8 March/April 2015 | Energy Magazine™

Lessons from
38 Years of Teaching
Energy Medicine This article is a reprint from

Donna Eden
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I
www.energymagazineonline.com

taught my first class on energy healing in 1977. I drawn away from a muscle by tracing in the oppo-
only charged $5.00 for the weekend course, explain- site direction of the flow of the meridian that moves
ing in advance that I was new to teaching and wanted through that muscle. This can then be easily demon-
license to make a lot of mistakes. Now more than strated using a standard energy test. Another favorite
1,000 classes later, I have introduced Energy Medicine is asking for someone who is feeling tired and show-
to well over 80,000 people around the world, from ing how the energy tests weak when the person walks
beginners to advanced practitioners -- from layper- forward but strong when walking backward, indicat-
sons to physicians. ing that the meridians have reversed their natural
direction, which is nature’s way of encouraging us to
In the process, I have learned some things that would rest. Of course, I then show how rubbing the Kidney
have given me enough confidence to charge at least 27 points can get the energies flowing back to their
$10 if I knew them at the time of that first class. Here proper direction. (Energy tests, the uses of the Kidney
are eight lessons I have learned about teaching Energy 27 points, and the other techniques mentioned below
Medicine: are all described in my book, Energy Medicine).

1. Start With Simple Demonstrations 2. Anyone Can Do This

Rather Than Long Explanations
I have three modes of demonstrating a wide range of
Many people have difficulty envisioning subtle “ener- Energy Medicine techniques:
gies” they cannot see—such as meridians, chakras,
and the aura. In fact, you can explain these at great 1) Invite someone to the stage and demonstrate
length without any light of recognition coming into the technique.
their eyes. Fortunately, Energy Medicine readily lends 2) Meticulously describe the technique from the
itself to simple demonstrations that cut through the stage as each student self-applies it.
limitation of words. 3) With the students working in pairs, show them
how to do the technique on each other.
I tend to show a new class how easily energy can be

March/April 2015 | Energy Magazine™ 9

Lessons from 38 Years of Teaching Energy Medicine

I also have teaching assistants available if someone Sometimes when showing someone a weakness in
gets confused. Even people with no self-confidence the Spleen meridian or any of hundreds of other
realize that they can use these methods successfully energetic problems, the person feels demoralized.
once they have applied them a few times with them- The principle to emphasize is that disturbances in
selves and others. the energy field precede disturbances in the physical
body. This is an opportunity to head off trouble, not
3. Your Students Are Sensitive to Energy a sentence to future illness and decay. Acknowledge!
Celebrate! Correct!
In hundreds of beginning Energy Medicine classes, we
have asked for a show of hands to the question: “Who 5. Do Not Get Hung Up On a Procedure
here is way, way, way more sensitive to energy than
others—absorbing energies that hurt you or get in your If a technique you are demonstrating on the stage
way?” Consistently, about one-third of the class raises does not work, it still worked! Just not the way you
their hands. planned. It worked to help you assess what is really

“I explain that this sensitivity to energy is one of the

reasons they are drawn to an Energy Medicine class.”
Those of you who are good at math will immediately going on. Do not stop. Find out if the person’s ener-
recognize that “one-third” paired with “way, way, way gies are running backward or in a homolateral pattern
more” suggests a skewed sample. So I explain that or being compromised by Triple Warmer in overload
this sensitivity to energy is one of the reasons they are or any of the dozens of other things that might keep
drawn to an Energy Medicine class. I try to help them a particular technique from working. People will be
understand that such sensitivities are a gift, as well as fascinated to watch you doing “energy tracking” in
a vulnerability. front of them!

While my own sensitivity serves me in my work, I 6. You Will Be Asked Every Manner of
have had to learn how not to be overwhelmed by the Health Question
energies that my body tends to attract and absorb.
I teach students, even in introductory classes, some No matter what your agenda, people’s own health
very simple grounding techniques, ways to keep their challenges or those of their loved ones are paramount
aura strong so they are protected, ways to keep their in their minds when attending a class on healing. Get
Central meridian strong and connected with their used to it. I always bring these questions back to the
Governing meridian, forming a protective “Macrocos- principle that most Energy Medicine practitioners are
mic Orbit.” not licensed to diagnose or treat illness.

