Chakra Energy Massage: Blend of chakra healing and Foot Reflexology Massage. Its theory posits areas on the feet that correspond to chakras (subtle energy centers), such as the inner eye chakra.

(See also: Chakra Energy Massage, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

YOGASSAGE

This is a massage modality that enhances the free and natural movements of the body through gentle, sustained stretching and applied pressure.

Gentle vibration and energy work with the chakras is integrated into a gracefully flowing sequence.

Unique positioning with props is incorporated to facilitate myofascial stretching without strain. Yogassage has been compared to Thai massage on a table, as it blends elements from both the Eastern and Western cultures of bodywork.

(See also: YOGASSAGE, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

AYURVEDIC MASSAGE

An ayurvedic massage is one part of the traditional detoxification and rejuvenation program of India called panchakarma, in which the entire body is vigorously massaged with large amounts of warm oil and herbs to remove toxins from the system.

With the client’s permission, oil is also poured into the ears, between the eyebrows and at specific chakras, or energy points, during techniques known respectively as karna purana, shirodhara, and marma chikitsa. These treatments have been modified to meet the needs of the West and have been powerful in their effects upon the mind and nervous system - calming, balancing, and bringing both a heightened sense of awareness and deep inner peace. The techniques can be done either as stand-alone treatments or in conjunction with the ayurvedic body massage.

The basis for effectively performing all of the various ayurvedic massage techniques is a thorough understanding of the primordial energies of the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) and of vata, pitta, and kapha - the three basic constitutional types (similar to the ancient Greek method of mind/body classification). This knowledge allows the therapist to determine not only which ayurvedic massage techniques to use, but also how to customize treatments by selecting the proper oils and herbs and the rate and pressure of massage strokes to maximize the benefits for each client.

(See also: AYURVEDIC MASSAGE, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

HEALING SOUNDS

The use of sound to create balance and alignment in the physical body, the energy centers (chakras), and/or the etheric fields. It is a vibration applied by an instrument or the human voice, and can be understood as a field of energy medicine.

The primary question in this field is: What are the correct resonant frequencies of the body?

(See also: HEALING SOUNDS, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Energetic Bodywork: Subject of Energetic Bodywork: Practical Techniques (Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1998), by herbalist and massage therapist Rita J. McNamara. Energetic Bodywork involves assessment and treatment of the human energy field and spirit. Its theory posits chakras and meridians.

(See also: Energetic Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

KUNDALINI ENERGIZATION

This is a form of healing energy in which the objective is to raise the client’s Kundalini energy for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment.

First, the chakras and energy bodies are thoroughly cleansed and balanced by undergoing RoHun transformational therapy, a therapy based on Carl Jung and his theory of archetypes, the personal and collective unconscious, and spiritual awareness. The therapist then performs noninvasive, light physical touch and manipulation of the chakras and energy bodies through use of the hands.

(See also: KUNDALINI ENERGIZATION, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Agartha Personal Life Balancing Program (Agartha Program): Thirty-five-day audiotape program created by author Meredith Lady Young. Its design is to reduce stress and promote complete health. Each of the seven harmonic tapes combines sounds developed to alter energy currents within specific chakras. These sounds massage chakras and thereby improve the flow of life force through the body.

(See also: Agartha Personal Life Balancing Program, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Rainbow Therapy

(1)  A combination massage and Tibetan energy techniques using 9 highly antimicrobial oils developed by "Tesla" of Lead, South Dakota, designed to bring the body into a higher frequency, electrical alignment and balance.

(2)  Massage therapy using stones, a colorchromatherapy wand, sound, flower essences, organic essential plant oils, creative visualization, breath work and intuitive healing, developed by Laurel Gerber of Mt. Shasta, California.

(3)  Any of several therapies using color, chakras and/or a mixture of oils.

(See also: Rainbow Therapy, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

HOLOGRAPHIC NATURE OF HEALING

The holographic nature of healing is a year-long training program that combines hands-on energy work with verbal process work.

The purpose of the training is to add skill to those who are already working energetically and to assist in providing supervised sessions with feedback in a group setting. There are three focus areas: the chakra system, hands-on healing technique, and quantum psychology for process work.

There are three focus areas:

1. The chakra system,
2. hands-on healing technique and
3. quantum psychology for process work.

(See also: HOLOGRAPHIC NATURE OF HEALING, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Rainbow Therapy

(1)  A combination massage and Tibetan energy techniques using 9 highly antimicrobial oils developed by "Tesla" of Lead, South Dakota, designed to bring the body into a higher frequency, electrical alignment and balance.

