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

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.

Effect of the cervical and thoracic “Daoyin” training on college students with upper crossed syndrome: A randomized controlled trial

“…The cervical and thoracic "Daoyin" training is a kind of Chinese traditional qigong, which is a movement of slow breathing in a calm state, self-adjustment, and exercise of the body's internal functions under the guidance of consciousness [29]. After the intervention of the cervical and thoracic "Daoyin" training, anxiety scores in UCS college students were found to decrease signi cantly.…”

The Energy of Energy Psychology

“…At-a-distant phenomena, from intercessory prayer to distant healing, are well documented [106,107]]. Because quantum physics is the only scientific discipline that has demonstrated non-local effects (Einstein's "spooky action at a distance"), speculation on ways that quantum phenomena, usually confined to subatomic realms, might affect larger systems has led to substantial discussion on how "quantum ideas work to model cognition" [108], p. 3.…”

Designing of casual wear for wheelchair users

“…The mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still unclear or unknown. However, some experimental results and clinical applications support rather than deny its existence, thus justifying further studies about its nature and action mechanism [21]. According to several authors, this phenomenon could be partially related to electro-magnetics, acoustic-and thermal-related effects [22][23][24], and possibly subtle biofields, which, in some cases, seem to generate physical changes that are measurable with current technological methods, and related to health or disease patterns [25,26].…”