Understanding the mechanisms behind energy medicine modalities continues to be an ambitious question for scientists. Challenges persist in measuring both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of energy. While a majority of the published literature uses the practitioners’ and subjects’ experience as an outcome measure, an additional viewpoint may be needed to validate the results. Therefore, could observing energy medicine treatments from the perspective of a seer provide new answers?
In the paper “A Case Study of Extended Human Capacity Perception During Energy Medicine Treatments Using Mixed Methods Analysis” published in the Journal of Science and Healing (EXPLORE), a group of researchers from the Institute of Noetic Sciences investigated two research questions: 1) How do energy medicine sessions work from the perspective of a seer (an individual trained in perceiving subtle energy) and 2) whether these observations correspond to changes in pain for participants with carpal tunnel syndrome.
This mixed-method study analyzed a seer’s observation of energy medicine treatments involving 17 practitioners and 190 participants with hand and wrist pain. In answering the first research question, the authors summarized the seer’s observations through the following key points: 1) there are multiple etiological origins of physical symptoms, 2) the participant-practitioner relationship is important, 3) the healing process is unique for each individual, 4) how energy exists in space, 5) how the practitioner manipulates energy, 6) the fundamental characteristics of energy, and 7) the change in energy characteristics throughout the session.
In answering the second research question, there were significant correlations between changes in pain scores to the seer’s observations of “energy color”, “practitioner touch”, and “the presence of ostensible non-physical beings supporting the session”. Several interesting findings were highlighted: 1) the sight of the color yellow was correlated with an increase in pain, 2) the act of physical touch was correlated with pain relief, and 3) the perception of non-physical spiritual beings (e.g, God, Buddha, Supreme Being, etc.) was correlated with pain relief. Despite these intriguing results, the authors indicated that these associations failed to maintain statistical significance after correction for multiple comparisons.
The authors emphasized that the study’s objective, rather than assessing the seer’s diagnostic accuracy, was to investigate if seer perceptions could elucidate the underlying mechanisms of energy medicine. The study demonstrated the fundamental themes of energy treatments from the seer’s observations. While the study’s limitations revolved around its use of one seer’s viewpoint and the absence of control conditions, the authors concluded that implementing seer perception may improve the results of future studies investigating the mechanism of energy medicine.
Continue reading the complete observations of the seer from the link below!
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Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR, is the Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University. She completed her undergraduate degree at University of California Berkeley in Anthropology and Pre-Medicine. She obtained her clinical doctorate at the National University of Natural Medicine. She obtained her Master of Clinical Research from Oregon Health & Science University where she has been on faculty in the department of neurology since 2006. She also completed two post-doctoral research fellowships.
Her VET-MIND study funded by the National Institutes of Health examined the mechanisms of meditation for combat veterans with PTSD. Her current research interests include healing stress and trauma, examining mechanisms of mind-body medicine, and rigorously studying extended human capacities. Dr. Wahbeh’s extensive meditation training includes the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher Training by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a four-year Meditation Teacher Training with CoreLight, and a 19-year regular meditation practice. She has published on and spoken internationally about her studies on complementary and alternative medicine, mind-body medicine, extended human capacities, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder and their relationships to physiology, health, and healing. She was recently named President of the Parapsychological Association.
Dr. Wahbeh is the author of some 90+ peer-reviewed publications and the new book The Science of Channeling: Why You Should Trust Your Intuition and the Force That Connects Us All. Brimming with cutting-edge science, the book draws together much of her research on the subject. The Science of Channeling is written in true noetic fashion as it seeks to unite the science with practical application.
How do energy medicine sessions function from the perspective of a seer, i.e., an individual trained in techniques to enable perception of purported subtle energies?
Do any of these observations correlate with changes in participants’ subjective pain? Please share your experiences and reflections in the comment box below!