With a Grateful Heart for the Energy Body

With a Grateful Heart (4 of 8)

Brenda Brayko

Oct 21, 2022

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The Energy Body

I can’t even tell you if I’d heard of reiki or chakras or chi before moving to Asia. I CAN tell you that now I would much rather see commercials for acupuncture or kinesiology than all the pharma commercials I see on TV in good old America! There’s something more natural about ancient Chinese and Indian understandings of the body. And a big part of that is the understanding that when we are ill, we can examine more than just the physical body with its physical ailments, we can also examine the energy body and its energetic imbalances. Not only that, we can engage in daily energy practices that enhance our health. For a bit more, here are two blogs originally published on my blog “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” as well as a poem written in my final days living in Hong Kong.

April 16, 2021

I can't say I ever heard of qi before living in Asia. A very simplified way to explain qi (chi) [chee] is to call it energy life force. I now understand myself as not only a human in form made of matter but also a being of energy coming from a source of energy called God or Source or Christ Consciousness.

Qi is an energy that one can detect. I began to be aware of it when I took yoga from my colleague at Korea International School, Patricia. She had us "place our attention on our energy" or "move our energy" or "unblock energy". Later, my acupuncturist/physiologist/spiritual coach literally found aspects of old, blocked energy in my body and released them. At times I would get temporarily ill because of it. I was amazed to learn of the deep connection between my energetic body and my physical body and that stuck energy could actually make one ill. Many of our chronic illnesses stem from these stuck energies that never were released properly: stuck qi.

Then in Hong Kong I met a qigong master and began feeling the movement of my own qi. Qigong is an ancient practice very similar to tai chi (qi), except that tai chi has its beginnings in a martial art meant for warriors, whereas qigong is completely coming from a place of peace. In qigong the practitioner moves qi through the body through the slow, synchronized movement of breath and body in order to balance the life energy force. It is spiritual and physical and mental exercise all at the same time. And the qi or life energy is meant to keep the body healthy as you circulate it through the organs and meridians, releasing those energies that don't serve you, such as fear and trepidation or anxiety. It can be quite a healing thing to unblock stuck qi and rebalance.

My morning meditation group began practicing a form of qigong once a week. You can see the video we use here.

Brenda playing gong for educators in Appleton, WI, 2021.

And then I learned about frequency (vibrations) and how this also influences the qi of the body. When I was introduced to the gong, I got quite excited about how the sound of the gong can serve to release stuck energies as well in the body. Here, the gong player takes a role beyond their human self to intuitively play this sound healing instrument in a way that benefits the client's body, mind, or spirit - again connecting to the qi. And all the client needs to do is lay or sit still and allow the gong to do this.

Ultimately, qi is what is everywhere in the universe. We have it. We are it. We are of it. It is that vital life force that connects us to ourselves, one another, all things, and All That Is. The expression of these ideas as qi does not preclude any belief I have in God, it only expands and deepens my understanding of God. And for that, I am deeply grateful.

Adam demonstrating mindful Buddha splits (if that’s a thing). 2022.

May 15, 2021

What if you could lay on a table and have someone simply to ask you to raise and lower your arm in resistance to their hand on yours in order to detect what is going on with you? What if this were effective for physical troubles, mental troubles, or spiritual troubles? What if you could bypass the thinking brain and speak directly to the body about what it needs? What if the first line of defense wasn't a doctor and a prescription drug or surgery?

Welcome to the world of applied kinesiology ("kinesiology'').

While it is not yet accepted as legitimate practice, it is a holistic practice that I have learned something about while in Asia. And for the purposes of this blog I would like to introduce you to this kind of kinesiology as I understand it (which, admittedly, is quite limited).

Five years ago a guest kinesiologist gave a demonstration to some faculty at my school as an option for wellness care. Kinesiologists are trained practitioners who have learned about the body's many systems - from organs to meridians to chakras to cells. And they have learned to essentially allow your body to communicate - through a series of yes-no questions - about its “priority”. You come with a concern and the body will answer. After the demonstration at the school I arranged for our son Adam to see a kinesiologist in hopes that he could help Adam address mental health concerns at the time. Adam and I were shocked when the kinesiologist at the conclusion of a one hour session appeared to have intimate knowledge of Adam's psyche, his learning issues, and his body issues. Actually, the session freaked Adam out a bit. Because it wasn't scientifically proven, Adam eventually decided he wasn't interested in pursuing treatment in this way.

Top left to bottom right: Janet, George, Marty (learning kinesiology) and Brenda. My morning meditation group at HKIS. 2021.

