Multisite electromyographic analysis of therapeutic touch and qigong therapy
Take it for its worth, not a perfect study, but good to know:
Study: Multisite electromyographic analysis of therapeutic touch and qigong therapy.
Wirth DP, Cram JR, Chang RJ.
Healing Sciences Research International, Orinda, California, USA.
The influence of complementary healing treatment on paraspinal electromagnetic activity at specific neuromuscular sites was examined in an exploratory pilot study that used a multisite surface electromyographic (sEMG) assessment procedure. The study was a replication and extension of previous research that indicated that complementary healing had a significant effect in normalizing the activity of the “end organ” for the central nervous system (CNS). Multisite sEMG electrodes were placed on the frontalis, cervical (C4), thoracic (T6), and lumbosacral (L3) paraspinals of 44 subjects who were divided into three groups: (1) students/patients of a Qigong practitioner (n = 16); (2) students/patients of a therapeutic touch (TT) practitioner (n = 14); and (3) nonbelievers in complementary healing (n = 14). A traditional ABAC experimental design was used with each subject evaluated for one 20-minute session that included four 5-minute segments. The purpose of this study was to measure the variable energizing effect of Qigong therapy along with the anecdotally and experimentally established relaxation effect of TT therapy relative to patient belief and expectancy. Treatment sessions consisted of Qigong and a modified form of TT intervention for all three groups. Due to the double-blind nature of the study, however, group 1 subjects were aware of only the Qigong intervention; group 2 subjects were aware of only the TT intervention, and group 3 subjects were informed that the study was designed to assess the neuromuscular activity of individuals in a seated position. The results indicated a statistically significant rise in electromagnetic activity for group 1 during the Qigong intervention segment (p < .024). Group 2 demonstrated a modest although overall nonsignificant decrease in multisite sEMG levels for both treatment protocols, whereas group 3 exhibited relatively consistent neuromuscular activity for both control and treatment segments. The results of this study are considered preliminary in nature, however, due to the potential influence of several confounds including psychophysiological factors, established behavior patterns, and the possibility for information transfer due to sensory cues.
PMID: 9395700
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9395700

Daniel P. Wirth, Jeffrey R. Cram, Richard J. Chang. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Summer 1997, 3(2): 109-118. doi:10.1089/acm.1997.3.109.
Published in Volume: 3 Issue 2: September 12, 2007
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) sees the human body quite differently from Western Medicine. Instead of viewing ourselves as a collection of systems that work together, the Chinese view our being as a reflection of nature and it’s rhythmic cycles- each major body organ is related to one of the 5 major elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element is also associated with a season, and can be altered and affected by a variety of other correlations, including: color, flavor (food & drink), an emotional state, and one of the five sensory organs. For example, if you have an issue going on with your eye or sight, it is usually an imbalance that has incurred in the Liver qi.
Here’s some food for though, did you know that all (I mean every single) healing that you experience is 100% your body healing itself? medicine, doctors even religious and energy healers, they do not heal you, they assist your body in healing itself.
Qigong is an ancient healing practice from China, which brings your mind, body, and heart energy together to achieve balance through active meditative movements and sitting meditations.
I got this from a disucssion forum a while back, I saved the text without the name of the author or a link back to that forum’s web page. If you know where this came from let me know .. for now here’s the text attempting to explain what the Qi/Chee/Life force is (basically it argues that Qi is bio-electricity).











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