Media Reviews: Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution

Benor, Daniel J.

doi:10.1054/ctim.2002.0518

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Very few meditation practices deal with the capture and balance of "subtle energies," known as prana by Indian tradition, qi or ch'i by Chinese tradition, ki by Japanese tradition, and biofield or bioenergy by Western science. 33 The balance of these "energies" is considered as essential for maintaining or recovering health. 34,35 Since they have attributes that make them different from all the 4 known physical energies or forces in the Universe, 36 we coined the term biometenergy [bio = life + met(a) = beyond + energy] to encompass them, and will use it hereafter.…”

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confidence: 99%

Beneficial Effects of Pranic Meditation on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors

2014

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Background. Breast cancer survivors frequently present long-lasting impairments, caused either by the disease or its treatment, capable of compromising their emotional health and quality of life. Meditation appears to be a valuable complementary measure for overcoming some of these impairments. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the effect of pranic meditation on the quality of life and mental health of breast cancer survivors. Design. This study was a prospective single-arm observational study using before and after measurements. Methods. The subjects were 75 women submitted either to breast cancer therapy or to posttherapy control who agreed to practice pranic meditation for 20 minutes, twice a day, during 8 weeks, after receiving a formal training. The quality of life of the practitioners was assessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and EORTC BR-023 questionnaires, and the mental health status by the Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire. Results. After 8 weeks of pranic meditation practice, the subjects showed a significant improvement of their quality of life scores that included physical ( P = .0007), role ( P = .01), emotional ( P = .002), and social functioning ( P = .004), as well as global health status ( P = .005), fatigue ( P < .0001), pain ( P = .007), sleep disturbances ( P = .01), body image ( P = .001), arm symptoms ( P = .007), and breast symptoms ( P = .002). They also showed a reduction of the side effects of systemic therapy ( P = .02) and being upset by hair loss ( P = .02). Moreover, meditation was associated with improvement of the mental health parameters of the practitioners that included psychic stress ( P = .001), death ideation ( P = .02), performance diffidence ( P = .001), psychosomatic disorders ( P = .02), and severity of mental disorders ( P = .0003). The extension of the meditation period from 8 to 15 weeks caused no substantial extra benefits in practitioners. Conclusions. The results of this pilot study showed that breast cancer survivors presented significant benefits related to their mental health and quality of life scores after a short period of practice of pranic meditation, consisting of simple and easy-to-learn exercises. However, because of the limitations of the study, further research is required using a more rigorous experimental design to ascertain whether pranic meditation may be an acceptable adjunct therapy for cancer patients.

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confidence: 99%

Beneficial Effects of Pranic Meditation on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors

2014

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“…[27][28][29] Near-death experiences have been described by many authors as a type of spiritual phenomena of miraculous recovery, and near-death experiences are evidenced in this study as well. 24,30,31 The concept of suffering and spirituality, as discerned through this study, has been written about extensively by Wright.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Healing Through Prayer

Helming¹

2011

Holistic Nursing Practice

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A qualitative study using a semistructured interview process explored the experience of being healed through prayer in 20 participants from several Protestant Christian faith traditions. Five cluster themes and their subthemes were identified, such as Spirituality and Suffering (subthemes of Purpose of Suffering and Spiritual Meaning of Suffering); The Healing Experience (subthemes of Problems that Were Healed, Incomplete Healings or Recurrences, and Healing of Friends and Family Members); The Connecting Network of Prayer (subthemes of Connection to God, Connection to Others, Meaning of Prayer, Methods of Prayer, and Unanswered Prayer); Spiritual Transformation of Prayer (subthemes of Changed Lives and Sense of Purpose); and Spiritual Phenomena (subthemes of Sense of God's Presence, Use of Complementary and Alternative Practices, and Mysterious Phenomena).

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“…'Healing' is a comparatively neglected area of CAM, although healing is probably one of the oldest paramedical treatments and is practiced both in a conventional environment [15][16][17], and in a variety of indigenous cultures [18], however, research has been scarce. While a comprehensive review of healing studies concludes that there is evidence that healing works [19], this view does not seem to reflect mainstream opinion. Moreover, this review mainly deals with fundamental research in isolated systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Efficacy of Distant Healing – a Proposal for a Four-Armed Randomized Study (EUHEALS)

Walach¹,

Bösch²,

Haraldsson

et al. 2002

Complement Med Res

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Background: Distant healing as a treatment modality is frequently used by patients and healers. Some preliminary evidence suggests possible effects. Since patients suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity and chronic fatigue syndrome have only few effective treatment options, distant healing will be offered as a treatment within a formal trial of distant healing. Design and Method: A four-armed randomized trial will include 400 patients with self-attributed, environmental problems who fulfil the diagnostic criteria of severe idiopathic chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome or multiple chemical sensitivity. Patients will be recruited by specialized general practitioners and environmental clinics. They will be treated by healers distributed all over Europe, coming from various healing traditions and nationalities. Each patient will be treated by 3 healers. Healers will have no contact with the patients and will only be provided with the patient’s Christian name and a photograph. The patients will be randomized to one of 4 groups in a 2 × 2 factorial design. They will either receive (distant) healing or not, and either know or not know this decision. Thereby the effects of expectation and of time can be disentangled from the specific effects of healing. Outcome Measure: Primary outcome measure will be the mental health summary scale of the MOS SF-36. The measure will be taken at the beginning and at the end of a 6- month treating or waiting period, respectively. A variety of moderator variables will be considered to evaluate which of these may be predictive of outcome.

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Media Reviews: Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution

Cited by 17 publications

References 1 publication

Beneficial Effects of Pranic Meditation on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors

Beneficial Effects of Pranic Meditation on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors

Healing Through Prayer

Efficacy of Distant Healing – a Proposal for a Four-Armed Randomized Study (EUHEALS)

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