrated whole.

Having said all the above - it must still be repeated that therapeutic
touch is not a miracle cure for illnesses - there is always healing - but
there may not be cures

ANXIETY:
Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension and dread brought on by a
prolonged state of fear.
Awareness of this fear may be blocked by a defense mechanism - and
140

there may be a number of physical symptoms that may appear as a
result.
These symptoms are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Tachycardia.
Dyspnea.
Tremors.
Excessive perspiration.
Nausea.
Muscular tension.
Restlessness.
Unconscious breath-holding - resulting in light-headedness.

There are several types of anxiety - but the main cause of all of them is
stress.
When an individual suffers an energy overload that has removed its
rhythms and patterning - irritability will result.
An energy overload has the same effect as - and may even manifest as pain - usually mental - and this is counter-acted after a while with the
usual response to pain - anger.
Irritability is a milder form of anger - it can be treated along with the
anxiety that is usually the cause of the pain.
The anxiety - a fear or apprehension of something awful that is going to
happen keeps the individual in a constant state of fight-or-flight - the
adrenalin just keeps pumping into the body and this is where the energy
overload originates.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR ANXIETY:
1.
2.

Center.
Use the blue color over the throat area to help it to stabilize.
141

[Recall that the throat chakra is generally taken to have a blue
color.]
3.
4.

Place the hand chakras over the heart and solar plexus areas.
Sense the fear in the solar plex and send love and peace into
the heart and solar plex.

When people are anxious for a long time they may easily come down
with psychosomatic illnesses.
Whenever you sense that someone is chronically anxious make the
effort to refer that person to someone who can help the healee to lead a
more balanced life-style through techniques such as meditation imagery - or psychotherapy.
Shiatsu and acupressure can also help women with pms - as well as
therapeutic touch - relieving the sense of anxiety that some feel during
this time.

THE HEALER’S ATTITUDE DURING
THE HEALING PROCESS:
The healer needs to practice an attitude of non-attachment during the
healing process.
What this means is that - although the healer is compassionate and
loving and desires the healing of the healee - his emotions must not
become attached to whether the healing is noticeable or not.
The attitude of the healer can be well expressed in the phrase: ‘Let go
and let God’.
This will allow the healer to maintain an emotion of gentle detachment
- it is not the healer who heals - it is god and the healee.
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The healer simply stands by in a compassionate stance that will allow
the healee to utilize the energies that are already there for the healing.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH AND
THE PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME:
Premenstrual syndrome affects about 40% of the women in the united
states - whether this percentage would hold for Canada is uncertain.
There are about 160 symptoms to this malady - but in spite of its
complexity it is easy to treat by touch therapy.
It is treated by its symptoms - and here are a few exercises given to
treat specific symptoms.
Anxiety and irritability can usually be treated very much the same way.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR IRRITABILITY:
1.
2.

Center.
Unruffle the energy field to help release the congested energies
and release them.
[This unruffling will also reshape the energy field and lead to a
more controlled pattern.]
[The healee may express the idea that she/he feels too
controlled as it is - this feeling is the result of chaotic energies when these are brought into a useful pattern the feeling of
confinement will go away.]
[Spend only a few minutes on the unruffling initiall.y]

3.

Place your hand chakras over the solar plexus area and the
heart area and use the blue energy to heal.
143

4.

Occasionally intersperse this chakra work with gentle
unruffling as necessary.
[The aim is to re-balance the healee’s entire energy system.]

5.

6.

To get rid of any residual chaotic energies - rather than
attempting to bring them into the pattern - direct their flow out
through the foot chakras and into the periphery of the energy
field and so disperse them.
Have the healee lie down in a comfortable place with good
ventilation and fresh air - and cover with a light blanket - allow
to rest quietly.

THE USE OF THERAPEUTIC TOUCH IN PREGNANCY:
Research has been done which shows that when a husband does
therapeutic touch on his wife during her pregnancy it will deepen his
sensitivity to and awareness of both the mother and the fetus.
This translates into more satisfying and caring relationships within the
family later on in life also.
When we completely accept the notion that we do not stop at our skins
it becomes possible for us to interact in more mutually satisfying ways
- and as a result of this insight and research the practice of therapeutic
touch has now been integrated into the practices of registered midwives
and lamaze teachers and nurses.
It is also often taught to couples that are in the seventh to ninth months
of pregnancy.
Many individuals are practicing therapeutic touch now as a result of
their natal experiences with it - continuing on into epesiotomy healing
and postnatal problems with sore breasts.
Many also use touch for common ailments such as colds - coughs 144

headaches - indigestion - and general stress reduction as well as
emotional support.
Eventually the use of therapeutic touch extends into all areas of the
practitioner’s life - you will know that you are a real healer when you
automatically put out your hands in support of others whatever the
cause of their distress.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR BREAST ENGORGEMENT:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Center.
Place hand chakras in the energy field overlying the breasts.
Gently unruffle the energy field to disperse the congestion of
the field.
Visualize the color blue and send healing of that wavelength
into the area.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR WATER RETENTION
AND ABDOMINAL BLOATING:
1.
2.
3.

Center.
Work over the liver.
Visualize an emerald-green color as you work in this area send energy of this color into the liver area.
[The liver controls the electrolyte balance - and therefore the
distribution of fluids in the body.]
[Electrolytes are especially amenable to treatment with the
human energy field.]

4.

Work over the kidneys-adrenals.
[This whole area is controlled by the solar plexus chakra.]

145

[When working over this area visualize a yellow-gold color
energy.]
5.

Briskly unruffle the healee’s energy field.
[Do this unruffling in an upward direction - not in the
downward as has been suggested in previous exercises with
unruffling.]
Tthis will clear the healee’s energy field - and help it to repattern.]

6.

Work over the legs and feet.
[Have the feet elevated.]
[Bring the energies up the legs and from the foot chakras - as
has been instructed in previous exercises.]

DISCUSSION OF THE USE OF THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
WITH CESAREAN SECTIONS:
It is a good idea to start in with therapeutic touch at least a few days
before the healee is slated for surgery.
After the operation therapeutic touch is useful in re-starting the
peristalses - and it is also useful to alleviate the nausea and vomiting
that may ensue - as well as for post-operative anxiety and pain - and
possible depression.
It can also help with restoring fluid balances in the body - swelling can
be brought down.
Therapeutic touch also reduces the sting of injections.

146

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH TECHNIQUES
FOR CESAREAN SECTIONS:
1.
2.
3.

Center.
Unruffle the aura.
Send blue energy into the solar plex area.
[This will help reduce pain and discomfort.]

4.

Work over the heart area.
[This will reduce stress and anxiety.]

5.

Work over the liver.
[This will reduce toxins - and restore electrolyte balances.]

6.

Work over the thymus area.
[This will stimulate the healee’s immune system.]
[At this point you are trying to regain some measure of comfort
through elicitation of the relaxation response - this will promote
rest and sleep - prime essentials for healing to progress.]
[Check for the point at which the discomfort has subsided.]

7.

Using the energy of yellow-gold light - begin work over the
spleen area and the adrenal-kidney area of the solar plexus.
[This will promote an increase in intake of the pranic energy.]

8.

Work to move the systemic energy flow to and through the foot
chakras.

9.

Teach the healee some breathing exercises to help ventilate and
clear the lungs.
147

10.

After a few days of bed - the healee will really appreciate a
light massage of the back and feet.
[You can use cedar or juniper oil in the massage - this is
refreshing for someone who has been bedfast.]

11.
12.

Simple joint exercises can increase comfort by increasing
circulation.
A neck massage and scalp massage are also good to do.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH DURING LABOR
AND DELIVERY:
At the onset of labor:
The following steps are performed by the mother:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Center.
Unruffle your own energy field.
Place the hands over the upper abdomen - above the position of
the fetus - in the region of the breastbone.
Turn the palms of the hands outwards to the sides of the body.
As you exhale slowly - sweep and direct any congestion of
energy outwards from the inner part of the energy field.
Make a few sweeps starting lower down on the abdomen.

The following steps are performed by the father:
1.
2.

Center.
Place the hand chakras over the mother’s heart and send love
and support.
[When the contractions become really uncomfortable - do the
following.]
[It is easy to try to do too much at once - do the following one
148

at a time - and in a gentle and unhurried way.]
3.
4.
5.

Unruffle the mother’s energy field in a rhythmic and unhurried
way.
Assist the mother’s natural energy flow down the legs and out
the foot chakras.
Support the mother’s efforts by placing his hand chakras over
the areas of her kidneys and adrenals and directing his energy
flow to her.
[Iif the husband can sit on the bed behind his wife in such a way
as to support her with his trunk - then he will be in a
comfortable position to place his hands over her adrenals and
kidneys.]

6.

Breathe with the mother and send support and love.

After the birth - there are some things that can be done with therapeutic
touch.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH IN POSTNATAL TREATMENT:
[If there has been an episiotomy or a cesarean section.]
1.

Either the mother or the father can do therapeutic touch on the
wound to ease discomfort and accelerate the healing process.
[If the baby is colicky - or suffers from painful gas bubbles that
she/he cannot expel ... then:]

2.

Hold the baby against your shoulder and use your dominant
hand to unruffle and soothe the baby’s energy field.
[If the baby cries and you can find no clear physical reason for
the crying - such as an open pin or other discomfort ... then:]

149

3.
4.
5.

Place the baby against your body with her/his head on your
shoulder.
Walk - or sit and rock.
Do therapeutic touch.
[It is very likely that the baby will stop crying suddenly - she/he
is likely to open the eyes wide with a surprised look on its face she/he will then characteristically fall asleep - probably still
burping.]

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH AND THE ALLEVIATION OF
LETHARGY - FATIGUE - AND DEPRESSION:
Lethargy will show itself as drowsiness.
This lack of energy is usually the result of the individual being unable
to absorb pranic energy from the surrounding life fields.
Usually this also shows signs of poisoning - toxicity.
The areas to work over are the spleen - because the spleen is the area
into which much of the energy is absorbed.
The liver also needs work because of the toxicity.
The healer may feel that there is a subtle flow of energy between the
spleen chakra and the liver.
The splenetic chakra is also the solar plex chakra in this way of
interpreting the chakras - and this makes sense when we consider that
lethargy can be considered the extreme lack of personal power.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR LETHARGY:
1.

Center.
150

2.
3.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

9.

