Does Energy Healing Really Work? Pranic Healer Nidhi Jain Answers Some Difficult Questions

When Nidhi Jain, an economics graduate and a jewellery designer by training, first came across pranic healing in the mid-1990s, she decided it just wasn’t meant for her. Developed by Master Choa Kok Sui, a Philippine chemical engineer, in the late 20th century, it uses intention, compassion, knowledge of chakras, aura cleansing and what is called ‘arhatic yoga’ to activate healing mechanisms in patients’ bodies.

“Mere bas ki baat nahi hai [this isn’t my cup of tea],” Nidhi told her friends back then. But she was drawn to the Twin Hearts meditation recommended for healers, and continued doing it for several years until the early 2000s, when pranic healing knocked at her doors again. This time, there was no turning back.

Today, Nidhi, who was raised in Raipur and Kolkata, is an acclaimed pranic healer and has conducted sessions around India. She also runs her own chain of pranic healing centres, The Ochre Tree, in Delhi, Mumbai and Faridabad, with another centre coming up in Ahmedabad. We met up with her over idli-sambar and dahi-vada and asked some straightforward questions.

Is pranic healing based on belief? You heal because you believe you will heal?
It’s actually the other way around. Your belief begins to form only once you see the results. I only began having faith in this system when I saw people healing from unthinkable ailments. A two-year child with blood cancer who once came to our centre is now a healthy nine year old. Even as a healer, you are totally awed. My sister gave up her flourishing career in multinational companies to become a pranic healer after she saw the results. You don’t need belief; but you do need an open mind.

How different is pranic healing from homeopathy?
Homeopathy is medicine-based, whereas pranic healing is energy-based. But my centre does offer Bach flower remedies for people who need the assurance of physical medicine. It is completely natural and there are no side effects.

What if one doesn’t like one’s healer?
Then find another one. Sometimes the energies don’t match. You need to be comfortable. Don’t worry; no one takes it personally.

If the treatment doesn’t work, is it because the healer isn’t good enough?
The healer is responsible for only 20 percent of the healing, 80 percent is within the patient themselves. Is the patient receptive (open) enough? Are they following instructions and the lifestyle changes recommended by the healer? Are they comfortable about sharing important factors in their lives with the healer? All these things play a role. You need to trust your healer.

When is it time to go to an allopathic doctor?
We always recommend using both allopathic treatment and pranic healing in tandem. One is not an alternative for the other. Many allopathic doctors now recommend pranic healing to their patients. Healing takes place faster when both physical and energy bodies receive the required treatments. And if you add something like Bach flower remedy – which brings underlying emotions to the surface – the results are almost miraculous.

What is your response to people who say all this is mumbo-jumbo?
That’s fine. We’re not here to convince anyone. People come to energy healers after everything else has failed. They found no cure in modern medicine, and this is their last bastion of hope. Only someone who is receptive can receive. There is no sense in trying to convert the skeptics.

One session of energy healing costs Rs 1000 onwards and, often, several sessions are required. Isn’t it expensive?
Healing is free. And it is priceless. We cannot put a price tag on nature’s own healing mechanisms. However, we do charge for the time that a healer has to spend in order to accelerate that healing process. A healer has to undergo training, and be disciplined with their own exercises and meditation. It can take years to develop skills and confidence. The fees charged is in proportion to the healer’s time spent, not the healing itself.

Paying also ensures you don’t carry forward a karmic debt to the healer. And besides, no one bats an eyelid when hospitals rack up thousands of rupees of bills. Why does it hurt us so much to pay a healer? That said, 20 percent of our centre’s healings are done for free for the poor.

What else can energy healing help with, besides health issues?
We use pranic healing for house cleaning and corporate cleaning, for instance when finances are stuck or deals aren’t going through or goods keep getting damaged or lost. Actually it can be applied to any area of one’s life.

If healing is within us, why do we need a healer?
We also all have God within us. Why do we need a guru?

First published in the October 2018 issue of eShe magazine

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