Exploring the Biofield.

Abstract

Those of us who have been in the field of integrative health and medicine for a decade or two vividly recall the era when there was great enthusiasm and hope for therapeutic approaches that fell into the realm of complementary and alternative medicine. Healthcare clinicians and scientists worried about unsubstantiated claims and so-called therapeutic approaches—historically popular among consumers but largely untested by scientists—that might not be helpful and may even be harmful. Much has changed over the decades. The field was more controversial than it is today due to growing public and private funded research showing both what has promise and what does not. Thirty years ago, there was little to no research on acupuncture and mind-body approaches. If it had been proposed that meditation could impact neurological and immune function and literally change the structure and function of the brain, the idea would have been considered ill informed and even outlandish. Science has caught up in this case, and ...