When you took general science classes in school, your teachers told you that when electricity goes through a wire, a field forms around that wire. Something similar happens in and around your body. You have electrical, magnetic, and life force energy flowing through your body. Of course, the body is much more complicated than a wire. It has legs and arms and all sorts of things including a head, so the field has many forms.

Your energy field begins in the center of your body and radiates outward several feet from your physical body. Some people call it an aura, though it can be easier to simply refer to it as the energy field (people may be more comfortable with that). Within the energy field, there are seven major energy centers, often called chakras, that look like little tornadoes and are found at the top of the head, along the spine, and at the bottom of the spine. Each bone joint has its own minor energy center.

Pathways of energy called meridians flow within your body (with today's technology, scientists now have ways of following those meridians). The last major part of your energy system is called the "hara column," and it goes from above your head, down through the middle of your body, and continues on into the ground.

When you suffer from an injury, surgery, illness, trauma, or an emotional upset, energy can become congested and its natural flow through your body and field blocked. That's where an energy medicine practitioner comes in to help you heal; they remove the congestion and restore the energy system back to its healthy, balanced state.

It is important to note that energy medicine is not a replacement for traditional Western medical practices. It is complementary to it, another tool in the toolbox to help people get well. By balancing the energy field, the body does not have to do it itself. In some cases, the body doesn't get around to bringing the energy system back into balance. Congested energy can stay in place for years.

As one example, a man came into a clinic with an extremely bad headache. He was sent to the hospital for tests, at where the personnel there could find nothing wrong with him. A nurse who had recently taken an energy medicine course asked the man if she could try energy medicine to help with the pain. He was so desperate that he gave permission.

The nurse checked over the field. While doing this, she noticed a lot of heavy congestion around his big toe. "What happened to your toe?" she asked.

"I broke it and it had to be operated on to reconstruct the bone," he said.

"When did this happen?"

"About five years ago."

"And when did the headaches start?"

"About the same time."

The nurse cleared the congestion around his toe and the headache disappeared. No one had cleared the congestion from both the trauma of breaking the toe and the ensuing surgery. For some reason, the congestion was such that the body didn't clear it on its own.

Congested energy can show up anywhere in the body, even though physical symptoms may be found in another part of the body. It's all connected. While the above example is a little on the unusual side, it does show how energy medicine can be helpful.

Most practitioners specialize in one or more of the energy systems. Some practitioners work with the energy field and the energy centers. Others like removing blockages and clearing the meridian system (acupuncture is one such modality that specializes in meridian work). It depends upon which form or forms appeals to the practitioner as well as their comfort in using each.

An energy healing treatment begins when the client requests an appointment. When the client arrives, the practitioner works to make the person comfortable. An explanation of what is about to happen might be needed. The client may be asked to sign an informed consent form that states the client understands the type of treatment being offered.

An intake follows the initial introductions to a session. The practitioner listens to the client's issues and requests for services, and together they set goals for the session. Once that is done, the practitioner performs an assessment.

The practitioner runs their hands over the energy field and notes differences and similarities. Sometimes a practitioner will use a pendulum to assess what is happening in the energy centers. When open, an energy center spins clockwise. When it is blocked, it may stop spinning; swing perpendicularly, diagonally, or horizontally to the body; make an elliptical pattern, or even spin counterclockwise. Hand scans of the energy field tell the practitioner about differences and similarities in the field. Blockages in the form of congested energy may be found anywhere on and around the body. Removing these pockets of congested energy help to bring the field back into balance.

After the assessment is completed, the practitioner then performs techniques to clear and balance the energy system. A reassessment is done to see if the client needs more work. The end of the session comes in the form of grounding the client.

Stress is a big issue in our culture, and energy medicine is definitely good for relieving any emotional stress. Rare is the person who is not feeling stress when they come for treatment! A stressed person has a highly agitated energy field. Many forms of techniques can remove congestion and balance the field to relieve some of the stress.

Pain is another reason for seeing an energy medicine practitioner. It shows up during an assessment in a number of ways. Through practice, each practitioner learns how to recognize pain in the energy field. Most forms of energy medicine have techniques to help relieve pain.

Animals are interesting to treat. When an animal is in pain, it often turns the injured part of the body toward the practitioner. Once the animal feels better, it lets the practitioner know by simply walking away or maybe yawning. I have a dog who sometimes visits other dogs for a play time; they can run for hours. But, the next day I'll know when my dog has sore muscles. He'll jump in my lap and put his front paws on my shoulders assuming a pose we have worked out together. I do a pain removal technique and then run my hands over his field, while sending soothing energy into his muscles. He tells me when it's done by getting down off my lap and taking a nap. Animals don't sit around wondering if this type of treatment is going to help them; rather, they accept it without question. You don't have to believe in energy medicine for it to work. All it takes is a willingness to receive it.

Traditional western medicine and energy medicine work well together. As another example: a construction worker falls from a ladder, lands in the mud, and breaks his leg. It's a nasty compound fracture and a piece of the bone pierces the skin. Someone sends for an ambulance and he is taken to the hospital, where several forms of treatment occur. In the emergency room, the break in the skin is cleaned and sterilized. The emergency room doctor sends him out for x-rays. A surgeon resets the bone. Pins may be used to hold the bone in place while it is healing. Then the surgeon sews the incision together. A cast covers the leg. To prevent infection, a doctor prescribes antibiotics. In addition, when an energy medicine practitioner balances the disturbed energy field, they help the patient heal faster with fewer complications, lower pain levels, and ease some of the stress from the event.

Each of these treatments has a part in the healing process. They all work together to help the patient walk again and go back to work. Not one of them can stand alone to complete the healing process. Each one is a unique tool to help the person get well.