The California Institute for Human Science is the American center for research on a
machine called the AMI, an acronym for “apparatus for meridian identification.”
The AMI measures the flow of ions through the body and in 10 minutes can give a
complete evaluation of the condition of a person’s meridian system and the corre-
sponding internal organs related to those meridians. This stream of ions is not vital
energy or qi itself. Rather, it is a secondary electromagnetic effect of qi—in a sense,
its imprint in the physical domain. The AMI is now becoming available for wide dis-
tribution as a diagnostic tool in medicine.Energy Concentration
The mind’s energy, or willpower, can be developed to control the body’s energy sys-
tem to an extraordinary degree. Healers can concentrate and manipulate energy in
remarkable ways. Doctors at the Menninger Clinic compared average people to
healers by measuring the electrical field on their hands. Ordinary people varied
from 0 to 50 millivolts of energy in their hands. (A millivolt is 1/1,000 of a volt.)
When he measured the electrical energy of the hands of people who worked as tradi-
tional healers, he found that they all produced at least 4 volts of energy, more than
80 times more energy than the average person. One Chinese qi gongmaster pro-
duced 200 volts, the equivalent of 4,000 times more energy. The investigators also
attempted to trace the source of the healers’ electricity. It seemed to come from the
central body in the area between the solar plexus and the lower abdomen. The
Chinese refer to this spot as the tan dienor the home of qi, and the Hindu refer to it
as the solar plexus chakra or the seat of prana.Grounding and Centering
Two terms common in various healing practices and related to energy and balance
are grounding and centering. Grounding, as its name suggests, relates to one’s con-
nection with the ground and, in a broader sense, to one’s whole contact with reality.
Being grounded suggests stability, security, independence, having a solid foundation,
and living in the present rather than escaping into dreams. It means having a
mature sense of responsibility. Much of the sense of grounding comes from identifi-
cation with the lower half of the body—the parts of being that are less conscious and
have more instinctive functions of movement. Learning to breathe into the belly, for
example, is vital for grounding, for if the breath is shallow, contact with feelings and
reality is limited. Many of the practices in this text, such as biofield therapies, mind-
body techniques, and spiritual therapies, help to increase your groundedness.
Centeringrefers to the process of bringing oneself to the center or middle. When peo-
ple are centered, they are fully connected to the part of their bodies where all ener-
gies meet. Centering is the process of focusing the mind on the center of energy,28 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOALTERNATIVE MEDICINE