Another term for this field would be vibrational medicine, informational medicine, or vibrational modalities. This includes the more subtle realms of sound and light, but also modalities such as flower essences, homeopathics, etc. Any tool that conveys information or intention. We are human beings, and we are also beings that consist of light and vibration. Spiritual traditions speak of this. The chakra energy centers are one such system of light inside of us. Many are aware that these centers have different colors and can be seen by people who are clairvoyant. Scientists have actually measured the light coming from these centers and have recorded their locations; Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama of Japan is one such scientist, his institute (CIHS) in California is building the next generation of such equipment.
Another light transmission system in the body is the meridian system, which is the basis for the acupuncture points and lines that are used in Chinese medicine. A scientist in Germany, Dr. Fritz Popp has published extensively on what he calls "biophotons", these are small packets of light that appear to facilitate communication and cooperation between cells of the body. Again we are talking about very tiny amounts of light here, but they are measurable with sensitive equipment.
So even though we are physical beings, inside of us are networks of light and energy that coordinate and orchestrate that physical form. What can happen however is that these internal communications networks can become blocked or shut down as the result of various physical, mental, and emotional traumas. The work that I do is about reconnecting that wiring system of light that is inside of you, so that you are functioning at your full potential and vitality again. I'm not supplying you with any energy or life force, I'm simply making available to you what was already there, but operating at less than peak performance. So in this sense you can think of me as a kind of telephone repairman, who is wiring up and fixing the circuits in your house. All of the energy and connections are your own, I'm simply repairing wires that were somehow accidentally broken. Or more simply, the vibrational tools are calling your own internal repairmen to bring their attention to the areas that need reorganization.
The way we reconnect the light network that is part of you, is to use various colors and sounds that resonate with the current pattern of energy that is inside of you. The intelligence and wisdom in your own mind and body then does the intricate part of reconnecting and rewiring, it somehow knows what the original wiring was like and how to return to that state.
Good question! You need a guidance system that can determine the location and type of light, sound or other tool to use. I use a very precise system that was developed in France in the 60's by Dr. Paul Nogier. This system uses the pulse to read out information. I like to think that the pulse is connected to our heart, which is in turn connected to our higher self or guidance.
Something that is trying to happen right now for all of us, I think, is a level of healing and cooperation between our intellects, or mind, and our hearts, or the source of wisdom inside of us. A research group here in California (Institute of HeartMath) has shown that when those two are in harmony, when the intellect is in service to the heart, all the organ systems of the body come into a level of balance or coherence that leads to healing, wholeness, improved decision making and reduced stress.
So back to this guidance system I use based on the pulse. The "heart-intelligence" that is present in that pulse, knows which tools will open the energy doorways in your body that are operating at less than optimal performance. I like to use the analogy of a combination lock, you turn the knob left/right/left and then the lock opens. Each of the colors or sounds that I use is like a turn of that dial: each vibration opens a small energy doorway; or you could say a reconnection of life energy is being made. The client usually feels these energy pathways opening inside of them as a sense of increased circulation, or warmth and energy flow. After we do a sequence of smaller openings like this, larger openings (like the lock finally opening) can result from a kind of synergy or combined momentum of the previous openings and flows: this might be an intuition or awareness arising or something coming into consciousness that was below the surface before we started.
You see I think it's not just our brains that are conscious, but all the cells in our entire body. This is not something new, many people are talking about the mind-body connection these days. However I think a key is that when more life energy can flow through and be grounded in the body, then more consciousness can be present in our body, in our human form. When this happens we have more access and connections to our insights, intuitions and awareness.
This also fits in with the current thinking on what's being called energy anatomy --when certain life situations occur, or we are affected by various traumas --we shut down, we armor ourselves to protect ourselves from the onslaught. However if we don't reopen those channels and reconnect those energies, eventually a physical disease process may set in because the areas in question are not getting the proper life energy flow to keep them healthy. The paradox is, to reconnect and become whole again, we must recontact and process the original situation in a new way, such as to integrate it, heal it, and resolve it. Vibrational tools are really excellent in their ability to do this.
Also for many of us now, I believe more of our soul and spirit essence wants to show up in human form, to ground itself here on the planet. Everyone here right now is a piece of the larger planetary puzzle that is trying to constellate, to come together. Each of us has unique talents and gifts that we came here to offer and contribute to a beautiful unfolding of ourselves and a positive abundant future for this planet.
MICHAEL MURPHY, the cofounder of Esalen, has written a book about this, called the FUTURE OF THE BODY. It's all about documented cases of people with paranormal abilities, that could be considered "normal" if you realize that we are evolving as a human species.
Absolutely. In The Future of the Body, Murphy writes that these abilities are actually not unusual in certain cultures, especially native indigenous cultures where there is a close connection with nature and nature intelligence. In these type of cultures, certain people can actually dialog with nature; if they are sick they can go out into the rain forest and ask the plants, "which of you can help me, I need your assistance"?