Check the area between the spleen and the liver for energy
flowing between them.
Move the energy with slow and gentle rhythmic motions away
from the liver area with the non-dominant hand to dissipate the
toxicity.
Place the dominant hand over the spleen and send energy into
the area while continuing to waft the energy away from the liver
When the energy feels more stabilized place your hands over
the kidneys and send in energy.
Place the hands over the solar plexus to encourage stronger
energy flow into the area and throughout the system.
Unruffle the healee’s energy field.
Encourage energy flow out through the feet by the methods of
bone conduction that were demonstrated earlier - start at the
adrenals - move to the hip joint - then the knee joint - and so on
out of the feet.
Have the healee lie down for ten to fifteen minutes after the
treatment.
[This will give the opportunity for the system to absorb energy
from the surrounding life fields.]

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR FATIGUE:
1.
2.

Center.
Go over the steps that were given in the exercise on using
therapeutic touch for lethargy.
[Then - add the following steps.]

3.

Do therapeutic touch over the neck muscles.
[This is where the physical exhaustion is stored.]

4.

Gently massage the neck muscles.

151

[As you do the massage direct the energy of blue from your
hand chakras into the healee’s neck muscles - this will help to
release the stressed muscles.]
5.
6.

Unruffle the energy field.
Stimulate the flow of energy out of the foot chakras - as shown
before.

A SHORT DISCUSSION ON DEPRESSION:
Depression is one of those conditions that can be seen externally even
in posture and a general look of despondency.
There is a contagious side to depression - it does not take long in the
presence of a depressed person to begin to acquire the feelings and
attitudes of depression.
Very many depressions are the result of some severe trauma - such as
the loss of something valued - perhaps a relationship - perhaps a loved
one to illness or death - perhaps the loss of a valued job.
Such depressions are likely to last about half a year - and if they are
allowed to work their way through - then after some time the depressed
person recovers - goes on with life - reframes the experience into one
of learning from the experience - in some ways even stronger than
before.
The other depressions - those which are the result of hopelessness over
some relationship that will not improve - or of some condition that
cannot be improved - is longer-lasting and more dangerous.
If to the above feelings is added chronic fatigue - then the depression
probably needs the intervention of a psychological nature - as it will
color the entire life of the depressee and all who come into contact with
the depressee.
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It should be noted that all forms of depression can be helped with
therapeutic touch - since a feeling of loss of some kind is always
present - and touch can relieve the feeling of loss.
The depression of pre-menstrual syndrome is usually of a temporary
nature - and is often connected to imbalances in the hormones - the
products of the glands.
If the depression lasts more than a few weeks even with therapeutic
touch treatment then the depressee would be well advised to seek the
help of a psychotherapist.
When the depression first appears it may be hard to detect or define later on it will be more obtrusive and more easy to diagnose.
To be around depressed people can be very tiring.
Depressed people are known as ‘sappers’ - because they sap the
energies of those around them.
Some are even known as ‘slurpers’ - these are usually low in energy at
the same time that they are high in anxiety.

SIGNS OF DEPRESSION:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Loss of appetite.
Unusual overeating.
Breakdown in the sleep cycle.
Unexplainable irritability.
Fearfulness.
Free-floating anxiety.
Vague physical pains.
Unprovoked crying spells.
Inability to concentrate.
Memory problems.
153

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

Loss of interest in normal activities of life - such as good
hygiene or other daily tasks.
Loss of interest in family and sex.
Loss of interest in any normally pleasurable activities.
Withdrawal from life.
Loss of confidence to handle life’s situations.
Loss of self-esteem.

ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS FOR THE
SELF-PROTECTION OF THE HEALER
WHEN DEALING WITH DEPRESSED HEALEES:
When the healer is tired or low in energy there is vulnerability to
aggressive sappers or slurpers.
The depressed person may not even be aware of what energy theft is
going on - may only know that to be with the healer in some way
energizes the depressee - so the energy sapping should not be looked
upon as intentional theft.
It just feels so good to get some energy in any way possible that the
sapper seeks out energy givers and saps and slurps wherever possible.
The energy-starved individual feels so de-vitalized that there is an
instinctive reaching out to other life-giving sources as a matter of
survival.
The healer can learn to self-protect by becoming aware of a wide
spectrum of human energy levels.
This can be done by becoming alert to other people’s energy states
even as the healer walks through lobbies of buildings - down streets at intersections waiting for traffic lights to allow street crossings - or in
shopping malls - even waiting in line at the cash machines or queuing
for service at the safeway checkout.
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As you are engaged in the above activities - check to see what your
hand chakras tell you - and your solar plex chakra - as well as the other
chakras.
Becoming aware of the activities of these chakras - even when not
actively thinking about them at all - this knowledge of the ‘gut’ or
‘heart’ is the essence of sensitive living as a healer - and it can improve
the healing even as it protects the healer.
Emotional burnout of healers is rarely reported by therapeutic touch
practitioners - most healers find a heightened sense of well-being from
helping others in need.
But- people do practice all their lives how to modify the energy fields
of others - even though this is generally done at a subliminal level in
such a way that neither the manipulator nor the one being manipulated
is consciously aware of the energy interactions except as vague
uneasinesses.
‘I don’t trust that person - I don’t know why - I just feel something
uncanny about her/him - can’t put my finger on it’ - this is how that
interaction is often felt and expressed.
The healer needs to recognize this feeling and identify it - and then
protect against the sapper.
As stated earlier - people who talk incessantly are generally energy
slurpers - they use the agency of their voice and the demanding of your
attention as ways to make you vulnerable to giving up your energy to
them.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR DEPRESSION:
1.
2.

Center.
Remind yourself to become unattached to the results of the
healing interaction - that you have no personal investment in
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the outcome of the therapy.
[Remind yourself in whatever way works for you that the
healing is a matter of divine intervention - that you are only the
conduit for the healing energies - not the source - that all
healing energies are - in the last analysis - coming from the
cosmos.]
3.

Send out a positive feeling to the healee - feelings such as
affection and caring.
[Send these feelings in an un-attached manner - expect nothing
back.]
[When you set limits upon the direction of the interaction
between you and the healee - remember this is an act of the will
- it must be intended - you will neutralize the draining effect of
the healee upon your energies.]

4.

Work over the heart chakra - bring a sense of deep caring - this
is not sentimentality.
[The depressed person must be allowed to work through the
depression if it is a result of some traumatic event in the recent
past.]
[If the depression is long-standing there must be
encouragement to come to grips with the internal problems in a
personal way.]
[Relief from the depression may require that the individual
sufferer make some changes in life-style or conditions - these
changes may need courage that seems beyond the individual’s
strength.]
[It must be made clear to the depressed person that she/he is
not alone.]
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5.

Unruffle the energy field at a relatively brisk rate for a short
time.
[This is needed to break up the sluggish energy patterns that
have set in unhelpful ways over a period of time.]

REFRAMING:
Reframing is looking at a situation as something which has meaning in
a certain context - and can have a different meaning in the different
context.
As an example: we generally look upon pain as something to be
avoided - and this is certainly the purpose of pain - that is - pain is
there to tell us that something in our lives needs changing and to give
us good reason to change.
But the pain itself does not have negative intentions - it is there as a
warning - and so it is a positive force in our lives - if we allow it to be.
If we heed the warning - and the healing takes place - and the pain is
relieved - then the purpose of the pain is fulfilled - and it was a good
purpose - therefore a positive effect can result from the pain.
If you start out with a negative attitude towards your pain - seeing it as
something without a useful purpose - that is one frame.
If you begin to think of the pain as something useful - then it can begin
to have positive outcomes - and your new way of seeing the pain is the
new frame in which the pain appears different than before.
To deal with the origins of the pain it is necessary to go back to the
time when the pain first originated - to the incidents that took place at
that time and which resulted in the pain that you now feel.
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You may have no conscious recollection of those episodes - if they are
painful enough to you then you will have blocked them out of your
memory.
You will likely remember some less traumatic incident that also caused
the same pain and for the same reason - but this is only because the
pain was not severe enough for you to block it out.
Going within - as in being a healer - will affect you with memories and
dreams that will bring this hidden material to the surface - and in this
way - if you deal with the pain - you will be able to let go of it - and of
the dis-ease that may be occurring as a result of this hidden - or occult material.
In inner child work we make a point of going deeply within - and of
dredging up the incidents that are causing pain - but we do not go it
alone.
The painful episode or episodes are faced with the help of the healer the healer accompanies the healee in her/his pain - the source of the
pain is acknowledged - and where forgiveness is needed it must be
given.
Often we hide certain incidents from ourselves because the individuals
who inflicted the pain were people whom we wanted desperately to
love - and upon whom we were dependent for our very lives.
We would suffer unbearable guilt if we were to face the facts and see
these loved ones in their true colors.
If the process has to be taken all the way to the early years of the
healee - this work is known as “inner child healing”.
We all carry our past with us every day of our lives - and the child that
we were at one time - in fact all the children that we were as we were
growing up - are still a part of our personalities - because they are
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memory patterns of energies that do not disintegrate.
Our conscious memory may fail - or it may submerge unpleasant
material in our unconscious to keep it hidden day-to-day - but these
energy patterns - no matter how deeply they are hidden - affect us even
when we do not become aware of them.
This truth - if acknowledged and dealt with - could make a dramatic
change in the way the world works.
Nations and individuals - whole civilizations - carry a burden of
unacknowledged pain - and the atrocities that sometimes make us
ashamed to be a part of the human race are the result of these
submerged agonies.

HEALING - TWO HEALERS FOR ONE HEALEE:
FOURTH SELF-EVALUATION
THERAPEUTIC TOUCH SCALE EXERCISE:
Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:
0
1
2
3
4

Not at all.
Once in a while.
Frequently.
Almost always.
All the time.

____

1.

I am more aware of my emotions.

____

2.

I set aside my emotions during healing.

____

3.

I have a sense of calmness - peace.

____

4.

I have a sense of inner strength.
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____

5.

I feel detached and purposeful.

____

6.

I feel an increase in sensitivity.

____

7.

I feel an increase in empathy.

____

8.

I feel an increase in compassion.

____

9.

Emotions of love and peace feel like
waves of energy going through me to the
healee.

____

10.

I am aware of the emotions of the healee
as different qualities of energy.

____

11.

I feel joy when healing.

____

12.

I trust that I have understanding at a
level other than my conscious experience.

BREATHING FOR PAIN REDUCTION:
Pain is a very personal experience - words cannot describe what is fel.t
Every individual is different in the perception of pain - both as to kind
and to severity.
Pain is an extremely personal sensation and experience - no words can
transmit what is actually being felt.
Each person has her/his own reaction to pain.
We may dislike pain - but it is primarily a protective mechanism - often
an early warning of danger.

