THE BIOFIELD
You probably already know that there is bidirectional communication between the immune system and the brain. There is also bidirectional communication between the brain and the endocrine system, and the brain and the gut. This means that communication happens both ways rather than being top down from brain to body.
We have also learned that there is a complex field that is guiding this communication. This field is now referred to as the biofield. The biofield describes a field of energy and information (which may or may not be electromagnetic in nature) that guides the homeostasis of living organisms. The biofield has been studied at the National Institute of Health for the past twenty years. However the biofield is a concept that has been used in Ayurvedic and Ttraditional Chinese medicine for several millennia. In Ayurveda this is called prana, in Chinese medicine this is called Qi.
All ancient healing practices suggest that a human being can emit aspects of the biofield to stimulate a healing response. This is linked to consciousness, which is the greater biofield that our bodymind ultimately interacts with and which can be used for healing.
In both Traditional Chinese Medicine and in the Yogic tradition, we use breathing exercises to increase our prana or Qi. In this way, the quality of interaction with the biofield is enhanced and can be used for healing. If you are interested in strengthening the connection with the biofield, you can start with a Qi Gong or Yoga class to learn specific breathing techniques to enhance this effect. For this interested in breathing techniques and meditation, please check out my meditation classes.