I believe that this level of connection and cocreation with nature wants to come back in an important way. Many of the problems and paradoxes of this industrial culture will only be solvable if we partner up and reconnect with nature to find solutions and developments that will benefit the entire community of nature, not just humans, but all of life. There is a phrase for this that Caroline Casey uses, "conscious kinship" with nature and life. And she also talks about a return to a "reverent science", where our scientists and technicians have these channels open and are in communication and communion with nature. From such a place, the technology that we develop will be of a different sort, it will be a truly appropriate technology and one which is long term sustainable.
The vibrational work can definitely facilitate the reawakening and reopening of some of these channels --I've seen such happening with a number of the clients that I work with. In some sense I think our brains are actually evolving now to allow us to use our senses in a more refined way. Think back, you probably know some people who were told as children, Johnny, you can't really talk with the dog, stop pretending. Or perhaps the child saw something happening in nature, but the parents again say, no, I don't see that, you're just playing. When we get this kind of rejection of our experience, we just shut down those sensory and energy circuits; but the hopeful part is, the mind-body is very flexible and resilient and can heal and reopen.
Yes, some of them, but it's building momentum very quickly; there are a number of good books out now on the subject. Dr. Richard Gerber has a book called Vibrational Medicine and it has come out in a 2nd edition. Professor William Tiller of Stanford has an great book with background on the science behind what's being called "subtle energy", it's titled Science and Human Transformation. Dr. James Oschman's book, Energy Medicine, The Scientific Basis - is excellent and filled with research references.
My original training was as an engineer, but I've been working as a practitioner and designing various light and sound instruments since 1991. I was one of the founding members of the Live Oak Center for the Healing Arts in Menlo Park, a holistic health center, that formed in 1992. I'm also a staff member at the Qigong Institute, where we have been gathering research from Chinese conferences on qigong research, and we publish that in the form of a computerized database. Before I started the holistic work I was a staff member at the Stanford Medical Center / Stanford Research Institute, and on the founding staff at SUN Microsystems.
It is actually a good combination to be both a practitioner and engineer still, because I get to see how the tools and instruments, best can be developed and evolved to serve the needs of clients. The instruments I've built are also being used by many practitioners in the country right now, so it feels like a community building effort as well.
The session lasts about an hour --and I encourage readers to take advantage of the special introductory session offer, because you only can really understand the process once you have experienced it. Even with all the explanation we have already done, it really is something that happens in the body, it's not simply a mental experience, the energy flows and reconnections are happening throughout the body, and these connections facilitate new consciousness and awareness processes at the same time.
I mentioned the pulse reading system from France that I use earlier. The pulse is measured at the wrist like many of the other pulse systems you might know about used in the West, or Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine, but it is different and unique. This pulse system is basically reading out guidance from your heart intelligence or higher self about what are the best vibrational tools to use that will open and connect the energy system of the mind and body. During the session, I am asking questions of this pulse system; I actually use a kind of menu system, for those of you who are familiar with computers.
The menu system then guides me in the use of my toolbox. Among others, this toolbox contains instruments that generate different colors of light, and different tones of sound. The pulse tells me which instrument or technique to use, what the color is and so forth. The first question I ask is, what type of instrument are we going to be using, is it a light tool, or a sound tool, or something else? If the pulse responds "light tool", then I go to a second menu that contains a list of the light tools that I have in my toolbox. I now ask the pulse, which of these light tools would you like to use? The pulse answers that question by picking a particular one of the tools. If that tool has a way to adjust the color that is presented, I then ask, which color are we using, and so forth.
Yes, and just to clarify, this pulse system is not really giving me diagnostic information like: this organ or this chakra is out of balance. No. (Although such questions can be asked, we generally do not.) Instead the pulse is simply guiding me in the use of my toolbox, and we are trusting that the heart intelligence and guidance that is coming through that system, knows which tools and which sequencing of those vibrations is best to open the energy doorways we were talking about earlier.
The pulse can also specify where the color or sound is best utilized. For example one of the systems uses the idea of a holographic map. You are probably familiar with the reflexology systems that are present in the body: these are maps of the whole body, projected onto the surface of the hands, or feet, or ears, for example. I use the map on the ear because it works both holographically and with various cranial nerves.
The pulse indicates to me points on the ear, which correspond to places on the map, and in the body, that are shut down or under stress. The pulse also indicates a particular color for that point that will most closely resonate with it and facilitate the opening of energy. When I shine a dot of that color on the point on the ear, a signal goes from that place on the map, to the place inside the body, and the life force and circulation increase at the place in the body; basically an energy door is opened at that location.
As the energy doors open, people usually feel this as an increase in life energy flow at certain points inside the body. As we continue to unlock the energy doors, the various flows actually grow and expand and connect with each other. It's almost like the body energy system has local connections that can be made, and then also longer distance connections that run throughout the whole body. Ultimately I believe our energy systems are in fact connected to larger patterns of energy in nature and in spirit, so there is that kind of grounding of our soul energy into the earth that I mentioned earlier. In fact I think we are a little bit like human "lightning rods", the more firmly our roots and grounding cords are, the more spirit energy can flow into us and become physical here on earth.
