What is life energy?

By Dr John Diamond, http://drjohndiamond.com

Life Energy resides within each individual. It is the term that I use to describe the innate healing power of the body, that which causes us to heal - to love. Although I believe I coined the term, the concept of Life Energy has been around for thousands of years and has been given many different names throughout the history of medicine. The Greeks called it thymos, Hippocrates called it vis medicatrix naturae, the healing power of nature, while Paracelsus wrote of it as Archaeus; the Chinese, Chi; the Egyptians, Ka; The Hindus, Prana, the Hawaiians, Mana. It is Spirit, it is Love. It evokes the true and only healing, that which occurs from within. 

This is what I mean by Life Energy. It is through this, and only this, that all healing takes place. Life Energy is intimately connected with health in the broadest sense, in that underneath the specific symptoms of any particular illness we will always find a diminution of Life Energy. Therefore, if we want to help overcome the root of the disorder, whether mental or physical, we have to raise the Life Energy of the patient. In other words, the only true healing comes from within, by raising the Life Energy. This principle is basic to my work. 

Life Energy flows throughout the body via the acupuncture meridians, each of which vitalizes certain organs, muscles, and tissues. As well, each meridian has an associated specific emotional attribute. And this is the link between mind and body, the basis for an understanding of psychosomatics: each organ and muscle has, as it were, a particular emotion. When the Life Energy is flowing freely throughout that particular meridian then the emotional attribute is positive, and the associated organs and muscles and tissues are healthy. But when there is trauma, of whatever nature, then the emotion turns negative and the Life Energy flow is impeded. If this remains uncorrected, disease results.

Furthermore, many points on each meridian relate to a very specific psychological, and hence physiological, aspect of the particular emotional attribute of that meridian. Thus, by determining an imbalance at any of these points, a very precise physiological and psychological diagnosis can be made; including the precise nature of the particular traumatic event, present or past. Then very specific measures to correct the imbalance at the point may be instituted by a variety of modalities – nutritional supplementation, physical corrections, acupuncture, particular affirmations, musical motifs, songs, etc. So by being able to pinpoint the precise traumatic event, a choice can then be made to release the emotional blockage, enabling the Life Energy once more to flow freely.