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When we are less afraid of pain - and know that we can handle
whatever pain is coming - the pain tends to be experienced as less
severe than if there is fear of pain added to the actual pain.
It helps to focus the attention into other areas when pain is being
experienced - focusing on the pain will certainly increase the
experience of it.
Pain partly depends on certain muscular and mental tensions for its
existence - so - if these can be eliminated - the pain cannot hit with full
force.
Just relaxing will decrease the pain experienced.
If we can remember to change our breathing the instant that the pain
hits - this will not only eliminate much of the pain - but will also free
the mind from fear and tension.
Usually the sudden onset of pain has a tendency to take the attention
from other things and divert it toward the pain - but this may be
dangerous - since there may be an emergency situation connected with
the pain - and it may be very important to be able to keep the mind on
what is going on around the individual who is experiencing the pain.
There may be some immediate danger that requires complete alertness.
The stop-pain breath is useful in such circumstances:

STOP-PAIN BREATH
1.
2.

Inhale a total breath as soon as you feel pain.
Without pausing - immediately exhale forcefully through the
nostrils as if you were a bull getting ready to attack.
[Throughout the exercise the emphasis should be on strong
forceful exhalations that are longer in length than the
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inhalations - your diaphragm plays a vital role in this exercise.]
[The exhalations are literally pushed out by quickly contracting
the diaphragm - let the diaphragm collapse as far into the
stomach as possible until it can’t possibly push back any
farther - then - with the onrushing new inhalation let it recoil as
you take in as much air as you can hold.]
3.

Continue to breathe in and out with great force - literally
pushing the pain out of the body.
[Gradually begin to slow down the rhythm - taking longer and
deeper inhalations as the pain diminishes.]

EXERCISE TO SEND ENERGY THROUGH
A HEALEE AND DETECT IT BY ANOTHER HEALER HEALEE BLOCKING:
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Pick a partner to work with you as a healer - and also someone
to be the healee.
Have the healee take off her/his shoes.
Have the healee sit crosswise on a chair so that the healee’s
back is easily accessible.
Decide whether you or your partner will stand behind the
healee - the other partner will stand in front of the healee in
such a position that the healee’s feet can be easily reached.
Take a moment for you and your partner to center and the
healee to center.
[By centering - you and your partner become more keenly
aware of the energy flows - and the healee will maintain
balance while at the same time being aware of the energy flows
also.]

6.

The healer who stands behind the healee now places one hand
over each kidney.
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[The kidneys are on either side of the spinal column and just
above the hips but inside the lower ribcage.]
[For comfort the healer in front may wish to kneel or sit.]
7.

8.

The healer at the feet of the healee places her/his hands in such
a way that the energy centers (chakras) of the healee in the
bottom of the feet just under the arches are accessible to the
hand energy centers (chakras) of the healer.
The healer at the back then begins to send energy through the
healee from the kidneys and down into the healee’s feet - and
out through the foot chakras of the healee.
[To do this - visualize as strongly as you can - by firmly
focusing your attention - that the energy is flowing from the
hands into the kidneys and down the legs and into the feet into
the foot chakras - and from there out into the other healer’s
hand chakras.]
[You may want to increase the energy flow by matching your
breathing to the energy flow that you are visualizing - the
energy flowing in rhythm with your outbreath - or whatever
works.]
[Be careful to remain in a centered state - the flow will be
effortless - and the mind and body of the healer will remain
relaxed.]
[By focusing the attention on the end result - that is - the energy
flow from the foot chakras of the healee into the hand chakras
of the healer in front - this flow takes place easily.]

9.

The healer at the feet focuses attention on the energy fields near
the foot chakras - and the flow of the energy from the healee’s
foot chakras.

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[Any changes or differences in frequency or intensity of energy
flow are noted.]
[The flow is influenced by the healee - and this can be checked
by having the healee block the flow of energy by focusing on
blocking the energy for a few minutes at a time - the healer at
the kidneys and the healer at the feet will be able to detect when
this is being done.]
10.

11.

After this has been done - and the flow and cessation can be
verified by both healers - change positions with the healing
partner - and redo the exercise.
The person at the feet becomes the new healee - the healee
becomes the healer at the head - and the healer at the head
becomes the new healer at the feet.

DISCUSSION OF DIFFERENTIAL USE
OF THE HANDS IN HEALING:
Different healers report different things - but some general statements
can be made.
Most healers find that the non-dominant hand - the receiving hand acts as a standard against which the dominant hand can compare.
The non-dominant hand is the “listener” - it checks to see how the
dominant hand is faring in energy direction and modulation.
Also - the non-dominant hand draws the energy to the area that is in
need of energy - and it acts to distribute the energy - and it balances the
energy flow.

USING THE HAND CHAKRAS TO REBALANCE THE
HEALEE’S ENERGY FIELD - ABSENT HEALING:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Sit in a comfortable position and center.
Go back in memory to your last therapeutic touch session with
a healee.
Be with the healee in your mind’s eye - standing or sitting next
to the healee.
Feel the presence of the healee’s energy field.
Clearly visualize the interaction of your energy field with that
of the healee.
Feel your hand chakras respond to the energy field of the
healee
Decide on how you can best help the healee.
Begin to rebalance the healee’s energy field.
Pay particular attention to how your hand chakras are
functioning.
What information are you receiving from your hand chakras?
How are you using your dominant - sending - hand chakra?
How are you using your non-dominant - receiving hand
chakra?
Are the functions of your two hand chakras the same? Are they
different? If so - how?

BREATHING FOR FEAR REDUCTION:
During fear - breathing becomes quick and shallow - irregular or
almost arrested.
Rapid-fire breathing only continues to reinforce the anxiety and tremors
that accompany fear.
It is practically impossible to be afraid once we have regained slow and
normal respiration.
If we can catch our breathing before it runs away with itself we can
quickly reorient our thinking and begin to handle the situation with
greater logic and control.

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If you are suddenly startled and your breathing becomes quick and
shallow - chances are you’ll not be able to handle the situation - and
you may freeze from fear.
Take yourself in hand - acknowledge the fear - and begin to breathe for
it.
You may shake and shiver as much as you want - if your breathing can
be calmed down you will be in control.
As soon as your breathing settles down your perception of the situation
will change dramatically.
When breathing for fear the attention should be directed to the
inhalation - making it as even and slow as possible.

FEAR REDUCTION BREATH:
1.

Slowly inhale the total breath - making sure the breath is
smooth and steady.
[By controlling the inhalation you can prevent your body from
shaking or becoming immobilized.]
[As you inhale - give yourself the necessary support and
confidence by saying - ‘I can handle this situation’.]

2.

Exhale slowly and evenly.
[The important step here is slowing down the respiratory rate yet getting adequate amounts of oxygen into the system as
quickly as possible.]
[Just that first long inhalation can go quite far toward stopping
the full range of symptoms that accompany fear.]

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[Keep the breath under control and you will be able to act with
logic and without fear.]

CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION SICKNESS:
Chemotherapy and radiation are heroic measures that are applied
during critical phases of serious illness.
There are severe side-effects to most such treatments - since the
treatments are involved in killing cells in the body - and this is taken
seriously by the immune system.
So what can be done for these people?
About a week before chemotherapy or radiation sessions are expected
to begin is a good time to begin therapeutic touch treatments in
expectation of the effects of the medical procedures.
The therapeutic touch would best be applied to the areas of stress
reduction - stabilization of the mind and body system.
It is good advice to approach chemotherapy and radiation sickness with
the same cautions that are used in people who have visible carcinomas
or sarcomas.
Avoid directing the energies into the lesions - the sore areas containing
the cancers.
If direct touch is done - it would be best to take the treatments in short
and gently stages.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH IN ADVANCE OF
CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION TREATMENT:
1.

Stabilize the solar plexus chakra and the heart chakra by
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sending in the energy of clear light.
[This will counteract the fear and anxiety of the healee.]
2.

Place your hand chakras on the healee’s breastbone and direct
energy into the healee’s immune system.
[The thymus gland is the main engine of the immune system of
the body - it lies near the heart in the breastbone.]

3.
4.

Send light of yellow-gold color into the spleen area.
Send light of emerald green into the liver area.
[Work to integrate the two energies of these two organs - and to
balance the energies so that the flow will be smooth.]

5.
6.

Send golden-yellow light into the solar plexus area.
Send golden-yellow light into the area of the adrenals and
kidneys.
[Pay particular attention to the adrenals.]
[This will help to strengthen and stabilize the whole solar
plexus complex.]

7.

Devise a schedule of adequate daily fluid intake.
[This will make sure that the healee is properly hydrated before
the chemotherapy or radiation therapy are begun - essential to
the well-being of the healee after the treatments.]

8.

Work out meditative and imaginary exercises for the healee to
do as homework even when you cannot be there.
[These would best be worked out together with the healee.]

9.

Teach basic therapeutic touch to relatives - friends - buddies 168

10.

anyone who is willing to help the healee.
Continue the therapeutic touch sessions throughout the regime
of chemotherapy or radiation treatments.

DISCUSSION OF THE USE OF THERAPEUTIC TOUCH IN
ABDOMINAL OPERATIONS AND CESAREAN SECTIONS:
It is a good idea to start in with therapeutic touch at least a few days
before the healee is slated for surgery.
After the operation therapeutic touch is useful in re-starting the
peristalses - and it is also useful to alleviate the nausea and vomiting
that may ensue - as well as for post-operative anxiety and pain - and
possible depression.

It can also help with restoring fluid balances in the body - swelling can
be brought down.
Therapeutic touch also reduces the sting of injections.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH TECHNIQUES FOR
ABDOMINAL OPERATIONS:
1.
2.
3.

Center.
Unruffle the aura.
Send blue energy into the solar plex area.
[This will help reduce pain and discomfort.]

4.

Work over the heart area.
[This will reduce stress and anxiet.y]

5.

Work over the liver.
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[This will reduce toxins.]
6.

Work over the thymus area.
[This will stimulate the healee’s immune system.]
[At this point you are trying to regain some measure of comfort
through elicitation of the relaxation response - this will promote
rest and sleep - prime essentials for healing to progress.]
[Check for the point at which the discomfort has subsided.]

7.

Using the energy of yellow-gold light - begin work over the
spleen area and the adrenal-kidney area of the solar plexus.
[This will promote an increase in intake of the pranic energy.]

8.

Work to move the systemic energy flow to and through the foot
chakras.

9.

Teach the healee some breathing exercises to help ventilate and
clear the lungs.
After a few days of bed - the healee will really appreciate a
light massage of the back and feet.

10.

[You can use cedar or juniper oil in the massage - this is
refreshing for someone who has been bedfast.
11.
12.