However, a few years later a colleague of mine began doing the coursework to become a kinesiologist. Every week or two I would get the update on the exciting new things that he was learning could be addressed in this way. He explained it this way: through muscle testing, you can get at the heart of the issue in any number of avenues. In one way, it resembles the internet; there are multiple ways to a website or even a particular webpage. When you arrive there, it doesn't mean you are necessarily healing the issue, but you can pinpoint it.

How many times do we go to a doctor with something wrong and leave still with no knowledge of the true cause of the issue? We often simply end up treating the symptoms as best we can. Or, we do multiple tests (at great cost and sometimes invasion of our bodies) to arrive at an answer. Through kinesiology we can more expeditiously get to the root of trouble.

Not long ago I had been experiencing some numbness in my right leg at night with some regularity and frequency. I figured it was probably something to do with the nervous system and a pinched nerve. My colleague happened to have invited a kinesiologist/chiropractor to our school. Dr. Ho treated me using both techniques. He used the kinesiology to pinpoint the real issue and chiropractics to address it. It worked.

First, he used his knowledge of physiology to determine the issue had to do with nerves and the spine, probably lumbar 3 and 4 (if I recall). Then he checked with the body through the muscle testing if that were in fact the "priority" for the body. But the muscle testing response was "no". Then he talked to me about how there is an inverse relationship in our spine so that if particular vertebrae are out of whack in the neck it also affects certain vertebrae in the lower back. So he used the yes-no muscle testing to determine that what needed adjustment was actually in my neck's C3 - C5. He used chiropractic technique in my neck (a good twist!) to treat me. He concluded that without knowing the body's priority, a person could get decades of treatment on their lower back - never truly healing, because they are addressing the wrong thing.

It has now been a solid month since my treatment and I have had no further numbness in my leg.

Thank you, Asia, for expanding my understanding of the body, energy, and possible treatment routes.

Check out this video to learn more:

And Now

In 2018 I also learned a bit of energy healing myself - a technique called Quantum Touch. I use it now for basic issues like relieving headaches or bug bites, but it has been successfully used by master practitioners for far more than that. In 2020-21 I learned how to play sound healing gongs; they also release stuck energy.

I find it unfortunate that our medical insurance doesn’t yet support wholistic or functional medicine. I know I took advantage of our Hong Kong insurance paying for acupuncture! Still, when something goes a bit haywire for someone in my family, I don’t automatically look for a pill to solve the issue. Now I might consider seeking root causes discoverable through applied kinesiology or Body Code (a branded version).

Our bodies are strange and wonderful vessels. While we have discovered so very much through science and continue to do so, the ancient cultures have also passed down amazing wisdom that modern quantum science is rediscovering (but that’s another rabbit hole). If you’ve not tuned into your energy body yet today (or ever), why not take a few quiet minutes and “place your attention on your energy”? It can’t hurt!

A Poem

In “Notes to Self,” a poem I wrote in 2020, you can see how energy practices have been integrated into my routine.

Notes to Self

grade the late Junior English assignments
email vendors about Artist for a Day Interim
plan the next units for JENG and AP Lit
reschedule the canceled team meeting
clean out at least one drawer every week
don't obsess about the lives disrupted by Covid
shelter your morning meditation time no matter what
start practicing qigong again more regularly
practice your new gong for 30 minutes per day
notice the clear blue skies and the low pollution
watch the news only one time per day
send that donation to Future Hope in Kolkata
give away what you don't wear or use anymore
send your daily gratitude list to Lars
swim for 30 minutes on Tuesdays at 5
buy a new high quality microphone
finish If I had Your Face before Thursday book club
invite friends out for dinner Saturday night
figure out your clothing style for gonging
notice the kindness of others; do kind acts
get Jigs up-to-date on his rabies vaccination
find a student to help create a business card and logo
find a new employer for Mhel
find a home for Rigby-dog
find three one-way tickets for Mid-June.

By Brenda Brayko

October 2020

Thank you for reading Life Cheat Sheets. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Nelson, Dr. Bradley. The Emotion Code. St. Martin’s Essentials, 2019.

Want to know more about kinesiology and try it yourself? This is a good book to teach you much more about the basic principles behind kinesiology and rebalancing imbalances. You also learn several ways to muscle test or even sway test to reach the basic yes-no responses from your body. If you really love it, you can study to become a Body Code Practitioner.

Personal friend and Body Code Practitioner

Interested in a non-invasive, healing modality? Lila Solnik at WholeHeartAlchemy.net works with clients both in person and virtually. She is a certified Body Code Practitioner and Emotion Code Practitioner.