Bioenergy Healing

An alternative healing therapy, bioenergy healing aims to treat mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual imbalances within the body.

In Western biological science, the concept of an invisible vital force originated around the 1600s and was called élan vital. Many other, and far more ancient, medicinal traditions also incorporate this force: life force energy is known as chi in Chinese medicine, ki in Japanese medicine, and prana in Ayurveda.

Bioenergy practitioners use hand movements around a client’s body to assess flows of this life force energy, as well as the client’s own bodily energy. This allows practitioners to identify areas where energy may be blocked or stagnating, therefore causing pain, injury, or disease. They then use this information to redirect energies as required.

Healing help

For Chirico, bioenergy healing has been transformative. After her first experiences with it through her sister-in-law in 2006, she experienced a more serious illness, which she credits bioenergy healing techniques, in conjunction with traditional medical interventions, as ameliorating significantly. Bioenergy healing left her feeling “at peace,” and after completing her practitioner’s certification in 2010, she has found joy in helping others to discover the same benefits.

“I have learned so much about myself [through],” she says. “It is a sacred exchange and creates a safe space where everyone is welcomed, embraced, celebrated, and acknowledged.”

Chirico says her clients come to her with issues such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, negative behavioural patterns, and more.

Although high quality scientific studies evidencing the benefits of bioenergy healing are lacking, Chirico is a firm believer in its power. Through her sessions, she has witnessed clients “transform their traumas into triumphs” and, most importantly, connect with their bodies in a way that allows them to feel safe, secure, and whole.

How it works

Establishing a connection

Chirico’s treatments include talk therapy techniques to understand what patients are experiencing before she begins the hands-on and hands-off work of bioenergy healing. She’s found that having these conversations is essential for establishing a connection with her clients and better understanding the root issues of their pain.

Assessing energetic blocks

After an open discussion, Chirico will start the bioenergy healing component of the session by having her clients stand up while she conducts a full-body energy scan, using hand movements to assess where a client’s energetic blocks might be while guiding them through breathwork that helps them to feel relaxed.

Clearing and rebalancing energy flow

She will work on clearing any stuck or stagnant energy and rebalancing the body’s energy flows, calling in life force energy to support in places where the body’s own energy might be deficient. Chirico will also attempt to direct excess energy manifesting as pain in particular spots. Clients will move from standing up to lying down in a deeply relaxed state, which she refers to as a “cocoon,” before rising to stand once more to close the session.

Assessing results

The intention is for clients to come out of a session “lighter, happier, supported, confident, more aligned, joyful, clear, and pain-free,” says Chirico. No two sessions are the same, and she says that different clients will have different treatment plans in terms of the number of subsequent sessions and at what frequency. Chirico’s sessions last for 90 minutes; other practitioners may use varying lengths of time.

Try it out

If you’re nervous about trying out bioenergy healing or other alternative energy healing modalities, there’s no need to be—the practice is extremely safe. It can also draw your attention to areas of your life beyond illness or injury that you may not have been paying much attention to.

“Everything is energy,” says Chirico. “I teach my clients the power of their thoughts, words, and actions, and to take full responsibility for their lives.” By releasing our energetic blocks, says Chirico, we open to “our power, our beauty, our brilliance, our gifts, our abilities, and our potential.” And all of us deserve to be able to do that.

Reiki versus bioenergy healing

Chances are, you’ve heard of reiki, another alternative healing modality that works with energy.

While reiki and bioenergy healing are similar, bioenergy healing treatments can often be more physically dynamic. Additionally, reiki and bioenergy healing practitioners channel and introduce energy in subtly different ways.

What is energy?

In bioenergy healing, it is believed energy is a neutral force that is all around us. Energy is not positive or negative; energy just is. It’s how energy flows that affects how we feel.

This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue of alive magazine.