Energy healing has always been around. In the old days, the healing was done by shamans, priests, medicine women and medicine men. For thousands of years, there was a separation between the official medicine and the alternative medicine. Even in the ancient kingdoms, there were doctors approved by the state and there were shamans who were persecuted.
So, for thousands of years, alternative medicine was a secret art practiced by the initiates and hidden from the public. This changed when the arts of Yoga and Reiki were released to the West in the 20th century.
The modern medicine has imaging technologies to find tumors and to visualize broken bones. It has surgery to cut out tumors and reassemble the broken bones. There is also good biochemical diagnostics to find biochemical disorders and pharmaceuticals are used to fix the biochemical problems. The modern medicine has achieved pretty good results in certain areas but it still fails in many other areas. One of the major problems of modern medicine is that the pharmaceuticals help in the short term but when used chronically, they poison the body. Nowadays, people die mostly from side effects of chronically prescribed medications.
Another problematic area is psychiatry. Psychiatric problems are problems of the soul cannot be fully cured by the pharmaceuticals. Many psychiatric drugs are addictive and many of them help only short term without solving the problem long term. In another area where medicine is failing is inflammation. Chronic inflammation can be wonderfully treated short term but in the long term, there is no good solution.
Alternative medicine approaches these problems very differently. The alternative worldview is that soul is primary and the body is just a manifestation of the soul. Therefore we believe that many chronic illnesses and disorders start from problems of the soul and then they manifest in the body.
For example, tumors and inflammation first start with psychological trauma then transform and manifest as a psychosomatic pain. If the problem of the soul is not solved, only then do the pains manifest as inflammation or tumor. Energy medicine fixes the problems of the soul on an energetic level and this way prevents and heals chronic problems.
There are illnesses which are treated better by energy medicine and there are illnesses treated better by material medicine. For example, the majority modern energy healers still go to the dentist to treat the teeth because this is the area where the material medicine is better. Also in the modern society, some bacterial infections are really hard to treat with energy medicine so antibiotics sometimes are used even by energy healers to treat infections.
It takes discernment to figure out which disorders are better treated with energy medicine and which disorders are better treated with material medicine. This opinion is considered a heresy by the official standpoint. Take it with discernment.
The energy healing is best known by the arts of Yoga and Reiki. The art of Yoga uses exercises to normalize the energy flow in the body and to prevent illnesses. In Yoga, you learn the exercises from the instructor and then heal yourself. While in Yoga, the healing is applied to self, in Reiki, healing is applied to self and others.
Although Yoga comes from India and Reiki comes from Japan, yet these arts have the same roots and use similar concepts. Both arts were secret until they were released to the West. Reiki is based on Chi-Gong which is also known in China and is related to Yoga in understanding the energies of the body.
The same healing energy in Yoga is called 'Prana', in Chi-Gong it is called 'Chi' and in Reiki it is called 'Ki.' Reiki means "Healing Energy". Until recently, these healing arts were hidden, but nowadays, with internet and books, many healing arts become easily accessible, both to receive healing and to learn it as a healer. In addition to Reiki, Yoga and Qigong, , there are Tai Chi, Healing touch, emotional freedom technique EFT, hypnotherapy, Thai Body Work, Shamanic healing and many other forms of energy healing. Usually they use similar concepts, methods and principles although under different names and practiced in different moods. For example EFT, healing touch and hypnotherapy are totally westernized, while Reiki, QiGong and Yoga retain some of the Asian style, from Japan, China and India correspondingly.
The main understanding is that health requires a healthy flow of spiritual energy. In addition to the material energy of the body, there is a known physical flow of spiritual energy. This spiritual life energy is called 'Ki, Chi or Prana'. It flows through the body, energizes it and coordinates its work. The physical health problems result from the distortions in the energy flow. The life energy flows through the body in many directions and through multiple dimensions. The main flow is from the top to bottom of the body and from the bottom to the top.
There is also trans-dimensional vortexes of life energy which are called chakras. The central chakra is the heart chakra. That vortex goes from the heart forward and from the heart backward, via the back. There are 3 major chakras below the heart chakra and the lowest of them is the root chakra which corresponds to the place at the end of the spine.
Above the heart chakra, there are 3 major chakras. The top chakra is at the crown of the head. Each of the chakras govern certain bodily functions and also influence spiritual and social functions of the person. They also connect the person to certain dimensions. Each chakra is characterized by a certain color and frequency. The root chakra is characterized by the red color and the lowest frequency. The top, Crown Chakra, is characterized by the highest frequency and is violet.
The frequencies of the chakras have also a physiological meaning. The brain and spine consist of nerves which conduct electrical oscillations. The distance between the brain and the end of the spine is the longest. Therefore, the electrical oscillation coming from the brain to the end of the spine and back take the longest time. That's why the frequency of the root chakra is the lowest. The frequency of each chakra roughly corresponds to the distance between the head and the corresponding vertebrae. The electrical oscillations are physical in nature. They resonate with the spiritual frequencies which are non-physical and cannot be measured by modern devices. Yet, humans, as conscious beings, can connect to these oscillations on the soul level and this way to do the healing work.
Energy healing cannot be separated from the idea of spirituality and by nature, life energy is non-material, non-physical and operates on the level of spirit.