I also teach techniques I use when I have picked up Rather than a legalistic response, it is an opportunity
someone else’s energy. One of my favorites is Con- to emphasize that the same physical problem may be
necting Heaven and Earth (see inset). the reflection of any of a dozen kinds of imbalance in
the person’s energy system. Symptoms provide clues as
4. Identifying an Energy Disturbance Is an to where these imbalances may be, and our job is to re-
Opportunity—Not a Condemnation store energetic flow and harmony—not to treat illness.

10 March/April 2015 | Energy Magazine™

 Lessons from 38 Years of Teaching Energy Medicine

Another consideration regarding questions is that A challenge is that I demonstrate so many techniques
when participants are asking so many questions as in a class, people may not know where to start. So
to interfere with the flow of the class, I request that we end even a brief class by suggesting three or four
questions be limited to those seeking clarification techniques from the many they have witnessed. As
about the topic being addressed and invite par- those prove to feel good and show other benefits, I
ticipants to take all other questions to the teaching know they will want to learn more.
assistants during breaks.
After a longer class, I recommend that they do a
7. Skeptics Will Become Your Strongest five-minute energy routine every day comprised of
techniques they learned in the class. I also get them
Advocates
to make a conscious choice about whether they will
commit to doing it daily, when during the day they
But not if you try to engage them at an intellectual
will do it, and whether they will tie it in with another
level. Instead, give them an experience that their
regular activity. (It is a great warm-up or cool-down
senses can not deny. I like to energy test skeptics by
before or after exercise or yoga, great to do in the bath
holding a magnet up to their ears and then reversing
or shower, or a nice way to help yourself wake up in
the magnet. The south side always tests strong; the
the morning and be energetically ready for your day).
north side always tests weak (assuming their polari- E
ties are not reversed and their muscles are not frozen,
which you have to be prepared to correct if either
condition is present).

This puts them into a state of cognitive dissonance,

where what they are experiencing is in conflict with
their belief system. They may resolve it by intellectu-
alizing the experience away, but they may return for
more demonstrations until the weight of their experi-
ence is so strong, they have to re-examine their beliefs.

My husband, David Feinstein, is my poster child for

“Skeptics Will Become Your Strongest Advocates.” He
sat in on that first class in 1977 and came away shak-
ing his head and wondering what I had gotten into.
He thought $5.00 was a bit high. He now writes books
and teaches with me.

8. Leave Your Students With a Checklist of

Practical Techniques They Will Use

One of the serious weaknesses of Energy Medicine is

that it does not work if you do not use it. I certainly
want those who attend my classes to enjoy the show,
but I also want them to leave with tools they will use
for the rest of their lives.

March/April 2015 | Energy Magazine™ 11

Lessons from 38 Years of Teaching Energy Medicine

Connecting Heaven and Earth

I thought I “invented” this technique more than 30 years ago, but I have since seen variations of it in hieroglyphics
at the Egyptian Museum in London, in qigong practices, and in the healing traditions of numerous other cultures.
It makes space for energy to move throughout the body while using the body as a conduit to energetically con-
nect the ground beneath you with spiritual forces that are beyond you. I believe it is the oldest Energy Medicine
technique in recorded history.

1. Start with your hands on your thighs, fingers spread. Inhale through your nose, circle your arms out and up
over your head, then bring your hands together in a prayer position down and in front of your heart. Exhale
through your mouth.

2. Inhaling through your nose, stretch one arm up and one arm down, pushing with your palms.

3. Hold, exhale, and return to the prayer position.

4. Switch arms and repeat.

5. Do this twice for each arm, really stressing the stretch.

6. Drop your arms down, fold your body forward at the waist, and relax with your knees slightly bent.

7. Take two deep breaths before slowly returning to a standing position. As you do, you can “roll” your energy
up your body with your hands, starting at your feet and rolling all the way up and over your head and out to
the sides.

12 March/April 2015 | Energy Magazine™