Energy What is it?

So what is this "energy" that we're talking about healing?

It’s not as esoteric as you may think. In fact, it surrounds you and embraces you—invisible, like the air you breathe, and just as real.

Also called prana, chi, ki, and qi, it is the life force that is the basis and animating power for the universe and everything in it. It surrounds us, permeates us, sustains us, and connects us to all things.

It's like the ocean, with each of us like a drop of water—-part of the ocean and yet at the same time, in some circumstances, separate. To put it another way, everyone and everything has its own energy field, which is both part of the larger, universal field, and in some ways separate from it.

You may think that this intangible force or field is something that can be perceived and understood and influenced by only a few gifted people--but that’s not the case. You constantly experience it and interact with it:

• When you walk into someone’s home and instantly do or don’t like the way it feels.
• When you're in a forest, and have a feeling of deep peace and renewal.
• When you put your arm around a troubled friend, and he feels better.
• When you speak up and bring calm and reason back to a group that has become angry and irrational.
• When you liven up a dull party.

It's everywhere, as common--and as miraculous--as the air we breathe, the light of the sun and stars, the love of our family and friends.

Yet it can be difficult for people to entertain, let alone grasp, the concept of this invisible field.

*Nancy Hausauer*