Simple joint exercises can increase comfort by increasing
circulation.
A neck massage and scalp massage are also good to do.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH IN HOSPICE WORK:
Death is a natural and a beautiful end to tenure of the physical body in
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the three-dimensional plane that we call our universe.
As such - it is not to be feared - it is to be accepted with grace and
dignity as part of a divine plan that has much more in store for us than
this short life in three dimensions.
The fear of death - and what is thought of as its unknown dimensions into which our guilts and our low self-esteem pour so much power - is
not a necessary concomitant to the ending of physical life.
Many cultures that we think of as much lower than our own - and this
prideful and power dependent thinking is what causes most of the
problems in the three-dimensional existence at this time in the history
of the civilizations of this world - have a much more mature and
spiritually advanced attitude and knowledge of the meaning and power
of death and dying.
For them death is nothing more than a doorway - a sublime gateway.
All the great world religions stand behind such a view of life and death.
The most powerful healers are unanimous in this view - they do not
fear death - they see it as a carefully created friend that puts a final seal
on the efforts of this plane.
As a healer - if you can honestly say that you do not fear death - you
will walk in all your ways and being as a light - no matter how dark the
corridors of the institutions in which you meet the dying for their final
appointment of this life.
You can walk with joy in these corridors - you can carry the light - you
can be the light.
This is a great privilege - and it carries with it a grave responsibility and a huge reward.

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‘Blessed are the hospice workers - for they stand in the doorway - and
in this doorway shall they meet god’.
And God himself shall bless their efforts and their love - it goes right to
the heart of the creator.
To live without fear in the sight of God is the highest calling - and it is
its own reward.
When you do therapeutic touch on anyone who is in the dying process
- the fact of the dying is not the important fact.
It is the healing that can take place under such circumstances - the
healing of the dying individual as well as the healing of all those in the
immediate or extended circle of the one who is dying.
For this reason - family members need to be taught therapeutic touch they can do so much to alleviate suffering and take away guilt and
anger - which under the circumstances are especially prevalent and
damaging.
It is also good to do therapeutic touch on members of a dying healee’s
family - they are being traumatized by the events unfolding before
them.
Then - if they can be taught therapeutic touch - they will also be able to
experience and appreciate the unique intimacy that this affords them and the growth that they can manifest in sensitivity which will stand
them in good stead in interpersonal relationships in the future.
It is also good for the family members - when they know that the dying
person is ready to let go - to give ‘permission’ for the dying person to
‘let go’ and leave this plane.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR THE DYING HEALEE:
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1.
2.
3.

Center.
Sit or stand quietly as the time for the transition approaches sitting is advised since the process may take some time.
Touch the healee’s hand chakra - left or right - while at the
same time also touching the area of the heart chakra.
[There is a strong connection between the heart chakra and
physical touch anywhere on the body.]

4.
5.
6.

Send a sense of deep caring and love to the healee.
Send the sense of joy and well-wishing on the journey that will
take but a moment - but which is full of changes.
Send a sense of peace and permission to go.
[The sense of peace can be sent as the color yellow-gold and
blue - send on low energies.]

The healer needs to be the emotionally stable one - this will give others
the energy to bear their own feelings.
This is a service to the living as well as to those who are entering
another dimension and level of consciousness.

INNER CHILD WORK USED TO AID IN HEALING:
When the healer senses or is told by the healee that there is a basis in
the emotions for the healee’s problem - this root cause often lies in the
life of the healee from a time in childhood or early adulthood.
For healing to be possible - this root cause must be discovered and the
painful experience that began the dis-ease process in the first place must be re-lived in such a way that reframing and healing can take
place.
Often what is needed is a new understanding of an earlier trauma - or
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an understanding of the individuals and their motives for the actions
that were so hurtful.
When the understanding comes it may lead to compassion rather than
outright judgment - and then forgiveness can come into the picture and
the pain can be let go.
It should be understood clearly by the healer that the forgiveness is not
there for the individual who knowingly or unknowingly inflicted the
pain - forgiveness has nothing to do with ‘letting’ anyone ‘get away
with it’ - whatever ‘it’ is.
The forgiveness is valuable for the one who needs to forgive - she/he is
the great beneficiary of the forgiveness.
The pain can be finally laid to rest to do no more harm in the life of the
suffering individual.
Whether the individual who inflicted the pain knows or cares about the
forgiveness is secondary - it is pleasant to know that one’s hurts are
finally recognized - but - if this does not happen - there is no real loss.
The act of forgiving and letting go frees the spirit and mind - and
ultimately the body - of the forgiver.
This freedom is like a rebirth - ‘behold - all things are become new’
The entire universe can change in the blink of an eye when recognition
of this spiritual truth is finally attained.
This change - this rebirth - has a name.
It is called reframing.
The following exercise is designed to demonstrate the use of guided
imagery in uncovering and releasing the pain of our childhood that is
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still causing emotional outbursts today - often unexplained outbursts.
Inner child work is often done in the form of guided imagery - this
allows the healee to face the inner pain in a secure and comfortable
environment - in the company of the healer.

INNER CHILD MEDITATION:
The inner child work today will be in the form of a meditation - since
each of us will be imagining a series of exercises in his/her own mind and this is best done in a quiet - meditative state.
Take a few moments to become comfortable now - and allow yourself
to sink into a deeply peaceful state - all the concerns of the day are
receding now into a quiet - distant - place - where they will be stored
until you are ready to take them up again.
As you continue to sink down - deeper and deeper - into a state of rest
and peace - quiet and rest - and as you become aware of your breath listening to the pattern of your breathing - a peaceful - gentle - deep
breathing.
And as you continue to breathe ... in ... out ... in ... out ... in ... out ...
And as you leave the everyday reality behind - you become aware of
another reality - a new reality - taking form all about you - and as this
reality builds up - and as this reality presents itself to you - more and
more clearly now - you begin to sense - and perhaps to see - a wide
vista - a spacious and beautiful meadow.
And you are in the meadow - and it is surrounded on all sides - by an
endless panorama - of rolling green hills - under sunny blue skies skies inhabited by banks of summer clouds.
And there are paths in the meadow where you find yourself now 175

many paths - paths meandering in graceful curves - around the shallow
hills - and up into the hills - and down again - far into the distance under the fleecy summer clouds.
And now - as your awareness sharpens - you begin to see that there are
gardens - on either side of the paths - gardens that stretch out under the
sky - on both sides of the paths - as they curve gently around the hills.
And as you look about you - and ahead of you - you see a path that
somehow feels like a path that you would like to walk down somehow it feels and looks like a comfortable path to walk down - and
so - begin to walk down the path that you have chosen.
And as you walk along - you notice that the gardens are all different in
some ways - and yet also somehow the same - and they all have
flowers growing in them - and they all have fruits growing in them and - they all have weeds growing in them.
Perhaps the flowers remind you of happy thoughts - and of happy times
- of your childhood - of innocent games played joyfully and with full
attention.
And the fruits may remind you of good results from wise and happy
decisions and actions in your childhood.
And the weeds may remind you - somehow - of the unhappy times - of
the angers of your childhood - and of the fears - of feelings of
unworthiness - of feelings of envy - or self-doubt - of mistrust of others
- of lost innocence - of vanity - of uncertainty - of effort wasted on
inconsequential things.
And of opportunities missed - and of things that went wrong.
As you walk down the path - smell the fragrance of the summer air - of
the many flowers - of the various fruits - in the gardens that you pass
on your way down the path.
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And as you walk along and observe the many gardens - begin to look
for the garden that is your own.
And now - as you continue your peaceful walk along the path - see in
the distance - a garden that has a very special attraction for you - it is
very familiar to you - you feel that you know just how it will look - as
you approach it along the path - and you recognize it - even before you
reach this garden.
It is your very own garden - the garden that you planted so long - long ago - and this is the garden that you have been tending - sometimes
with greater care - sometimes with less care - through the many ages of
time - since you became a conscious being.
And now - you have reached your very own garden - the garden of
your past.
Now - still in a state of comfort and rest and peace - find a place in the
garden - sit or recline - as you wish - continue to be very comfortable begin to lose your awareness of the garden about you - and begin to
move back in time - back - with every breath - in ... out ... back - back.
Move back in time - even as you continue in a state of comfort and
peace - regress now - year by year - decade by decade - regress until
you are an infant again - to some time when you were less than
eighteen months old.
Imagine yourself surrounded by a healing white light.
You are less than eighteen months old now - look down at your hands see your hands - feel your hands - tiny hands - reach out and touch
something with your hands - touch many things.
How does it feel to touch things with your hands.
Look down at your legs - stretch them - bend them at the knee - how
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do they feel to you.
Now get into a crawling position and move around the space that you
find yourself in - what does it feel like to move around like this.
Look about you - how do things look from this perspective - what are
your feelings as you do these exercises.
Imagine yourself - on the floor - eating a bowl of mashed potatoes and
applesauce - feed yourself with your hands - what are the sensations of
eating - what does the texture of the food feel like to your hands and
your mouth as you feed yourself with your hands - what does it feel
like to have a mess of food all over your face and hands.
What images appear to you - what memories emerge out of your past do you sense any fears - do you sense any joys - what are your
feelings.
Pause for a short time now - and - think of yourself - or see yourself as the adult your are today.
Your memories may emerge as metaphors - you may abhor some
particular place or situations - such as the sound of people disagreeing
- and you might think that you have a memory of being threatened by
some creature that you cannot describe as anything that is at present
living on the earth plane in a physical form - and this may represent the
way you felt about the arguing of people close to you.
Does any symbolic image come to you about how you felt at that time
in your life - an image that might stand as a metaphor for how you felt.
Now - once again - allow yourself to become less than eighteen months
of age - in this lifetime - and continue with the following exercises.
Imagine yourself - as an infant - holding a ripe peach in your least
dominant hand - now - although you have no teeth - try to bite into the
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peach - gnaw the way you did when you were an infant - how does it
feel to eat and yet have no teeth.
How does it feel to make a mess - peach all over your face - juice
running down your chin - hands sticky and slippery from the juice of
the peach.
Imagine that you are taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon - a
music box soothed you to sleep - it is still going.
Wake up now - imagine yourself making cooing sounds to yourself as
you play after waking.

Imagine yourself with a bottle of juice - a stuffed animal in your arm imagine that your eyes are closed - place the nipple on the bottle in
your mouth and drink the juice through the nipple.
As you do this exercise - what do you feel - does it feel easy to suck
the juice - does it feel difficult - does it feel comforting - does it feel
lonely.
Again - pause - and see yourself as the adult you are at present.
Consider now that the infant carries pain - just as you carry pain - but it
also carries joy and wonder - and a sense of newness.
In the exercises you have just done - what have you learned about your
infant self - and about how you continue to carry these traits of the
infant with you to this day.
Consider for a few moments your feelings about intimacy - do you
welcome intimacy - do you fear intimacy.
Do you feel any shame - any sense of being unworthy of love.

