What is Energetic Perception - can we learn it, can we teach it?

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "What is Energetic Perception - can we learn it, can we teach it?"

Frank Dwight Casey
6 years ago
Views:

1 What is Energetic Perception - can we learn it, can we teach it? What is Energetic Perception? You are touching a Tsubo on your client when you get the overwhelming feeling that this part of their body is somehow linked with a traumatic childhood event. Your client asks: what is that? It feels strange, reminds me of being a child. This kind of experience is common enough in energy-based bodywork to require an explanation. How is such communication possible? Certainly it s very difficult to explain if we consider the body to be a mechanical-chemical system, as described by conventional anatomy and physiology. Our understanding of what energetic perception means is being revolutionised by the latest developments in understanding about the nature of biological systems and of life itself. A fascinating aspect of this new paradigm in bio-physics and biology, is how it s converging with many features of the traditional East-Asian healing arts, such as Shiatsu. In Western physics energy is described as the ability to do work. Energy can take many forms, e.g. heat, light, radio waves. Interestingly for us, energy is needed to create communication. Take for example a radio or a mobile phone, where information is both transmitted and received via electromagnetic waves. In TCM and Shiatsu we talk of Ki, often translated as energy. But Ki means more than just energy in the Western sense. The ideogram for Ki - comprising the images of rice and steam - describes a connection between the material and the immaterial, between the physical and the spiritual, between matter and energy. So in this paradigm the material and non-material aspects of existence are considered part of the same essential fabric. Before early last century, Western science would have found the whole concept of Ki problematic. The Newtonian world-view described the universe very differently: solid objects existed in isolation, acted upon by forces within a three-dimensional space, the basis of which was the empty vacuum. However these beliefs were overturned in the last century by a series of theories and experiments demonstrating that the Newtonian worldview was limited. We now know that the universe can better be explained as an inter-connected whole. Space curves, it is connected in a 4 dimensional framework with time, objects that we thought of as solid particles can act as waves, and the vacuum has now been shown to be a bubbling cauldron of activity where matter and energy can arise. So how does this revolution in world-view affect us as Shiatsu energy workers? Surely the curvature of space-time is on too big a scale, and the quantum world on too small a scale to affect our work? Well, quantum effects are not always small scale: lasers and superconductors are two examples of how they can be experienced in normal human scales of experience. The work of Mae-Wan Ho and other scientists is suggesting that life itself is a quantum-coherent system so consciousness, and thus aspects of energetic perception, may perhaps best be described as a quantum process. When we touch someone (or even when we connect but don t physically touch them) what is actually happening? We now know that living systems are made up predominantly of

2 liquid crystals, a meso-state, between liquid and solid. Around 75% of our bodies are made of this type of structure, including all the cell membranes and all of the connective tissue. So what are liquid crystals like? Well they have many interesting properties for us as energy-workers. They are very good conductors of electrical and electromagnetic information, and are very sensitive to both magnetic fields and to pressure. Also, fascinatingly, crystals are the very best medium for storing holographic information and thus provide the best model we have for understanding the processing of sensation, and of memory as a holographic system. So, we are a constantly moving and inter-communicating system of liquid crystals. We also emanate a bio-magnetic field: current measuring equipment (the SQUID magnetometer) can detect this field up to 5m from our bodies. This field is rich in information about our physical and emotional patterns. The liquid crystalline structure of life has repercussions for our sensing system as practitioners too. We are very sensitive to bio-magnetic fields. We are able, through the process of resonance (and some would argue through a quantum-phase relationship) to empathise with our client, and to access their emotions, physical obstructions and sometimes even their memories. When we tune into the energy of our client we use a whole range of sensory methods; some are well understood (e.g. our sensory nerves) but some of our perception is at the very edges of our understanding of communication, sensing and consciousness itself. I have summarised these methods in the flow-chart below. Can we learn Energetic Perception? How could we - as liquid crystal systems - learn to develop our energy awareness? We need look no further than the traditional systems of Qigong, Yoga, Meditation etc. The foundations of all traditional, energy-based disciplines include releasing, centreing, alignment and quietening the mind. These techniques are widely taught within our Shiatsu training and as commonly recommended supplementary studies. By relaxing and releasing our body, as encouraged by such disciplines, we reduce blockages in our connective tissue system. This helps its liquid crystal structure to act as a coherent whole, which in turn maximises our ability to use it as a sensing device. It is interesting that the development of sensitivity to information outside of our normal senses is well documented as a by-product of Yoga, Qigong and other spiritual practices. Centreing, alignment and quietening the mind help to unify body and mind and thus reduce our own field activity. This aids our perception by making the client s field more dominant. The communication of information by resonance is a subtle process, which explains why these traditional disciplines are so valuable for us. The Shins - those diagnostic methods of Chinese Medicine - are an interesting application of learned energy perception. They tend to de-emphasise the predominant conventional sense and lead the practitioner into a more synaesthetic experience of their client. Such recommendations as look or listen from your Hara, not just your eyes and ears are examples of this. So even though we are looking when we practice Bo-Shin, we