(2)  Massage therapy using stones, a colorchromatherapy wand, sound, flower essences, organic essential plant oils, creative visualization, breath work and intuitive healing, developed by Laurel Gerber of Mt. Shasta, California.

(3)  Any of several therapies using color, chakras and/or a mixture of oils.

(See also: Rainbow Therapy, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

RO-HUN TRANSFORMATION THERAPY

This is a form of energy healing in which the therapist manipulates the client’s energy bodies near each chakra. The objective of RoHun is to understand how certain adverse patterns became fixed in the emotional and mental energy bodies and to release the negative effects of these patterns on daily life. Although primarily an energy manipulation method, some noninvasive physical touch is involved.

(See also: RO-HUN TRANSFORMATION THERAPY, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

BIOENERGY

Developed and taught by Polish healer Mietek Wirkus, bioenergy is a form of energy healing. The therapist uses a combination of noninvasive, light physical touch with manipulation and repatterning of the higher energy bodies and chakras using only the hands. The objectives are release of physical symptoms associated with disease and stimulation of the relaxation response to relieve stress and tension.

(See also: BIOENERGY, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

ENERGY FLOW BALANCING

This gentle treatment assists the client in balancing their energy flow. The therapist holds a space for the client to make whatever shifts or changes toward balance they deem necessary. Emphasis is given to the chakras and the joints, leaving the client feeling at peace and at home with themselves, with less pain, increased mobility, and greater range of motion.

(See also: ENERGY FLOW BALANCING, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

NUAT THAI

This form of traditional Thai medical massage that originated in the Vajrayana Yogic medicine of Tibet. Translated and creatively adapted to the needs of the modern West by Anthony B. James, Ph.D., Nuat Thai massage facilitates and promotes a harmonious state of being.

The ancient Tibetans and subsequently the Thai carefully recorded various states of disease and imbalances of the body, mind, and emotions and, over time, devised methods for influencing the course of these imbalances. This was important, since these imbalances often kept people from experiencing life in a full and productive way.

Nuat Thai incorporates elements of mindfulness, gentle rocking, deep stretching, and rhythmic compression to create a singular healing experience. This work, a unique form of Vajrayana yoga, focuses on balancing energy and creating wholeness of mind, body, and spirit in the client and practitioner.

The four principle methods used in Nuat Thai are Wai Khruu (prayers and spiritual practice), herbs, diet, and laying-on of hands. In the hands-on aspect, the practitioner literally takes the client through a series of specific postures called asanas, progressively facilitating energy and balancing chakra function.

Nuat Thai massage is an excellent alternative therapy for rehabilitation, pain relief, and stress reduction. It is nurturing, calming, and enlivening. Training is comprehensive and the practitioner level may take up to two years.

(See also: NUAT THAI, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

TANTSU TANTRIC SHIATSU

Tantsu Tantric Shiatsu is a unique form of bodywork on land. It was invented by Harold Dull who also created Watsu, or water shiatsu. Tantsu brings Watsu’s in-water nurturing and power back onto land.

In a Tantsu session, the giver cradles the receiver with their whole body. No oil is used; the receiver lies fully clothed on the floor, while the giver kneels or stands beside the person.

Like shiatsu, Tantsu is based on point work and powerful stretches to release chi (life force) along the body’s meridians and in the energy centers, or chakras. Tantsu focuses on connecting the chakras and freeing the natural movement of energy along the spine.

 Learning to give a Tantsu session involves the giver in a process that leads to a deeper connection with others and with one’s own centers and flows of energy. (Definition taken from Dull’s book, Bodywork Tantra: On Land and in Water, Harbin Springs Publishing, 1987.)

(See also: TANTSU TANTRIC SHIATSU, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

PHYSIOHELANICS

Energy work practiced as an adjunct to other modalities, Physiohelanics uses the body’s own energy systems to enhance healing.

Treatment begins with cleansing, balancing, and repairing the etheric energy field that surrounds the body and is followed by treatment focusing on connecting major and minor energy points (chakras) in the body.

Touch from the practitioner is very light and usually targeted toward areas that require cleansing and clearing. Throughout the 35 to 40 minute session, the healer channels energy rather than using her own. Physiohelanics was developed by C. Diane Ealy.

