Dr. Jill Blakeway Explains The Science Behind Energy Healing Techniques

Dr. Jill Blakeway is not who you might imagine would be one of the most prominent energy healers in New York City: she’s British-born, and grew up as a self-described “conventional” girl who once worked for the queen! But since those days, she’s forged quite an unconventional path for herself, becoming the first acupuncturist to give a TED Talk at TED Global, and standing at the forefront of energy healing therapy. She brings the science and mystery of different energy healing techniques to people all over the world, whether it’s through energy healing therapy at the Yinova Center in New York, which she founded, the classes she teaches at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego, or one of her three energy healing books.

*This is a short clip from our interview with Jill Blakeway. Click here to watch the whole thing!*

Today, Jill Blakeway is a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist and herbalist, and has been practicing acupuncture for 25 years. But how did she get here? Her journey, which she describes in her book Energy Medicine, began for a very simple reason: because she tried acupuncture, and saw that it was effective. “I came to it because I saw that it worked,” she says. “I became fascinated and fell down a rabbit hole of Chinese medicine.” From there, she went on to get a masters and a doctorate in the area of Chinese medicine and energy healing therapy.

Types of Energy Healing

Blakeway got her start in acupuncture, but she didn’t immediately make the connection that she was working in the field of energy healing therapy. “I didn’t necessarily understand how deeply connected to energy medicine it is,” she says. “It is one of the oldest forms of energy medicine.” 

After she had this revelation, she began to explore different types of energy healing more thoroughly. As she explains, energy healing refers to all the modalities that diagnose or treat illness by manipulating the electromagnetic energy that pulses through every cell. In this sense, acupuncture isn’t a purely energetic method of healing, as it deals with the physical body as well.

Other examples of energy healing techniques include:

• Reiki

• Pranic healing

• Therapeutic touch

• Sound therapy

Notably, acupuncturists are the only energy healing practitioners who are licensed and board certified in the U.S., which means they are held to a certain standard of education and ethics.

The Science Behind Energy Healing

As Blakeway got further into her practice, she could feel the energetics of the treatments she performed, and became intrigued by the complex balance between science and mystery that underlies energy medicine. This spurred her most recent book, which explores that science and research.

For the book, she was able to travel all over the world to dive into the science behind energy healing. She met with both scientists and energy healers, looking at how they practice and measure their energy healing techniques. For much of her research, she spent time in Japan, where there is a long tradition of energy healing, much of it Reiki, which originated there.

Watch our full interview with Jill Blakeway to learn the scientific basis for acupuncture, the essential role that chi plays in all energy healing techniques, the bias in the conventional medical community against energy healing therapy, the incredible story of a tetraplegic who healed himself through sound therapy, and much more.

The stories referenced in the above interview are anecdotal and specific to these particular individuals. Please note that this is not medical advice, and that not all treatments and approaches mentioned will work for everyone.

Dr. Jill Blakeway, DACM, LAc, is a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist and clinical herbalist, and the founder of the Yinova Center in NYC. She completed a four-year M.S. in Traditional Oriental Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego, California. You can read more about Dr. Blakeway and the Yinova Center here.