The Longevity Podcast: Optimizing HealthSpan & MindSpan

The Human Energy Field: Science, Healing & Big Questions

• Dung Trinh

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This episode maps the architecture of the human energy field, traces how Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch entered hospital settings, and tests the boldest claims against scientific explanations. We outline the seven-layer framework of the human energy field, explore meridians and chakras as proposed distribution networks, and review the emotional and organ-based patterns suggested in many healing traditions. At every step, we differentiate veritable energy (measurable physical forces) from putative energy (subtle, subjective, or currently unmeasurable forces), offering clarity rather than confusion.

We examine how Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch evolved into structured nursing practices adopted in hospitals, including their theosophical lineage and emphasis on higher-sense perception. The episode also evaluates alternative explanations—such as the blue-field entoptic phenomenon, placebo effects, expectancy, and autonomic regulation—to help listeners distinguish measurable physiology from subtle-energy claims.

The debate arrives at a central challenge: if mind shapes energy, and energy shapes biology, how would you choose to heal? Rather than enforcing one worldview, we provide a grounded framework for inquiry, integration, and self-directed exploration.

High-volume keywords used: human energy field, Therapeutic Touch, Healing Touch, subtle energy, chakras, meridians, mind–body healing, hospital integrative care

Listener Takeaways

  • The difference between veritable and putative energy
  • How the seven layers, chakras, and meridians are conceptualized
  • The history of Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch in hospitals
  • Scientific vs. subtle-energy explanations, including entoptic effects
  • A reflective challenge: how would you choose to heal?

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This podcast is created by Ai for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional medical or health advice. Please talk to your healthcare team for medical advice.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the deep dive. Today we are tackling a stack of sources that uh really challenge the boundaries between physics, medicine, and metaphysics. It's all under the umbrella of energy healing.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a big umbrella.

SPEAKER_00:

It is. We have research on nursing practices, foundational texts on the human energy field, the HEF, and even accounts of ancient healing systems. So our mission is clear. We need to take all this dense material which describes an entire invisible anatomy, really, and give you a quick but comprehensive look in its architecture, its modalities, and well, its inherent philosophical conflicts.

SPEAKER_01:

That's absolutely essential. We need to go beyond just defining jargon. Our listener wants to understand the specific anatomy described in these sources, you know, the auric layers and the chakras. Right. And then analyze key healing modalities like therapeutic touch and healing touch. We're synthesizing everything from the context of, say, NIH funding that supports research to the truly fascinating metaphysical frameworks.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell The ones that link these practices back to things like theosophy and spirit guides. Exactly. Okay, let's unpack this because the hook for me really centers around Barbara Brunny.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

She didn't start as a spiritual healer. She held a master's in atmospheric physics and works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, which is not the typical background.

SPEAKER_00:

Not at all. And it's this background that makes her synthesis of it all so compelling. Her program blends vibrational science, spiritual insights, and psychoanalysis. So we're navigating how someone goes from tracking orbital data for NASA to teaching about the seven layers of the human aura.

SPEAKER_01:

To even start that navigation, we have to define energy healing itself.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, where do we start?

SPEAKER_01:

According to these sources, it is the intentional process of altering the subtle flow of energy within and around a person. The core idea is that disease or distress are reflections of imbalances in these vital energy fields.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's the umbrella term for things like Reiki, Qigong, therapeutic touch.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. And even distant healing.

SPEAKER_00:

So when we talk about energy, the sources make a pretty crucial distinction, right? Separating this from conventional science.

SPEAKER_01:

They do. You have the conventional forces, strong and weak nuclear electromagnetism, and gravity, which, ironically, the sources note is the least understood force, even though it's the most dominant.

SPEAKER_00:

But the concept of energy here just it broadens immediately.

SPEAKER_01:

It does. We shift to a more holistic definition. Energy is the capacity to do anything, physical, psychological, or spiritual. And that requires us to distinguish between two categories.

SPEAKER_00:

Veritable and putative.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. Veritable energies are the measurable, quantifiable ones like light or sound, but putative energies are the biofields, the subtle fields that are difficult, if not impossible, to measure with our current instruments.

SPEAKER_00:

So if I'm getting this right, a veritable energy like light is a signal we can track precisely, but a putative energy is more like a hypothetical current, this vital life force we can really feel or intuit.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a great way to put it. And these subtle energies are what ancient cultures have recognized for millennia. It's qi or qi in Chinese systems.

SPEAKER_00:

Qi in Japan, the doshas in Ayurveda.

SPEAKER_01:

And prana in Sanskrit, which just means life force.

