Perspectives, Measurability and Effects of Non-Contact Biofield-Based Practices: A Narrative Review of Quantitative Research.

Luís Carlos Matos,Jorge Pereira Machado,Fernando Jorge Monteiro,Henry Johannes Greten

doi:10.3390/ijerph18126397

Abstract

Practices such as “Reiki”, therapeutic touch, healing touch, and external “Qigong” have been regarded as some form of “energy medicine” or “biofield therapy”. The biofield concept has been studied and debated by researchers of distinct areas of expertise, and although the phenomenon was sometimes described as physically related to electromagnetics, other factors such as “subtle energy” and focused intention might be involved. These nonconventional practices integrate contact and non-contact techniques, and those dealing with so-called distant healing interventions are perhaps the most difficult to understand and accept. Practitioners describe these so-called nonlocal interventions as involving intentional factors and particular states of consciousness. With a spiritual mindset and a particular state of awareness, compassion is said to work out as a catalyst to produce physiological and physical changes through mechanisms that are still unknown. At the body level, these vegetative changes might be related to individual self-perception variations as part of the body neurovegetative feedback system of regulation. Further mechanisms are difficult to document and measure, and might be more accessible to research by using physical signal detectors, chemical dynamics methods, detectors using biological materials, detectors using living sensors, and detectors using the human body. The growing interest in these practices and the considerable amount of research exploring their effects and clinical applications encouraged this narrative review, which aims to provide an easy to consult partial overview of the history, theory and findings of quantitative research strategies exploring non-contact biofield-based practices. This work also aims to stimulate the reader’s mind with the raised hypotheses, catalyzing further research on the subject to confirm or deny the reported outcomes.

Highlights

The effects and mechanisms behind nonconventional healing practices have been studied over the last decades
Anomalous body potential surges ranging from −20 V to −80 V lasting from 0.5 to 12.5 s were measured at the ear lobe of therapeutic touch practitioners
Well-designed studies with proper controls and standard procedures are required to ensure quality and reproducibility. The fulfillment of these requirements is a challenge to research, as a high number of variables might have an impact on the study, such as the practitioners’ background, the number of practitioners involved in the study, the type of biofield therapy, the duration of the focused intention intervention, and the frequency of biofield therapy during the experimental period

Summary

Introduction

The effects and mechanisms behind nonconventional healing practices have been studied over the last decades. The biofield, a field thought to exist within and around the body, is among researchers’ topics. To explore possible biofield effects and their hypothetical mechanisms, practitioners of traditional medicine and the so-called “energy healers” have been often involved in this research field.

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