Hands-on Healing - Bengston's Research

While researching the internet for resources related to energy healing--the subject of the upcoming OLLI class, Energy Healing--I came upon the work of William Bengston, PhD. Dr. Bengston has conducted experimental and clinical studies for more than 35 years on the amazing and mysterious effects of a hands-on healing method and, in particular, its effects on various strains of cancer in mice. 

                         

According to Dr. Bengston, the healing interventions he has developed and the results he has observed are not dependent on any belief system, as many other hands-on healing systems, e.g., Reiki, are. Not only that, Bengston reports that the results often complicate the research and interpretation since often the 'controls' experience the same healing effects observed when the 'treatment ' (hands-on healing) is directly only to the 'experimentals.' He also discusses the problems in investigating and drawing conclusions in clinical studies with humans, rather than mice, and in studies of teaching and learning healing practices.

Dr. Benston says he is mystified, unable to understand at this point just what it is that is going on. He suggests that the 'it' may very well be a flow of information needed by the recipient rather than a flow of energy from the healer. He also speculates that the effects on 'controls' may be a function of a resonant bonding of 'controls' and 'experimentals.' I offer that this might be explained, at least in part, by biologist Rupert Sheldrake's theory of morphic resonance and his research findings, e.g., "...rats that learned a new trick in one laboratory (Harvard) and later groups of rats in other laboratories, in Scotland and Australia that learned the new trick quicker."

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Here are a number of resources accessible on the internet which can be used as the basic of a discussion of Dr. Bengston's work. 

Listen to Tami Simon's interview with William Bengston (56 min.); then

view Dr. Bengston's 2009 presentation  at the annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration (54 min.).

If you're not familiar with Rupert Sheldrake's work, consider exploring his website and, in particular 

Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields - An Introduction.

Please Join the Discussion with Your Comments

1. What do you think of Dr. Bengston's research, findings, and speculations?
   
2. What are your experiences with hands-on healing, e.g., Reiki, Healing Touch, or similar healing methods?
   
3. What part does belief play in concluding from and accepting results in human studies and experiences of healing?
   
4. What question(s) or issues would you like to raise for a discussion on healing?

Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain

Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain is a fascinating presentation by film director David Lynch, quantum physicist John Hagelin, PhD and brain researcher John Travis, PhD made at Emerson College, Saturday October 1, 2005. Click on the link, above, to see and hear it.
This is an example of the kinds of things we can act upon (e.g., find, share, discuss) as members of the IONS-AL Community Group.


What do you think?

An Introduction to IONS-AL

IONS is the Institute of Noetic Sciences and IONS-AL is a new, virtual IONS Community Group for Alabama.
Here, virtual means a group where members meet, interact, and form an online community, rather than locally, face-to-face. While IONS-AL is not intended to replace real IONS Community Groups, it should augment and enhance them. And where no group exists locally, it should provide an alternative IONS community for IONS members in Alabama.
The viability of a virtual IONS Community Group in Alabama remains to be seen. During the coming year I hope it will be. And that will depend on the interest and involvement of IONS members and any local IONS Community Groups in Alabama.
So if you are an IONS member in Alabama, I urge you to visit the IONS-AL website, join IONS-AL, participate in the discussions on this blog, and otherwise become an active, virtual member on IONS-AL. 
And if you don't know about the Institute of Noetic Sciences, please visit its website and check it out, then become a member. Membership is free. 

            - Tom Nielsen, EdD   

              IONS-AL Community Group Coordinator
              November 25, 2010

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• To add a comment to a blog post:
  - click the post title, to be sure you're on the post's page, then
  - add your comments in the Post a Comment box at the bottom of the post.
• To return to the blog home page:
  - click on the Alabama-IONS logo at the top-left of any page.

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Please post your comments and suggestions, here or via email. Know that your comments, contributions, participation, and patience will be greatly appreciated.

Blogging Basics

See the web page, Blogging Basics, and add your comments, questions, and answers about IONS-AL blogging, here.

Developing Topics - 2

IONS-AL members may have many different approaches to developing a topic. Here is one simple way:

1. Pick a topic of interest to you and, possibly, other IONS-AL members.
2. Do a little internet-based research on the topic to locate some related information.
3. Draft the body of the topic post which may include, e.g.,
   a.  one or more questions;
   b.  a statement of fact or opinion;
   c. several explanatory paragraphs;
   d.  selected quotes or other citations;
   e. links to related resources on the internet;
   f. images, tables, diagrams, etc.
4. Submit the draft via email (if it's your first), or 
5. Post the draft directly to the blog (if you've done one, before).
   [see: Blogging Basics]
   

Remember, your topic post is just the beginning of a discussion on the topic, with comments added from others who are interested in or know the topic.