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Remember - if you lack trust - this is not something you were born with
- you must have experienced a lack of trustworthiness in your
caregivers - and this was experienced by the infant that you still carry
within you.
But consider also - that you are now an adult - and that part of you the infant self - that part of you that still carries the fear and the shame
- whatever the feelings may be - that part of you is separate and distinct
from your present adult self.
As an adult - you can now respond to the discomforts of the infant self
- and work to heal the wounds that were incurred in infancy.
And it is time now for you to meet the infant within.
Return your awareness now to the garden of your past - spreading all
around you - and take the time to become familiar again with every
aspect of this garden of your past.
Again surround yourself with the protective white light - see it as a
glowing white sphere spreading in all directions from you - as you sit
or lie in your garden.
Note the smells and colors of the garden - feel the sense of peace and
safety.
Become aware now that there is another presence in the garden with
you - and your attention is directed to - and you become aware of - a
beautiful wooden cradle.
Look into the cradle now - and see a baby.
Realize and recognize that the baby is your own infant self - the infant
within you.
Pause and notice your feelings.
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Do you sense the total vulnerability of the infant - lying there in the
cradle.
What is the infant doing - is it sleeping - is it crying - is it cooing - or is
it lying there quietly waiting for someone to appear and take notice of
it.
Reach down and touch the infant.
How does the infant respond to your touch.
Is there anything that the infant needs - see if there is something - and if
there is - try to discover what it is that the infant needs.
Do not use words - since the infant does not understand language - but
try in some way to convey the knowledge to the infant that you are its
future.
You will be able to do this telepathically - if that is what you want to
do - or you may be able to use body language - or the sensations that
come to you intuitively.
Try to inform the infant that you are the proof that he/she has survived.
Tell the infant that you will help it to heal - to rescue it from any
loneliness and fear that it may be experiencing.
If you - as the adult self - have any fears about closeness with others or any shame about being so vulnerable - or any worries about being
abandoned - this infant in the cradle is carrying those feelings.
Spend a few moments with this infant within you.
When you are ready - assure the infant that your work with its pain is
now beginning - the hurt is over now - he/she will not be left alone
again.
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Pause for a short time now - and - think of yourself - or see yourself as the adult you are today - sitting at a writing table of some sort - with
writing materials of your choice before you.
Write whatever seems appropriate to write - no one but you will need
to see or know what you have written.
When you have written all that you wish to write at this time.
Turn your awareness back to the infant in the cradle - and gently
continue communicating with the infant - remember that the infant is
the child within you - and that the answers to all questions that you
might wish to ask are to be found within.
Ask your inner infant what his/her favorite color is - a favorite story - a
favorite lullaby.
Now - see yourself looking out through the infant's eyes - look around what does the infant wish to touch.
If it is safe to do so - reach out and touch.
Now - ask your infant within to tell you about his/her pain and fear of
being abandoned - about feeling unsafe - about feeling unprotected and
afraid.
Ask the infant what he/she needs most from you right now.
Ask the infant how he/she feels about you - does he/she feel abandoned
or ignored by you - if so - why does the infant feel that way.
Explain to the infant that you are going to reclaim him/her - and that
this means that he/she will never be alone again - that you will make
sure that the basic needs are met.
Explain to the inner infant that he/she will be able to develop trust in
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you as the inner adult - that you will keep him/her safe and protected.
Ask your baby whether it likes to be held - whether it is tired or hungry
or wet.
Find out whether there is anything that the inner infant wants to know
about you.
Continue the communication for some time - if you wish - asking
questions and having questions asked of you.
You may wish to sing a lullaby - or play some simple game with the
baby - do whatever you wish to do - for as long as you wish to do so.
Really get to know the child within - the baby that is less than eighteen
months of age.
When you have done all that you wish to do today - return your
awareness to the garden of your past around you.
Spend a few more moments in the garden of your past - reviewing what
has happened here - and - when you are ready - you will find yourself moving - at your own rate - and in your own time - forward into the
here and now - and as you move - realize that you will feel very
energized - very peaceful - very comfortable.
And as you come back fully into the here and now - you will be ready
and eager to continue the work that must be done - and you will feel in
every way ready to continue the work.

HEALING - ONE-ON-ONE:
FIFTH SELF-EVALUATION THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
SCALE EXERCISE:

183

Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:
0
1
2
3
4

Not at all.
Once in a while.
Frequently.
Almost always.
All the time.

____

1.

I feel expansiveness.

____

2.

I see spontaneous mental images that let me know
what is going on in the healie.

____

3.

I am more aware of the healee and less aware of
activity going on in the surrounding environment.

____

4.

When I focus attention on my hands and my
feelings the external environment seems to recede.

____

5.

When I am focusing on the therapeutic touch
process my mind seems to split into one part that is
primarily attending to the healing process and
another part that simply remains in touch with
events in the environment.

____

6.

My mental perceptions seem clearer.

____

7.

I have a sense of the therapeutic touch process
being a totally integrated - flowing - process.

DISCUSSION ON MODULATING
HUMAN ENERGY FIELDS:
Color is often used in therapeutic touch for the modulating of the
healee’s energy field.
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In lesson two we defined ‘modulation’ of energy as sending energy
from just below the shoulder of the healer and out through the healer’s
dominate hand chakra into the healee and out again into the healer’s
non-dominant hand chakra.
In this present case ‘modulating’ is defined to mean working with the
healee’s own energy field - the healer does not inject energy into the
healee’s energy field.
The purpose of the modulation is still to move energy around or make
it behave in positive ways - but it is the healee’s own energy that is
being worked with.
So now ‘modulation’ is used in the human energy field that is already
there to change its characteristics.
A turbulent flow of energy is smoothed - a stagnant energy is made to
flow - a too strongly flowing energy relative to the rest of the field is
damped down - energy flow is redirected - it is a re-distribution of the
energy field that is already there.
When the healer is working with the energy field of the healee to
modulate that field the effect is a gentle one.
The method of modulation includes the visualization of color - or sound
(as in music) - or emotional states.
When the healer identifies with a particular color - thinking of or
feeling that color - it becomes a part of the healer’s energy state - and it
then affects the brain-wave pattern of the healer - and thus can be
passed on into the brain-wave state of the healee.
Music and symbols and emotional states can be used in the same way.

HEALING CHARACTERISTICS OF COLOR:
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1.

Blue:
[Cool - quiet - composed - waveless - peaceful - orderly coherent - tranquil - in a state of grace.]

2.

Yellow:
[Vitalizing - highly mobile - invigorating - a pure energy stimulating - active - quickening.]

3.

Green:
[Equilibrium - dynamic stability - organized - balanced.]

4.

Pink:
[Affectionate - tender - loving - sympathetic - gentle - giving a
sense of enfoldment.]

5.

Violet:
[Blessing - exalted - devotional - aspiring - dedicational.]

6.

Clear light:
[Clarity - accessibility - translucence - permeability unobstructing - unconditional.]

BREATHING FOR ENHANCEMENT
OF MOOD BY COLOR:
Color can affect our mood and sense of well-being.
Using color in our environment and clothing - we can have greater
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control over our moods.
Color can be incorporated into our breathing to help us soothe the mind
and relax the body.
Imagine a pleasant color that you can like and visualize this color
surrounding you.
As you breathe - inhale this color and let it penetrate every part of your
body - bringing tranquility and vitality.

Your mind can become focused on pure color rather than scattered
thoughts.

BREATHING FOR ENHANCEMENT
OF MOOD BY COLOR:
COLOR BREATHING:
If you do not feel you would like to select a color to breathe - then just
close your eyes before the exercise begins and let a color come to you.
That will be just the color you need to work with at this time.
1.
2.
3.

Sit comfortably in a chair with your eyes closed.
Exhale completely.
Select the color that you desire to inhale.
[Visualize the air tinted with this color - deeply inhale the total
breath.]
[If - for example - you are inhaling green - you may see
yourself sitting surrounded by the most beautiful shade of
green.]
187

[As you inhale - visualize this green entering every muscle bone - and nerve cell of your body - bringing radiant color to
your entire body.]
4.

5.
6.

Hold the breath for ten counts - let yourself become dissolved in
the colored mist that now surrounds your body and is also
being held within.
Slowly exhale through rounded lips.
Repeat three times.

BREATHING TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKING:
We are all faced with difficult decisions at one time or another whether to get married to a certain person - how to deal with a problem
- how to deal with devastating emotions or relationships - or what to do
about a serious health problem.
What we need then is a way to explore all the alternatives - logically
and objectively.
The vision breath sets up a mental laboratory where you can
experiment and analyze the possibilities.

DECISION BREATH:
1.

Sitting comfortably in a chair - close your eyes.
[Imagine that on the inside of your forehead is a large movie
screen.]

2.
3.
4.
5.

Slowly inhale the total breath for ten counts - aim the breath to
the very center of the forehead.
Hold for ten counts.
Exhale for ten counts.
Continue this rhythm of breathing.
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[As you do so - picture on the television screen the event in
question.]
For example:
[If you are not sure which job to take - picture yourself walking
into the office - talking to the boss - working during the day and
going home.]
[Notice how you feel - whether any problems arise - whether or
not you are happy.]
[It is not necessary to try to control the picture on the screen it will take care of itself.]
6.

When the film ends - keep you eyes closed for another minute.
[If you wish you may take a look at another situation - or
review the one you just looked at.]

PERSONS WHO ARE HIV+:
It appears that the aids virus is a retrovirus - which means that can take
the normal flow of genetic information and make it reverse itself.
Aids is the result of immune problems that have been progressing
silently for years in the individual.
To restate this:
In the individual who comes down with aids there has been an immune
system disorder for years - this disorder has lain hidden - lurking making the disorder more acute with each new stress that the organism
has been suffering.

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The white blood cells - (the eaters of the diseased cells and also of the
carriers of the disease into the body) - may themselves be the vessels in
which the aids virus takes up residence when it enters the body.
In this way the first line of the body’s defense system is compromised
before there is even an outcry from the immune system - which has
already been weakened by excessive stress.
This stress can be physical - or mental and emotional - anything to
which the body will respond with fear - with the flight-or-fight
syndrome - any perceived threat.
It is interesting to note that any perceived threat - which should be met
with strengthened resistance against the threat has the side effect that it
weakens the systems that might respond to the threat.
These factors are under the control of the individual - there are threatreducing measures - meditation comes to mind here.
Therapeutic touch seems mainly effective in treating the secondary the opportunistic infections that result from full-blown aids - and even
these have not always been very successful.
The immune system of aids sufferers is immensely overworked.
Such sufferers are very fatigued - and they can only absorb small
amounts of prana energy - the vital life-force energy.
Therapeutic touch is best done in short and frequent sessions with
these individuals.
Aids is the tragedy of our times - working with people with aids will
test and tax every quality of the healer.
The emotional and spiritual resources needed to deal with the extent of
the suffering are far out of proportion to those needed for other
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suffering - and a strong constitution as well as a strong belief system
are essential for this work.
This belief system must have the strength to see good in everything even suffering - and faith in a power that deals justly even in the
apparent injustice of horrendous suffering - a power that loves and
serves unconditionally no matter what the outer appearance may be.
A deep inner-directed sense of divinity must be a part of the make-up
of the healer who goes out into this suffering on an on-going basis.
The healer who will be attending to the needs of individuals with aid is
well-advised to seek out a strong community of support when she/he
goes out to do therapeutic touch in the aids community.
Some of the symptoms of aids can be treated successfully with
therapeutic touch.