SPEAKER_00:

That unified concept brings us to Brennan's definition of the universal energy field, or UEF.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. She describes it as this life energy that interpenetrates and surrounds absolutely everything. And it's not disorganized, it's highly structured, appearing as geometric points, spirals, clouds.

SPEAKER_00:

And here's where it gets critical for the healing part.

SPEAKER_01:

This is the key. The UEF is also defined as an information storage hologram. It's the energetic record of all space and time.

SPEAKER_00:

So an attuned healer could potentially access past trauma or even future health states?

SPEAKER_01:

That's the idea. The energy field isn't just a barometer of current health, it's a complete biographical library.

SPEAKER_00:

It turns the human body into an archive.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. And if the UEF is the cosmic archive, then the human energy field, the HEF, or the aura, is the individual's personal piece of that archive.

SPEAKER_00:

And our sources note a huge conceptual shift here. They say scientists moved from basically being certain this field didn't exist to being almost certain that it does.

SPEAKER_01:

A massive shift.

SPEAKER_00:

How do they explain that? Was there some kind of smoking gun evidence?

SPEAKER_01:

It seems it was more of an accumulation of things, research into biofeedback, measurable field interactions between people, and just the sheer volume of empirical reports from healers that, you know, led to a consensus.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so structurally, what is this HEF?

SPEAKER_01:

It's described as having at least seven distinct interpenetrating layers. Each one vibrates at a different frequency and reflects a specific psychological and spiritual state.

SPEAKER_00:

Given Brendan's physics background, it sounds like she's assigning different vibrational bands to each layer, like radio frequencies. Let's walk through them. Layer one.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the ethereal body. It's closest to the skin, maybe an inch or two out, light blue to gray. This is the structural blueprint, the matrix that physical tissue forms upon.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, then layer two is the emotional body.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and this one is constantly shifting in color and tone, extending maybe three inches. It reflects your immediate feelings. So energized, loving feelings make the colors vivid and clear.

SPEAKER_00:

And depressive or confused feelings would make it muddy and dark.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. It's highly dynamic.

SPEAKER_00:

Then moving out, layer three is the mental body.

SPEAKER_01:

That's your thoughts and mental clarity. It's usually a bright yellow light extending up to eight inches.

SPEAKER_00:

And then we hit the bridge.

SPEAKER_01:

Layer four, the astral body. It's physically central, maybe six to twelve inches out, and it's infused with this rose color of love. It acts as a filter.

SPEAKER_00:

A filter between what?

SPEAKER_01:

It divides the energies of the lower physical, emotional, and mental layers from the upper, more spiritual ones.

SPEAKER_00:

And this is the layer that's key to relationships, right? Where energetic cords form between people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. The sources claim that when a relationship ends abruptly, the tearing of those cords is the literal energetic event that registers as the physical pain of heartache.

SPEAKER_00:

That definitely reframes a bad breakup.

SPEAKER_01:

It does. Beyond that, layer five is the template body, extending up to two feet out. This layer has the complete, perfect blueprint of the whole structure.

SPEAKER_00:

The negative form.

SPEAKER_01:

The negative form, exactly. So if the first layer, the ethereal body, is distorted from disease or trauma, the healer has to work here in the template to restore the original form before the physical body can heal itself.

SPEAKER_00:

And finally, the highest layers.

SPEAKER_01:

Layer six and seven. The sixth is the celestial body, linked to spiritual planes, unconditional love, often shimmering with opalescent light. And the seventh is the Cetharic template or causal body.

SPEAKER_00:

The record of the soul's experience.

SPEAKER_01:

Across all time. And it has a thin, protective eggshell layer, which gives structural integrity to everything inside it.

SPEAKER_00:

So interwoven through these layers are the main channels of energy distribution. First, the meridians.

SPEAKER_01:

The energy pathways. They're described as electrical conductors along the skin's surface that affect every system lung, heart, kidney.

SPEAKER_00:

And there was some research in the 70s that supported this, right?

SPEAKER_01:

There was. Robert Becker's experiments showed electrical current flowing in the paraneurial cells right under the skin, which lines up with where acupuncture points are mapped.

SPEAKER_00:

And then you have the energy stations, the chakras.

SPEAKER_01:

Sanskrit for wheel. The seven major energy centers that traverse the spine, connecting all the layers and meridians. And what's fascinating is the direct link they describe between organs and emotions.

SPEAKER_00:

Like the solar plexus, the third chakra.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. They link the kidneys to fear and the liver to anger. This is central to the healing philosophy. If the organ holds the emotional memory, you have to heal the emotional block to release the physical symptom.

SPEAKER_00:

So let's move into the actual nursing practices that brought all this into the mainstream. We're talking about therapeutic touch and healing touch.