Developing Topics - 1

IONS-AL Topics can be simple or complex. Any member who has an idea for a topic can and is urged to initiate one:

• create a draft post for the topic, and 
• submit it via email to the IONS-AL Community Group Coordinator. 

The initiator may be the topic leader or another person may be solicited. The leader will then post the topic to the IONS-AL blog for all to see, comment on, and discuss.
Any member who knows how to format an email can create an initial topic. An initial draft post submitted via email should include:

• Topic title
• Main body of the post (text, images, links)
• Proposed leader (name & email address; probably the initiator's)

If the initiator is to be the leader and it is the first topic ever submitted, then she/he may be given author access in order to post the topic to the blog. If the leader would rather, the webmaster can make the post from the content of the email.

See Blogging Basics and Mindfulness and EFT for Our Military for an example topic post (the poster is usually the de facto leader). Note that the body of the post can be copied and pasted from/to most email messages and a blog post. [Copy and paste the body of the example into a new email message to see how your email application handles the formatted content.] 

About IONS-AL Events

An IONS-AL event may be a presentation and/or discussion, or other scheduled online, real-time event using, e.g., Google Talk, Google Docs Presentation, or Skype Conference Calling.  
Events may be adjunct or follow-up to an IONS-AL topic, or related to a real IONS Community Group event.
Guides for preparing, conducting, and participating in an IONS-AL event, need to be developed. 
Members who wish to participate in online events should become familiar with and practice using the technology prior to an event. Some demo and practice events and support topics should be developed and conducted early on.
[More to be added...soon]

About IONS-AL Topics

IONS-AL members are encouraged to contribute Topics of interest to members. They will usually appear as blog posts but for larger topics, they may also include web pages.
A topic  presents an idea or information for exploration and discussion. It may be relatively brief (a screen or less) or larger. It will usually include links to related web resources.
The content for a topic can composed and sent in an email to the webmaster for posting, or author access privileges may given to contributing authors, members who provide topics, frequently.
Visitors to the IONS-AL blog will be able to Comment on a post, i.e., participate in a discussion of the topic. 
See Mindfulness & EFT for Our Military for an example of a simple Topic.
Also see Developing Topics 1 & Developing Topics 2

Mindfulness & EFT for Our Military

Ideas and practices that may be familiar to IONS members are also of value to our military and their families. Here are two, mindfulness and emotional freedom techniques (EFT) you may want to share with military personnel and families you know.
Meditation Fit for a Marine reports that new experiments with the military affirm the benefits of mindfulness.
OPERATION: Emotional Freedom is a documentary film on DVD now available to PTSD veterans and those who care.

View video clips from the film to learn more about the pilot study and documentary and to view selections of testimonials and interviews with veterans and therapists involved in the the project.

To find out more about the film, check out findings from another pilot study on the emotional freedom techniques (EFT) employed in the study and treatments, and visit the website.
EFT4Vets

A Virtual IONS Community Group for Alabama

No IONS Community Group in Alabama

   There are more than 100 IONS members in the state of Alabama, but until now there has been no IONS Community Group where like-minded persons can meet face-to-face to share, explore, pursue, and promote ideas, interests, purposes, and values of the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

• What is an IONS Community Group?
• Why join a Community Group?
• Community Group Purpose and Principles
• More About IONS Community Groups
  

A Virtual IONS Community Group

   IONS members are spread out, throughout the state. Some are located in urban areas, e.g.,  Hunstville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile, but many others are in smaller towns and rural areas, as I am. Since there was no IONS Community Group in Alabama when I became a member in 2006, I contacted Linda Hassler, our IONS regional coordinator who  invited me to organize one. I obtained an IONS membership list for Alabama and sent a letter to a sample of IONS members proposing a virtual IONS Community Group which would 

meet on the internet. No one responded. Eventually, I found OLLI at Auburn University where I have been leading classes on IONS-related topics for the past several years.

   However, from time to time I would receive a message from our IONS regional coordinator, Linda Hassler with the name of someone in Alabama interested in IONS. Recently, one of those persons invited me to meet with a group in Montgomery. More than twenty attended the meeting; they were intersted, wanting to know more about IONS. As a result of my visit, a number began to form the first real IONS Community Group in Alabama.  

   I offered to help them in any way I could, including revisiting the idea of a virtual IONS Community Group for Alabama. And so IONS-AL was re-conceived and  a website and a blog created where IONS members statewide could meet virtually-- rather than face-to-face--to share, explore, and pursue IONS-related topics, interests, and purposes. During 2011 with the help of others, I hope to foster the organization and development of IONS-AL.

Join IONS-AL, Visit Often, Comment, & Contribute

   Please join IONS-AL; visit the website and blog, often; add comments on blog posts; and  contribute content to the website and blog. 

   I intent to post to the blog, offering ideas and suggesting ways in which IONS members throughout the state can come together, virtually.