AIDS SYMPTOMS THAT CAN BE TREATED WITH
THERAPEUTIC TOUCH:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Elevated temperatures.
Nausea and vomiting.
Diarrhea.
Headache.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR
ELEVATED TEMPERATURES:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Center.
Moderately unruffle the energy field.
Use blue energies to modulate the entire energy field.
Use cotton pads charged with healing energy - same as you
would use cool compresses.
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Compresses of cool - diluted alcohol or light colognes may also be
used.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR NAUSEA AND VOMITING:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Center.
Lightly place the palm of one hand on the healee’s forehead
and the other at the nape of the neck to inhibit retching.
Get the healee as comfortable as possible.
Modulate the energy field of the healee in the solar plexus area
with blue color energy.
[Tthis will stabilize the area.]

5.
6.
7.

As the seizures lessen - unruffle the energy field.
Work to increase energy flow to and out through the foot
chakras.
Work over the heart chakra to calm and support this area.
[Send thoughts of peace and love.]

8.
9.
10.

When the spasms cease - help the healee into a comfortable
position.
Cover with a light blanket.
Allow the healee to rest or nap.

When the electrolytes become unbalanced in the body - the fluids will
also unbalance - and in severe cases this will show itself as diarrhea.
The convulsive gastrointestinal spasms will exhaust the patient of aids.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH IN THE TREATMENT OF
DIARRHEA:
1.

Center.
192

2.
3.

Stabilize the solar plexus chakra with blue energy into the
healee’s energy field.
Send blue energy also into the liver and spleen areas.
[This will help to lessen the spasms also - just as step two will
do.]

4.

Encourage the healee to rest - and to sleep if possible.

Therapeutic touch works best for headaches caused by stress - tension
headaches - and those caused by response to environmental conditions
- such as the lowered barometric pressure just before a thunderstorm.
Still - there is some help from therapeutic touch when used with
headaches caused by the aids virus infection.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH FOR AIDS HEADACHE:
1.
2.
3.

Center.
Lightly unruffle the energy field over the head of the aids
healee.
Unruffle the field over the eyes - the neck - the shoulders.
[Use short - rapid - gentle movements of the hands.]

4.

Rest your hand chakras over the eye sockets very lightly for a
minute of two.
[This works best if the healer can stand behind the healee while
doing this.]

5.
6.

Send energies in the blue color into the neck and shoulders.
Lightly massage the neck and shoulder areas.
[This will help to relieve congested energy flows.]

193

7.

Use energies in the blue color over the solar plexus chakra.
[This is especially necessary if the headache has been
prolonged - or if there is nausea as the result of the headache.]

8.
9.

As the congestion clears - modulate the entire energy field of
the healee with blue color.
When the relaxation response takes hold there will be an
opportunity to allow the healee to rest or sleep.
[This is the most potent of regenerators.]

COAT HANGER EXERCISE:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

Cut two wire coat hangers in such a way that the curved handle
at the top and one of the sloping sides are removed.
Straighten out each cut hanger so that the sloping side and
bottom wire are at right angles to each other.
Take two 3”x 5” cards - roll each parallel along its longer side
- now tape so that you have two cylinders 5” long.
Slip the cylinders onto the shorter arm of each of two metal
right angles that you made with the coat hanger wire.
Bend the tips of these sides that come through the cylinders at
right angles - so that the hangers will stay in place inside the
cylinders.
Now have your partner lie on her/his back in a comfortable
relaxed position with hands at her/his sides.
[You may have your partner stand at ease if that is more
desirable for both of you.]

7.

Pick up one of the rods in each hand - with your hands over the
cardboard cylinders.
[The cylinders are meant to keep the hands free from any
pressure you might inadvertently apply on the rods.]
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8.

Hold the rods lightly in front of you with your arms slightly
extended - so that your elbows do not rest on the trunk of your
body.
[The long arms of the rods should point directly in front of
you.]

9.

The rods will move freely in the cylinders
[This movement is due mostly to the gravitational field - and in
order to prevent this movement the long arms of the rods must
be kept parallel to the floor.]
[If you dip them - they will respond to the g-field and start to
circle again - this will necessitate you keeping your eyes on the
rods to make sure that they don’t dip - a third person to watch
that this does not happen is handy - if available.]

10.

The rods will cross over each other - or point at each other if
they are held too far apart - at five specific parts of the body.
[These parts of the body are: - the forehead - the throat - the
solar plexus - the knees - and the ankles]

11.

Holding onto the rods as described above - stand about a foot
beyond the head of your companion.
[Unless you have by chance happened upon an electrical
circuit or water pipes under the flooring - the rods will point
right in front of you.]

12.

13.

Now - keeping your hands and therefore the rods in the same
position - slowly and steadily move along the side of your
companion toward his or her feet - remembering to keep the
long arms of the rods parallel to the floor.
As you move down the side of your partner - note whether the
195

rods cross each other over the areas noted above - they do in
about 80% of the cases tried.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH AND CONJOINT PRACTICES:
Some other healing modalities that therapeutic touch can be
successfully used with are:
1.
2.

Physiotherapy.
Massage therapy.
[Both of the above go well with therapeutic touch in the
alleviation of stress-related problems - tension headaches - low
back pain - circulatory problems - constipation.]

3.
4.

Shiatsu.
Acupressure.
[Both of the above go well with therapeutic touch in the
treatment of sinusitis - digestive problems - muscular cramps insomnia - menstrual or menopausal problems.]

5.

Yoga:
[Works well with therapeutic touch for - bronchitis - asthma varicose veins - high and low blood pressure - extreme fatigue and anxiety reactions.]

6.

Homework exercises:
[Therapeutic touch works well with imagery exercises for
- hysteria - depression - panic syndrome - and during
labor and delivery.]

FIVE LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS:
196

1.

2.

One level of consciousness allows the healer to become aware of
temperature differences - this is the most commonly experienced
level of consciousness.
One level of consciousness allows the healer to become aware of
the drawing of the hand chakras to a particular area of the
healee’s energy field - like a “pull” or a “push”.
[The feelings in this consciousness may also resemble feelings of
congestion - too much energy or a blockage - also pressure or
fullness - all of which are related to congestion - and imbalance.]

3.

4.
5.

One level of consciousness allows the healer to become aware of
‘tingling’ - or of ‘burstings of bubbles’ - or of ‘pins and needles’
- or of ‘little electric shocks’.
One level of consciousness allows the healer to become aware of
‘rhythmic pulsations’ in the energy field of the healee.
One level of consciousness allows the healer to become aware of
insights that are intuitive - these are not related to the five
physical senses - they are just ‘knowing’.
[The healer may just suddenly ‘know’ where the healing is
needed - what the roots of the problem are - even when the pain
presents itself as a ‘pain in the neck’ - it may be related to a
relationship rather than a physical injury.]
[Such ‘knowing’ can be very insightful - but it also needs to be
given a ‘reality check’ - just like all the others.]

So - attempt to detect the energy fields of all living things about you humans are good to work with - so are pets - and trees - especially
conifers and eucalyptus - or aloe vera plants.
Your garden and your home will provide you with a great deal of
experience in detecting energy fields - if you will make the effort.

197

It is also possible and desirable to learn to sense the emotions of others
- without words being needed.
Words - language - have the ability to act as shrouds or hedges against
the expression of emotions - often people talk a great deal to avoid
being sensed by others.
When an individual has a low self-image - or is afraid of being
recognized for the lonely or sad individual that she/he is - this
individual may use a screen of words to hide behind.
This screen can work - because it may detract the attention of the
observer from what is going on within the individual.
Of course - other individuals attempt to hide behind a wall of silence.
To an astute observer of the human energy field neither of these
attempted ‘stonewalls’ is an impenetrable barrier.
The emotional state is directly connected to the health of the individual
- so it is necessary to be able to detect the emotions of others in order
to be able to heal effectively.

REVIEW OF HEALING INFORMATION:
Do not heal when you are not feeling well or when your energy is low.
If there is something going on in the life of the healer that distresses
her/him in any way - something that makes it difficult or impossible to
center properly - (perhaps a pain in the body - or the pain of a
relationship - or even an unhealed memory) - it is advisable not to
attempt to heal another individual until this problem has subsided.
To heal under these circumstances is very likely to be detrimental to
both the healer and the healee.
198

Remember always to protect yourself when healing - even when just
talking to someone - place the white light around you - and/or say a
little prayer.
It is important to remain in a state where you are calm - without
barriers - but still not accepting energy flow of negative energies
directed towards yourself - the healer - whether intention or not.
When you start to heal - picture the healee as perfect - as whole - the
way god sees her/him.
In this way your own way of looking at people will heal you into
seeing the way god does - and that is what is meant by becoming near
to god.
It can be useful to match your own breathing with that of the living
organism that you are attempting to ‘get in tune with’.
Watch the breathing of the individual - begin to breath in the same
pattern - this ‘Breathing attunement’ can make the energy field
attunement more close and reliable.
In an unhealed individual the breathing pattern will need to be
improved.
And by entraining your breathing with that of the healee - you can
begin to move the pattern into a more healthy pattern - as the healee
begins to follow your pattern without being aware of this.

PUTTING ALL THE ASPECTS OF HEALING TOGETHER:
1.

Centering:
[This is the entry point for the healing process - the state of
consciousness that centering produces is one of deep inner
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quietness - a state where time becomes irrelevant - a state where
self-discovery and an awareness of the transpersonal becomes
possible.]
[In this state the healer knows about and is deeply present for
the suffering healee - but at the same time is also aware that the
sorrowful conditions are a part only of the finite aspect of the
individual - the infinite aspects remain above the limited
appearance of the present moment.]
2.

Assessment:
[Provides clues to the healee’s problems - these clues depend
upon who you - the healer - are.]
[Others may pick up different clues - to the same or different
conditions.]
[No one healer’s perceptions are necessarily more right than
those of any other.]

3.

