By Donna Eden and David Feinstein, Ph.D.
Energy Medicine is both a complement to other systems of medical care and, in itself, a complete system for self-care and self-help. It can address physical illness and emotional disorders, and it can also promote wellness and peak performance.
Because we receive so many requests from people who are new to Energy Medicine for help with health conditions, we have written this brief guide to help orient you and to direct you to a wealth of available resources, most of them free.
TWO WAYS ENERGY MEDICINE CAN HELP
There are TWO LEVELS where Energy Medicine might make a difference with a health condition:
1. THE FIRST LEVEL has to do with getting your body’s energies into a good flow, harmony, and balance. While not focusing on your health issue directly, this can create within your body an energetic environment that supports your overall health, vitality, and healing.
- This is the place to start, even if you are also taking additional steps, such as assessing and working with specific vulnerabilities in your energy system or consulting with an Energy Medicine practitioner. Unlike treatments that offer pills or surgery, Energy Medicine focuses on the entire body as a system. Before doing more specific treatments, Energy Medicine practitioners routinely help people get their body's overall energies into a strong and healthy flow.
- Over the years, we have designed a “Daily Energy Routine” that combines the most potent techniques we know that are able to help the greatest number of people to stimulate each of the vital energy systems and bring them into harmony and balance. These are the methods you can use to strengthen and balance your own energies. There is much you can do for yourself through the Daily Energy Routine. We propose that you dedicate about 10 minutes each day to this. That is all that is necessary to begin to make a difference. Five minutes for the Daily Energy Routine and five minutes to experiment with repeating some of the techniques and using additional Energy Medicine methods available.
- We guide you through the Daily Energy Routine in every introductory publication we have. You can find it in the book Energy Medicine (Chapter 3), on our “Essential Techniques” DVDs, and in the Energy Medicine Kit. You can find these resources at edenenergymedicine.com/shop.
- Six areas you might experiment with as adjuncts to the Daily Energy Routine are 1) the “Hook-up,” 2) the “Homolateral Crossover,” 3) “Connecting Heaven and Earth” (also known as “Separating Heaven and Earth”), 4) techniques for sedating the Triple Warmer meridian, 5) the “Neurovascular Hold,” and 6) the “Blow Out.” All are presented in each of the above resources.
2. THE SECOND LEVEL by which Energy Medicine might make a difference with a health concern involves an assessment of your body’s energies and the ways they are related to the condition.
- Based on that assessment, individualized energy routines can be designed to make your energy system more robust, specifically in the ways that will help with the health condition.
- If you are a beginner with Energy Medicine, this is more than we recommend you attempt without the help of a qualified practitioner (see below for suggestions on how to find one).
- However, various resources mentioned below will give you an idea of where to begin. The book, Energy Medicine, gives further instruction in how to assess your energies and correct problems.
- Meanwhile, everything you might do in terms of the basic Daily Energy Routine would support work with a professional Energy Medicine practitioner.
Energy Medicine first approaches a health condition by strengthening
the person’s overall energy system and then by working with
specific energies that are involved in the problem.
FINDING AN ENERGY MEDICINE PRACTITIONER
Every local community is enjoying a rapid increase in the number of health practitioners who incorporate an Energy Medicine perspective. Practitioners may be found in all of the healing professions, from physicians and chiropractors to massage therapists and personal energy consultants. An excellent guide to finding a qualified energy practitioner can be found on the Eden Method Practitioner Directory at practitioner.edenmethod.com.
WEB-BASED INFORMATION
Health-Related Energy Medicine Questions and Answers
Over the years we have answered many hundreds of inquiries about how to apply Energy Medicine with various health-related concerns. Since the answers may apply to others with similar questions, our staff is now editing this correspondence, concealing the writers’ identities, so the information may serve many. There are already nearly 100 pieces posted and more are being added regularly. They are well-indexed. See if a question that concerns you has already been addressed by visiting: edenenergymedicine.com/health-qas.
The Energy Medicine Handout Bank
The Handout Bank is a free resource designed to 1) help make Energy Medicine more widely accessible, 2) aid those who are teaching classes or providing services in Energy Medicine, and 3) create a high quality archive of principles and methods. It is designed for the Energy Medicine practitioner, but others interested in the field may also find it a valuable resource. The Handout Bank is posted on the Eden Energy Medicine website at edenenergymedicine.com/handout-bank.
The Energy Community Report
Over several years, this publication “of, by, and for” the Energy Medicine practitioner has covered many topics of interest, including how to address a wide range of health conditions. Back issues are currently being posted on the Energy Medicine Institute site and a search engine will allow you to look for topics that are of interest to you. The entire set of back issues as well as information about how to receive each new issue (free) can be found at energymedicineinstitute.org.
OTHER HOME STUDY RESOURCES
Donna’s book, Energy Medicine, is designed to give you a solid introduction to the field, including its principles and practices, case studies, descriptions of the nine major energy systems, and supporting research. Her 6-hour “Essential Techniques” DVD program takes most of the exercises from that book and has Donna personally instruct you in how to use them. While the book and the videos are designed to supplement one another, each can be used alone.
The Energy Medicine Kit produced by Sounds True is another strong self-study tool.
EDEN ENERGY MEDICINE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
The Eden Energy Medicine Certification Program is based on a curriculum developed by Donna Eden and her most senior staff members. These same people teach the classes, along with special appearances by Donna.
The goal of the program is to help interested students obtain a firm foundation in the approach to Energy Medicine that Donna has developed over the past three decades, and to develop the skill levels necessary to begin using these techniques for promoting health. The majority of people taking the program plan to use what they learn in an Energy Medicine practice or as a complement to another healing modality.
The Eden Energy Medicine Certification Program (EEMCP) Sequence:
Innersource offers a four-year program as outlined below. Students may stop their training after each year or they may expand their EEM practice by enrolling in the subsequent year.
Level 1: Fundamentals Classes: Learning the Fundamental Principles and Methods of Eden Energy Medicine
Level 2: Certification Classes: Expanding EEM Methods into an Energy Medicine Practice
Level 3: Clinical Skills Mastery: Deepening into the Practice of EEM
Level 4: Advanced Practitioner Classes: Mastering Advanced EEM Protocols
Information about the Certification Program can be found at edenmethod.com/live-home
JOINING OR STARTING A STUDY GROUP
In addition to pursuing the book/DVDs on your own or taking a formal class, you may want to form or join a local study group. Going over the book and DVDs together with one other person, or more, is a powerful way to learn the material.
You may find students of Energy Medicine in your area by following the link below to the Energy Medicine Directory. They will often know of study groups, classes, and other local resources. On this site, you will also find listings of Energy Medicine books, charts, DVDs, and classes by a growing number of Energy Medicine practitioners. Go to: www.EnergyMedicineDirectory.com
A CORE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENERGY MEDICINE
AND CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE
A key concept to understand is that the words "diagnosis" and "treatment" have a different meaning in Energy Medicine than they do in conventional medicine. In conventional medicine you diagnose and treat an illness. In Energy Medicine, you assess where the energy system needs attention and correct the energy imbalances. Physical symptoms may be a clue, but they are not the focus. For instance, the same stomachache might trace to an imbalance in Heart meridian for one person, in Liver meridian for another, and in Stomach meridian for a third. The same physical symptoms can reflect different kinds of problems in your energy system and call for different energy interventions.