I see the most response with people who are oriented towards personal growth. The reason I say that is because this kind of energy work tends to give clients insights and awareness into the emotions and energetics behind the conditions they are working with. Many clients are ready to take this kind of approach to their health and wellbeing. Since more cellular consciousness is present, material which was once below consciousness can come up into consciousness for processing and release. This is a good thing, and it may also require some processing and integration on the part of the client.
Perhaps the biggest effect that I've seen is the reduction in stress level. With the stress going down, I've seen blood pressure and thyroid function return to normal. Also many situations of pain conditions being reduced. The lowered stress also relieves and resolves allergies and hypersensitivity.
As I already mentioned, unconscious mental or emotional material can be brought to the surface for release and processing. One of my teachers, Dr. Ward Lamb says that "light is the great revealer", in that it seems to excel in this uncovering function. Clients have spoken of a "weight lifting off my chest", or of feeling their heart opening. Other clients have contacted layers of unfelt grief or anger that was holding them back. One woman contacted what she felt like was shadow material that was held in her DNA from several generations of ancestors. Another client uncovered such a sense of joy, that she began singing again! My web site has a page with quotes and comments from both clients as well as other practitioners using the light instruments.
Lastly I can mention working with what are being called "highly sensitive people". You know Elaine Aron has a number of books on The Highly Sensitive Person. Well I believe people such as this are actually at a frontier of human evolution. I think we are right on a threshold of a reconnection and return to community of our human family and the family of nature and spirit. There are new ways of seeing and new ways of hearing that want to open up and help us find our teammates and cocreators.
Clients such as this can start seeing and hearing more information from guides and guidance. In some cases there is almost a kind of "elemental" energy that wants to flow through us and befriend us; these kind of energies can feel like a sense of fiery or icy detoxification and clearing. Some African tribes say that certain people are what you could call "gatekeepers", or those who can communicate between the spirit world and the physical world. Without such gatekeepers their tribe would be lost. Without our modern western gatekeepers, we are at risk of destroying ourselves and the planet, because we have no sense of community with nature.
All of the tools work in some way with the idea of resonance. If the color or sound that is provided resonates with the energy pattern inside the client, then this kind of unlocking or reconnecting of life energy occurs.
Many of the instruments in my toolbox generate light that can be adjusted in terms of the color that is produced. Again the pulse reading system is essential here because your pulse tells me what exact shade of color to use. And also where to use the light. For example, one of the instruments is a color pen, it looks like a small flashlight, but with a fiber optics tip on the end of it. After determining the exact color to use, I take the piece of film with that color on it, and insert it into the pen. I then shine the dot of light produced by the pen, onto a point that the pulse was requesting, usually on one of the reflexology maps such as the ear or foot.
Another color instrument I use is adjustable in very fine shades of color that covers all the wavelengths in the spectrum of visible light. This instrument is much more PRECISE in terms of color than that produced by the color pen. With this tool, you can choose between hundreds of different colors, with the pulse reading out which exact one is called for. When we determine this color, it is usually just observed directly by the eyes, rather than being projected as a point onto the skin.
Sound and light are both vibrations and work the same way in terms of resonating and reconnecting energy. Colors and sounds compliment each other very nicely. Frequently as I am following the pulse guidance, it will ask for certain COLORS THEN certain SOUNDS or tones, then back to the light and color again. Somehow being able to alternate between light and sound opens more doorways than if only one or the other were available.
One of the sound tools I use is called a "chi gong machine" and was developed in China after they measured certain sound waves coming from the hands of ChiGong teachers there. The chigong machine is not sending any "life energy" to the client, but rather the sounds emitted by the machine, help the client's own life energy flow to open and reconnect more easily. I use this tool of course in conjunction with the pulse and it tells me how and where to place it to facilitate the reconnecting.
I subsequently developed a more general version of this tool, called hFM, which is open source and freely available to both practitioners and clients.
Our own voices are very important sound and healing tools. One of the techniques I use that is quite powerful comes from a musician, David Darling who was the original cellist with the Paul Winter Consort. David's organization is called Music for People, and the idea is simply that we each have our own unique music inside of us, and that when we sing and express that music and sound that is within, it heals and reconnects some aspect of our emotional expression. Using this technique two or more people can sing together, using their own internal music, and create a mutual support and nurturing for each other. Somehow making such sound in the presence of another, heals and frees something deep inside of us. I believe there is an important connection that is trying to reestablish in many of us between our hearts and our voices; so that with this connection alive and vital, we can speak our truth and our wisdom, without fear and with passion and aliveness.
Yes, I think what is really encouraging about the vibrational therapies is that they can activate the body's natural healing power. Everyone has such power and capability within them and we are now discovering tools that can more easily catalyze and awaken such forces. It's exciting to be part of this revival of ancient wisdom.