Energy rebalancing:
[The aim of rebalancing is to support the energy system of the
healee - and to guide the healee in facilitating the healee’s own
energy flow and revitalizing the healee’s own immune system the healee in fact heals her/himself.]

4.

Energy modulation:
[In the modulation process the healer is mainly dealing with the
healee’s energy system - it is a process of damping down - of
toning down - or of vitalizing or strengthening the energy system
- or of stimulating the flow within the energy system - or else a
new rhythm is established - or the pattern is changed in some
way.]
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5.

Energy unruffling:
[During this phase the healer is attempting to clear turbulences in
the healee’s energy field - this is a process of smoothing clearing and freeing the energy so that it can flow in a clean
unruffled motion.]
[The whorls and whirlpools and roughnesses in the field are due
to emotional stress - to ambivalence about decisions or actions to anxiety - or to fear.]
[If untreated these unevenesses in the energy field may become
psychosomatic generators of conditions such as hypertension.]
[This unruffling can be explicit - as the movement of energy out
of a congested neck - if it has become stagnant - and moving it
out via the spine and then down the long bones - and out of the
foot chakras - or laterally into the periphery of the energy field
where it can dissipate.]

In the therapeutic touch interaction very fine energies are being
accessed - they may not be accessible to your gross senses - so this
process of becoming ‘attuned’ may take considerable time.
Whatever the time frame over which the sensitization takes place - one
thing remains the same and is the same for all healers - the process
requires going within.
Unless there is a going within - there will be no accessing of these
sensitivities.
Because of this fact we - as healers - must be willing to go within - as
deeply as possible at any given time.
This going within will begin to bring self-knowledge - and that can be
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painful and require healing at some deep levels of the healer’s being.
When we go within we become aware that there are many levels to our
inward being - and these levels correspond to levels of consciousness.

HEALING - ONE-ON-ONE:
SIXTH SELF-EVALUATION THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
SCALE EXERCISE:
Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:
0
1
2
3
4

Not at all.
Once in a while.
Frequently.
Almost always.
All the time.

____

1.

My thought processes seem to spring from
intuitional insights rather than rationality.

____

2.

I have no thoughts.

____

3.

My thought processes seem to slow down

____

4.

I have thoughts but I don’t attend to them unless
they relate to the healee and the therapeutic touch
process.

____

5.

My thought stop and intuitions - images - and
impressions take over.

____

6.

I recognize imbalances in the healee’s
energy field.
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____

7.

I am aware of consciously directing my
attention inward in order to center myself as I start
the process.

____

8.

My sense of concentration increases.

____

9.

I am more aware of my inner being.

____

10.

I am not aware of time.

____

11.

I feel as if time stops.

____

12.

I feel as if time slows down.

____

13.

I feel as if time speeds up.

GROUP HEALING MEDITATION:
The basic idea for this journey in the imagination is taken from some of
the calming work done by people experimenting with biofeedback in
the early seventies.
The meditation was used to put biofeedback subjects into a relaxed
state - then the results were monitored on biofeedback equipment.
It happens that the idea of going underground in the imagination is also
the very imagery that shamans are reported to have used when they
were performing a healing ceremony.
The following is a greatly changed and amplified version of the original
meditation - it is now a healing journey.

THIS IS A HEALING JOURNEY:

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Let’s begin by imagining something - let’s imagine ourselves at the
edge of a river - or the shore of a pond or lake - on a peaceful autumn
evening - a beautiful and fragrant spot that we may have seen in our
waking state - or in a dream state - and it may be a place either
nearby or somewhere that we have seen in our travels - or this place
may be a creation of our own minds in our imagination - and there
may be no place like it to be found anywhere on earth.
And we are on this shore - and there is a path along the shore - and
this path has tall trees on either side of it - and there are still birds
flying about and the evening sun is still shining - there is its golden
autumn light all about us - and among the trees - and there are still
squirrels and chipmunks about - but it is otherwise very quiet with
very few people.
Let us begin to walk along the path now - slowly - in a very leisurely
fashion - and as we walk - let us begin to count the trees as we pass
them.
We are looking for something among these trees ......... we are
looking for ...... something ......... let’s see now ......... we are looking
........
And as we count the tress - as we pass them - oh - here’s one - a
broad canopy of branches and leaves - the leaves already changing
color - see the marvelous autumn hues and shades and tints of color hear the autumn wind whispering and singing in the branches and
leaves - smell the wonderful autumn smells.
How beautiful this tree is - and we must leave it now and walk on
along the path - and here’s tree number two - tall and narrow piercing up into the sky above - deep up into the blue autumn haze the evening sun just brushing the very top branches into molten gold.
And there is a pine scent in the air - and the breeze sighs softly among
the branches - a wistful autumn evensong.

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And as we walk on - and here - as we pass more trees - each a unique
creation - each with its own fragrance and energy and life force again we hear the whispering of the gentle breeze in the leaves and
branches - see the colors - and see the sunlight flickering and turning
the upper branches to brilliant gold - even as the evening shadows
drift into the lower branches.
We continue to count them now - now - as we pass them one by one here is number three - and four - and five - .. six ....now ...... seven ....
Eight ...... nine ....... ten .......... eleven ............ twelve ...................
thirteen ...................fourteen ...................
Somewhere along here is what we are looking for - we know it is here
- we will recognize it ...... when ........ we see it.
Fifteen ................... sixteen ......................... seventeen ........................
eighteen ........................
A bit further on - maybe.
Nineteen ............................. twenty ....................................
There it is now............ this is it ......here we are - we have found it - it
is before us now ............. a great tree - very broad base - very broad
base - huge tree - first branches way up high into the sky - rough
bark - ancient - ancient tree ...... really ancient tree.
And see - here in the base of this gigantic tree - where the gnarled
roots twist and burrow into the earth and the sand and the mosses that
have been forgotten by time - and the ancient decaying leaves from
seasons past - almost hidden within the furrows of the bark of this
gigantic living tree - here it is.
We can feel it deep within - it is calling to us like a voice from a
distance - but with great power - and very insistent.
And it looks like a door - it looks like part of the tree - it seems to be 205

it must be ..... a door .... right into the tree.
But how can that be? - how can such a thing be?
We are in our imagination - anything is possible here - let’s see now perhaps - maybe .... we can enter this tree.
Let’s walk up to the door now - push on it.
It opens!
Let us walk through the door now - let’s enter the tree.
We find ourselves on a little wooden platform - we are at the top of a
brightly lit wooden spiral stairway - and this stairway winds straight
down into the ground.
There is the smell of old wood and of earth - and of decaying leaves innumerable other indefinable smells - as well as the distinctive smell
of the wood of the tree that we have entered.
And it is so silent here - so peaceful - so utterly and beautifully silent and a hush falls over us - as we stand here.
Who could possibly have imagined it - a tree leading into the ground and it is in our own imagination - here where anything is possible absolutely anything.
Let’s begin to descend the spiral stairway now - and every ten steps
we will come to another little platform - and we will count the
platforms together as we descend - it is somewhere around the seventh
platform that we want to go - we know that now - it becomes clear in
our minds that this is what we must do now.
We will count the steps as we go down - counting downward - ten nine - eight - seven - six - five - four - three - two - one

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Here we are now on a little platform - and it has a little shop on it and this shop - let’s see now - it must be accommodated into the thick
outer layers and the bark of the tree - somehow - strange.

The tree is in our imagination - anything is possible here - just as in
dreams.
How can this happen? - such a fascinating little shop!
It is a shoemaker’s shop - and there are all kinds of shoes and boots
and polishing and buffing equipment in the window.
See the high-heeled boots for the ladies - with the buttons down the
sides - and the boots for men - all in marvelous leathers - some with
eyelets for bindings and laces - some dress boots for formal occasions
- other shoes - all manner of men’s and ladies’ and children’s’ shoes
and boots - and there is the pungent smell of the leathers and the
polishes that the shoemaker uses.
We may try on whatever boots or shoes appeal to us - try them on if
we wish - we have a long journey ahead of us and we need the very
best walking shoes.
We will take off what we are wearing on our feet - and sit down on one
of the antique settees - and try on any shoes or boots that we wish.
These are free to us - we may take the very best footwear that we can
find here and we may wear these boots or shoes on the rest of our
journey - they are in our imagination - and they are free to us.
And we will rmember everything that we see and hear - and will be
able to recall everything with great clarity later when we wish to do
so.
Now - we have chosen what we will wear on our feet - and we leave
the shoe-maker’s shop and continue our journey down the next flight
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of winding stairs.
And we continue down the steps now - ten steps again - we count them
- ten - nine - eight - seven - six - down and down - five - four - three two - one - and here is another little platform - and another little shop.
And this shop is a small - a tiny - general store - with its battered old
counter and roll of paper - the string for tying up the packages - an
ancient till - complete with ornate designs in dull metal color - with
the handle askew.
And there are shelves stocked with containers of sugar and spices cinnamon and vanillas and lemon pie fillings - and wooden containers
with raisins and dried plums - and apple-boxes - bags - jute bags rough to the touch - and with the smells of the rough fibres - and
flour - and one or two with some quaint colored designs on them - and
knapsacks also of leather and jute.
And we may take from this shop what we think that we might need on
our healing journey - we may take what we wish - it is free to us - we
make sure that we choose at least one knapsack - of a size and style
that we feel comfortable with - and strap it on our back now - and put
whatever food and other provisions that we feel that we may need on
the long journey ahead of us.
And we thank the attendant - and continue on our way - leave the shop
and continue down the steps now - ten steps again - we count them ten - nine - eight - seven -down and down - six - five - four - down and
down - three - two - one - and here is another little platform - and
another little shop.
And all of this is stored in our memory to be recalled very clearly
later whenever we wish to do so.
And this time we are in an old curiosity shop - a most extraordinary
variety of items from long ago - mugs and patchwork quilts - and
fireplace cooking pots - and pails - and fireplace tools - old kitchen
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utensils of every kind - and there is a wonderful smell of old things the smells that carry the memories of bygone days.

Some of the items may bring a tear of recognition to our eyes - may
remind us of someone or something long ago - or there may be great
happines stored within some of the items - and we feel a wonderful
sense of re-connecting with things in our past - or becoming one with
this past once again.
Here and there an item may remind us of something painful from the
past - something that needs to be accepted and forgiven - and - we
lovingly accept and forgive - it is in the past - it is only a memory now
- and it can be let go so that we can be free.
We take what we need here also - again it is free - it may be something
to remind us of bygone days and lifetimes - something that we handled
and knew long ago but had forgotten about in the world that is so far
above us now.
We will put what we will take with us from this shop and place it
carefully into the knapsack that we carry on our backs - and then - we
thank the attendant and leave this shop.
We continue down the steps now - ten steps again - count them - ten nine - eight - seven - down and down - six - five - four - three - down
and down - two - one - and here is another little platform - and
another little shop.
This shop is an old-fashioned apothecary - what might now be called
a drug-store.
In the window and on the shelves are masses of clear and colored
bottles filled with colored liquids - great bottles and small bottles - in
blue - amethyst - gold - bright red - orange - yellow - and there is the
fragrance of woodland herbs hanging in the air.