(See also: PHYSIOHELANICS, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

ESOTERIC HEALING

This is a healing through the energy field, which flows through and around us and chakras, or centers of energy. Each of the seven major centers vitalizes its related endocrine gland(s). It is possible to map and measure this field and also to assist in the restoration of good health through working to rebalance the energy field.

Therapists have learned to sensitize their hands and inner perception to examine the energy field in detail to find alterations in the flow of energy. The therapist does not touch the client, but works variable distances from the body. The client remains fully clothed.

(See also: ESOTERIC HEALING, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

PRANIC HEALING

Pranic Healing is a new science of bioenergetic healing. Developed in the Philippines by Master Choa Kok Sui, it is a practical, easy-to-learn, and highly effective healing art using prana, a vital life force, to correct energetic imbalances underlying most physical, psychological, and psychospiritual ailments.

Pranic Healers are trained to use their hands to accurately evaluate the energetic condition of the aura, 11 major chakras, and corresponding minor and mini chakras. Healers then seal holes and cracks, clean out devitalized energy, and energize with fresh prana.

Advanced practitioners are trained to deliver healing down to the cellular level. Removing devitalized energy before energizing makes healing more efficient and helps clients avoid “healing crises.” All work is done off the body and sessions are painless.

Pranic Healing can be performed on its own or as a complementary therapy to modern medicine and other healing modalities. Different levels of training are offered. Basic Pranic Healing teaches seven fundamental techniques to heal simple and moderate illnesses.

Advanced Pranic Healing specializes in healing severe ailments, and teaching the correct proportion, sequence, combination, and use of colored pranas. Pranic Psychotherapy focuses on the healing of mental and emotional disorders, and working with the root and web of chakras to disintegrate and transmute negative psychic energies. It took 20 years of scientific experimentation and research to develop Pranic Healing, which synthesizes the best techniques of the Tibetan, Chinese, India, and Filipino healing systems.

It is known internationally and is practiced in more than 30 countries. Master Choa Kok Sui has authored Pranic Healing, Advanced Pranic Healing, Pranic Psychotherapy, and Pranic Crystal Healing, which have been translated into 21 languages.

(See also: PRANIC HEALING, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

REIKI

Buddhist in nature, reiki (pronounced “ray-key”) is the combining of universal energy with individual energy to open pathways of healing. It teaches that disease is not separate from the body; it is the body out of balance.

Rediscovered by Japanese Buddhist and Christian scholar of theology Mikao Usui around 1921, this energy healing method involves placing the hands on or just above the body in order to align chakras and bring healing energy to organs and glands.

The practitioner, trained to access and serve as a channel for the life energy, uses a passive touch that some clients experience as a warmth or tingling. The hands remain in position for 3 to 5 minutes, alternately covering 10 to 12 positions over the body. Treatments work by dissolving or eliminating toxic energy and substances from many levels of one’s being, whether it is physical, emotional, or mental. This works to strengthen the harmonic flow of energy within the body.

The three levels of training in the initiation process of becoming a reiki master are referred to as attunement levels. Through this training, the practitioner reaches a level where she can access energy flow through the hands to heal herself and others.

(See also: REIKI, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

NEURO-STRUCTURAL BODYWORK

Neuro-Structural Bodywork (NSB) is a somatic therapy which combines a variety of techniques, including fascial release, neuromuscular re-education, craniosacral adjustment, and breathwork in balancing the musculoskeletal, nervous, and chakra systems.

Neuro-Structural Bodywork techniques restore sensory perception and motor control, and allow for new neurological impulses that support postural balance and free range of motion, ultimately enhancing one’s poise, balance, and sense of well-being. NSB is effective in treating both acute injuries and chronic conditions including strained muscles, upper/lower back and disc problems, frozen shoulder, joint injuries, fibromyalgia, migraines, TMJ, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Neuro-Structural Bodywork helps create a more receptive environment for a variety of other modalities (especially chiropractic and physical therapy), improving results from exercise, and supporting the body in sustaining skeletal adjustments. It also provides a possible alternative to more invasive treatments (including surgery) in cases where the underlying cause of the problem is fascial restriction and/or loss of sensory perception and motor control. Developed by Nancy DeLucrezia, Neuro-Structural Bodywork can also be used to stimulate and support emotional release and as an adjunct to psychological integration therapies.

(See also: NEURO-STRUCTURAL BODYWORK, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)