Bob Ellal

Chi, Ki, Prana, Pneuma—the names the Chinese, Japanese, Hindus and Greeks assigned to an internal energy they perceived in the body. These ancient cultures believed strongly that the universe pulsed with an unseen energy—and that it coursed through our bodies in well-defined channels that lead to our organ systems. Keep the channels open and flowing and good health prevails. Clogs in these meridians of energy lead to disease.

How did they arrive at this? Monks and hermits experienced this energy operating in their bodies through their practice of deep meditation in monasteries and in the mountains, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Over time, through “feel” and trial-and-error, they charted these channels and meridians of energy in the body and developed the practices of qigong (internal energy exercises) and acupuncture.

But is internal energy real? Or just imagination?

“Vitalism”

This idea that a form of electro-magnetic, life energy—a vital force--is responsible for good health has been around in the Western world since the days of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, and probably since the early Egyptians.

In the 18th century the German physician Anton Mesmer proposed the concept of “animal magnetism,” an innate force in human beings. Many other Western doctors proposed different forms of vitalism in the centuries since.

During the 20th century the German psychiatrist William Reich called this energy “orgone” and developed a theory that it was related to the sexual urge, one of life’s most powerful instincts.

However, Western medicine tested these theories in lab experiments and determined that any positive effects from vitalistic treatment were the result of the imagination. In short, the placebo effect. Vitalism has been completely out of favor in the West since the 1930’s.

Placebo Effect?

When I was first diagnosed with Stage Four lymphoma cancer in 1990 my chances for survival were slim-to-none. Typically patients with such advanced disease don’t last six months. So I felt I had to do something drastic to help myself. I remembered from my martial arts days that the Chinese practiced exercises to foster internal energy both for health and martial purposes. I reasoned that the Chinese are the most practical people on earth; they have to be just to feed their population. If internal energy exercises and acupuncture were bogus, they would have discarded them centuries earlier. I had nothing to lose, so I began study with a kung-fu master.

In a nutshell, I survived four bouts of cancer; the treatment included two bone marrow transplants. The high-dose chemotherapy administered during transplants is ferocious and debilitating; it makes normal chemo seem like Tylenol. I’m amazed I survived it twice.

When it was all said and done, my oncologist told me both she and many other oncologists brought in on my case had no idea why I was still alive: the cancer should have killed me, or the chemotherapy should have destroyed my immune system. She didn’t believe in chi, or internal energy, but she told me not to stop practicing my qigong exercises. She couldn’t explain why I was not as dead as the Hittites.

But—that being said—it took me four “tries” to finally beat cancer. Even after beginning qigong (energy work) in 1991 the cancer relapsed three times. So it certainly was not a “miracle cure.” In 1996 when I beat a relapse in my spine, my oncologist told me to be realistic: I’d endured four bouts; the lymphoma would come back again and again.

But it didn’t, and I’ve been clear of cancer for 14 years. Maybe I just got “lucky” (four’s a charm?). Or perhaps my daily practice of qigong turned the tide. Or perhaps my energy work has all been a result of the placebo effect. In other words, I’m not really alive—I just think I’m alive. I feel so foolish!

The Body Electric—Evidence, not Proof

Immediately upon starting qigong practice—in my case standing post meditation—I felt a strange tingling and heat in my palms. The palms contain the lao gung cavities, important points for absorbing and transmitting energy. But I couldn’t resist the notion that the feeling was just one of blood circulation. I was skeptical, and put it aside. But I continued to practice as I was doing extremely well despite the chemotherapy.

After a couple of years of standing post, areas about the size of silver dollars on the soles of my feet—about two-thirds of the way up from the heels—starting pulsing with what I can only describe as electricity. It didn’t seem like blood circulation; if it was, why would it pulse only in small, localized areas on the bottoms of my feet?

I investigated, looking up this phenomenon in a qigong textbook written by my teacher’s teacher, Dr. Yang-Jwing Ming of Boston—who is both a kung-fu master and holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Purdue University. He is not a man given to flights-of-fancy.

These cavities, I found, are known as the yong chuan cavities—when they begin to pulse it’s a sign that energy is flowing freely in the body. My teacher also confirmed that the same electrical pulsing had occurred in his feet after many months of practice many years earlier.

In the years since I’ve experienced seemingly electrical phenomenon in various areas of my body that I can’t explain. I take these experiences as evidence of internal energy. As it’s anecdotal, it’s certainly not proof.

But I’m just glad I’m still around after all these years to debate the question.