209

And the bottles are stoppered with the most amazing variety of
stoppers - ornately shaped glass stoppers - and corks of many sizes
and shapes and textures.
We are free to take any bottle or package and open and sniff and taste
- it is all in our imagination - anything is possible here.
There are bottles of fragrant and sometimes pungent herb concotions
- elixers of many kinds - there are simple labels on the bottles that we
may read to find what each of the liquids is useful for and what it
heals or what condition it improves.
And there are packages also of dried herbs and leaves and roots of so
many kinds - and again there are simple labels to explain the use and
the dosage of each - and we may read them if we wish.
There are powders of many colors - and again the packages are
labeled.
But the intriguing thing about this apothecary shop is that we can
sense the purpose of each preparation - whether in liquid or dry or
powder form - and by just putting out our hands over the bottle or
package we can tell just what condition it will improve in our bodies
and minds.
We may take what we wish and try each and see what effect it has on
our sense of well-being.
And again - we may take freely whatever we think that we may need
on our journey - herbs to keep us in top health and feeling wonderful and vitamins - and elixers - they are here free for the taking - they are
all in our imagination.
We thank the attendant and leave this shop - now.
And we will remember everything with great clarity for later when we
wish to recall what we have seen and heard and felt.
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We continue down the steps now - ten steps again - count them - ten nine - eight - down and down - seven - six - five - down and down four - three - two - one - and here is another little platform - and
another little shop.
And this shop is a barber-shop - the old-fashioned kind - and we can
see the candy-stripe sign out front - and through the window we can
see the barber’s tools - his combs and his shears - and the oldfashioned hand clippers - also the leather strop and the razors shining and twinkling in the light - and the quaint barber’s chair - the
old mirror and the hair brushes.
There is the smell of pomades in the air - and shaving creams and we
can see the bottles and vials of hair oils and the shaving mugs and the
shaving brushes - and we can smell them sweet in the air - the smell
mingling with the smell of the rough-hewn wood floor.
We may sit down in a quaint old barber chair - and the barber pumps
the chair for us to adjust the height.
We can get our hair cut here - and washed - and styled or permed whatever we need for our further journey to feel as good as we can
feel - and it is all free for us - we have simply to ask for what we want.
When we have our hair looking glossier and thicker and more
beautiful than it has ever looked before - we spend a moment just
admiring the wonderful effect of beautiful hair - and we raise our
hands and touch the hair and feel its body and it gloss.
Then we thank the attendant and continue our journey.
And we store it all in our memories - for very clear and complete
recall later.
We continue down the steps now - ten steps again - count them - ten
nine - down and down - eight - seven - down and down - six - five four - down and down and down - three - two - one - and here is
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another little platform - and another little shop.
And it is an old-fashioned candy and chocolate shop - we may only
have seen such a shop in pictures or in the movies - but here it is.
It has a window full of homemade candy - here are humbugs - there
are sticks of brightly-colored rock candy in reds and whites and blues
and greens - and over there are all sorts of lovely old-fashioned
sweets - sweet-smelling and orange and delicious to look and - and
there is a sweet and perfumey aroma everywhere - with licorice candy
hanging from hooks - and jelly-beans in tall glass jars.
It is time to treat ourselves - and we may plunge our hands into any
jar or mug and we may take what we find appealing - we have
already come a long way down the stairs and the shops - we may take
whatever we wish of the sweets that are here - they are all made of the
most wonderful sweeteners - and they are all good for us - the
sweeteners are much better than sugar and they are good for our
teeth - who ever said that everything that tastes good has to be bad for
us - it is not true - these sweets from our very own imagination are the
best and they are good for us.
We eat all we like - and put some extras into the knapsacks on our
backs - and then we continue down the steps now - ten steps again count them - ten - nine - eight - down and down - seven - six - five down and down - four - three - two - down and down and down - one and here we are at last.
We are now on or near the seventh platform - we know that we are
near the end of the stairways - we can just sense it - and here we are
another ten steps above the very bottom of the stairway - and we can
already see something of what we will be going into.
We go down the last flight of winding stairs now - count the last ten
steps - we are so far down now - so far below the level at which we
started our journey - and we count the steps together - ten - nine down and down - eight - seven - six - down and down - five - four 212

three - down and down and down - two - one.
And here we are - and as our feet step off the last riser - here we are
in the rich green grass of a park.
And we are now continuing our walk along a path that continues in
the same direction in which we were originally walking - continuing
on our way but at a different level.
And this is so because in this realm of our imaginations we can do
anything - be anywhere - have any experience that we desire or need
to have.
This is the richest world that we can ever know in this life - it is a
world in which we can find the protection that we need from anything
that might hurt us - and protection even from our everyday cares and
worries which we left so far away on the upper levels of our journey.
Ahead of us on the path is a strangely beautiful building glittering in
the sunlight from a thousand facets - each of the facets shining like a
mirror.
And we may wonder idly how there can be sunshine so far below the
level that we started out at.
But we are in the land of our imagination - anything and everything is
possible here in this rich land of our minds and imaginations.
As we walk closer to the building we think that it looks like a palace of
green porcelain - but so bright and shining and beautiful . . . .
We notice that in this park the trees are even taller than those that we
passed on the path by the water - they are taller - they are straighter they are greener and more elegant.
When we get close to the palace we become aware that it is nearly
shrouded at times in a beautiful rainbow mist - and when we get
213

nearer still we become aware that this effect is caused by the sunlight
as it plays over the spray of hundreds of fountains.
We walk in through the massive and ornate gates of the palace and
our eyes are unaccustomed to the interior light - for a moment it
seems almost dark inside.
And then our eyes adjust to the light - so different from the glittering
exterior of the palace - and we can see that this is an exquisite interior
- a museum - and the cool greenish light reveals - gallery after gallery
- corridor after corridor - hall after hall - all filled with unique and
priceless relics of the past.
Here are objects that we may have seen only in pictures - or perhaps
we have never seen anything like them before - some there are that
may remind us of patterns in sands on the seashore - and some may
remind us of concrete objects.
We are filled with awe at the care that such an exhibit must take to
gather and to keep intact - we marvel at the love for the past that it
must take to want to preserve so much history.
We befome aware that this is the storehouse of all the memories of all
the lifetimes that we have wandered on this earth and on other planes
- the beautiful experiences and the painful one - they are all preserved
here.
The silence is so complete that we can even feel it - and the lighting
seems to come from the luminescent walls themselves - for there are
no shadows here at all.
The proportions of the chamber that we enter now are vast beyond
our everyday experiences - and they are richly decorated with ornate
and rich tapestries.

And the tapestries go on and on - it seems that there is no end to them
214

- and they tell the stories of our many lives - in richest embroidery
and the most precious of materials.
And we may spend some time - now - gazing at the past - our past - as
we walk from tapestry to tapestry - some tapestries that are long and
tell the story of a long life - some rich - telling the story of rich and
rewarding lives - some rouch textured and with images that reflect
much pain and sorrow - but all - as we walk on and on - all showing a
progression to finer and finer materials and higher and higher ideals
as we progress through the millenia of our past lives.
There is much joy in this vista of our existence - of the eternal life that
flickers low at some points and then rises to true grandeur at others and yet - and yet ...... and yet .........
There are patterns of consistent growth in spiritual power and
understanding and acceptance and ...... love.
And there is something curiously restful here - a quietness so
profound - and it has a most soothing and peaceful effect on us soothing and comforting - altogether lovely.
As we breathe in gently and deeply - and out in a long breath - we find
a faint perfume in the air - perhaps an ancient and exotic incense.
There are large and luxurious chairs here - many of them - and we
can sink into any of them - and we do so now.
As we sit here for a moment we begin to feel a gentle drowsiness from somewhere there is coming a faint and mysterious music - the
perfume of incense is in the air - we allow ourselves to drift into a
gentle state - aware only of the quiet and the feeling of comfort peace - and safety.
We continue in this delicious state for a few moments - so it seems . . .
..

215

We realize in this dreamy state that this is a place that we can go to or one like it - whenever we find that the work-day world about us is
pressing in on us too hard.
Here we can always find new strength to go on - we have come so far
- how much farther can it be? We have suffered and enjoyed and
loved so much already - how much more can there be to endure and
savor before we reach the end of our journey - before we fulfill our
destiny?
This is a place all our own - costs only a few minutes of our time - but
in these few minutes it knits the two halves of our brains into a unitary
state - so that we are more able to deal with the world and its stresses.
We feel mentally alert - we feel mentally and physically refreshed - we
feel mentally and physically invigorated.
We will remember all that we have seen and heard and felt here - it
will go with us from this day forward until that last day on which we
meet and fulfill our destiny - until that day and moment when the
plans for all our lifetimes have been fulfilled and completed.
Now we begin to feel ourselves beging to rise gently from where we
are sitting - up - up - up - lightly and smoothly - higher and higher feeling better and better - more and more alert - up and up and up as we move - at our own rate - and in our own time - and we find
ourselves sitting on our chairs - fully alert and feeling wonderful and
refreshed and rejuvenated - just as we started before the beginning of
this healing journey - and we are feeling wonderfully refreshed and
invigorated now - mentally clean and ready to continue with the work
of the day.

Group healing:
SIXTH SELF-EVALUATION THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
SCALE EXERCISE:
216

Mark the frequency for each item on the following scale:
0
1
2
3
4

Not at all.
Once in a while.
Frequently.
Almost always.
All the time.

___

1.

I feel that all personality patterns of the healee
disappear and all I see is his or her inner beauty.

____

2.

I feel unified with the healee.

____

3.

My body feels like an expanding mass of energy.

____

4.

I feel as if my body is dissolving away and I am
becoming boundless.

____

5.

I experience my body as a continuous flow of
energy rather than a set of distinct parts.

____

6.

My cognitive processes seem to step into the
background and become secondary to a more
intuitive process of knowledge.

____

7.

Parts of my body not actively involved in the
therapeutic touch process feel soft or nonexistent.

____

8.

I have a feeling of being united with the
external environment.

____

9.

I have a sense of my own wholeness
beyond my personality.

____

10.

I am aware of a part of my being that is verbally or
217

intuitively supplying me with knowledge of how
best to direct energies to the healee’s field.
HAND OUT CERTIFICATES OR DIPLOMAS:

218