3 are encouraged to process information from the field and combine that with our actual visual sense. For Setsu-shin, although we are touching, we are still encouraged to combine the normal nervous system s information from our hands with other information gained from the field. Some of this is translated into the familiar language of touch, and some of the information we are encouraged to interpret metaphorically. The system of scanning I developed in the mid 90s, working with Pauline Sasaki, is a good example of a teachable method of increasing energy perception, by encouraging the perception of field-based information, received without the conventional senses. More advanced techniques such as temporal scanning appear to work by accessing the holographically-stored somatic memories of the client. These techniques, and others like them, can all be learned and developed, as witnessed by the thousands of energy-work practitioners regularly using them. Teaching Energetic Perception Teaching energy awareness is a subtle and demanding task. Perhaps the most significant issue is the effect of the teacher s field on the energy dynamic between student and receiver. I first worked on these issues in 1992, when Pauline and I were asked to develop a Teacher-Training course for the European Shiatsu Institute (ESI) teachers group. We have been slowly developing the syllabus of our Teacher-Training programme at the New Energy Work project since the mid 90s. The core techniques, which I believe are essential for teaching energy-work include: tuning in to the student working, tuning into their receiver, and tuning into the student s perception of that receiver. The ability of the teacher to minimize their interactive energetic presence is invaluable, as are techniques to help the student sharpen their energetic perception. Probably the most fundamental error we can make when teaching energetic awareness is directly to compare the perception of a receiver by our student with our own perception. When we do this we ignore the strong likelihood that the receiver may present a different pattern to us, the teacher, than to a fellow student working on them. In fact in a teaching situation this divergence of presented energy patterns is very likely (after all - would you tell your teacher the same thing you would tell your fellow students?). So the teacher needs to tune into the perceptions of the student, and keep their own interaction with the receiver to a minimum. Although challenging, energy-work teaching can be very rewarding. With a consistent and well thought out series of techniques, it can be a great experience to see the energy perception of students growing. Energy awareness can definitely be learned and it can definitely be taught. Not only that but how to teach energy-work awareness can also be taught! Recommended Reading: Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis by James L. Oschman PhD (2000) Energy Medicine in Therapeutics & Human Performance by James L. Oschman PhD (2003) The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms (3rd Edition) by Mae Wan Ho Entangled Minds: Extrasensory experiences in a quantum reality by Dean Radin (2006)

4 Non - 3D Non - Spatial Information from Universal Field Energetic Perception Processing by Human Consciousness The process of cognitive recognition of information edited Metaphorically experienced Experiencing information interpreted as visual information eg colours /patterns, sounds, kinaesthetic experience, smell / taste Images such as sky, clouds birds etc Sacred images eg halos, angels etc

5 Informatio n In The Processes of Energy Perception

Touch in Shiatsu By Gabriella Poli

Touch in Shiatsu By Gabriella Poli I have decided to start this article by quoting what some very special people have written or said about touch, about touching with our hands the body and the life of