SPEAKER_01:

TT, therapeutic touch, was developed in the early 70s by Dolores Krieger, a PhD nurse, and a Buddhist endor Koons, who was president of the Theosophical Society.

SPEAKER_00:

And despite the name, it's often non-contact.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Its acceptance by mainstream nursing is pretty remarkable. The method is very precise. The nurse first centers themselves, then they assess the HEF by holding their hands a few inches off the body to sense variations.

SPEAKER_00:

Like hot or cold spots.

SPEAKER_01:

Or density changes, yes. Then they unruffle or decongest the energy, smoothing it out. And finally they modulate or redistribute that flow to promote balance. It's used a lot for pain and anxiety.

SPEAKER_00:

And healing touch is a variation developed later by nurse Janet Mengen in 81.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And the key takeaway is that both have achieved significant institutional sanction. They've been endorsed by the American Holistic Nurses Association since 1989 and are used in hospitals.

SPEAKER_00:

But our sources don't shy away from the, well, the profound metaphysical roots of these practices.

SPEAKER_01:

Not at all. Both TT and HT link their foundations back to Western occultism, specifically theosophy and spiritism, and Eastern beliefs. The reference material often cites theosophists like Charles Ledbeater for the original diagrams of the chakras and aura.

SPEAKER_00:

And this lineage becomes really explicit in the advanced training.

SPEAKER_01:

It does.

SPEAKER_00:

Advanced healing touch, specifically, includes accessing higher sense perception, HSP like clairvoyance, and clair audience. We've gone from NIH sanctioned nursing practices to other than human intelligences, described as spiritual guides or angels who perform etheric operations. How do the sources bridge that monumental gap?

SPEAKER_01:

They bridge it by defining the HEF as multidimensional. Brennan's work is explicit about this. She shares channeled messages from her guide, Heyoan, and includes exercises for contacting your own guides.

SPEAKER_00:

So the guides are seen as what? Higher vibration entities.

SPEAKER_01:

Who can transmit concepts and perform healing from the fifth layer, that template body, by assisting the physical healer? The key is removing the healer's own mental blocks to accept this, quote, greater reality.

SPEAKER_00:

This brings us right to the central tension of this entire field, the boundary between objective science and personal perception.

SPEAKER_01:

It really does.

SPEAKER_00:

And Brennan's work offers a concrete exercise for this: observing the universal life energy fields. You lie down and gaze at a clear blue sky to see these tiny globules of orgon.

SPEAKER_01:

White balls with a black spot moving in squiggly patterns.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, and she notes they're bright and fast on a sunny day, but fewer and slower in a smoggy city, suggesting they're undercharged.

SPEAKER_01:

And this is a perfect example of that conflict. A student tries this and thinks, wow, I've been seeing those squiggles my whole life.

SPEAKER_00:

They feel like they've confirmed it.

SPEAKER_01:

But then their friend might send them a video from an optometrist explaining the exact same thing as the blue field and toptic phenomenon.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Which attributes the squiggles to what? Blood cells?

SPEAKER_01:

White blood cells moving in the capillaries across your retina.

SPEAKER_00:

So what does this all mean? The core observation is identical.

SPEAKER_01:

Completely identical. But the interpretation is fundamentally polarized. Are you tapping into objective, subtle energy with higher sense perception? Or are you just observing a known physiological function of your own eyeball?

SPEAKER_00:

That is the central question.

SPEAKER_01:

It is. But regardless of the label, the theoretical power of the HEF framework remains. The idea that every thought, every feeling you have creates structural changes in your aura.

SPEAKER_00:

And negative beliefs or repressed emotions solidify into energy blocks, these rigid character defenses that a healer tries to transform.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

We started with a dense stack of sources.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, now we have the foundational structure of the energy body, its seven layers, its seven centers, and its links to health. We've traced how key healing modalities got sanctioned by nurses.

SPEAKER_01:

And we've wrestled with that profound boundary between spiritual perception and conventional science.

SPEAKER_00:

The ultimate philosophy underpinning all of this, from ancient masters to modern nurses, seems to be this radical belief that the soul or mind precedes energy and that energy precedes biology.

SPEAKER_01:

Which suggests that consciousness itself is the fundamental builder of biology, chemistry, emotions, relationships, everything a person experiences?

SPEAKER_00:

And since the source material knows that a patient has to be willing to heal, that even the best healer can't help someone whose own soul is blocking the process, the profound takeaway isn't just about whether you can manipulate external energy fields. The provocative thought for you is this if every single thought and feeling fundamentally shapes your energy field, how might a deeper conscious awareness of your own emotional blocks and character defenses fundamentally change your entire experience of reality, regardless of any external scientific validation? Something to explore on your own time.